Danger Zone

Oct 25, 2024 by Rob

The success of the YNWA waltz has seen Chris hit a new low on Betfair of 1.36. It has become a procession and what is going to stop his momentum? Even Janette on this week’s ITT hinted to viewers Chris is favourite to win.

A fourth fast Latin dance in the first 6 weeks is the most demanding of schedules but as much as Chris’s samba technique may come up short, he has a seminal dance tune in Stayin Alive, with him and Dianne emerging from their graves before returning to their crypt at routine climax.

TPTB might consider using Chris as a handy blocker towards the bottom of the leaderboard to make it that much harder for anyone below him to escape the dance-off.

Halloween Week always offers the chance for shocking make-overs and strange set ups in terms of staging. We have had Shayne and JB land in the bottom two in the last two weeks and there is plenty of scope for another leading light falling between the cracks.

Montell has just enjoyed her, as expected, triumphant Couple’s Choice from the pimp slot, name-checked for a possible final reprise, but CCC has a poor Halloween Week record and if on early and underwhelming there could be a big come down for her.

Wynne has also been earning plaudits and high scores and while Katya was talking up the choreo for his salsa, it looks an odd song in Canned Heat, he could find himself on early, and he might be in line for his worst score since his week 1 samba (26).

A first AT of the series always receives fanfare and usually enjoys a good score so Sarah’s looking safer than most. JB had to deal with the ignominy of the bottom 2 – an outcome predicted by our exit poll. He then fell apart somewhat in the dance-off, and he should be bouncing back strongly with a foxtrot given his label as the ballroom boy.

Shayne wasn’t afforded that much protection with his AS following his bottom two appearance the previous week and he would usually look a prime contender to re-visit the bottom two tomorrow night. However, that paso music looks ideal for something impactful and potentially scoring well enough on the night to keep him safe.

Jamie’s generous treatment has resulted in social media cries of blatant favouritism being afforded to the Eastenders actor. It was a decent paso last week but 39? Michelle Visage danced a foxtrot to The Addams Family Theme with ‘The King of Halloween’, Giovanni, back in 2019 and it top scored. If the series narrative continues Jamie will be scored highly again.

Last week’s QS looked teed up to be something of a breakthrough routine for Sam only for her to fluff her lines by producing too many foot faults. She has an iconic song in Time Warp but jive is going to put the spotlight firmly on her footwork again. She has looked promising in training this week but she has had a habit so far of messing things up in the live show.

Charles Venn danced to this in 2018, did a respectable job with it, but was only scored 25. Could we see something similar happen with Sam? If so, she’ll look in danger of the dance-off.

The feedback to Tasha’s tango last week focused heavily on the negatives only for her to be scored a highly respectable 34. This has seen her drift out to 8.4 on the Outright.

Week 5 judges’ leaderboard:

Jamie & Michelle – Paso – (3) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39
Montell & Johannes – Couple’s Choice – (12) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39
Chris & Dianne – Waltz – (4) – 8, 9, 9, 9 = 35
Tasha & Aljaz – Tango – (5) – 8, 9, 8, 9 = 34
Wynne & Katya – Quickstep – (11) – 7, 9, 9, 8 = 33
Sarah & Vito – Samba – (9) – 8, 8, 8, 8 = 32
Shayne & Nancy – American Smooth – (10) – 7, 8, 8, 8 = 31
JB & Amy – Jive – (1) – 7, 8, 7, 8 = 30 – bottom 2
Sam & Nikita – Quickstep – (7) – 6, 7, 6, 7 = 26
Pete & Jowita – Rumba – (8) – 4, 5, 6, 7 = 22
Punam & Gorka – Viennese Waltz – (2) – 4, 6, 5, 6 = 21
Paul & Karen – Samba – (6) – 3, 5, 5, 6 = 19 – eliminated

Her samba might come under consideration to open the show. In three of the four elimination weeks so far the opener has ended up in the dance-off and it’s easy to envisage a scenario in which the same fate could befall Tasha.

Pete has been earning a degree of favour from TPTB but is overdue an early r.o. slot. A classic ballroom routine is usually lapped up by viewers if it’s of the Paul QS variety in week 4. The issue here is, Halloween styling could see the optics harm that sentiment, with Pete styled as Joker and Jowita Harley Quinn.

Punam has had two poor weeks in a row but her public support has been strong enough so far to help her avoid the dance-off. If her tango underwhelms and is scored poorly that support might start to ebb away. Throw in Chris placed low down on the leaderboard and Punam may have more difficulty escaping.

A difficult week to make any bold calls pre-show, Punam is probably most vulnerable but Sam, Pete, Wynne, Shayne and even Montell, Tasha, JB or Jamie could all conceivably end up in danger.

Please do let us know who got your vote(s) when the Week 6 (Halloween Week) exit poll opens at the end of tomorrow night’s show:

Strictly 2024 Exit Poll – Week 6

Week 6 (Halloween Week) dances & songs:

Montell & Johannes Cha Cha to Love Potion No. 9 by The Clovers
Punam & Gorka Tango to Sweet Dreams by Eurythmics
Sam & Nikita Jive to Time Warp by The Rocky Horror Picture Cast
Sarah & Vito Argentine Tango to Ready Or Not by Fugees
Tasha & Aljaz Samba to I Like To Move It Move It by Reel 2 Real
Chris & Dianne Samba to Stayin Alive’ by The Bee Gees
Jamie & Michelle American Smooth to The Addams Family Theme by Vic Mizzy
JB & Amy Foxtrot to Dancing In The Moonlight by Toploader
Pete & Jowita Viennese Waltz to That’s Life by Frank Sinatra
Shayne & Nancy Paso Doble to In The Hall of the Mountain King by Grieg
Wynne & Katya Salsa to Canned Heat by Jamiroquai