We open with the excellent Beverley Knight MBE singing 'Memory' from Cats. I had the pleasure of seeing her in Memphis: The Musical a few years back and she really was dynamite in it. (Matt Cardle, who was her co-star, not so much.) The pros are waltzing all around her, with Aljaž and Katya getting the showcase spot and doing a sublime and ridiculous spinning lift which I enjoy very much. It's all very soft and subtle and lovely, which is quite a nice change of pace after the full on jazz-handsiness of pretty much everything that was performed last night. See you next year, Beverley!
Tess and Claudia return, thankfully both in far less ridiculous outfits than in the main show (Tess: a knee-length long-sleeved red dress which has had the shoulders cut out for some bizarre reason; Claudia: a black mid-length sleeved just-over-the-knee black dress with a sequin-trimmed collar), and Tess reminds us that Karim got the first Craig 10 of the series, while Claudia offers a sincere apology for the problems with the online voting but also confirms that the independent verifier has confirmed the result is fair and valid. Hmm, we'll be the judge of that, thank you very much.
The judges return, and Bruno gives Shirley a quick smooch. Careful Bruno, you'll make Motsi jealous. Before we get any results: some backstage footage! We learn that Kelvin hasn't quite mastered the art of lighting a selfie video in a dark room to stop it going all grainy, that Karim has a really nice stripey jumper, that Chris is really excited about Kelvin swinging one-handed from a chandelier, and most important of all, that Hot Greg is back after a couple of weeks away! (Also they need to stop editing all the judges' scores together if they're all saying different things, because when it's a six, two sevens and an eight the resulting noise mostly just sounds like a sneeze.) [They should only do it for four tens. Or four ones. - Rad]. Chris and Karen really enjoyed their foxtrot ("foxtrot") and he never thought he'd get 28 for it. Alex confirms that she had a good time. Oti paws at Kelvin like an excited kitty cat. Emma is thrilled to have got the "fab-yew-lous" that she so desired, and Special Guest Judge Davood Ghadami weighs in that she's hitting her stride at just the right moment. Karim can't believe Craig stood up, while Amy's more excited about the 10.
So who's through to next week's semi-final? Tess has the Cue Cards Of Doom, and also the answers: the first couple through is Karim and Amy (genuinely overwhelmed) and Emma and Anton (absolute glee). The first couple in the dance-off is...Chris and Karen. Chris responds by applauding and high-fiving Karen, which is easily the best response I've seen in this scenario since that time Holly Vallance laughed back in series nine. (Oh, and by the way, this just leaves Kelvin and Alex waiting to hear if they're safe or not, and if the show thinks this is suspenseful in any way, I would like to confirm to them that it absolutely is not. Poor Alex.)
Chris and Karen walk over to Tess and basically start giving their exit speech there and then - Chris says "it's been a long time coming, let's all be quite honest here". He says he can't believe how far he's come, and anyway, he'd much rather do this routine again than last week's (hee hee, he hated the paso so much). Shirley congratulates him on getting this far as a novice dancer and inspiring the whole nation (sidebar: this week last year had Joe, Stacey and Lauren in it, all of whom were very much novice dancers) and he should just go out there and enjoy every moment - because it's not over until it's over, in the words of Lenny Kravitz.
Claudia's in her Den of Safety with our two confirmed semi-finalists, and Karim says that it was overwhelming to get that 10 from Craig but also to have all that love from his Strictly family. Aww. Claudia says that she can feel Emma shaking even though she's not even that close to her, and tells us that Emma always assumes she's going to be in the dance-off and is always practising before the results show. Emma's so thrilled - she got three 10s and she loved every second of it. Oh, and apparently Penny and Dave, her parents, are so famous in their local supermarket now that they just get mobbed whenever they try to nip out for some larder staples.
Next: Adele Dazeem! I mean, Idina Menzel! Performing 'Seasons Of Love'! I generally quite like Idina Menzel but I don't think this song works as a solo for her. She should've done 'Over The Moon', if you ask me, and I'm perfectly aware that you didn't. She's accompanied by a lot of wafting from Giovanni (whose hair is in quite a nice quiff) and Karen (same tbh).
After that we're into Dance Debrief, and we waste no time in getting into Motsi bigging up her "Kalvin", who put his acting skills to use and gave so much energy and was generally a joy to watch. We then watch back some segments of Alex's samba minus the soundtrack so that Shirley can put forward her theory that you ought to be able to tell what genre it is even without the music there to help you (although frequently on this show the music is more of a hindrance than a help anyway) - Shirley thinks Alex's dancing is fantastic, but it's not a recognisable samba, and it needed more basic content and partner dancing throughout. We're shown Craig scowling and refusing to ovate for Karim, and Craig cackles that it's cruel to show his face like that close-up and in high-definition, and Craig says that he got his 10 out for Karim because he put his heart, soul and personality in it. Bruno chimes in for Emma and says that her routine was so stylistic and accurate but not overdone. Claudia reminds us that it's two-dance week next week and asks the judges what advice they have for the four couples who get through to do it: Motsi says they need to dance and dance and dance until they can't get enough - it's a tough life, but they just need to push it for two more weeks. Shirley advises them to nail the choreography as quickly as possible so that they have time to work on the detail. Craig says that two dances means two-times the rehearsal time (I'm...not entirely sure that's how it works, you know) and Bruno rounds it up by advising them not to get nervous, and echoes Shirley in telling them to "get it in the body" as early as possible to help with their confidence.
