The Strictly Spoiler

Time to recap the second show from week 1 and take a look at the performances on Saturday Night.

Jay and Aliona

One of the early favourites with the bookmakers kicked show 2 off with a Cha Cha to “Reach Out I’ll Be There”.

With the exception of Craig all of the judges rated the performance rather highly and there should be good things to come from this partnership. The routine scored 27 (Craig 5, Darcey 8, Len 7, Bruno 7).

Kirsty and Brendan

2nd up was another one of the early favourites with a Waltz to “Vincent”

The audience seemed to be enjoying the routine with numerous applauses throughout however the judges felt that Brendan was doing most of the work in the routine and scored it a 20 (Craig 4, Darcey 5, Len 6, Bruno 5)

Jeremy and Karen

Moving from the favourites to win, next up was one of the favourites to be eliminated next week. Jeremy and Karen had a Cha Cha this week to “September”

Despite some pointless faffing at the start always reserved for the “comedy” contestants this didn’t prove to be quite the car crash that was expected from Jeremy and at some points in the routine Jeremy was showing that actually he does have some moves. For the most part the judges agreed (besides Craig) and Jeremy earned 19 points which is probably 10 more than people expected him to get (Craig 2, Darcey 6, Len 6, Bruno 5).

Georgia and Giovanni

Back to one of the favourites to win now with Georgia and Giovanni performing a Jive to “Dear Future Husband”. Seems the producers are already trying to engineer a romance with that song title!

This proved to be a very good, fun and at one point cheeky routine from Georgia and the new pro. The judges scored it highly too at 27 (Craig 6, Darcey 7, Len 7, Bruno 7)

Ainsley and Natalie

Next time for Ainsley and Natalie who were one of the early favourites with the bookmakers. A Tango to “Voulez Vous” was their routine for week 1.

Seeming like a fish out of water at times complete with the trout pout the judges rated this a 20 (Craig 4, Darcey 5, Len 6, Bruno 5)

Katie and Anton

The BBC pun machine is back in work after breaking down towards the end of the last show with Katie and Anton performing a Jive to “Roll Over Beethoven”.

Originally branded a no hoper by the bookies Katie’s odds shortened significantly after her pairing with popular pro Anton Du Beke and it looks like that shortening was justified. There definitely is a lot of potential from this pairing and Anton may be a serious contender this year rather than the joke pro if this standard is maintained throughout the series. The judges scored it a 26 (Craig 6, Darcey 6, Len 7, Bruno 7) with Len remarking that this could be the series Anton learns that Strictly runs all the way until Christmas!

Iwan and Ola

Pun machine back into overdrive with one of the favourites to be eliminated 1st now. Iwan and Ola performed a Tango to “Keep On Running”.

I can’t comment too much on how Iwan performed as whenever Ola is on the dance floor I tend to get distracted for some reason! The judges rated it poorly with Craig giving it a lowly 3 and 2 of those points were probably because he enjoyed looking at Iwan’s bottom! Overall it scored a 17 (Craig 3, Darcey 5, Len 5, Bruno 4) and something special may be needed next week to avoid the dreaded 1st dance off!

Jamelia and Tristan

The penultimate performance of the night comes from Jamelia and Tristan who performed a Waltz to “Do Right Woman”

I’ve not got much to say about this routine and the judges scored it a pretty average 21 (Craig 4, Darcey 6, Len 6, Bruno 5)

Peter and Janette

In a massive foregone conclusion the BBC decide to save clear favourites Peter and Janette to the final performance of the week. The final dance for week 1 is a Cha Cha to “Ain’t No Other Man”

Proving why they are the favourites with the bookmakers and have won both polls this site has done pre launch this routine proved popular with both the audience and the judges who gave it a 30 (Craig 7, Darcey 8, Len 8, Bruno 7) catapulting Peter and Janette to the top of the leaderboard at the end of week 1.

And on the subject of the leaderboard lets take a look at it:

1st Peter and Janette (30)
2nd Helen and Aljaž (29)
3rd= Kellie and Kevin (27)
3rd= Anita and Gleb (27)
3rd= Jay and Aliona (27)
3rd= Georgia and Giovanni (27)
7th Katie and Anton (26)
8th Daniel and Kristina (24)
9th= Anthony and Otlile (21)
9th= Jamelia and Tristan (21)
11th= Kirsty and Brendan (20)
11th= Ainsley and Natalie (20)
13th Jeremy and Karen (19)
14th Iwan and Ola (17)
15th Carol and Pasha (16)

There’s a lot of tied couples which hopefully will be broken next week or the dance off could become a lottery with the way the scoring system treats tied couples with the judges. No massive surprises as to who is in danger with the only real one being Kirsty Gallacher who has moved from being one of the favourites to win to one of the contenders to leave first.

I’ll be taking a look at just how these 1st performances have affected the markets with the bookmakers later on today.

Don’t forget all the ways you can get involved with and interact with the Strictly Spoiler. Links for Facebook and Twitter are above and please follow or like to ensure you never miss a thing, in particular next week when I will be posting the 1st elimination spoiler on Saturday night. You can also tell me what you think by commenting on posts using the comment link at the top of each post or by commenting on posts on Twitter or Facebook. Please like/share this post using the links for all major social networks and Google+ above and below and help spread the word about the Strictly Spoiler. Or why not bookmark the site to make it easier to return next week! Finally please have a vote in the Week 1 poll below and tell me who your favourites were. You can select up to 3 options when making your choice!

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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.