Week 5, and it was definitely an interesting week… lots of mistakes across the board, a bit of a cursed energy to the night.

I think all the couples were dressed nicely tonight- no disastrous outfits anywhere so wardrobe did a very good job on that front.

First up were Jaime and Carlos with a Foxtrot to Man I Need, which I thought was very elegant- she had a couple of little awkward moments here and there, but overall this was a lovely dance- her hold was fantastic, as were her spins…. a few foot moments looked a bit off to me though and the main issue I had with this is that it felt too much like an American Smooth than it did a standard Foxtrot. 7 from me, and the judges went 6, 6, 6, 7. I personally thought this was slightly undermarked and could’ve done with a few more 7s….. I didn’t agree with Anton about Jaime’s hold, I thought her transitions to hold were pretty good.

Next up were Lawrence and Jowita with a jive to a mashup of the Rockafeller Skank/My Sharona… and this wasn’t good… it was really flat footed THE WHOLE WAY through if you ask me, and I don’t really see the point of adding the worm into it- if it was a freer dance like Salsa, I suppose the worm could fit in to it a little bit more seamlessly, but I wasn’t a fan of his move. His timing was inconsistent too and he wasn’t always in sync… definitely a weaker dance of his… Lawrence’s salsa last week looks to have been just a one-time fluke sadly- it was very easy to see which one the pro is here. The speed of the routine was a bit too much for him to handle too… it’s a 4 from me and the judges went 4, 5, 4, 6- I think that 6 was a sympathy point from Anton… because no way was this only one mark below Jaime.

Next there was Graeme and Lauren with a Tango to Hernando’s Hideaway- Graeme is a fantastic character actor- he really brings a strong performance level to his dances… I think the choreo was an interesting traditional theme and I liked it- I didn’t mind the coat stuff at the beginning because it enhanced the performance rather than detracting from it, I do agree with Motsi that he can look slightly hunched at times, and I thought one of his turns lacked a bit of sharpness, but other than that, I thought this was great. 8 from me.. judges went 7, 8, 7, 9 for 31… no complaints here- I can see the arguments for all those scores. Overall though, he’s probably the strongest male in the competition this year.

Next up was Will Best and Dianne with a Cha-Cha to a song called Daddy.. the baby themed Cha Cha and the prams didn’t work for me- it was just far too gimmicky and I don’t personally feel the need to incorporate your recent big life events into a wideout maybe that’s just me. His actual hip action was very good… but it kept cutting away to gags with the baby and the prams and to me this to me isn’t really what a Cha Cha should be, and he also made a very very noticeable mistake at one point- I also thought his facial expressions were a bit too OTT. For me, this is a 6 level of performance… the judges went 7, 8, 8, 8… 31 is way too high a score for this. If all the judges went one point down I’d say that a 6, 7, 7, 7 would be more accurate.

Then we had Bethany and Nancy doing an Argentine Tango- the first ever on the show with two women… and it was a very good dance I felt… the dramatics were there, it did have an intensity from the music, but what I didn’t really think was quite there was the chemistry… which is kind of the most vital ingredient in an Argentine Tango… it needed a bit more passion between the two of them for me… I agree with Craig there was a couple of balance issues but nothing too dramatic, but it really should’ve been a standout and it just wasn’t really, so it’s a 7 from me, the judges went 5, 7, 6, 7- and I’m in agreement with Motsi and Anton there.

And then we had Shaun and Alexis with a Jive… I thought Lawrence’s jive was bad… this was far worse- I can’t really find many redeeming qualities here at all- Shaun probably got nervous having his dad coming into watch… because this dance was really rough- it was a difficult watch and it’s worse on rewatch… his kicks and flicks had no retraction whatsoever, it was low energy, I wouldn’t know it was a jive if you didn’t tell me, he wasn’t really moving a whole lot… at least he tried, I guess?? But definitely a bad dance. I would argue that’s been his weakest dance of this whole series. Sorry Shaun, it’s a 1 from me here… I don’t really have much to say. I’m glad Shirley stepped in when Motsi and Anton struggled for comments. Judges went 3, 5, 3, 6… very generous scores… never in a million years was this a 6 at all… and Anton’s comments didn’t match his scores at all… One thing I didn’t notice until rewatching it is just how sweaty Shaun was after his jive… he just couldn’t cope with that intensity of routine.

Dani and Nikita had a Salsa… I’m not sure why Dani was so emotional in the VT at the start- she wasn’t at the bottom last week- Sarah Storey was, and as far as Dani goes she was getting 6s and 7s which is consistent with her trajectory. I liked the Salsa music but honestly? I thought this looked a bit messy… she had a good shimmy in there, and the chemistry between her and Nikita was definitely present, there was lots to like- the lifts were a bit of a mixed bag but that’s on Nikita… overall this had some nice things in there but it just looked a bit awkward to me. It’s a 6 from me… I agree with Craig, it needed a bit more… judges went 7, 8, 8, 8 which again I think is slightly generous. Straight 7s I wouldn’t have minded- but it wasn’t my thing.

