It Takes Two: Friday

I take back everything I said about suspecting Erin and Austin didn't get on. Awww. They're lovely. She babysat for him. How... odd, yet lovely.

Andrew and Ola say their samba will be 'entertaining.' That sounds familliar. I think that's how Erin and Peter described their samba, and we know what happened there.

I'm not going see the Saturday show till Sunday, so I'll post after I've seen both shows. Also, I'm starting nanowrimo tomorrow. Yes I'm insane. I've made a blog here, where you can read snippets, rejoicing and moaning. Probably mostly the latter. Posts will either be plentiful, as in oh god, I can't write anything, distract me! or missing, in which case it is all going well! (Or I have smashed my computer in frustration.)

It Takes Two: Thursday

I really love Cherie and James. I hope they get through this week okay. I didn't like James alot in the previous series, but I've been won over.

Yesterday they said that the Quicksep was 'Erin's dance' which was lovely because I think she's said it's her favourite. Their training looks really good, I'm looking forward to seeing it.

Rachel and Vincent's jive looks like it will be great too, and I've got my fingers crossed for Heather's chacha.

Star Trek: Voyager (1x01)

Quick quiz! You have crashed on a planet, with one other starfleet officer. You come face to face with three aliens. You warn them that you will shoot if they don't back off, but they shoot at the other officer, injuring him. Do you:

a) shoot the aliens
b) warn them again that you will shoot them if they don't back off
c) turn around to check on the injured officer, thus turning your back on the still-armed aliens who have proven themselves to be hostile?

What the hell Janeway? NO REALLY. Less rubbish, more awesome please.

In her defense it turned out to be a near-death experience type hallucination with an alien who was trying to convince her concisceness to enter his "matrix" so he could feed off it. Or something. Probably it wasn't an entirely accurate portryal of how she would actually act.

Yes, I accidently caught an episode of Star Trek Voyager on Virgin1 last night. So today I decided to watching the pilot again. It's been a long time.

And I really enjoyed it! Chakotay isn't unbearably annoying yet, nor is Neelix. In fact, I rather liked the Neelix/Tuvok interaction at this point.

"Perhaps you'd like a bath?"
"A what?"

Though the way Neelix talks to Kes is still insanely patronising and unbearable. Kes isn't exactly a shining beacon of characteristation though.

The Harry/Tom relationship is good here too - Tom just manages to be both sympathetic and arrogant without going too far in either direction. B'Elanna's at her most angry-with-the-whole-universe, and it's nice to see her calm down as the series progresses.

Janeway is suitable awesome. "It's not crunch time yet Mr. Kim. I'll tell you when."

"Captain, There's something out there."
"I need a better description than that Mr Kim!

She's completely in charge, no questions asked. I love the scenes between her and Tuvok, they have a lovely friendship.

(There are plot holes you could drive a starship through, of course. Did they really only have two medical staff aboard? Who looked after the crew when they were off-duty? I suppose they only thought they would be gone a couple of weeks, but still, they were heading into a potentially dangerous situation that might require a medical team.)

It Takes Two: Tuesday

Jo Caufield used to be the warm-up when we went to recordings of Have I Got News For You. She was ridiculously unfunny then and doesn't appear to have gotten any better. She likes Lisa and Len. That figures.

I really like seeing Anton talk about the choreography, even if he did talk about Andrew and Ola all over Austin and Erin.

Wednesday tomorrow. We can start looking forward to next week instead of seeing endless repeats of last week, hurrah!

It Takes Two: Monday

Arlene 'gets on with Len.' Uh-huh, once more with feeling, Arlene.

Also, hurrah for Craig saying that Len gets a bit 'carried away' when he disagrees with the other judges. So true, although I do believe Craig when he says it doesn't last.

From the Hard Drive

Our freeview box has a harddrive, and it is incredibly easy to set it to record things. I set it to record alot of things, most of which I will eventually delete three months later because I am clearly never going to watch it.

Anyway, this weekend I saw two things that my housemate had recorded. First we saw Samantha Who? For those who don't watch as much E4 as I do (oh endless Friends repeats, how easily sucked in I am,) and therefore haven't seen the ads, this is a comedy show about a woman who has just come out of a coma and has amnesia. (I initally thought she would have short term memory loss, but no, just ordinary amnesia.) I didn't expect too much, but I was completely suprised; lots of laugh out loud moments, very few cringe-worthy moments. I really enjoyed it and will defiantely try to catch it again.

