James Jordan's Strictly Blog: The Three-Way Dance-Off Added Nothing To Strictly
Welcome to week seven of my column for WhichBingo. Halloween week gave us a surprise three-way dance-off, a very tight leaderboard and, for once, a week where I found myself agreeing with the judges more often than not. Here’s my take on the scores, the dance-off and where I think the show needs to go from here.
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My Scores From Week Six
Graeme Hall and Lauren Oakley, Samba. My score: 5. Judges: 6, 7, 5, 7.
I was surprised this dance opened the show on Halloween night. I personally hated the song choice and didn’t think the dance was much better. He’d been competing the night before, so I’d have expected his technique to be much better than it was. It was a bit of fun, and he seems like a lovely, lovely man.
Unfortunately, when I watch him dance it looks like he’s so worried about getting it technically right that you don’t see any personality or character, and I find it all a little boring to watch. The technique wasn’t that fantastic either. I wasn’t a fan of this one.
Delta Goodrem and Kai Widdrington, Viennese Waltz. My score: 8. Judges: 8, 8, 8, 9.
The Viennese waltz can actually be quite a boring dance, because you have three steps one way, which are your natural turns, three steps the other way, which are your reverse turns, and then you throw in a fleckerl. Kai has clearly worked a lot on her posture, which looks much better, and I think she could have driven more through her legs.
It felt a bit too contained for me. You didn’t get the flow across the floor, and she needs to get out and shape more to her right side. Overall, though, I think they did a fantastic job and I love her fluid movement. Especially when she’s out of hold you can see her dance experience shine through. It makes a change for me to fully agree with all the comments from the judges.
Tabby Stoecker and Mark Karmalita, Quickstep. My score: 5. Judges: 6, 7, 5, 7.
Until this week Mark has been one of the front runners in the competition, and he’s been a brilliant addition to the Strictly family. However, I always call it when the pros get it slightly wrong, and unfortunately this week it was down to him. The choreography was unnecessarily overcomplicated, and at times it even looked like he was making mistakes too. There was no synchronicity between the two of them and it looked a bit messy.
This is definitely their weakest dance so far, and hopefully just a bump in the road, because I think they have the potential to go a long way and even win. The judges mentioned a couple of mistakes when in fact there were many, and at times they were doing totally opposite things. Motsi and Anton gave it a seven, and there was a plethora of mistakes in that routine.
You have to choreograph to what you’ve got in front of you, and sometimes pros try to be so clever that they mess themselves up. As the pro you still need to stand your ground and say it’s too difficult. For me, that dance was a mess.
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John Nellis and Katya Jones, Tango. My score: 7. Judges: 8, 9, 9, 9.
I may need to go back and watch this one again, because I really loved it, but I gave it a seven and the judges gave it an eight and three nines, and I don’t understand why. He could improve his posture and have better footwork, and the timing was nice but questionable at times. You could pick lots of holes in this dance, including the section of tricks on the floor that wasn’t executed great. However, I loved it from beginning to end.
Once again Katya has created a fantastic performance. In my opinion he’s not one of the most gifted natural dancers in the competition, but she always seems to get the best out of him. She won’t always get it right, but she definitely did this week. I cannot stress enough how clever and brilliant Katya is.
Bethany Antonia and Nancy Xu, Jive. My score: 6. Judges: 7, 8, 7, 8.
Once again I find myself agreeing with the judges that this was one of their best dances to date. Her legs can still look very heavy and slow, because she isn’t getting the correct traction and technique. I don’t agree with Craig’s comment about dancing ahead of the music, though. You don’t try to dance ahead of the music, and it’s probably the worst thing she could do.
The reason this dance suited them better is that they could do a lot of it side by side, without the lead and follow that’s required in other dances, which is going to be much harder for two women to do. I still feel the judges marked it higher than they should have, even though they ended up in the bottom two. I thought it was their best dance so far in the competition.
Cach Mercer and Maddie Ingoldsby, Argentine Tango. My score: 8. Judges: 7, 9, 8, 9.
As a performance I thought this was amazing and I thoroughly enjoyed it. Some might say they needed more traditional Argentine tango steps in it, but I’d disagree. I do feel he sometimes lacks strength in line, position and frame, but this week he was really in the dance and it was fully believable. The connection and intensity between the two of them was clear to see. Well done.
Jaime Winstone and Carlos Gu, Salsa. My score: 6. Judges: 7, 7, 5, 8.
There was way too much posing and posturing, climbing on benches and hiding behind tombstones, for my liking, instead of doing a proper salsa. I think that’s probably why they ended up in the dance-off, because there was so much going on around the dancing. She also doesn’t have the softness a salsa requires and looks a bit stiff in her movement.
Having said all that, I still believe they have their best dances to come, and I think they have the potential to be the dark horses of the competition if they find the right dance. There’s something about them I really like, and I don’t know why they keep ending up in the bottom two. I don’t think they deserve it.
Will Best and Dianne Buswell, Couple’s Choice. My score: 8. Judges: 8, 8, 8, 8.
