Last week’s three-way dance-off sent Lawrence and Jowita home. They danced again alongside Jaime and Carlos and Bethany and Nancy, but the judges had a different job this time: name the couple they wanted to send home. All four picked Lawrence and Jowita. I’m still not sure the extra couple added much beyond making another two people do it all again.
This week Jaime didn’t dance at all. She tore an abdominal muscle in rehearsals and was advised to rest, so she and Carlos have a one-week bye. Hopefully she’ll be back next Saturday.
.jpg "WTF Strictly Week Seven blog recap")
As I was out on Saturday evening, I spent a rare night away from Strictly and left the group to hold the fort. Before watching on Sunday morning, I’d already seen a couple of Strictly commentary videos on my Saturday night TikTok doomscroll saying the show felt flat. I wondered whether it might feel different watching it all the way through. It didn’t, really.
Josh said a different couple had topped the leaderboard each week and that the competition was wide open. I like the idea that nobody’s running away with it, but I did wonder: are we seeing a more even playing field, or am I still waiting for someone to come out and set a standard that everyone else has to chase?
The Dancing with the Stars clips I’d seen this week looked sharper. The US show was on Week Eight with its Disney Night, a week ahead of us, and they’re already heading towards the semi-final. There are some serious dance CVs in that cast, too: Jenna Dewan was in Step Up, and Harry Shum Jr. had a career as a dancer and choreographer before Glee. Two examples don’t tell me which cast has more experience overall, and TikTok isn’t exactly serving me the forgettable bits, is it? But it did make me wonder why I’d sat through so much of Strictly waiting for something to grab me.
And where’s all the Blackpool chat? Debbi noticed it too. They’re at the Tower Ballroom on Saturday 21st November, so I expect they’ll start plugging it properly next week. By then there’ll only be a week to go.
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I said last week that the presenters were finding their feet. Then, whilst chatting about Big Brother with a friend, she said she hadn’t watched much Strictly this series and asked how the new hosts were doing. At the halfway point, I think I’ve got a better answer than I would have had a few weeks ago.
Tess spent twenty-odd years being told how to do her job by people on their sofas. She went from presenting alongside Brucie to leading the show, learning on the job in front of millions. Then the lineup changed and suddenly some of the same corners of the internet were crying out for Tess to come back. Claudia’s particular brand of manic worked upstairs because that was exactly where you wanted a bit of chaos. I miss it, but I don’t expect someone else to go up there and do Claudia for us.
Emma is thriving. She’s had plenty of live telly practice with Big Brother and The Voice UK, and I remember how well she handled the interview with Roxanne Pallett after the Celebrity Big Brother drama. I’d have quite happily watched her go in harder, but that’s another blog post. She looks at home on Strictly.
Johannes is the one who can still feel a little flat to me, which surprised me. But in the clips I watched on Saturday night, he was also the one lifting the celebs and pros back up after some harsh comments and odd scores. That’s when I see what he brings to the job. He knows what it’s like to come off that floor and have to stand there while someone tells you what you got wrong.
Josh is still the wildcard, and I’m finding him more interesting as the weeks go on. I still don’t quite know if he’s in the right place but the daft jokes and little bits of slapstick remind me of the Saturday night telly I grew up with. I get why people who tune in for the glamour and dancing might wish he’d get on with it. I also think there’s room for a bit of silliness, especially when it happens naturally.
They could have saved themselves a few quid and given it to Neil Jones, of course. He is, and I can’t believe I’m putting this in writing, quite funny and self-deprecating. Then again, I thought Anton would slot straight into Brucie’s job, and look where he ended up. Sidenote : I do love that little nod and dance Anton gives to the presenters on his way to the judges’ chairs every week. More of that sort of thing, please.
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Will & Dianne - Quickstep. A little dance on the stage to open, then straight into it. See? You can have an intro without faffing. This was a lovely Maroon 5 arrangement and a good Quickstep. I didn’t spot any mistakes, although I’d have liked tidier feet and a little less space between them, in my entirely unprofesh opinion. I’m still waiting for Will to make me go WOW. Myself and a few other people thought we'd seen some heavy spittle leave his mouth during the dance however, Josh cleared that up during the judging: it was Dianne’s dress shedding pearls.