Then we saw Beautiful People. Again, I've seen this advertised lots and quite fancied seeing it, but sort of forgot about it. It was very good, again, very funny and interesting. Often comedies make camp characters very one-dimensional, just for the laughs, but this is a much than just that. I really liked the two main character and his simillarly-camp best friend; I liked that his parents didn't want to force him to be something he wasn't, but at the same time they didn't want him to suffer.

So two shows to watch, if I remember.

SCD Week 6 Results

The most boring results show ever, or the most boring results show ever?

Kristina and Brian did a mambo. I don't think they had much time to rehearse it. Also, the problem with having pros who aren't professional partners is that it is harder for them to pull off a dance without much practise.

Then the Jersey Boys sang and a few people did a ... dance of some description, near them. That was dull.

Then Enrique Iglesias sang a mopey song and some pros did mopey-type rumbas near him.

SO DULL.

Eventually, ten million years later, we got to the results. I'm so glad Heather got through. Then Mark was in the bottom two and there was MUCH REJOICING. Andrew was in the bottom two, which was fair, people forget about you when you get better, but are still low down the table. I didn't think Andrew was as good the second time, but Mark was even worse, if that's possible. So he went.

(And then he stripped. Eurgh. Whatever.)

We have already gotten to the point where people are going to be doing different dances. I can't help but think there is a better way to organise it. I always thought it was a bit of mess because the pros knew what dances they would be doing each week way in advance. But apparently that is not so. Hmm. Probably there isn't a better way of organising it. But I shall be judgey anyway.

Strictly Come Dancing: Week 6

Well, while the dresses improved alot, there were some peculliar song choices this week, largely in the Paso Dobles. More on that as we go along.

Lisa and Brendon
It was an okay dance, but it didn't feel dramatic. I don't think the song helped - it sounded dramatic, but it wasn't very 'hard', if you know what I mean. I don't know if her dancing just made it feel that way. Either way, there was definately something missing.

Also, I don't like those dresses that are cut away in semi-circles around people's waists. They just are not flattering people! Actually, Lisa sort of carries hers off, but she's the first person whose managed them.

Andrew and Ola
Suprisingly, all it takes is a rubber band or two to increase your dancing skills.
(Quick someone tell Mark.) Actually this was quite a touching dance, and I was impressed by the improvement Andrew made this week. (Though yes, it wasn't perfect, I agree with whatn Craig said.) I was even saddened by his stumble. For the first time I actually don't mind if he stays in. Though, the public has a habit of keeping people in until they manage a good dance and then they'll go home. So, possibly he is in the danger zone.

Christine and Matthew
... oh. Well. She was all floppy and half-hearted with her arms. The first time she put her arm above her head I cringed, and it didn't get any better. She seemed to be sort fo skipping to keep up with Matthew at times. I loved the song choice though, when they played it behind their training, I half-heartedly hoped they might be dancing to that. And then they did! Not sure it worked for a Paso though, perhaps with more talented dancer it could have been good.

Bizare her dress was, I actually kind of liked it.

Austin and Erin
Wow. I was completely mesmerised by this dance. I totally believed the relationship between them, that I hadn't really bought into before now.

Cherie and James
What an awful shame she went wrong at the top, it clearly put her off throughout the rest, so the performance wasn't as good as it could have been, she seemed very distracted. But lovely lines and shapes ands tuff.

I'm not sure about the neckline of her dress, but I liked it alot otherwise.

Heather and Brian
Another suprise improvement! It seemed alot faster than the other V. Waltzes. For a change I didn't agree with Craig at all. (But oh god, please let us hear what he is saying! Less bickering!) Weird colour of dress, but I liked that it spun like a proper waltz dress.

Arlene cracked me up. Se-ven! Poor Bruno didn't know what was going on.

Mark and Hayley
Last week, acting lessons, this week, boxing! What next? However, like last week, it didn't help much, did it? He looked very awkward and uncomfortable.

Tom and Camilla
It was a bit ... odd. It was very fast, but a tad mechanical. I don't know. Something weird happened to his fleckle. I didn't like it much. Plus Camilla has feathers. I don't know why people would put feathers on dresses.

What a bizare collection of scores though.

John and Kristina
Actually, not as bad as I thought. He kept the serious face on, though I agree it was more grumpy than dramatic. But he's so endering! Propbably he should go home before it gets irritating.

