Strictly came back to our screens with a bang last night and it’s time to take a look back at last night’s show and the 6 couples who performed:
Kellie and Kevin
Drawing the short straw and having to kick the series off was Kellie Bright and Kevin (from Grimsby) Clifton who did the Tango to “You Really Got Me”
Never easy to start the series but Kellie did a reasonable job and achieved a score of 27 (Craig 6, Darcey 7, Len 7, Bruno 7). Judges may need some larger paddles if they keep scoring this high.
Anthony and Otlile
Following on it was the turn of Anthony Ogogo and brand new pro Otlile Mabuse who Jived to “Wake Me Up Before You Go Go”. Must have taken the producers all of 10 seconds to come up with that pun!
Anthony suffered a wardrobe malfunction and split his pants during the routine. The judges weren’t too impressed with a total score of 21 (Craig 4, Darcey 5, Len 6, Bruno 6) although one judge did say this was the best performance on Strictly from a boxer.
Helen and Aljaž
One of the early favourites was next to appear and during their Waltz to “With You I’m Born Again” it was very easy to see why. This was an excellent performance for a week 1 dance and I can’t wait to see more from them in future weeks. A slightly more subtle pun from the music choice from the Strictly pun machine!
The judges agreed with Craig dusting the cobwebs off his 7 paddle although none of the other judges needed to as they give out 7s for turning up sometimes. The dance scored 29 (Craig 7, Darcey 7, Len 7, Bruno 8) catapulting Helen onto the top of the leaderboard so far.
Carol and Pasha
We move from the best performance of the night to the worst. Carol and Pasha performed a Cha Cha to “Thunder In My Heart”. The strictly producer’s pun machine is working overtime it seems. We had to endure some pointless faffing around at the start that Strictly likes to inject into performances especially from the poorer comedy contestants with Pasha descending onto the dance floor from a thundercloud.
The judges didn’t make too much of the performance with Len and Darcey dusting off their little used 5 paddles and Bruno dusting off his 4. The routine scored just 16 points (Craig 2, Darcey 5, Len 5, Bruno 4) cementing their place on the bottom of the leaderboard. Could be trouble ahead if they don’t pull something out of the bag next week and perhaps the 1st (actually 20th but who’s counting) spoiler of the year will be revealing their demise next week.
Daniel and Kristina
Moving on it’s the idol of every single Irish Nan. One of the early favourites for elimination but actually their waltz to “When Irish Eyes Are Smiling” was passable for a week 1 dance. Also the Strictly pun machine once again seems to be in overdrive with the song choice. Expect something from Boyzone, Westlife, The Coors or B*Witched next week!
The judges awarded 24 points (Craig 4, Darcey 6, Len 7, Bruno 7) although opinion appeared to be quite split with those scores.
Anita and Gleb
Rounding off the show it was the turn of Anita Rani and new pro Gleb Savchenko who performed a Cha Cha to “Rather Be”. The Strictly Pun machine clearly has broken down and will be repaired ready for Saturday’s show!
One thing that immediately came across is just how much Anita was loving it. If she gives this much every week she should go far in this series. The judges agreed scoring it 27 (Craig 6, Darcey 7, Len 7, Bruno 7) placing her joint 2nd on the leaderboard
And on the subject of the leaderboard let’s take a look at it:
1st Helen and Aljaž (29)
2nd= Anita and Gleb (27)
2nd= Kellie and Kevin (27)
4th Daniel and Kristina (24)
5th Anthony and Otlile (21)
6th Carol and Pasha (16)
9 couples still to dance in the Saturday show which starts at 18:15 on BBC1 and BBC1HD. I will be tweeting along to the show and posting to the Facebook page. Links are above if you want to get involved on either of those networks. Also look out for a poll as soon as all 15 couples have danced where you can tell me who your favourites from this week were.