by Another week, and another Angela leaves the Strictly ballroom. Following Angela Rippon’s elimination in Blackpool, Sunday night saw Angela Scanlon retire as well. Ironically, she was dancing her cha cha cha to Gloria Gaynor’s I Will Survive.
It was the first time at the dance for both Scanlon and Layton Williams, the latter doing a complicated American dance that divided opinion. Shirley Ballas actually disagreed with the rest of the panel: she would have preferred to see Williams go home. But he is the one who survives for now and advances to next week’s quarterfinals.
Angela’s hips don’t lie.
At several points, Scanlon, who has a background in Irish dance, looked like a real contender. His Damn Yankees Charleston at Movie Week scored three 9s, and he also wowed with a Black Swan pasodoble at Halloween Week and a passionate Argentine tango at Blackpool.
But he was inconsistent, which proved fatal for this impressive cast, and drew the wrong dance at the worst possible time. On Saturday night, she failed to move her Latin hips during the relentless cha cha, although she did have fun with the disco style of the routine. Getting 7 from Craig Revel Horwood and Motsi Mabuse sealed his fate.
Speaking to Tess Daly after her elimination, Scanlon said she was gutted to be out, but described her time on the show as incredible and added of her partner Carlos Gu: “I’ve made the best friend in this man. “He supported me, encouraged me and made me laugh a lot.” Gu, in turn, praised her commitment, work ethic and sense of humor.
The judges are divided again.
After weeks of easy and unanimous decisions, the confrontations have become much more tense. This week still saw a majority decision, but with one major dissenter: our chief judge.
This was probably the closest decision yet. Scanlon and Williams had respectively scored 31 and 34 on Saturday night, and Ballas and Anton Du Beke gave them the same scores: an 8 to a 9. Scanlon had been having technical problems, while Williams’ routine sometimes It seemed more like a dance show than a spectacle. a real smooth American.
Revel Horwood saved Williams based on technique and what he called “the best dance of the night, and the dance I actually enjoyed the most.” Mabuse called it a “tough, tough dance duel,” but he also saved Williams thanks to his “musicality and poise.”
Du Beke said it had been a tense dance, and that neither couple was “dancing as well as they could”. But he had seen a mistake from a couple (presumably Scanlon and Gu), so he voted to keep Williams.
Ballas’s vote did not count, but he expressed it strongly, stating that when it comes to ballroom and Latin dance, it is important to stick to the “character of the dance, to be true to the dance” and to adhere to its “timing and quality.” That way he would have saved Scanlon instead of Williams.
Is Layton in trouble?
Ballas’ comments were probably more of a criticism of Nikita Kuzmin’s choreography, but Williams has received criticism over the weeks (though more often from viewers than judges) for dancing more like a freestyle soloist. (drawing on his previous stage experience) than as part of a ballroom association.
Part of the fun of watching Strictly is watching people try something new and venture outside their comfort zone. We haven’t really had that with Williams. Next week, he and Kuzmin would do well to cut back on the theatrical tricks and flourishes, and really develop the fundamentals of that particular ballroom dance.
I’d also love to see them perform more towards each other and towards each other, rather than towards the audience. The magic of ballroom dancing arises when two bodies move as one. At the moment, they’re more like two accomplished professionals dancing side by side: impressive, yes, but lacking emotional connection.
Annabel could go all the way
Could Croft really make it to the final? It seemed unthinkable from the beginning. The tennis expert was a naturally good player and had a strong professional partner in the popular Johannes Radebe, but the 57-year-old would surely retire after a few weeks.
However, Croft has quietly improved more than anyone this season, inching forward dance after dance. The emotional Couple’s Choice, dedicated to her late husband, seemed to unlock something; The next week she saw her throw caution to the wind with a carefree samba.
The pair clearly have the support of viewers, and their pasodoble this week had by far the biggest reaction from the studio audience. We love those who try, and Croft exemplifies the “journey” strictly. If she can reach the next level and also produce a more expressive performance, then she could be a surprise finalist.
It’s a mystery
Well, the biggest mystery is why professionals strictly never do any ballroom dancing, despite being highly trained ballroom dancers, in a show about ballroom dancing, but clearly no one listens to me on that, so…
In this week’s Missed Chance/Professional Group Dance, Kai Widdrington played a private investigator and Nadiya Bychkova, a Golden Age of Hollywood star whose necklace went missing. Gasp! A whodunit followed, in case you ever wondered what it would be like to watch a noir without actual noir but with plenty of jazz hands.
We also had musical entertainment from Scottish rockers Texas, who performed their 2000 hit Inner Smile, accompanied by energetic contemporary beats from Vito Coppola and Luba Mushtuk. (Kinda dispelling the “Sunday live show” conceit, since we had just cut to Coppola reducing Claudia Winkleman to hysteria with her opinions on tuna pasta and mayonnaise.)
Music is everything
Not only did the unfortunate Scanlon draw the cha cha this week, but she also had the mixed blessing of a disco track. She helped fuel a fun, camp performance, but also confused the rhythms and specific style of Latin dance.
By contrast, part of the reason Annabel Croft’s pasodoble was such a success was its traditional framing, including the use of España Cañi. We’ve had a depressing amount of “rockin'” pasodobles this season, which never quite capture the authentic flavor of the dance.
The chaotic structure of Björk’s It’s Oh So Quiet undermined the smoothness of Williams’ American Smooth (they could also have choreographed and danced it differently, but I don’t think it helped), while the rich emotions of This Woman’s Work contributed significantly to the music by Bobby Brazier. Choice of partner.
I must admit I was skeptical about how Destiny’s Child’s Bills, Bills, Bills could work for an Argentinian tango, and yet it turned out to be an inspired choice for Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola. However, he perhaps took them down that combative and latent route, pitting one against the other, which did not seem to be to the liking of Craig Revel Horwood or Anton Du Beke. (For the record: they were wrong.)
The next show will be particularly crucial. It’s Musicals Week, which means those chosen songs define the entire performance. Will lady luck or will our celebrities be the miserable ones? Then join us again and in the meantime, she keeps dancing!