Sergant Sergent. *giggles*

(Also, Charlie K! OMG!)

Rachel and Vincent
Lovely choreography from Vincent, I don't know what Len was watching.

Jodie and Ian
And finally... I think she hunched over a bit too much. At time it seemed to work, and then at other times it looked like she was struggling to keep up. I agree with Bruno, that it seemed a little wild. I quite liked it though. Weird song choice, but it sort of worked.


(Also, I laughed out loud at Austin and Erin being silly behind Tess at the end.)


Predictions:
I think Heather and Andrew, having improved, are in danger of being forgotten by the public. I suspect John and Mark will both be saved again, but maybe people are fed up with Mark? Oh can only hope.

SCD: It Takes Two (Thursday)

A flashback to series 3, as we watch Darren Gough's Paso Doble and Len reminds us what MANLY-MALE-BLOKE he was. *incoherent rage*

It's like when they pretend that men can't do the rumba. Um, hi there Colin, were you on our show? Apparently not. Wait for it, it'll happen.


In happier news Erin turned up! Whenever they show clips of Austin, Erin is oddly absent. Part of me thinks that they don't get on and so whenever they are not dancing they are on opposite sides of the room, not talking. This is probably not true.

Strictly Come Dancing: Week 5 and Results

... but first an ITT sidenote:

Len has denied rumors that he isn't coming back next year. Hmmph. So much for my cunning plan. No mention of what Brucie might be doing though, so fingers crossed.

Marian Keyes is quite annoying, but I liked Lilia alot more for running out and hugging her and then suggesting they get married. Oh, so easily swayed by the gay. Isn't that annoying?

I liked that Erin was mostly amused that she Anton, Ian and Camilla were going to be doing "fluff" behind Darcy Bussell. "Attempting to do ballet" near Darcy Bussell. I'm quite amused too. Alos, I do want to see Darcy and Katherine Jenkins DVD now. It sounds great, and also they wore shirts.


Onwards!

Strictly Come Dancing: Week 5 and Results

Rachel & Vincent
I forgotten to mention them in last weeks post, but this week I was impressed by their samba. Fun and bouncy,and I completely agreed with the judges scores. Also, Rachel had the best dress.

Lisa & Brendon
I didn't like this much at all. They spent a suspicious amount of time in hold, or close to hold, and it didn't feel particularly smooth, especially compared to later dances. It was perfectly fine, but I didn't get the judges raving about it at all. They didn't deserve to be top, showing the clips next to Tom and Cherie really proved that to me.

Heather & Brian
Oh dear. She looked terrified and panicked and oh. In training she always looks like it's coming together, but I think nerves get the better of her every time. I thought she'd be in the bottom two, partly because she was dreadful and also she was in that lower-middle danger zone.

Cherie & James
Oh, that was lovely. Elegant and simple, but very lovely. I am warming to James more and more. I didn't agree with Craig,though I could see wht he meant. Hmm. The final lift was incredible, I don't know how they made it look so elegant. I think the marks they got were right (even allowing for Craig's 7!) but Lisa was overmnarked, so they were the wrong way around on the board.

Mark & Hayley
Distractng outfit? Oh dear. Never a good start. He's learnt how to smile, (thank you John Barrowman) but it hasn't help his dancing. Apparently he wasn't just holding back - he really has no talent. Next week it'll be Props. Hats, chairs and things. Themed dances. I'm afraid. He should have been in the bottom two.

Dom & Lilia
A bit dull, but perfectly fine. Much like Lisa and Brendan's dance, actually. He was very very tense, I wondered if having a lift earlier in the dance might have calmedhis nerves,as he seemed so worried about them in the training clips. Throughly middle of the board standard. I didn't expect them to be in the bottom two, but, well. *is annoyed with British public again*

Erin & Austin
I'm always amazed at how comfortable Austin looks on the dancefloor. His smile never seems forced, like alot of the celebrities and he always seems to be havng a good time, rather that trying to 'perform' to the audience. Even though this is not his best dances, and I don't think it was even the most exciting or entertaining samba, I really like him and Erin.

What was up with Erin's costume though? The skirt I could let go, given that it's a samba, but the weird shoulder-scarf thing? It's an odd look.

Andrew & Ola
I don't even remember this. Was it dull? Was he awful? I suspect so.

Christine & Matthew
I think I might have liked this one more than Austin's. It was great fun.