Lacey & Vito - Rumba. Last week I said the scariest thing Strictly could do was make everyone dance a Rumba. This week I loved one... I KNOW...!!! The walks were lovely, everything flowed, and Vito gave her classic steps with no tricks. Shirley picked out the timing and weight transfer and was “exceptionally pleased”. Anton called it “melodic”, which is exactly what I liked about it. I could enjoy the movement without getting the urge to hide behind a cushion. One of the best celebrity Rumbas I’ve watched.
Delta & Kai - Cha Cha. Straight into the dancing again, thank you very kindly. The steps were good, but Delta still looked more careful than she did before the rib injury. Her shoulders crept up at times, and I noticed how low her heels were. No idea if that’s about the injury, the height difference or simply the shoes she wanted to dance in. I think she’s safe for a bit, and I hope we get to see her let loose again. Kai seems more relaxed this series, too. Or am I just noticing more since he grew his hair? The Samson effect?
Bethany & Nancy - Foxtrot. The umbrella set off the Faffing Police, but it was over quickly enough that I’ll let them off. A safe Foxtrot, with a lovely heel turn and some solo sections that gave Bethany a chance to shine. I noticed that Nancy chose to put Bethany in the traditional lead role for parts of it. It made me think of how other same-sex partnerships - such as John and Johannes or Layton and Nikita - played with who led. I’d be interested to see what switching it up would look like for these two.
John & Katya - Salsa. John’s got the bum wiggle (technical term) down and the steps were mostly clean, but once he got onto the floor he seemed to stay in the same patch while Katya did the tricks. I was with Craig on the ploddiness and could see what he meant about the toddler tantrum. I still thought a four was harsh though.
Graeme & Lauren - Couple’s Choice. My first thought was that it felt so close to ballroom they might as well have danced a Waltz. Then I caught up on the story I’d missed: Graeme was portraying his recovery from a stroke and thanking the people who supported him. The slower pace and how emotional he was at the end made much more sense after that. I still think a Waltz could have told the same story, and I could have done with fewer trees taking up the dance floor. Is Couple’s Choice becoming the tribute dance? I loved Tabby’s tribute a fortnight ago, so clearly I’m capable of being won over. I just want to see what that freedom lets them do that they couldn’t do in a regular ballroom week.
Tabby & Mark - Paso Doble. WOW. If I’m picking at it, I wanted more flair between the steps so you couldn’t see her thinking about what came next. Craig’s point about power, strength and arch probably gets at what I was seeing. I loved that they stayed in character after the music stopped, right up until Mark helped her up off the floor. These two are now firmly among my favourites. One point to make: no cape faffing. There wasn’t even a cape, just a nod to it with the skirt. The Paso is the one time I’ll allow a bit of faffing. Len would understand.
Cach & Maddie - Waltz. I loved this. It told a story, it felt modern and it was still recognisably a Waltz. Anton’s “old meets new” was spot on. Maddie and Mark are two of the newer pros I’m excited to watch because they bring their own ideas to dances we’ve seen hundreds of times. Craig was brutal about Cach’s posture and the lack of heel leads, and Shirley backed up some of it. He does need to work on that posture. I can love the dance and still want him to go into training on Monday and sort his frame out.
Dani & Nikita - American Smooth. Oohhh, that opening. Right at the top of the stage, then down the stairs like we’d wandered into an old Hollywood film. Lovely extensions, lovely expression, and Dani kept acting the whole way through. A classic American Smooth, my favourite of the night, and my “let’s watch this again” dance of the week.
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Some of those marks looked ridiculous next to each other. Craig gave Cach a four and Motsi and Anton both gave him eight. However, I’ve said before that if you hand out big scores early, you leave yourself precious little room to show anyone getting better. So when a judge suddenly gets picky about heel leads halfway through, the lower mark can feel like a shock even when there’s a fair criticism behind it. That doesn’t mean I have to like every four.
Ali summed it up in the group: “After last week's standard, I thought this week was really patchy, but Dani and Nikita were great.”
That’s where I landed. The show felt flat, but I wouldn’t ask the judges to perk it up by getting the nine paddles out. This is the point where useful feedback matters: tell Cach how to fix his posture, tell Tabby how to get more power into the Paso, and let us see the difference in a week or two. There are enough couples I want to see at Blackpool that I’d like to spend next Saturday arguing about who danced best, rather than waiting for someone to wake me up.
In the meantime, I’m watching Dani come down those stairs again.
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The Spreadsheet Section!
Week Seven’s dances and scores, in show order. Jaime and Carlos had a bye, so there’s no score for them this week.
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