Sunday Service: Week 4

I'm back from my holidays, and was able to watch Strictly on a Saturday night at last. Just as a reminder, I don't look up spoilers, so I am writing this with no knowledge of the show's outcome.

Sophie & Brendan delivered a really nice foxtrot routine. Sophie needs to take more care with her arms, but it was generally pretty good. She showed good musicality. The routine had lots of foxtrot content, and Sophie presented it well.

I thought the song choice for Fiona & Anton's rumba was odd. Too upbeat. The routine had no heat. There were quite a few errors from Fiona. Fiona is a sexy woman, but it just did not come across in this routine. It seemed very disjointed. Very disappointing.

I really enjoyed Mark & Iveta this week. It was a fun cha cha, and was fairly well executed. If this was Let's Dance rather than Strictly, it would've been a winner. Mark was very flat footed. Technically, it was poor, but the routine was pretty watchable.

Ashley really seemed to lead Ola in their Viennese waltz. He attempted a fleckerl and, although it wasn't great, it was good to see. Usually Ola would shy away from challenging her partner, but she seems inspired to take risks with Ashley. The routine had lovely fluidity. Ashley needs to watch his arms when not in hold. Very stylish. A little safe, but pleasant.

Julien tried really hard, but I think it might be the end of the road for him and Jeanette. His salsa was messy. He was overexcited, and seems to have little sense of rhythm. After two appearances in the dance-off, I don't know how much longer he can hold on.

It looked as if Rachel didn't know what she was doing throughout the quickstep. She seemed to be relying on Pasha too much, either to lead her, or she was looking to him for cues. She didn't seem to know what was coming next. She was often out of sync with him. Not Rachel's best performance.

I couldn't help wondering where the dancing was on Ben's side of the salsa. The routine was all Kristina. Ben barely moved his feet. The lifts were excellent, but that was all Ben got to do. It's a shame, because Ben has lots of potential. Ben's performance seems to have improved, and he's now a lot more connected with the dance than he was before.

Deborah seemed to be off time quite a lot in the jive. She seemed a bit out of her depth. She was flat-footed. It looked like a bad pro-am performance, which I guess is exactly what it is. I really didn't enjoy it. She and Robin did, but I didn't.

Natalie & Artem's quickstep was packed with steps and Natalie executed them all beautifully. I thought the song choice and arrangement was inspired. It was amazing, considering that they lost training time to Natalie's injury.

Patrick & Anya's cha cha was probably their best routine so far. Patrick seemed to be in control. He's still not setting the world alight, but he has probably done enough to see him through to next week.

Abbey & Aljaž's music choice was a little odd to me, but they did a great tango routine. Abbey had great musicality. They had lots of drive and attack. She maintained her hold well, and it was pretty hot. Much better than last week's jive.

Dave & Karen were quite good. There wasn't much waltz content, but what there was was OK. Probably his best dance so far. Dave needs to move a bit more. There was little musicality. I was glad to see Dave not be the clown this week. He seemed to take it seriously, and that was good to see.

Susanna & Kevin's samba seemed to be over really quickly. Susanna certainly gave it lots of "welly". It was good fun. It wasn't as good as Sophie & Brendan's samba, but there was enough samba content and loads of energy. Susanna needed a bit more hip action, but a good job.

Abbey was my favourite of the night. She was excellent. There is no question in my mind that Julien should be in the bottom two, and should probably go home. I wouldn't be upset to see Deborah, Fiona or Dave there too. But Julien & Janette should be heading home.

Here are the videos...

Sophie & Brendan



Fiona & Anton



Mark & Iveta



Ashley & Ola



Julien & Janette



Rachel & Pasha



Ben & Kristina



Deborah & Robin



Natalie & Artem



Patrick & Anya


 
Abbey & Aljaž



Dave & Karen



Susanna & Kevin