Jodie & Ian
Oh. Well. What a suprise! Lovely, elegant, smooth, ... etc. Throughly deserved the praise from the judges, but I'm not sure it's going to last. If she has the V. Waltz she'll probably get by, but the paso ... don't know.

John & Kristina
Oh, bless his soul. Excellent choice of song, slightly gimicky choreography, very little in the wayof dance steps, and yet I loved it and I loved John and I loved Kristina. (Though his comment that 'the public wll save us' was a little smug-sounding.) I loved that Kristina was more excited that John when they went through. I think he's a bit baffled by the whole thing, to be honest.

Tom & Camilla
Did you know that he is getting married on Sunday? And that this is his stag night? DID YOU? He's getting MARRIED. Any minute now. MARRIED.

That said, I loved his dance. It felt very much like an old American movie.

I also love that Camilla will smile widely on though any lift, no matter how close it is to going completely wrong. (Trouser-dress! Wear proper trousers or just don't bother, I say. My mum claims it is very 30s, and so very appropriate and blahblahblah.)

Results!

I'm shocked that Dom and Lilia went, though between them and Heather it was pretty even. I would have chosen Heather to go myself. I've really warmed up to Lilia over the past few weeks, it turns out.



Now, I am about to brave the cold dark world to try a dance class. I haven't been for over a year and this is someplace new... we'll see how it goes.

Briefly...

I am away this weekend, so a proper Strictly post will pop up in a day or so. For now I have only this to say: the only two black contestants were in the bottom two. My faith in the British public has ... stayed pretty much at the same level. Le sigh.


Anyway. People I Know In Real Life (I know! Flesh-and-blood people!) claimed that Bruce Forsyth is planning to leave at the end of this series. I'd heard rumors, but apparently this was much more substantial than that. Alas, my google alerts today claim that it is not to be HOWEVER apparently Len is maybe leaving! The jet lag is apparently too much for him, and the US version pays better. Is it too early to start campaigning for Karen hardy to replace him? Or maybe Mary Murphy from SYTYCD? (Although I think Mary&Bruno being in the same place might cause some sort of space-time explosion due to a build up incomprehensible enthusiasm.)

Book: Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke.

Today I have read two books. TWO! I have gone through several weeks lately of not reading at all, except for comfort re-reading, so two books in a day seems a bit excessive. I read one book, and then I was planning to go to the cinema, but there was nothing on I wanted to see. So I read another book.

Anyway, the first book. This is not a review, I'm not good at those. This is just a list of things I love.

Rendezvous with Rama, Arthur C Clarke.

This book was published in 1974, and the back of it informs me that it cost 50p. Also, it was not for sale in Canada, and the Australia price of 1.50 was recommended but not obligatory. I love getting bookmooch books.

Arthur C Clarke is one of the giants in sci-fi writing, and I haven't read nearly as enough of his books as I would like. In fact, I've just mooched the sequel to this book and a couple of others by him.

Rendezvous with Rama is about set in 2131, when we have colonised other planets/moons in the solar system, but not gotten much further than that. We are also a bit obsessed with charting the paths of asteriods after one destroyed most of Italy a while back. The scientists discover a new, large asteriod, so large it is assigned a name instead of a number: Rama. (They've run out of Greek and Roman gods, so started using Hindu mythology.) Except upon closer inspection, it's discovered to be a long metal hollow cylinder, heading towards the sun. The nearest spacecraft is sent to investigate it before it swings around the sun and head back off into deep space.


I love this book. I love that the main drive of the plot doesn't come from the characters endangering themselves and other by making stupid or self-centred decsions, until you want to scream that they should never have let anyone that stupid and blind into space, goddamnit. This is a book all about the mysteries of Rama and the alien races who built it. Each chapter seems to slowly reveal more and more without there being many answers. There are a few, but no one seems to agree on anything. The crew exploring just happened to be the nearest ship, so none of them are terribly training for this, but they are doing the best they can, because they know it is important.

I love that the captain is obsessed with James Cook, and how it constantly affects his decisions - he's very aware that history will remember him, but he's willing to take risks to explore. I love that he trusts his crew to get on with things - like I said, there are no loose cannons on his ship.

I love how thought out and real the universe it's set in feels; the colonies and the United Planets and the irritating politicians and scientists. The delay in communications. The failing attempts to lower the population of earth, that is mostly a half-hearted joke to people.