So who else is in the dance-off, out of Kelvin and Oti and Alex and Neil? I mean... of course it's Alex, who was predicting anything else? Alex also takes it on the chin, and heads over to Tess to say that she's just going to go out there and enjoy it all over again. Craig advises her to think of getting her personality out there, and if she can't get the fluidity in the bounce, just to perform as much as she can.
(Also, a Chris vs Alex dance-off? I don't find this outcome fair or valid!) [I would have loved Kelvin vs Karim, just to see how perplexed the judges would get. Hey, this series is poor, I'll take my entertainment where I can get it. - Rad]
Kelvin and Oti join Claudia up in the Den of Safety and Claudia reminds us that he's never scored lower than a 7 (journey!), and he says that they just work really hard all week and he wants to make sure he gives his all on Saturday nights. Oti chimes in and says that Kelvin always looks amazing on the main show but he is (wait for it) a non-dancer who has never danced before, and on Mondays and Tuesdays they work so hard to get the routine down, and she shouts at him a lot on Wednesday and Thursdays. Presumably they chill on Sunday. Emma reveals that she has the waltz and the cha cha cha next week (so she's basically doing week one), Karim is doing an Argentine tango and an American smooth, and Kelvin has the paso and the quickstep.
A reminder that Strictly is now available on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube (but not TikTok any more, apparently?), that Joe Sugg and The Woman Who Must Never Be Named have a podcast, that BBC Three is still doing some embarrassing dank memes [The ones they show get worse every week, and to think those must be the 'select' cuts - Rad] and Rylan and Zoe are of course still here with It Takes Two on the daily.
So, that dance-off then: Chris and Karen go first and I'd say the foxtrot is better in some parts but also worse in some others, so it ends up in basically the same place as he was with his first performance once you've crunched all the numbers. Alex and Neil follow up with their samba-not-samba, and I'd say that's broadly the same as how it was the first time out. So this could go either way really. Craig says that he really loved the refreshing fusion of "this particular dance" (lol I wonder which) and he thought it was performed well, so he votes to save Alex and Neil. Motsi says this is one of the most difficult decisions she's had to make for a long time - they were both good, but she votes to save Alex and Neil. Bruno says that it's very hard, but purely based on what he saw, he thinks the stronger and more convincing couple is Chris and Karen. (Chris looks very surprised at this, having clearly assumed throughout that he was going home.) It's over to Shirley for the casting vote then, and Shirley says it's going to come down to personal taste - she's going for the couple she felt had the most content: Chris and Karen.
(Sidebar, if I may: I'm not saying Shirley was wrong to vote as she did, I can absolutely understand her reasons. But this just goes to underline my frustrations with the dance-off, given that Shirley's problem with Alex's samba was mainly in the choreography rather than in the performance. Alex couldn't rechoreograph her samba between the main show and the results show so... would it even have been possible for her to save herself in the dance-off? I'm not sure. Anyway: END THE DANCE-OFF, thank you for your time.)
Alex tells Tess that she's been a fan of Strictly forever so it's been amazing just to be a part of it, and everyone behind the scenes has been brilliant. She's lived out a dream, and thanks Neil for making it possible. We then see Alex's best bits: opening the first show, some historical revisionism wherein Motsi's comments for week four were "you're trying to make everybody happy, perform it and have fun with it" (am I in my own personal Rashomon, because I remember that quite differently?) [She definitely said Alex was never going to please them (or make them happy, same diff) - Rad], getting a nine from Carlton for her charleston the week after, and empowering all of the women in Blackpool. When we come back, Alex says that she's proud of the process and "the struggle" and she's really happy that people got to see the real her. Neil says he was so lucky "because I got a partner" (lol) and she was the best, she's taught him so much and he just wishes he could have taken her further.
Next week: the semi-finals and some ballet from Carlos Acosta, but first Alex and Neil have their final dance to... 'Circle Of Life'? Okay. There's a lot of hugging, particularly when the rest of the cast get onto the floor. Post-show interviews: Alex doesn't want to be sad about leaving, she wants to be happy about the journey that she's been on. Emma thinks Alex is a wonderful person
3 comments:
There was a little inner part of me that was hoping that The Public severely penalised Kalvin for the stuff with his dad last week (yes, I am still cross), but alas no it seems (though I'm curious about the voting figures...)
As for the dance off, well neither was great, was it? It really could have gone either way. I genuinely enjoy both of them, but I was slightly rooting for Chris as much because I like how happy this partnership is obviously making Karen. I don't think I've ever seen her obviously enjoying herself so much (and you were right a few weeks ago: that new haircut is gorgeous on her!)
I am with you on Kelvin. I voted for both Chris and Alex this week although I knew there wasn't much chance they'd both come through.
In my house from now on, drinks will be taken every time Chris starts a sentence with "I never thought ...."
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