Next up was Lacey and Vito, and for me, a good chunk of this and how she was dancing it looked more like a Paso… her head position was also very wobbly throughout… there was an illegal lift in there as well, but the acting, the intensity, the chemistry etc was all spot on so overall it’s a tough one to judge…. because I do think it was better than Dani but I don’t think it was quite as good as Jaime. So if I have one a 6, and one a 7, this would have to be a 6.5… I think I’ll round it down though because the faults were noticeable. I’ve seen a few comments saying Shirley was too harsh but I disagree- I think she was accurate- there were some really strong points in there but if the weak points stood out to me as an armchair viewer then I can only imagine what Shirley must have seen. Yes, maybe her delivery was different to Shaun but bear in mind one comes from ZERO performance background and is of weaker ability so it makes sense to find some positive there, but with somebody like Lacey, she has the skill for Shirley to push her more. Judges went 7, 7, 6, 8 which averaged out about right.

Next was Cach with a Cha-Cha… and he made a very notable mistake at the beginning and didn’t recover at all… he completely missed Maddie’s hand at one point too… and overall that really detracted from the performance. He has rhythm but this missed the mark for me completely. And also after a really good Foxtrot last week, Maddie’s routines seem to have gone back to not sticking to the designated style. I’m not sure whether that’s Maddie herself, whether it’s production pushed, but it is a bit frustrating when you know somebody has potential. And maybe Cach just isn’t nailing the basics and that’s why Maddie throws the extra fluff in, but the point of the show is to push people out of their comfort zones… if Cach struggles with the basics, that’s still OK… she is a very good dancer and last week proved that she can be a very good choreographer- I don’t know whether she’s just more confident in ballroom than Latin but it’s just not working. Most of my comments on Cach’s dances are about the choreo more than his dancing… it’s a tricky one- in the unlikely event that Maddie is reading this review, just keep doing what you did last week with the Foxtrot because that came together really cohesively. This gets a 6 from me because he does have decent rhythm and I do think at least he didn’t give away his mistake through his facial expressions. Judges went 5, 7, 5, 7 which averaged out about right.

Then we had Delta and Kai with a Rumba- it was lovely to see Delta back after her injury- she had some beautiful leg action in this rumba but to me she needed to be using her upper body a bit more to make it appear more fluid- I get why she didn’t, due to her recovering from injury still, but it just made the rumba feel a bit incomplete, this Rumba wasn’t bad by any means but I don’t think it was Delta at her best. 7 from me here… judges went 7, 9, 8, 10…. a varied array of marks… I can see the argument for all of them, until the 10… this was not Delta at her best and I don’t think this was perfection…

Next was Tabby and Mark with their Couple’s Choice- it’s been a while since we last had a more contemporary style Couple’s Choice… the two of them were in sync the whole way through, the storytelling was faultless… the lifts were fantastic… I do think occasionally it got a little too fast for me but that’s very very minor. It’s a 9 from me… the only thing stopping me from giving it a 10 is, would I watch it over and over again years from now? Probably not… but overall a very very nice job from her… judges went 8, 10, 9, 10 for 37, and a well deserved spot at the top of the leaderboard.

And finally was John and Katya with a quickstep- I liked the comic book style here, his hold is very strong- this moved around the floor effortlessly- he’s definitely more of a ballroom boy… he did lose a little bit of energy towards the end, and actually, similar to what Shirley said about Shaun, you could sometimes see him anticipating the next move, but overall a VERY strong dance… it’s an 8 from me.

As far as the results go, it was Jaime v Shaun…

I really liked Jaime’s dance this week but it probably got lost in the mix because she was the first one on… so after all the performances were complete, people kind of forgot about Jaime… which is a shame as she’s proving herself a decent dancer, just not with much of a public vote.

Shaun meanwhile DID improve leaps and bounds in the dance-off compared to the main show (where he was truly dreadful), but this was an easy decision vs Jaime- I am surprised Shirley opted for Shaun though unless she was basing it off who had improved the most from the main performance to the dance-off? I thought Anton’s little dig about Shaun’s professional dancer dreams being over was unnecessary too…

Overall, though I mostly wouldn’t have scored Shaun very high, he DID have a number of entertaining dances and brought some good value to the show- it was nice to see a different side of Alexis this year- the partnership was very endearing. And he’s the epitome of what the show is about, people learning a new skill- I for one will miss his presence next week.

A 3 person dance-off next week as a Halloween twist too… and vote to eliminate… feels very X Factor and not really in Strictly’s spirit but that’s just my opinion and only time will tell.