I love the hints at what the aliens and alien culture we get, just enough to start forming ideas, but nothing very solid of concrete (much like in one of my other favourite books, Gateway.)

And I love the ending. (Highlight to read spoilers.) I love that everyone was so worried Rama would bring alien invaders or attack us or generally be bad, and Rama just wanted to refuel, and then moved on and didn't even realised we existed.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel(s?)

So You Think You Can Dance!

Last night in an attempt to dispel the post-Strictly despair and disappointment, we watched the first episode of So You Think You Can Dance!: Canada. Apparently they have only just started the first season, even though America's just finished it's fourth and I'm sure Australia have had at least one season, probably more. I mean, come on Canada! Jump on the bandwagon already!

Anyway, I don't have too many comments about it right now, but I thought I would make a post about the American one. Which I LOVE LOVE LOVE. Not because it's full of awful auditions and crying and cheesiness, although it is, and I love that; not because it's full of spectacular dancing and pretty costumes, although, again, it is and I love that too; mostly I love it because it is about the most professionally made audition show I have ever, ever, seen. This is no American Idol for Dancers. This is a serious show, for dancers who want to be professional.

From here on, there is a list.

1. I Love Nigel Lythgoe
Nigel Lythgoe is the exective producer. You may know him from such shows as American Idol. He's also worked as a professional dancer and chreographer. And he's made a show, and mostly gone "I don't want awful back-stabbiness and celebritism, I want good dancers and good entertainment." He's not afraid to tell dancers he will overrule all the other judges if he thinks someone will screw up a live show. Or to tell them that they are not the best dancer, but they are "casting a show" and "looking for personailities." He frequently reminds us that this is NOT about the best dancer, but America's favourite dancer, because the public are voting for them.

He has his bad points; he's obsessed with male dancers being MANLY and MASCULINE, and often that crowds how he sees male dancers that might be technically brilliant, but a bit more effeminate. I suspect he has left over issues from his own dancing days. He's also quite frankly weird about fat* people; he is very supportive good dancers who are fat, until the minute they come across something they can't do so well and then it's all about their weight and how they've been hiding it up to now, but now they are looking like a lump. If he gets auditions from fat people that don't get through, even if they are not too bad, just not good enough, he's so patronising about them keeping up dancing "for their health." Even though some of these dancers are about 8 million times more flexible and fit than the average person.

(*I'm using fat to encompass anyone who is larger than the "ideal" dancer. I'm not using overweight, because I don't think they are overweight.)


2. I love Mary Murphy.
Nigel and Mary are the two permanent judges through the live shows, and through most of the audition rounds. (Before season 2, it was just Nigel and Mary rotated like the other judges/chreographers.) Mary Murphy is ridiculously American. Ridiculously. She screams and talks about people being "on the hot tamalaie train!" and has the kind of American accent I didn't think actually existed in the world. BUT. She is a ballroom dancer, and is very very technical. If she likes your dance it's all screaming and grinning and screaming, but if she doesn't... oh boy. Duck and cover. She will pick your dance apart. Especially ballroom dances. She's like a combination of Bruno and Craig with Len's technical knowledge. Sometimes she does those crazy fake outs, ("I don't want to spoil the fun... so I won't! It was great!" "I hate to agree with my fellow judge here.... but I do!) but sometimes it's not a fakeout, because sometimes she just hates it.

Also, sometimes she cries and hugs people, and can't speak because the dance was completely perfect and emotional.

3. I love all the judges.
So, with Nigel and Mary in the auditions and the live shows, there is a rotating thrid judge. They are one of the staple group of choreographers the show has, and the great thing is that it is as likely to be a woman as it is a man. So sometimes there are TWO women and only ONE man. And when they have six judges, when they pick the top 20 who go on to the live shows, they had three of each. And and and... it's just nice to see.

Also, the judges are so completely respectful of each other. No shouting and arguing and backstabbing and talking over each other... just people, giving opinions and being able to disagree with each other, while still respecting the other judges opinions and expertise. It's so refreshing to see.

