Sunday Service: Week 6

After the excitement of last week's Halloween special, I found this week's performances a little underwhelming.

I didn't like Kara & Artem's salsa as much as the judges did. I thought it was a little messy. The cartwheel at the beginning and the lifts at the end were excellent, however. And it did have bags of energy and performance. I just didn't get excited.

Pamela & James turned out a competent foxtrot. Pamela still needs to press her shoulders down harder. It was a shame about their stumble on the oversway. Overall, the routine was very classy. No tricks, no props, just a magical dance, and a return to form for Pamela after last week's blip.

Felicity & Vincent's paso doble was not very exciting. It was a bit stumbly and lacked flow. As always, Felicity's acting was excellent. She really gives it everything on the floor, but her dancing is still a little out of control and lacks grace.

I loved Jimi & Flavia's performance. The storytelling in their quickstep really suited Jimi. They covered the floor really well. Jimi demonstrated great musicality, finding the accents. Jimi seems to be going under the radar, a bit. He's quietly doing his thing. I hope that he doesn't end up out too early for that reason.

Matt & Aliona's waltz was simple, but effective. I still don't understand why Aliona insists on using props every week. That aside, I really liked the routine. They covered the floor well. Their fleckerl seemed a little slow, but at least they did it which is more than most couples. Matt led Aliona very well, and his posture was really nice.

The charleston was actually a good dance for Ann. She and Anton portrayed the dance with lots of humour, although she lacks real performance. She doesn't perform out to the audience enough. She's a bit mechanical - put arms here, stand here, do this, do that. There's no flow. Ann doesn't really dance at all.

Has Brendan lost it? What on earth possessed him to do a 'waltz' to a 4/4 piece of music. It makes no sense. Usually when he wants to cheat, he just puts loads of lifts in. It's such a shame, because I thought Michelle did a nice job. She looked very graceful, and her posture was excellent. It really suited her.

I am starting to love Patsy. Yes, the cha cha had a few timing issues, but I really enjoy watching her. She needs more hip action, as Craig mentioned. But she gives her dances everything. I'm really looking forward to seeing Patsy & Robin do another ballroom dance. I'm hoping she'll be able to go for it.

I disagreed with the judges. I thought Scott & Natalie did a good job with the rumba. Of course it wasn't as good as some of his previous performances, but it was still one of the better male rumbas we've seen on Strictly. It was a showy rumba, rather than an understated and intimate one, but that's OK. I thought Scott's arms and lines were good. A solid performance.

I found Gavin & Katya's cha cha really hit and miss. It was the most comfortable Gavin had looked on the floor all series - it's amazing what a rugby ball can do. Gavin has good footwork in a lot of places. There were a couple of small timing issues, most notably going into the New Yorkers. The routine had a fair bit of posing in it too, but it was a continued improvement for Gavin.

My favourites this week were Pamela and Jimi.

It's really hard to pick a bottom two this week. Ann and Gavin still lack performance, and for me performance is more important than great steps. Patsy gives so much performance that I find myself forgiving her less-than-perfect technique. So Ann and Gavin are probably my bottom two. However, I think the public will save them. We could see any combination of Patsy, Felicity, Michelle and Jimi in the bottom two. This week might be the shock exit I've been expecting.

Here are the videos...

Kara & Artem



Pamela & James



Felicity & Vincent



Jimi & Flavia



Matt & Aliona



Ann & Anton



Michelle & Brendan



Patsy & Robin



Scott & Natalie



Gavin & Katya