Sunday Service: Week 3

I'm feeling poorly at the moment, which might mean I am a little grumpier than usual. I was certainly underwhelmed by the majority of the performances last night, but I often find that theme weeks are a bit of a let-down.

Carol & Pasha didn't start the evening well. Their quickstep was littered with mistakes and iffy timing. Carol has a very lazy top line, which she needs to fix, and she needs to make sure she keeps her head to the left. It looked like she was struggling to keep up with Pasha, and was hanging on for dear life. Len might have enjoyed it, but I didn't.

Anthony & Oti's paso was quite good. He had some nice lines and lots of command on the floor. I thought his shaping was OK, and I liked the boxing theme to the routine. I just wish he wasn't injured. I would love to see what he could really be capable of.

Katie & Anton's cha cha was quite dull. Katie's balance seemed to be off throughout the routine. I'm glad that Anton asked the judges not to judge Katie on the choreography - I've been saying that for as long as I can remember. But it really showed up how bad Anton is at latin choreography. It's Laila all over again, who professed not to like latin, but I think that was Anton's influence. I think we need to get Anton some help the next time he does latin. Maybe he should call in Erin or Ian next time. There was a missed opportunity to put cha cha walks in at the opening of the routine, even I could see that.

Kellie & Kevin's Charleston was brilliant. Their mirroring of each other was almost flawless. It was a fantastic routine, superbly danced. Kellie is so talented, and I expect her to be around for a long while. It's just a shame they didn't discard the lightsabers earlier, because it meant that they didn't do as many crazy lifts as some couples.

I'm afraid I didn't enjoy Ainsley & Natalie's cha cha. Ainsley's timing was terrible, and there were lots of errors. The whole routine was too disco, with some Charleston too, and those were the parts that were OK. The cha cha parts, especially in hold, were pretty terrible.

I had been looking forward to Georgia & Giovanni's rumba, but it was really disappointing. Georgia's movements didn't flow very well. It was all a bit spikey, and didn't flow very well. The drop was lovely, though. Georgia made that look easy. All the elements were there. I'd love to see it performed again with slightly less aggression.

Helen & Aljaž's foxtrot was very nice. Helen totally channeled Marilyn Monroe. It was all Hollywood. Helen has lovely footwork and beautiful lines. It was very clean.

Daniel & Kristina's cha cha was quite sweet. It was gentle and plodding. There was some decent basic content. Daniel was a bit flat-footed, but he's doing an OK job. He's generally quite inoffensive.

I so wanted Kirsty & Brendan's American smooth to be better, but the whole thing was a bit woolly. Kirsty has quite lazy legs and bent knees. She needs to keep her legs closer together, so they brush past each other when she dances. She also needed more heel leads. She stumbled quite a few times. It wasn't as watchable as it could have been.

Peter & Janette weren't quite as impressive this week. Their paso had lots of drive and drama, but Peter was a bit stampy in places. He didn't quite have the paso shaping, and needed to get his hips further forward.

My overwhelming sentiment after Jamelia & Tristan's salsa was "Oh dear...". However, watching it a second time, and it wasn't as bad as I remembered. At least, not to being with. Jamelia definitely lost her way as the dance progressed. It was messy and confused, and generally a bit frantic. Her legs were still too bent. She just didn't own it. And we'll gloss over Tristan's hair pull. Perhaps he wanted Fifty Shades... instead of Charlie's Angels.

I didn't enjoy Jeremy & Karen's Charleston as much as their last couple of dances. I thought the song choice and theme was odd for a Charleston. It didn't have the cheek and tricks that we expect. It was all just a bit boring, and didn't have the usual Jeremy charm. Solid, enough though.

Anita & Gleb's American smooth had lots of emotion, and was generally very good. For someone who is a presenter, Anita is doing amazingly well. She just needs to watch her head when she is in hold, the angle is sometimes a little weird. But that's being very nitpicky.

Jay & Aliona's jive made me say "Wow" out loud. Especially those turning kick ball-changes. Phenomenal.  So much content. Craig got out his nine, for heavens sake. In week 3! My only criticism was that I thought that Jay was carrying some tension in his upper body. He needs to make sure he's relaxed throughout his body. But wow. It was brilliant.

So Jay, Kellie and Anita were easily at the top for me. But the bottom two? I think it would have to be Carol and Kirsty and I would send Carol home. Although I wouldn't be surprised to see Jamelia back in the bottom two either. She did little to redeem herself this week.
Here are the videos...

Carol & Pasha



Anthony & Oti



Katie & Anton



Kellie & Kevin



Ainsley & Natalie



Georgia & Giovanni



Helen & Aljaž



Daniel & Kristina



Kirsty & Brendan



Peter & Janette



Jamelia & Tristan



Jeremy & Karen



Anita & Gleb



Jay & Aliona