Strictly Come Blogging: Friday Thoughts: Week 1

I can't believe Strictly is back. But then, I can't believe how nice the weather is either...

Anyway, time to kick off this year's musings with some Friday Thoughts (of 'foughts' in an Arlene alliteration tribute) - the first seven couples. Each week I'll be posting my thoughts on the night before. Two installments this week.

Holly's cha cha performance was nervous and tentative. You can see that she has lots of potential. It's all there. But she let the nerves take over. She needs to give it some punch, some attack. Her eyeline was down, and she looked like she wanted to blend into the background. Her knees were a bit gangly too. She reminded me of Lisa Snowdon, a bit. I think she'll get there. She and Artem should be a great team.

Dan danced solo at the top of the waltz routine. That was some brave choreography from Katya! But he did a good job of it. Dan has lovely posture. The routine was solid and Dan looked comfortable on the dancefloor. All of the basics were covered - both in terms of choreography and technique. A solid start.

Lulu & Brendan did not make a solid start. In fact, it was a very disappointing start. Lulu was all over the shop. Her timing was off, and then she forgot the routine. She gets bonus points for her confident performance. I know it's only week 1, but she really needs to up her game. The cha cha was blah blah.

Audley was quite graceful for such a big chap. He was a little flat footed and flex kneed, but Natalie has made a good start with his waltz. I just wish he had smiled more. He has a lovely smile, and needs to make sure he makes use of it.

I loved Robbie's attitude. He gave it some. He had a few good moves, but it was a bit like posing by numbers. Not much cha cha content. Hit post here, hit pose there to the point of almost being wooden. No disrespect to Ola, but she quite often dances around a stationary partner. It was clever at first, but now I can see through it. It'll be interesting to see how he fares with a more subdued ballroom number.

Anita & Robin were so elegant. As the judges remarked, she needs to watch her headline. She looked slightly awkward on the underarm turns. That aside, the whole thing was divine. Robin has a flair for waltz. Anita was just gorgeous. I have to worry about her latin. I hope she can pull that off too.

Russell & Flavia were wonderful. The routine, and its star, had great personality. It was as camp as Christmas. Brilliant. Russell has a good sense of timing and rhythm. I think he'll go a fair way in the competition. He seems to have won everyone over already. He has a cha cha charm that will take him further than his talent will. I loved him, and I can't wait to see more.

Bring on tomorrow...