What Katie Did Next

Oct 1, 2021 by Rob

An informative week 1 of Strictly with the biggest market mover being AJ Odudu after her and Kai’s sensational, leaderboard-topping jive. Adam Peaty also dropped in price following his pimp-slotted CCC, as did John Whaite who shortened on the back of his tango.

Interestingly, it was 3 of the last 4 routines on the night that sent the biggest shockwaves through the Outright with the front 5 in the market moving comfortably clear of the remainder of this year’s field. Is it already as clear cut as a 5-horse race?

AJ and Kai have the makings of a dynamic partnership. There is definitely great chemistry there and in terms of both impact and quality their jive had echoes of Kelvin and Oti’s week 1 samba in 2019.

We knew Adam would train hard and Katya would probably whip him into shape but that CCC was better than expected for week 1. Rhys earned the judges’ plaudits for his VW as much as it didn’t overly impress.

John received an enormously positive response on social media. This was to be expected. The same sex male pairing is the story of the series. The styling for him and Johannes’s tango was made cleverly palatable for middle England too.

Rose started her campaign encouragingly and the harsh 4 from Shirley looked an intentional journey signaller. Merely the wardrobe choice for Robert Webb’s ‘Rasputin’-inspired CCC hinted he is pegged as one of this year’s entertainers, reinforced by the somewhat generous 6s from Craig and Anton.

Dan, Greg and Judi were notably dragged up the leaderboard, each of them earning 24, along with Nina who enjoyed particularly positive feedback from Shirley for her samba. It is always handy to have the head judge on side, and as this year’s older female contestant it looks good news for Nina’s journey prospects.

Despite receiving decent comments, Sara and Ugo found themselves anchored to the bottom of the leaderboard heading into week 2. With Tom given a Covid bye, Tilly drawing Charleston, and Robert given tango set to the evocative La Cumparsita by Machiko Ozawa, a track that helped earn Faye and Giovanni 39 for their AT in the 2018 semi-final, it might prove difficult for Sara and Ugo to drag themselves out of the danger zone.

Sara has some hope given foxtrot is Aljaz’s favourite dance and they have a nice piece of music to sell it with. Quickstep for Ugo looks a tougher assignment for him.

For those searching for small signs to cling to Tilly could yet have a decent run on this year’s show, Joe and Dianne were given a week 2 Charleston in 2018, and Chris and Karen in 2019. It could be a good week for Tilly and her Charleston may be booked for a late slot.

Intriguingly, Rose has been given a 2nd fast Latin routine in salsa. These sort of instances tend not to be coincidence and Rose supporters will be hoping it’s a promising sign she would have got 2 of the hardest fast Latins out of the way in the first 2 weeks. If Rose’s salsa underwhelms, however, her favourite status could become twitchy.

In a similar show of apparent producer favour, Dan has managed to avoid fast Latin in the first 2 weeks as he has a paso which hints at an intentional, let’s try and avoid exposing Dan’s lanky limbs to the demands of rapid booty-shakers just yet.

A Couple’s Choice being awarded to Greg as early as week 2 also suggests favourable treatment for him, as it did when Nicola was given it in week 2 last year. The routine will be disco, described as touching, which must mean it will be a tribute to Greg’s dance-loving sister who passed away.

Both John and Rhys now have CCC. Of the 2, Rhys looks to have the much better song for something impactful and after an early start last Saturday, he may well be one of the show closers tomorrow night. Judi’s samba has been bigged up this week on ITT and you have to think it’s going to be another of the show’s highlight moments.

A quickstep offers Adam the chance to consolidate his good start to the series, as does foxtrot for AJ. Both have ideal music to accompany their routines and Kai, like Aljaz, cites foxtrot as his favourite. Ahead of the launch show, Nina said she was most looking forward to dancing tango and she gets an early chance to perform it.

Looking at the first elimination market, if there is going to be a surprise name in the dance-off it could be Katie who has the always difficult jive, and lack of training time looks like it could be an ongoing issue for her due to her Hollyoaks filming schedule.

Katie’s jive also comes on the back of AJ’s great jive last week when Katie found herself eclipsed performing tango with John’s tango stealing the limelight. There is a sense Katie could be in danger of disappearing into obscurity unless she can produce something surprisingly good.

We will have the Strictly exit poll up and running for the first time in this series tomorrow night. Please do drop by and input your votes. The aim is to offer an early poll result while Strictly markets remain open on Betfair during the voting window and thus aiding your trading.

Strictly 2021 Exit Poll – Week 1/2

Week 1 judges’ leaderboard:
AJ and Kai: Jive – 8, 8, 9, 9 = 34 (14)
John and Johannes: Tango – 7, 7, 8, 8 = 30 (12)
Adam and Katya: Cha Cha Cha – 7, 7, 8, 8 = 30 (15)
Rhys and Nancy: Viennese Waltz – 6, 7, 7, 7 = 27 (4)
Dan and Nadiya: Quickstep – 5, 5, 7, 7 = 24 (6)
Greg and Karen: American Smooth – 6, 6, 5, 7 = 24 (10)
Nina and Neil: Samba – 5, 5, 7, 7 = 24 (11)
Judi and Graziano: American Smooth – 6, 6, 6, 6 = 24 (13)
Rose and Giovanni: Jive – 6, 6, 4, 6 = 22 (7)
Katie and Gorka: Tango – 6, 5, 5, 6 = 22 (8)
Tom and Amy: Cha Cha Cha – 4, 7, 5, 5 = 21 (1) – BYE
Tilly and Nikita: Waltz – 5, 5, 6, 5 = 21 (2)
Robert and Dianne: Cha Cha Cha – 6, 4, 4, 6 = 20 (9)
Ugo and Oti: Samba – 3, 5, 5, 5 = 18 (3)
Sara and Aljaž: Cha Cha Cha – 3, 5, 5, 4 = 17 (5)

Week 2 dances and songs:
AJ and Kai: Foxtrot to Tears Dry On Their Own by Amy Winehouse
Judi and Graziano: Samba to Get Busy by Sean Paul
Katie and Gorka: Jive to Good 4 U by Olivia Rodrigo
Nina and Neil: Tango to Would I Lie To You? By Eurythmics
Rose and Giovanni: Salsa to Cuba by The Gibson Brothers
Tilly and Nikita: Charleston to Yes Sir! That’s My Baby by Firehouse Five Plus Two
Sara and Aljaž: Foxtrot to Dream A Little Dream Of Me by Cass Elliot
John and Johannes: Cha, Cha, Cha to Starstruck by Years & Years
Adam and Katya: Quickstep to Are You Gonna Be My Girl by Jet
Rhys and Nancy: Cha Cha, Cha to Reach Out, I’ll Be There by Human Nature
Dan and Nadiya: Paso Doble to Giant by Calvin Harris and Rag N Boneman
Greg and Karen: Couple’s Choice to If You Could Read My Mind by Ultra Naté, Amber, Jocelyn Enriquez
Robert and Dianne: Tango to La Cumparsita by Machiko Ozawa
Ugo and Oti: Quickstep to Bring Me Sunshine by The Jive Aces