Sunday 19 November 2017

Baffling Blackpool

Grab your bucket and spade and thermals, we're off to Blackpool! We all know what that means, a technicolour explosion of crazy dancing, inflated scores, questionable costumes, and jokes about seagulls...Speaking of which, loved the circus theme for the opening number, harking back to Victorian Blackpool. I also enjoy it when the celebs are good enough to do a group number without causing a pile-up. Great work everyone, now let's crack on...

Mollie and AJ
Ok, Mollie just won all the dresses for this series - if there's anywhere you can put samba-feathers-on-yer-bum in a Charleston it's Blackpool! Nan card well and truly deployed, we finally got down to dancing. It definitely was an improvement, even if it wasn't technically amazing, and I could have done with a few more actual Charleston steps. Also, at no point did she look like she was going to tumble out of the lifts to her death! But she took everything thrown at her (and that was a lot!), if she does go out this week I think she can do it with her head held high.

Susan and Kevin
She might be dressed for Strictly Ballroom, but Susan's hair and makeup are right back in Game of Thrones. As I feared, this dance was all about Kevin, and Susan got rather lost in it all. Although the solo she did halfway through was pretty ballsy and I couldn't have seen her doing it a few weeks ago. For all the hype, the Strictly Ballroom paso is pretty much a paso, and doesn't stick out much when you watch pasos every week on this show.

Debbie and Gio
It's always a bit awkward when you're the only one who turns up to the party in fancy dress...Spice Girls have been proven to be good samba though, and hilarious playing with the lyrics. This was a bit of a hot mess though, even with the world's longest samba roll, that was pretty much the only samba in it. Could Debbie struggle this week?

Jonnie and Oti
They had quite the wobble last week, but I perked up when I realised they had a Blackpool tango and an appropriate song for once. And then I saw the Tron outfits, although in the end I quite liked the theme. This was a bit better for Jonnie's ballroom form, and it looked like his hold had improved. Plus it was a massive routine to take on for someone with no performing experience. Food for thought: this is the first dance so far where I thought the extra dancers were too much, am I just getting better at blocking them out?

Gemma and Aljaz
Northern girl back on home turf, I would say bring it on Gemma, but this was an awkward dance to be given for the massive Blackpool floor. Also, an abundance of panto props and extra dancers. Thankfully Shirley was there to comment on the actual ballroom content and improvements in technique. Probably not worth two 10s, but whatever, it was the best of the night so far!

Davood and Nadiya
We're now going into Davood's routines with a certain amount of expectation, which a big change compared to a few weeks ago. Now he's prancing around the Tower Ballroom in fetish wear, who would've thunk? This was a great demonstration of how he has improved, with some great control and shapes - even when Nadiya may have kicked him in the face. Might have preferred it without the extra gimmicks, but it was definitely enough to keep him in the game.

Alexandra and Gorka
Have been really looking forward to Alexandra getting to do some classic ballroom once again, feels like it's been quite a while. Also whilst dressed as a complete goddess and having a wail of a time, she always brings the razzle dazzle! There was a LOT of Charleston in this, but the bits they did in hold were so effortlessly good I'm not too bothered. It was light and fleet of foot, and because the quickstep travels so much the extra dancers didn't get in the way - hurrah!

Joe and Katya
The outfits were...something...as was the concept, Blackpool was not like that in the 90s. I really expected to hate this, but it fell into the 'bonkers-awesome' category by the end, mainly due to Joe selling the routine for all it was worth. He actually had to carry it because Katya got lost among the day-glo dancers. It quite obviously wasn't a salsa, but the pot-stirrer-with-the-foot and the band climbing the mountain that was this song meant I had a good time.

No comments: