Sunday Service: Week 6

Halloween week turned out to be a complete horror! It really was not a good week for most of the couples.

Sunetra & Brendan's jive was a little disappointing. It wasn't as light as I would have liked, and there were too many step-points and step ball-changes, and not much else in terms of content. However, the storytelling was excellent. Sunetra is a fantastic actress, with expressive eyes, so I still enjoyed the performance.

I wasn't really listening to the introduction, so I didn't know what Alison & Aljaž were dancing. And during the performance I wasn't really any the wiser. It was an American smooth apparently. Out of hold, Alison is a great performer. But I didn't enjoy the parts in hold. She doesn't drive enough in hold, and her head position is odd. She needs to step out a lot further. She does it well out of hold, so it would be good to see her do it in Aljaž's arms. 

I was looking forward to Simon & Kristina's paso doble, as I have wanted to see someone dance to Poison by Alice Cooper for years. Sadly, I was left disappointed. There were at least two mistakes in the routine. The choreography was a bit frantic, and it was a shame there was no cape work, as I think Simon would have been good at it. His shaping wasn't quite right, his hips could have been further forward. I just hope he doesn't end up in the bottom two again.

Steve was not up to his usual standard. He kept looking to Ola for prompts during the Charleston, and went wrong many times. The lifts, as always, were great, but the parts in between were really not great. A really off week for Steve.

Pixie & Trent's tango was bonkers. It was a good performance, but not amazing. Maybe it was just the music, which didn't really scream tango. I liked it, but I didn't love it. She should have done enough to be safe.

Judy & Anton's American smooth was the usual walk, walk, walk routine. She had no personality. The lifts were so telegraphed and it lacked finesse. I'm bored of her now.

I really enjoyed Jake & Janette's paso. I'm not sure Darcey was watching the same dance as me. I thought it had lots of attack, and some good shaping. I would have preferred some better cape work, but a good effort with more great characterisation.

Caroline & Pasha's samba was a bit cha cha-ey for my liking. Perhaps the judges were right, that it was a little too clean, and it didn't have enough bounce. The samba rolls were a little upright. The small amount of voltres she did were nice, though. Caroline always delivers, and it was as well-performed as always. 

Scott & Joanne's foxtrot was a good effort. Joanne's choreography was very clever. I liked the use of choreography to correct Scott's posture. Scott didn't move his feet too much, but the small amount of foxtrot he did looked good. I think it was one of Scott's best performances to date.

I loved Mark & Karen's jive. The routine had loads of jive content. Mark looked relaxed. He kept the energy level up throughout. It was fun and upbeat, with great musicality. Mark has really improved in the last few weeks. It's great to see.

I know I was supposed to love Frankie & Kevin's tango, but I couldn't get over the terrible song choice. Defying Gravity is a great song... for a foxtrot. Terrible for a tango. It was too frantic. That said, Frankie coped with the fast pace beautifully. The dance covered the floor well, and had bags of attack.

I think my favourite this week was Mark. I do hope that Judy is in the bottom two this week. Despite Scott's good week, he must be getting toward the end of his Strictly journey too. I just hope we don't lose another contender this week.

Here are the videos...

Sunetra & Brendan



Alison & Aljaž



Simon & Kristina



Steve & Ola



Pixie & Trent



Judy & Anton



Jake & Janette



Caroline & Pasha



Scott & Joanne



Mark & Karen



Frankie & Kevin