4. I love Mia Michaels
Mia Michaels is one of the rotating judges, and also one of the frequent choreographers. In fact, seeing Mia on the judging panel usually brings a sigh of disappointment from us, because she is a stunning choreographer. She choreographs contempory routines, and when we see the training footage, there is alot fo emphasis on "getting in touch with their emotions," "feeling the music" "letting it just happen" and sometimes crying and things. I know, I know, it sounds all too American for words. And yet, it works. Mostly because mia is also a demanding choreographer: she wants the movement to be just like this and forces the dancers to twist their bodies into new and unexpected positions. Nearly all the dancers come out of Mia's training with a new attitude, and praising her. For many of them it's a turning point on the show, after which they become much more engaged and connected with all of their dances. It bizarre. She just breaks them and then makes them into better dancers.

5. I love Shane Sparks.
Shane Sparks is another rotating judge/choreographer, who sadly was missing from the latest season. Woe. He is a hiphop dancer, and is brilliant. During the audition rounds he'll come and sit all slumped in his chair with his hat pulled down low. If a dancer is good he'll so say, if they are not, he'll just chuckle and usually not comment further. But sometimes someone comes on who is awesome, usually in hiphop. And the other judges won't have got it, they'll think it's good but they won't have got it like Shane Sparks. At this point, Shane will stand up, and cheer and scream like Mary Murphy and usually he'll be crying, just telling these incredible street dancers, how incredible they are, and he totally sees where they are coming from and they are on the same page and it's awesome and he loves dance, just loves it, it moves him completely and it's incredible to watch.

6. I love the backstage parts
Or lack there of. We'll see their training footage, which will sometimes include some silliness, but usually it's all hard work and learning. In the recaps we'll see a snippet or two of them backstage, smiling at the camera or dancing to the theme music with everyone, but that's about it. There's no all living in the same house, backstabbing, getting drunk, bitching and fighting and bed hopping... no. On the show everyone is incredible professional... by the final, when they all learn four or five dances in a week, they just say that they are too exhausted and busy to even think about winning, let alone fight or argue or get competitive. I think it's because at the end of the day, this isn't some 'find a celebrity' competition. These people want to be professional dancers - heck, most of them are professional dancers, in that they dance for a living, though that living is usually pretty badly paid. And no matter which way it goes, they will most likely have to work with the other contestants, and choreographers and judges at some point and pissing them off it not really a good plan.

7. I love Cat Deeley
Oh Cat. She awful dresses to rival Tess'. But in the auditions she wears jeans and coats and has friendly chats in line, and sometimes tries to dance with people in the queue and is just awful but happy. She very friendly. I like her alot. Even with her ugly dresses.

8. I love seeing different dance styles.
Contempory, Ballroom, Latin, various versions of Salsa/mambo/etc, Lyrical, Jazz, Broadway, Hiphop, Krumping... this season they did Bollywood and that Russian dance where they crouch. It's exciting to see them all, and all the different styles of them all, depending on the choreographer. I might make a seperate post maybe with YouTube links to my favourite dances, if people are interested.



SYTYCD!: Canada
I like it so far. Mary Murphy turned up to judge, and next week one of the male judges is on it whose name I cna't remember. Dan something? Also, while the American version always had a refreshingly low number of truely crap auditions, Canada, in the first show, had few-to-none, if memory serves. The preview for next week showed lots though, so perhaps there just aren't any deluded dancers in Toronto?

SCD: Results

Where are all the Eastenders fans? Has there been a boycott of Strictly I wasn't aware of? Has Eastenders turned rubbish and lost all its viewers? and speaking of fanbases, who on earth is voting for Jodie Kidd? I know she's dancing wiht Ian, who is always a fave, but that hasn't stopped Anton and Darren from going out.

You've got to feel for Jessie. She did everything she could. She danced with Darren, she's from Eastenders, she cried on live tv (though not in an obvious begging for votes way.) Where did it go wrong?

The dance off was a bit horrendous to watch. The actual dancing was, well, much the same. Heather seemed a bit more lively. But when they had to come down and get advice from Len, Darren looked like he might collapse, Jessie looked like she might cry again, Brian was sad but was SMILING ON through the pain. It was a bit awful.

I'm very excited about next week, but I won't be seeing it until the Sunday as I am away.

Strictly Come Dancing: Week Four

I'm still sad we have to wait till tomorrow. Every week it's a new wave of disappointment. I'm sat there, in this brightly sparking world of glitter and dancing and then suddenly... it's over. I'm left with left over chinese food and an empty bottle of wine (or two.) In previous years there would have been exciting predictions, lively discussions, mad and slightly drunken voting! Eager countdowns and double-checking the times for the results show! Sometimes we would even race out to the local pub for dinner between the two shows. Would it be too busy? Would we get served in time? Would there be time for starters? Dessert? Another drink?

