Strictly Come Dancing 2018 Week Five

Its Week five and the remaining twelve couples are battling for a thrilling spot in the Halloween Special week which is next week. So a scarily bad routine this week sees them sitting at home dodging Trick or Treaters instead of haunting the dancefloor and surviving the Four Horseman of the Apocolypse aka The Judges! So all of the couples were out to impress last night hoping to avoid that red light and the following dance-off. They also had to impress a brand new judge tonight. Did you guess it from my very ambiguous clue last week? Well, this is a previous winner of Dancing With the Stars, the American version of Strictly which also features Bruno Tonioli as a judge alongside Len Goodman who left Strictly a couple of seasons ago. And then there was his iconic dance I mentioned last week which made it into his final routine in the DWTS final. I am of course talking about Alfonso Ribeiro, aka Carlton Banks from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air. His 'Carlton Dance' is infamous and he was so much fun, a worthy stand-in for Bruno, I wish he could stay forever and replace Shirley instead. Tonight also saw the first 10 of the series. Of course, it wasn't from Craig, and surprisingly it wasn't from the stand in judge eager to please but from the very nice Dame Darcey Bussell. But who did she award perfect marks to? Read on my dears, read on.

So opening the show tonight was the adorable Dr Ranj. After last weeks moody Paso, he was back to his smiley self, dancing the American Smooth. It was fun, yet sweet and a lovely start to the show. Ranj has improved on his ballroom and looks a lot more comfortable than he did in week 3 doing the Quickstep. I found this an enjoyable dance to watch and I always enjoy Janette's choreography.

Next up was Lauren. She was dancing the first Couples Choice on Strictly. The Couples Choice is a new addition this year to the lineup. Basically, the couple can choose to dance one of three styles,

• Contemporary – takes inspiration from ballet, lyrical and modern dance
• Street/Commercial – covers all styles of urban dance as well as allowing couples to go in a more pop, commercial direction
• Theatre/Jazz – very much the style of musical theatre, includes elements of tap, soft shoe, burlesque and jazz.

Lauren and AJ chose the Contemporary style of dance but for me, it wasn't good. It seemed to be disjointed and not at all connected, more like bits of moves thrown together. As always with AJ, there were a lot of lifts but this meant there wasn't much dancing either which took away from the performance. So I'm not sure if it's the new style dance or just a bad performance.

Next onto the floor was Graeme. He was following his lively Jive with a moody Tango. Graeme has been one of the surprises for me. In the opening dance, he came across as wooden and a bit of a 'dad dancer'. However, having Oti as a partner has certainly improved his performance. This was a clean sharp Tango, he was very focused and his timing was really good. He is shaping up to be a pretty solid performer.

He was followed by Ashley and she was dancing the Rumba. With the exception of her silly pouting at the beginning, I thought this was a pretty good Rumba. I preferred it to Faye's last week and the spin was pretty incredible, I thought she was never going to stop and she was well deserving of four 9's from the judges. I don't want her to win it, even though I adore Pasha but I think unless something horrendous happens, she will be in the final.

Seann was up next doing the Quickstep. I didn't like the beginning, keeping the guitar between them prevented any kind of body contact between the two which is usual in a Quickstep. Maybe it's still a leftover of the scandal but it didn't seem right. It also seemed a bit messy and too bouncy even for a Quickstep. He has improved from Week 1 though, the Paso week was the turning point even though I didn't like last weeks Charleston, you could see the difference in his dancing.

Next up in a flurry of feathers was Stacey and she was dancing the Samba to an excellent song, Tequila! You could tell she didn't enjoy performing it but she did it so well. It was fun, lively and the slowed down Samba roll was inspired. I love Kevin and I think he has a great partner and a great friend in Stacey which transfers well onto the dance floor. I hope Stacey goes very far in this competition.
It was going to be a hard act to follow especially dancing such a slow dance like the Waltz but it was Joe who took on such a challenge. I was so excited as they were dancing to Rainbow Connection (you know me and the Muppets) and I was thrilled Alfonso got the connection. It was sweet and romantic and danced so lovely. I also think Joe was so cute in that cap and he wanted to do so well as his nan was in the audience, I mean this guy has completely won me over and I adore him. He's not a bad dancer either.

Unfortunately, another favourite of mine, Vick, had a bit of a disaster, darling. Her Cha Cha Cha wasn't so great, this is certainly the dance of doom for so many of the celebs, not just this year but in past years too. I think the more experienced dancers fare better but for non-dancers it certainly unravels them. I do love Graziano but his choreography is very hit or miss. He either gets it spot on like the Waltz or the Quickstep or it goes badly wrong like the Jive or this Cha Cha Cha. Considering his specialty is Latin, you'd expect it to be the other way around. Bottom of the leaderboard I'm sorry to say is deserving tonight.

Next up was Kate and she was back to ballroom after a disastrous Samba last week. This was much much better, Kate is most definitely a ballroom girl. This was such a sweet romantic routine and I just love Aljaz, he's adorable. There were definitely bits that needed working on but this was a step in the right direction from Kate.

Next to dance was Danny and he was doing a Jive to Flip Flop Fly. It was amazing, so fast and sharp. There was so much energy and the routine was fantastic. Danny never stopped from the start to the finish and it was always going to impress the judges. Craig told him it was a dance for the final and the lovely Dame Darcey gave the first 10 score of the series and well deserved I have to say. I could watch this routine over and over again.

Next up on the floor was Faye and she was dancing a Foxtrot. I must be confused by the Foxtrot as I always consider it to be a slow dance but some of them have been quite fast this season. Danny's in Week 1, Stacey's last week and now this one had faster sections. I didn't like the music for this one, it didn't seem to fit the tempo of the dance. The judges liked it but again for me, it wasn't my cup of tea.

The final couple to dance were Charles and Karen. Now Charles has been in the dance-off for the last two weeks on the run. If he is there tonight then there is something seriously wrong in the world. They were also dancing the couples choice but they chose Street/Commercial. It really suited Charles to have no restrictions and the style worked so well. There was hip hop and so much rhythm. The routine was choreographed so well and they brought the house down with the routine. He has to be safe this week or I'm never watching again.





So by the end of the evening, the leaderboard looked like this

Danny & Amy	37
Ashley & Pasha	36
Charles & Karen	36
Stacey & Kevin	33
Faye & Giovanni	33
Joe & Dianne	29
Graeme & Oti	29
Kate & Alijaz	26
Dr Ranj & Janette	25
Lauren & AJ	24
Seann & Katya	24
Vick & Graziano	20

So onto Sunday and a baseball themed pro dance and a performance from Paloma Faith, with a lovely dance from Karen Clifton and one of the new pros, Johannes.

And the first couple into the dance off is Seann and Katya.  Will this be the chance we are waiting for to get rid of the scandalous couple?  They are up against Vick and Graziano.  This could be a close call as neither couple danced particularly well on the Saturday night.  Both couples improved in the dance-off.  However with the exception of Craig, the judges voted to keep Seann and Katya in and we say so long to Team Hair and its goodbye to Vick and Graziano.  I'm sad about this because I was really starting to enjoy this couple and I'll miss them.

So next week is Halloween week and another chance for some outrageous costumes and some entertaining dances.  Even the judges get dressed up for Halloween.  Not my favourite holiday but a good night of Strictly entertainment.

Until then, I leave you with the Carlton

Keep dancing