I can fully appreciate that this was a great dance from both of them. It was brilliantly choreographed by Dianne, I thought it was very clever as a performance, and I really enjoyed it. It’s the best dance they’ve done so far by a long way.
The only problem for me is that dances like this, in my opinion, have no place on Strictly. It’s one of the reasons they’re only getting around four million viewers now instead of more. They need to go back to what people fell in love with, which was beautiful ballroom and Latin dancing, not people dancing as puppets. This isn’t So You Think You Can Dance, it’s Strictly Come Dancing. None of that is a reflection on Will or Dianne, because it’s what they were asked to do, and they did it great. But for me, it has no place on the show.
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Lawrence Robb and Jowita Przystał, Tango. My score: 6. Judges: 6, 7, 6, 7.
First of all, I feel they were stitched up. I wrote that before I knew they were in the dance-off. They were stitched up with their music choice, Ghostbusters. Certain people on the show always seem to get the dramatic, powerful tracks the public are going to fall in love with, and I remember getting the same track one year and being eliminated with it too. There’s not a lot you can do with it.
It wasn’t a brilliant dance, but it was by no means bad, and I think he did a good job as a non-dancer. He just looked a bit ploddy and heavy at times because of the music choice.
Dani Dyer and Nikita Kuzmin, Viennese Waltz. My score: 8. Judges: 8, 8, 8, 8.
Until I saw the last performance I had this as performance of the night. Lacey and Vito were better and I marked them higher, but I still loved Dani and Nikita’s Viennese waltz, and I haven’t liked any of their dances up to this point, really. I believe this was good enough to go straight into a West End show. The fact it was Halloween week helped them massively, because her stiffness and awkward positions actually worked as a positive within the character of the dance.
As a professional dancer I can see she lacks a lot of the qualities needed in a traditional Viennese waltz, but I truly love this performance and it’s by far their best dance so far. I do worry it might be their best performance in the competition without being their best score from the judges.
I also have to mention the end, where she looked like she was trying to climb up a wall and go nowhere. Between the two of them they saved it and she got up onto the stage, and it was a shame it had to end like that because it was very noticeable. Overall, a brilliant, brilliant performance.
Lacey Turner and Vito Coppola, Charleston. My score: 9. Judges: 9, 9, 9, 9.
Performance of the night for me. Dani and Nikita’s was brilliant, but this was even better as an overall performance, from the execution and technicality to the difficulty of the lifts and fundamentals from beginning to end. I thought it was absolutely brilliant, and they’re the most consistent couple in the competition, creating great dances week after week. Vito is proving himself as probably the best male pro on the show, and I predicted them as my winners right back in week one.
I’m slightly confused by the judges. Last week they gave out tens where nobody warranted one, whereas this week, if they’d given out tens, I’d have said yes, okay. There were two dances, possibly three, that could have got tens and they didn’t, which baffles me.
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My Thoughts on the Show So Far
The three-way dance-off added nothing
I’m not for or against the three-way dance-off. I didn’t think it added anything, nobody was saying how amazing it was because there were three couples, but it didn’t bother me either. If they do it again or they don’t, I won’t mind. What I don’t understand is why they did it. Instead of seeing the two dances people liked the least, we’re now seeing three. We’re not seeing the three best dances of the night, we’re potentially seeing the three worst, so instead of two bad dances we get three.
The fact it was announced halfway through the week cries out to me, why have you done that? If you’re going to change the format of the show, do it every single week so everyone knows the rules, rather than suddenly sticking it in. It almost feels like they’re trying to produce something. Maybe they’re just making changes to look like they’re listening. If they read my column more, they’d go back to basics and stop with all the theme weeks.
They know who’s getting what votes and roughly where everyone sits on the leaderboard, so my question is whether Lawrence would have been in the bottom two had it been a normal dance-off. We can’t find out, because the votes aren’t released. Jaime and Bethany have both been in the dance-off before and clearly aren’t getting the public support, but Lawrence hadn’t, and he was quite a popular celebrity. I’m not saying I’m right, but if it was a two-way dance-off I don’t think he’d have been in the bottom two.
The right couple went home
I agree with who the judges sent home. Lawrence made a big mistake, and even if he hadn’t, it would have been a toss-up between him and Bethany. There was no way Jaime was going to go, because she was clearly the best of the three.
The dance and the music decide who survives
You can tell a lot about who’s in trouble from the dance they’re given. If Bethany and Nancy get a Charleston or a Couple’s Choice next week, that tells me the show is trying to keep them in, because people generally don’t go out on those dances. If they get a samba or a foxtrot, I’d say they’ll probably be in the dance-off again. It’s the same as with Shaun. As soon as they gave him a Couple’s Choice I said he wouldn’t be in the bottom two that week.
Jowita was stitched up this week as well. Everyone else gets brilliant dramatic songs and she got Ghostbusters, so what was the poor girl supposed to do? It was always going to be cringe. When I first joined the show, they asked us what dance we wanted to do, and we had a say in the music. Slowly but surely that power was taken away from the professionals, and there were many occasions where I said I wasn’t using a piece of music because I knew it wasn’t a good song. I do find they cherry-pick the good songs for certain couples and aren’t as bothered about others. Give someone a really dramatic tango and the public get behind it, because it isn’t just about the dancing, it’s about the music, and it’s easier to choreograph to as well.