But now everything is flat and lifeless and grey. Wave of disappointment. etc. etc.

Anyway. I'm thinking sparkle, for the recap.

Christine and Matthew
Not as good as I was hoping. Not awful, but clearly not great. Slightly weird choreography, all stopping and starting... What happened this week? Hardly anyone managed to stand out.

Jodie and Ian
Oh, ick, ick, look at that free arm! Either dangling uselessly or Very Carefully placed EXACTLY where she had been told to put it, with her hand all floppy at the end. She looked stiff and uncomfortable. I'm not sure what the judges said, because at this point takeaway was delivered.

Heather and Brian
I thought their training looked dodgy during the week, as did everyone else on ITT. Like them, I assumed that by Saturday she would be sorted. I was wrong. It was heavy and clumsy and not very skimming. I think I spotted her going wrong early on, getting out of time with Brian and from that point onwards she had a grimmace plastered on her face.

Cherie and James
OH. Oh, that is a good dress. Okay, it's not a great dress, but Cheries looked quite good in it. Shallowness aside... she and James have great chemistry, and she was all flowy and sexy and not self-conscious about it. It wasn't ranchy, it was just tender and intimate. I liked it alot.

Jessie and Darren
Oh dear. :( It wasn't car-wreck-awful, I thought it was about the same level as Heather and James... but what do I know.

Lisa and Brendan
It's quite sad that my dislike of Brendan colours my opinion of his partners. It wasn't true last year, when I started off quite liking Kelly, until the American Smooth Disaster and then it all went a bit down hill for me. I liked Claire King before that. This year Lisa hasn't won me over and unfortunately that means I have absolutely no desire to see her and Brendan stay in. Unfortunately they danced quite well. Grr.

Mens' Group Dance
Last year, around Halloween, we learnt a dance called the 'Salsa Wheel' in my Salsa class. Suprisingly, it looked alot like this dance, except instead of a choreographed routine, there's some guy shouting out words that tell you what to do. (Not in English, I might add, which makes for quite alot of confusion.) Anyway, we even did some of the same steps! I fondly remembered 'the Flower,' which reminded us so much of the hokey-cokey, we started singing it. You can probably work out which move that was.

The guys looked about as messy as we were and we had about fifty couples in two circles, AND had a guy shouting instructions at us over the music. (In... I want to say Spanish, but I think that's wrong.) I'm quite judgey at their inability to form a vaguely neat circle. Also, they had to do one of those drops with soemone who wasn't their partner! Scary stuff.

Other comments
-Only Rachel seemed to manage a decent dress this week. I liked Cheri's, but it was a bit bold. I didn't like the sketch of Christine's yesterday, and I hated even more in person. Why do people think silver is flattering? And bright pink underneath? Ola looked awful, Camilla looked awful... It was a MESS. They tried so hard with the (usually ugly) Foxtrot dressed, and now this.

-Speaking of which, Tess has a belt. It was only thin, but I predict a downward slide. Suprisingly the dress was not bad, and she seems to be one of the few people who can carry off orange.

-If Bruce introduces a couple and then, by the end of his "joke" I've forgotten who the couple are, he is TAKING TOO LONG. Just so that's clear.

-Did Arlene and Len manage to have an almost civil disagreement on a dance? Did Len not dismiss Arlene's opnions entirely out of hand? I am in shock! Also, has Len decided that constructive critism is the way to go now? *falls down*

-I'm not sure Jessie will get saved again. I have vague hope that maybe no one is voting for Brendan and Lisa, the way no one voted for Emma Bunton, and they will drop into the bottom two. Probably Jodie will be in the bottom two, along with either Jessie or Heather. Or maybe not.




(I wish the BBC site had a scoreboard up somewhere. I shouldn't have to rely on wikipedia to remember who was at the bottom of the leaderboard! That said the wikipedia page has some interesting tables, including average scores, and they seem to know what dances the girls are doing next week, even though the girls weren't supposed to know yet!)

It Takes Two : Tuesday

An approximation of an earlier conversation.
Fellow-Strictly-Watcher : I really like Hayley
Me : Oh, I don't! She and Mark are so dull!
FSW : I'm suprised you don't like Hayley. She's so pretty!
M : Perhaps I am not as shallow as everyone thinks! ... also she's blonde.


