Strictly Come Blogging: Sunday Service: Week 2

It was the girls' turn to face the wrath of the judges this week, and the wrath of the Sunday Service!

Stephanie & Vincent kicked off with a solid quickstep. They covered the floor well, but their body contact was last at a lot of points, and Stephanie needs to watch her shoulders.

I found Letitia & Darren's rumba was a little awkward. All the movements seems truncated and small. It didn't seem to flow, and the movements didn't have the feeling of 'going on forever', as my dance teacher would say.

Ah yes. Kate & Anton. It's so hard to judge their performance under the circumstances. Kate looked happy to be on the floor. The quickstep was an unfortunate draw for Kate, and it was flat-footed. She also had some timing issues, although it's difficult to tell if that was because of pain, or lack of rhythm.

I expected to be wowed by Alesha & Matthew, and I wasn't quite, but they still put in an excellent performance. Their rumba was pitched perfectly between romantic and sexy, and the couple had a nice connection. I thought Matt's choreography was splendid, especially the final position, and they had a lovely track in Hurt. Alesha was a little untidy in places, but I'm sure that will disappear as she gets further through the competition.

Penny & Ian's quickstep was the first one that was actually quick! It was light and bouncy without being skippy. She appeared to lose it briefly in a couple of places, but picked it up again with ease, although I am willing to accept that I may be mistaken. Being picky, I would say she might need to watch her shoulders.

Kelly & Brendan gave the night's best rumba performance in my opinion. Again, it was pitched perfectly between sexy and romantic. It was well-danced. Kelly has lovely hip and leg action. I loved the routine's drama, it was probably Brendan's best Strictly rumba to date. My only criticism, was that I felt that the pair concentrated on performing for the audience, and it lacked a connection between the two of them, except in the opening few bars.

Gabby & James did a good job. I loved the choreography, especially the kicky bit near the beginning. It's great to finally see what James can do.

I found the boys' group merengue quite boring. It lacked pizazz. It was more of a 'disco' routine than anything else. Kenny looked scared. I like that they played to Dominic's cheekiness, and Gethin and John stood out for me as having the most fun with it. But I really wasn't very impressed.

I'm not sure who will go. It depends a lot on where Kate ends up in the voting. If she's in the bottom two, the judges will surely send her home. But if she got the sympathy votes of the public, then it could well have been Letitia's last dance.

Here are the videos.

Stephanie & Vincent