Strictly Come Dancing week 8: Live from Blackpool

I fully expected great things from the Blackpool show and I wasn't disappointed. The dancing , the judging and the music were up to standard , though I could have expected better from one or two scores that rewarded crowd pleasing over the required elements. The inclusion of acrobatics where none was required or even or called for at all , may please the viewers who like a good show, but it misrepresents the competitive world of dance in such a way as to not help the cause. My father danced pro level  through the 50's and later on and he tells me the proper moves alone are impressive enough and hard enough. When he danced , you knew couples that  covered the lack of  skill and proficiency with ott glitz. We want more people dancing , not fewer. If it was made clearer what the judges were looking for, the choreography by the professionals would not sometimes take the piss so much. Clearly some of the stars are being pushed by a combined agenda of the professional dancer wanting to show off to the public and the star  sometimes just not being up to the task.That said, it was a brilliant evening of dance with only the usual low points that we've come to expect.

Week 9 full and up top date here

I particularly liked the new graphics with an Animated Bruce Forsythe looming all Pudsy like then showing us how strong his muscles were, or was that a please phone gesture? And while he may have been warned albeit theatrically, Brucie should never hesitate to show us the dancing skills he has. His tap routine tonight was a lovely gem from an era gone by, now replaced with distractions and covering gestures because, unless it's not leaping in the air, it's not dance. I want to point out the extreme hostility of the crowd when certain judges were brutally honest, pity the crowd now genuinely does not understand the judges roles, If I came out dressed like a Dalek and stomped around for a minute telling jokes and was funny, it still wouldn't be a samba or dance for that matter.  I for one will pretend this is still a dance competition and enjoy the skill on offer as when it is and ignore the rest. A quick note about the music, in a desire to use popular music, sometimes the dance is harder to see and harder to do. Kara Tointon explained that her routine was harder to choreograph because the music was hard to work with. In plain english, it wasn't suitable for the dance. I don't see why you can't pick good music and suitable music at the same time, perhaps if the dance was more important on Strictly, that would happen more often.

And so without further ado....

Patsy Kensit: Samba. Over the weeks, Patsy has been wonderful, but considering the near solid hold the two table bottom dwellers have,  She'll be lucky to survive the great unwashed.  Choppy hoppy and stompy, not original names for dwarves but moves, were in abundance. Her timing was off and there was no hip action. A painful display to watch, she'll be lucky to survive this display. Rating 6

Kara Tointon: American Smooth. Before I saw owt else, Len was right, and I blame the pro partner for including illegal elements and  not taking up required holds. It's their job to keep it honest, but they seem more interested in thumbing their noses at the judges and playing to the crowd.  On the assumption, Kara didn't know any better, she was Beautiful, had a natural flow. The routine had a seductive drama to it and the pair had the kind of synchronisity you expect only from pros. Side note, Artem worked with an injury which makes the routine even more amazing....as Craig said, FA BU LOUS !!!! Rating 10

Matt Baker: Samba. A consummate performer and grafter, despite loosing his tep rather obviously at one point the overall routine was a driving Brasilian Samba with lots of hip bounce bottom work and footwork, it was so good it did not need the extraneous acrobatics.  As they say on masterchef, you only put on the plate what is expected to be eaten. Rating 9

Felicity Kendal: American Smooth. Elegant, nice musicality, good story, not Tara but lush. Her rises and falls were a bit weak, but her best dance of the series according to Len. Rating 7 Again considering the SPECIAL dynamics, ie the woe-some Welshman and the Horror from under the House of Commons, she'll be in danger of the bottom two. Rating 7

Gavin Henson: American Smooth.  Cheesy, walky slow filled with starts and stops, only his lifts were good, even brilliant. If only he had done this in week one , he'd be almost ok by now. Rating 4

Scott Maslen: Samba.  Absolute brilliance, , great transitions , hip action, footwork, ScoooooT was as good as every other week. In no danger of leaving any time soon. Rating 8

Pamela Stevenson: American Smooth. Rhythmic full of passion and heat,. The story was clear and compelling  with fluid  footwork, technically great turns, she never lost her step once. Rating 10

And lastly

Ann Widdocombe:
What does a Dalek at a spa say?EXFOLIATE! EXFOLIATE!
What does a Dalek chewing tobacco say?EXPECTORATE!
What does a drunken Dalek say?INEBRIATE!
What does a Dalek making things worse say?EXACERBATE!
What does a Dalek making things better say?AMELIORATE!
What does a Dalek jailer say?INCARCERATE!
What does a Dalek say when given an upper and lower bound for a solution?INTERPOLATE!
What does a nauseated Dalek say?REGURGITATE!
What does a Dalek given initial conditions and a trend say?EXTRAPOLATE!
What does a Dalek speech therapist say? ENUNCIATE!

Current list of victims Tina O'Brien, Jimi Mistry, Felicity Kendal
Rating Who cares
AND the greatest ever Doctor Who moment on Children in need .... 1985 . Several Doctors many assistants and Terry Wogan  of course. Still not too late to donate... follow the link on blog to the right of here.

Bottom two predicting time and of course the table hasn't changed at all. If this was the Premiership, these two would be packing their bags for fizzy pop not wondering how much longer they'll last. Gavin and Ann,  But I suspect, short of a miracle it'll be Patsy and Felicity sadly, neither of which deserve to be treated so.

This space reserved for my rant tomorrow.... laters all.

What a results show... Sexy women dancing to Bootilicious, Cirque du Soliel and Duffy, and then they had to hoy somebody other than Gavin and Ann. And the judges know it too, so they are ignoring the fact these two have not raised their game and are acting as if they don't exist. I suppose that will change if they're the last two standing and the mirror ball doesn't go to anybody who actually danced.  Congratulations all you people voting to piss off the judges, hope you have a lousy week.

Bottom two just as I had sadly predicted, but to my surprise it's Bendy Felicity going home. She was by more than a hair better than Patsy, but again it's a popularity contest and the Good Lifers were not up to the task of keeping her in. Felicity was gracious and a class act as she exited. I will miss her and thank her for some the best bits of Strictly this series. 

Watch the Blackpool show on the iPlayer 
Watch the results show on the iPlayer

For more details and all thing Strictly go to the Strictly Come Dancing home page .