Artistic License

Oct 19, 2018 by Rob

Seann and Katya, as expected, escaped the dance-off last week. Their late r.o. slot, and as high as an 8 from Shirley for their fun Charleston, led them on the path to safety.

They could be tested a little more this week as they are due an early starting position and are back to ballroom with a quickstep. But they have a good track for QS and as ballrooms go, QS has the possibility to entertain especially with Katya at the choreo helm.

Two who look slightly more vulnerable pre-show are Graeme and Dr Ranj. They also have ballroom – tango and American Smooth respectively – and along with Seann look like being low down on the judges’ leaderboard.

‘Roxanne’ is, however, a good track to sell the drama of a tango and Oti spoke encouragingly this week about drumming the technique into Graeme who struggled, in particular, with the required posture attempting his first ballroom – week 2’s AS. Dr Ranj looks like confronting similar woes with his AS if training footage is an accurate indicator.

In both Charles and Lauren’s favour tomorrow night is being tasked with the first 2 ‘couples’ choice’ routines. The show won’t want either of these 2 falling into the dance-off as they need this new dance concept to get off to a successful start.

Street/Commercial dance to a James Brown track looks right up Charles’s street and cherry-picked to prevent him landing in the dance-off for the third consecutive week. It was surprising the show did not make more effort to encourage a bounce for him last week with a miserly 25 awarded for his decent salsa.

Lauren might have a breakthrough week. A Contemporary dance to ‘Runnin’ looks perfect material for something cleverly artistic and compelling.

Kate, meanwhile, had a shocker attempting samba last week but back in hold performing a VW, she looks poised for a comeback narrative. The Real Housewives of Posh Home Counties also appear to be a handy electorate for her to call upon.

Joe was no great shakes attempting his first ballroom, AS in week 3. Waltz is an easier assignment and he has a dreamy track to sell his routine with.

So far in this series Vick has been hamstrung partly by early r.o. slots, and partly by Graziano’s insipid choreo. She should earn a late r.o. slot this week after being drawn 1/14 and 2/13 in the last 2 weeks. CCC is always tough, technique-wise, and if she finds herself mid-table she could be vulnerable to a dance-off appearance.

Danny’s jive training has looked really good and he has a nice track to sell his and Amy’s routine, while a rumba for Ashley and foxtrot for Faye should see them both safely high up on the judges’ leaderboard.

Samba looks, on paper, a real tester for Stacey, who is now favourite on the Outright. However, her training for this has looked excellent and tomorrow night could be another triumphant one for her and Kevin who also have a great track to help sell their routine.

This week we have a guest judge, Alfonso Ribeiro, famous for the ‘Carlton’, as Bruno takes a week off to recharge his batteries. Jennifer Grey was a guest judge in week 6 of series 9 in 2011; Donny Osmond infamously during 2014’s Movie Week (Week 3) when he pulled out his 10 paddle, the first of the series, for Frankie Bridge’s paso.

They get the honour for winning ‘Dancing With The Stars’ – Osmond won DWTS in 2009, Grey in 2010, Ribeiro in 2014. It remains to be seen whether Alfonso turns out to be as much of a loose cannon as Osmond was, but it could lead to some scoring inconsistencies.

This week’s songs and dances:

Ashley and Pasha – Rumba to ‘Something About The Way You Look Tonight’ by Elton John
Charles and Karen – Couples’ Choice routine (Street/Commercial) to ‘Get Up Offa That Thing’ by James Brown
Danny and Amy – Jive to ‘Flip, Flop and Fly’ by Ellis Hall
Dr Ranj and Janette – American Smooth to ‘Wouldn’t It Be Nice’ by The Beach Boys
Faye and Giovanni – Foxtrot to ‘Just the Way You Are’ by Bruno Mars
Graeme and Oti – Tango to ‘Roxanne’ by The Police
Joe and Dianne – Waltz to ‘Rainbow Connection’ by Sleeping At Last
Kate and Aljaz – Viennese Waltz to ‘Finally Mine’ by Juliet Roberts
Lauren and AJ – Couples’ Choice routine (Contemporary) to ‘Runnin’ by Naughty Boy featuring Beyoncé
Seann and Katya – Quickstep to ‘Lightning Bolt’ by Jake Bugg
Stacey and Kevin – Samba to ‘Tequila’ by The Champs (David Hirschfelder and The Bogo Pogo Orchestra version)
Vick and Graziano – Cha Cha Cha to ‘More Than Friends’ by James Hype featuring Kelli-Leigh

Last week’s judges’ leaderboard:

Craig – Darcey – Shirley – Bruno

Stacey & Kevin (13) Foxtrot 8 8 8 9 = 33 (13)
Ashley & Pasha (11) Tango 8 8 8 8 = 32 (12)
Faye & Giovanni (4) Rumba 7 7 7 8 = 29 (11)
Vick & Graziano (2) QS 7 7 7 8 = 29 (11)
Seann & Katya (12) Charleston 6 7 8 7 = 28 (10)
Dr Ranj & Janette (8) Paso 6 7 7 7 = 27 (9)
Danny & Amy (3) VW 6 7 7 7 = 27 (9)
Graeme & Oti (10) Jive 5 7 7 7 = 26 (8)
Joe & Dianne (1) CCC 5 7 7 7 = 26 (8)
Charles & Karen (6) Salsa 6 6 6 7 = 25 (7) – Bottom 2
Lauren & AJ (7) QS 6 6 6 7 = 25 (7)
Kate & Aljaz (9) Samba 4 5 5 6 = 20 (6)
Katie & Gorka (5) Jive 3 5 5 5 = 18 (5) – Eliminated