Last week I was wondering why no one had informed poor-new-girl-Hayley of the Acting Coach Technique for improving performance. Apparently she already knew though. I couldn't work out if they had had an acting coach in, were going to get one in, or if Hayley had gone one step further and enrolled Mark onto some sort of month-long course.

Seriously, when I become a strictly pro dancer, (that BBC call is going to come any day now, I'm sure!) there are three things that I would do in the first week.

1. Acting lesson(s)
2. Ballet lessons
3. Make them watch past highly scoring dances on the show and good examples of the dances for the pro world, so they knew what on earth the dance was supposed to look like. (For example, how much headbanging a traditional tango has in it, to pull an example out of this air...)



I'm very glad to see Erin on the show. Previous years' ITT have often been missing Erin, presumably a combination of her having the highest number of hours training and having celebs that live far away. (Willie - Scotland, Peter - Manchester, Colin - Cardiff) This year she doesn't seem to be high up the training hours table - I suppose Austin's injuries make it tricky - and I wonder if she finally got a Londoner. Long may it continue, I say.



It was nice to Anton again, though I find Flavia most of what Flavia says to be a)agreeing with whoever else just spoke, b)something we were all very clear about anyway, or c)not at all interesting. Am I just biased? I was sad that it wasn't an Anton&Karen panel, I like Karen much more and she has very clear and often controversial/differing opinions about thing. Fingers crossed she turns up on Craig's mid-week report.


(Does anyone know why blogger refuses to allow me to remain signed in, no matter how many times I click the 'remember me' button? I don't think it's a cookies issue, plenty of other sites remember me.)

Strictly Come Dancing: Week Three and Results

I have returned! I am also offically another year older.

Comments will be short. My memory is poor.

Austin and Erin
Apparently he wasn't all that bothered by his bad back. If that's him dancing with a bad back, I hope it heals quickly - he'll be professional by Christmas. Awesome.

Tom and Camilla
Very fun, nearly as good as Austin, but not quite. I can't decide if I love or hate the Austin/Tom rivally stuff; at the moment it's quite fun and sweet, but I imagine it will soon get irritating.

John and Kristina
He didn't really get the seriousness of the tango, but I agree with Bruno, that he sold the dance anyway. I'm glad the public voted for him: I'm predicting he'll make it to the quarter-finals, then go home as the public starts to swing more for good dancers rather than adorableness and entertainment.

Gary and Karen
Oh, so glad he went home. He was marginally better - his steps were smaller! I felt awful for them when he went completely wrong in the dance off, and I'm sad he didn't get a chance to do ballroom, but I think it's good that his not hanging on in for weeks ala-Kate Garraway. He was saved by the public in the first week, which was nice, but I'm glad he's gone. Hopefully Karen will turn up to give Opinions, which I always enjoy. :)

Mark and Hayley
How does he manage to be so dull? I'm sure it was technically alright but oh god, the bordem. I don't care about this couple. I'm glad they were in the bottom two, though I think they were the right couple to save, because it means people aren't voting for them and they might go home soon.

Andrew and Ola
Headbanging.

Headbanging.

I can't get past that. I'm all for experimentation and interesting music and stuff, but mostly that only works if you can dance. Otherwise it's just.... well. Andrew and Ola. Why weren't they in the bottom two? Who the hell is voting for them? I think they should go home next week.

Don and Lilia
I wasn't entirely convinced by his Tango-face, but the dance was quite good. I didn't like Lilia's dress. *is petty*


The girls' group dance was brilliant. It really showed that the level of ability with the girls is much higher than the boys. It's a shame that we have to get rid of another girl next week instead of, for example, Andrew and Ola.

I loved Anton and Erin's dance in the final, though Fellow-Strictly-Watcher, upon my return exclaimed 'why didn't they do a quickstep, the girls are doing a quickstep next week, Anton and Erin could have done us a beautiful quickstep and they didn't.' Which is a fair point: I love love love Anton and Erin's quickstep, and it was the dance that inspired me to start dancing myself, back in season 4.

The rumba was good, but no Ian and Camilla? THe new (younger!) dancers are very bendy.

Flavia and Vincent did a lovely dance, that occasionally slipped into contempory type dancing, what will all that rolling about on the floor. I also am a bit cynical, and can't help but feel it's a way of getting past the ugliness of the Matt-Flavia-Vincent nightmare of last year, the way they made Vincent and Flavia do a beautiful dance in the middle of it.