Was there a dry eye in the house when Lisa left? I doubt it. (Especially sweepstaker Louise mourning her lost £1?) In the end, it was right for Lisa to go at this stage, and to leave the other four (better dancers) in the final, but I think I still rate her as one of my favourite contestants this year. She just seems like a bloody lovely girl and, as for her partnership with Robin, well, I think this neatly sums it up:
Just joyful.
Interestingly, her 'journey' wasn't really about the dancing, which didn't really improve that noticably as the weeks went on. For me, she opened the series with her best performance and nothing quite had the impact of her first cha cha - similarly none of Robin's outfits quite had the impact of his first (chain-mail) vest. But she bookended the series well, as I really enjoyed their final dance, the American Smooth and all that jazz, even if it should have been Robin in the sparkles, feathers and chiffon.
At least we got some final Windsor pec in their opening salsa, nips peeking out of that flesh-coloured shirt – well, flesh coloured before the seventeen shades of fake tan were applied to the Bobby body. As for the dance itself, good comedy head bongo at the judges' desk (safer than the bum bongos previously on offer), but the highlight was, of course, that gloriously botched floor spin. Well, I say 'spin', but the momentum wasn't quite there, was it, so it was more of a floor sp: 270 degrees of floor burn, then Lisa wonderfully improvising some on-her-back hand jiving, whilst Robin skipped around having the time of his life, before noticing that he should probably rescue his partner. It wasn't Michael Vaughan levels of axe'n'jive hilarity, but it had all the enthused exuberance we'd expect from La Riley, showing that, even in times of monumental error, she was never the comedy character the show had thought she'd be – but was, rather, an ace big girl who knew how to cut some rug.
As for her D-O opponent – well... it remains a bit of a mystery to me as to why everyone hates Denise Van Outen. I just think she’s a proper quality dancer and I always rate her performances head and shoulders above the others. I understand some find her arrogant, ambitious or cold, but I think I have sharply developed Anti-Arrogant Antennae (ask Ricky Nipple), and she seems fine to me... It may be the bias of my £1 stake (it is), but, all things considered (especially that £14 pot), I'd like to Denise win. THERE I SAID IT!
This week her Roxanne tango was shiver'n'tingle outstanding and I even actively enjoyed her rumba, which is almost unheard of, given my feelings about that particular dance – no need to deploy my sister's tactic of 'rumba mode' and watch it behind my hands, or the sofa. I appreciate that Denise hasn't really improved that much over the weeks, as she's always been good, but, well, so what!? Well, I suppose I can think of one thing – the unbearable being of James Jordan if he ever gets to win the glitter ball. Sheeesh. Maybe it's not worth it after all...
Especially as I'd happily see any of the other pros win, as the remaining dancers all seem particularly delightful. My soft spot for the Italian pony is well-documented and Dani too has also won me over - she's turned out to be a rather charming tiny dancer. Sure, her American Smooth could have been a bit more wow, but I’ll put it down to having to learn two dances this week. And I still enjoyed it – finding it rather sweet, in spite of that pastel ruffle skirt, made of nylon sheets stained by rogue Refreshers.
And I loved the totally unnecessary fountain which was used for all of a second as Vinthent stood next to it giggling at the start – I'm fairly sure he was chuckling at how he'd made Props source and construct a papier maché tribute to the Trevi which he had no intention of actually using at any point through the dance. Unless it was there as a safety precaution to deal with the high fire risk, given Dani's nylon situation. (Would have helped if it had included a functioning water feature, but, as Louis demonstrated with his locker prop, the Beeb prop budget doesn't stretch beyond cardboard.)
I was slightly less convinced by Dani and Vinthent's Argentine Tango, though I loved the choreography and the music-less opening – I think it just needed a little more time to get polished. Also, it's tough to tango with Vinthent and not have the rest of us compare and contrast with Flavia and her astounding crazy legs of flickery and sharpness. So far, only Rachel Stevens has come somewhere near the outer car park of the ballpark of pulling that off.
Poor Flavs didn't actually get to dance an AT this series, did she? Maybe it's a good thing, as Louis is perhaps a bit too jelly-legged off the pommel. I think that was my issue with his jive, even if it was still harshly under-marked – it was just a bit too caj, innit. Look, the jiving was fine, but the highlight was when he nearly broke the set by just doing some inadvertent leaning.
I preferred their Gotye foxtrot, even if Flavia didn't take the opportunity to have Louis out on the floor in nothing but full body paint. I guess she’s saving the guns and nudity for the final.
Pecs or no pecs, Louis is currently the bookies’ favourite to win, as I'm sure he will garner mucho phone support, as he has up until now. But that's if Kimba doesn't sneak in, as she's really hit her stride at the right time. If she showdances a stormer, the glitternball could wrenched out of Aliona's hands and end up hers. (My tip there would be to NOT choreograph a routine which involves strapping a puppet to your boob). I have to admit that Kimberley's American Smooth was truly excellent – properly sultry and slinky, especially in that HAWT Jerry Hall dress.
Am still ignoring Pasha’s hair, by the way. I can’t believe that’s actually still happening. However, I think he might have borrowed last season's poo slacks (hooray!) for the charleston - neatly tucked into his socks, like all aviators do. Sadly, the poo slacks weren't quite enough to turn me on to their charleston, which, unlike the judges, left me a bit cold – I really enjoyed Kimba's gurning, but it was lacking something for me... Probably it was lacking tasteful bottoms – more high-waisted hell, I note. She looked great in her ridiculous turquoise shorts and cropped tinsel jumper, but will Wardrobe not think of me and how much I'll personally suffer, having to look at the women of London attempting to recreate such a challenging look in the months to come?
And whilst we’re on the subject of dodgy fash – well, hello Ms Daly, happy Sunday, and what crazy big hip wings you have on your otherwise acceptable bridal gown. It’s not that I’m as anti peplum as I am anti city shorts, but there’s really no need to ensure your peplum flare can double as a hang glider. (Unless it was a knowing tribute to Katya's hat, in which case it was the greatest Strictly outfit ever known.)
In other Sunday news, Tonight Matthew, Katherine Jenkins Has Decided To Be Marilyn (she wishes) Does Commerical Classical. YAWN. Not even Kristina and Robin happily gatecrashing that one was enough to save it for me. And if that wasn't enough boring promo, K-Jenk then did a jive, with a rather lot of emphasis on the crotch, including a moment when her partner reached between her thighs and gave her the clap - it would actually have been pretty good as a celeb competition attempt, but as a dancing showcase it was just really annoying.
Elsewhere the partner swapping continued as Ola got a go on Artem (or vice versa), which was ample revenge for James saying how his rumba with Denise was the bestest, favouriteist, most amazingest dance wot he had ever done in the world ever, ever, ever.
And there we go - the end is now in sight. I'm not sure it was the greatest Semi Final the show has ever seen, but it had its moments and, despite this not feeling like a vintage year, ultimately, I am excited about the final, as there is great potential for some fantastic dances. I think (I hope) it will be a close run thing, with real tension when the results are announced – probably between Kimberley and Louis. (Maybe Ben will finally win the sweepstake after two years running with the Anton ticket. Just goes to show... You're all in for next year, right?)
And at least Denise will be able to leave on a 40 for her reperformed jive – which, frankly, deserved full marks at the time, but it was too early in the season for the production to sanction such behaviour – would have ruined the story. She'll be out first though, so get ready for a full scale James Jordan hissy fit of brilliantly epic levels when she goes – swearing, V flicking, crying, the works. That would be worth losing the sweepstake for. Keeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep hoping!
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