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Strictly needs fewer theme weeks
There have been so many theme weeks already and we’re not even halfway through. We had one in week two, then another, and I think we’ve had about three. I want to go back to a little bit of normality and see proper ballroom and Latin dancing, not everyone in silly costumes with the judges dressed up too. I love Strictly and I’ll always support it and want the best for it, but they need to go back to the old school way, the beauty of ballroom and Latin that people fell in love with in the first place. Strip it back and let’s see the beautiful dancing again.
The tens were the wrong way round
I don’t think any tens were given out this week, and if they were ever going to be, this was the week. Last week they gave tens to dances that I didn’t think deserved them. This week there were two dances, possibly three, where I’d have said yes, I can see that. Even Dani and Nikita’s Viennese waltz, which I marked an eight like the judges, was an absolutely fantastic performance, and Lacey and Vito’s Charleston was the one I’d have scored highest.
The judges need to be consistent, and honest
There needs to be some consistency with the judging. Sometimes I find it questionable, like one judge giving a five and another an eight for the same dance, which happened with Jaime and Carlos’s salsa. There can’t be that much discrepancy between opinions, because there’s still technique involved. I also think the judges need to be more honest with their comments. Because of the way the world’s gone, everything has to be so positive and you can’t say anything.
This week I think I agreed with Shirley more than anyone. For Tabby and Mark, Graeme and Lauren and Jaime and Carlos I was along the same lines as her, where normally she marks a lot higher than me and I’m closer to Craig. Maybe she’s getting harsher than she has been in previous years, which I like, because I feel it’s more honest.
Don’t always blame the pro for the choreography
Some of the pros on the show might be a bit questionable, but it also depends on the celebrity in front of you and what they’re able to do. Katya is an anomaly, because no matter who she gets she seems to knock it out of the park with the choreography every week. But being a great dancer doesn’t mean you’re a great choreographer, and if your celebrity can’t do certain things you can’t choreograph brilliant routines. You can’t always blame the pro if you’ve got someone who can’t dance.
It’s also not always the pros doing the choreography, as they often get outside help. There are far more constraints on the professionals now than there were when I was on the show. We used to have an input in the costumes, the music and the choreography, and all of that has slowly been taken away.
Graeme needs to show more personality
Lauren is amazing. She’s proved herself before, when she stepped in with JB after Amy and he suddenly improved so much. She’s a brilliant pro. The issue with Graeme is that he has done many, many ballroom and Latin competitions, probably more experience than anyone else on the show, and I think he’s so worried about getting it technically right that he’s losing the wow factor and entertainment value you’re looking for in a couple, that Ed Balls kind of feel. He goes out there and does a good job, but I get a bit bored watching him, and that’s not down to Lauren. He seems better at the softer, slower dances, and anything more rhythmical, like the samba, just doesn’t come alive. I’d like to see more improvement from him than from anyone this week.
Bringing back old faces, and who goes on tour
I think it’s a really good idea for the Christmas special to bring back previous celebrities. The show’s been going for more than 20 years, so you get familiar faces, and you could get an Ed Balls again. The standard should be higher too, so maybe the judges will be more critical.
As for the Strictly tour, I think the producers wait until they know who’s popular and who’s going to put bums on seats, and the winner always seems to manage to be on it. When I went out early with my celebrity I’d think I probably wasn’t doing the tour that year, and you just take it on the chin. I also think the newer pros should get the opportunity to go on the arena tour, because at some point you have to let the young ones come in and take the reins. Normally if you go out early you end up doing the Christmas special, because you’ve got the time to rehearse with someone.
Legends tour, our book and Dance Rebels
I’m still currently on the Legends tour with Brendan Cole, Ian Waite, Pasha Kovalev and Vincent Simone, all the old geriatrics from Strictly, selling out up and down the country. I can’t believe people still come to see us old farts, and we are so grateful for the continued love and support from the people who loved Strictly as it was back in the day. It’s a great night and we have so much fun and it is very, very funny. Brendan and I have just released a book together, which is very exciting. It’s called Dance Rebels and would make a perfect Christmas gift for someone. It covers my childhood, his childhood, how we got into dancing, how we met and our competitive careers, plus plenty of stories and behind-the-scenes gossip from Strictly that people won’t be aware of. It’s a really nice coffee table book.
We’re also going on tour together next year. It’s called Dance Rebels and we’re doing 57 dates up and down the country. The two naughty boys are going on tour.
Who I’m Backing From Here
Lacey and Vito are still my winners. I predicted it in week one, and they’re the most consistent couple in the competition. Tabby and Mark had a wobble this week, but I think they have the potential to go a long way and even win, and Jaime and Carlos could be the dark horses if they find the right dance.
As for next week’s dance-off, I can only tell you once I know what dances everyone has been given. The couples I most want to see improve are Graeme and Lauren, and Bethany and Nancy, who were over-marked and still ended up in the bottom two, which tells me the public aren’t getting behind them.
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In case you missed it, you can catch up with last week’s Strictly blog.
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