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Louise. Lou. Loulabelle. Loulabelle44. Louby. loulabelle44@outlook.com.
Proudly blogging about Strictly Come Dancing ALL YEAR ROUND since 2006. Always spoiler-free.

Saturday, October 14, 2017

Saturday Service: Week 4

A few changes to the leaderboard this week, and an entertaining Saturday.

Debbie & Giovanni started the show with their cha cha. As always, Debbie was in time with the music. The routine had lots of good cha cha content. In fact, Debbie kind of reminded me of Camilla Dallerup on the floor. Her développé in the middle of the dance was gorgeous. However, her knees were too straight throughout, which gave the whole thing an odd look. Not Debbie's best.

Brian & Amy's punky paso was quite good fun. Brian was quite commanding. It wasn't technically correct, but there were a nice mix of steps and I liked that they used the mic stand as a cape stand-in. Odd, but it kind of worked. And I liked Amy's Michelle Visage look.

Mollie & AJ's salsa lacked fluidity. There were some really clunky transitions. There were some nice moments, but it just didn't flow. Before the series started, I really thought Mollie would be riding high, but she's got some work ahead of her if she's going to be a contender.

Davood looked really gorgeous in hold. His Viennese waltz was graceful and smooth when Nadiya was in his arms. I liked the lyrical elements in the choreography, but there was just too much out of hold for my taste. And there was an illegal lift, which since Craig 'Guardian of The Rules' Revel Horwood mentioned it, must still be a thing. He needs to take care not to lift Nadiya too high.

Charlotte & Brendon's jive took way too long to get going, although you have to love seeing Brendan slide down the banister. They used up a lot of music on the close, too. The whole middle part was a stompfest. Charlotte was really heavy footed for someone so light. She seemed to be chasing the music throughout the dance. She also needs to watch her arms, which looked a bit odd, and she needs to point her feet on the kicks.

Joe & Katya were not as strong as last week. He needs to be careful with his arms when they're not working. They looked really awkward, just dangling rather than being placed. He also had a few weird facial expressions, like he didn't know what a cha cha face should be. I wasn't that taken with the choreography this week. OK, but not great.

Ruth & Anton's tango got better as it went along. There was a lot of gapping early on, but they got closer, and then it started to really flow. It had great drama. Ruth needs to be careful not to go up and down in places and keep it flat. But it was pretty good, her best dance to date.

Aston & Janette's quickstep had good musicality - I liked the little chorus break. It was light and bright throughout, and Aston had great timing. He just needs to point his toes, and watch out for occasional gapping.

Simon & Karen's samba was a low-point of the night. There was a noticeable mistake at the end, and was there one near the start too? Something weird definitely happened. There were lots of basic steps - voltas, botofogos, walks, promenade runs - Karen did a good job choreographically. But there were timing issues. Simon tried hard, but it wasn't his dance.

Gemma & Aljaž's paso had lots of content.  It was strong. Gemma's timing was brilliant. She was on it all the way through. I liked the little break with the claps in the middle, and the confetti claps at the end were one of my favourite use of props (is glitter confetti a prop?) ever. A good job.

I feel a bit bad. I didn't like Alexandra & Gorka's jive as much as the judges, or most people of Twitter. That doesn't mean it was bad, it certainly wasn't. Alexandra is one of the strongest celebrities in the competition. I think Alexandra needs to make sure she keeps her feet together to make it neater, and she needs to straighten her legs a bit more in places too. I liked the jive, I just didn't love it.

I felt as though Jonnie & Oti's American smooth was a bit messy. He needs to watch his top line in places. He also needs to keep watching his bottom, which was stuck out at the beginning of the routine. His footwork was nice, and I liked the lifts in the middle. But it just felt a bit all over the place.

Susan & Kevin's quickstep was a lovely end to the show, which left me with a big smile on my face. It was better than I expected. It was light and fast. Such fun! It was a proper quickstep, very energetic, and very together. Susan & Kevin have such a great partnership. Loved the nod to Morecambe & Wise toward the end. A complete delight.

Susan and Gemma were my favourites of the night, and I really enjoyed the improvement that Ruth had made. I think the bottom two on the leaderboard should face the dance-off - Simon and Charlotte. They were definitely the weakest of the night. I'd probably send Simon home, but it would depend on the dance-0ff performance.

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