First off, what was wardrobe trying to do to nearly everyone? I think Jowita's dress was just about the only outfit I didn't want to set fire to! Poor Nancy especially. Surely it would cost less to hire some actual ballroom/latin costumes than make some poor assistant spend all night glueing sequins to an op shop haul?
Always love a ballroom pro dance!
Adam - Not too bad, a bit better than I expected. Glad poor Luba isn't likely to be first or second boot again. Not loving her new hair.
Angela S - Not as good as I was hoping for, but plenty of room to improve. I like her a lot, and her and Carlos seem fun together.
Eddie - Also not as good as I hoped, but I'm sure he'll do better next week with Latin. Just hope Karen can do something about those shoulders in the next few weeks.
Angela R - Perfectly matched with Kai. Think the 7s were a tad ridiculous, but it was certainly impressive! I'm so jealous, 50 years younger and I couldn't get my leg up there for a million bucks.
Nikita - Surprised she got such nice comments, I thought it was awful, surprised she got more than 3/4s. She looked so awkward and terrified and it looked like Gorka was just dragging her around. Unless she surprises in the Latin I still can't see her lasting long.
Layton - Horrible song and I don't think it entirely suited a samba, but it was a fantastic routine anyway. Didn't completely blow my socks off, but samba's a hard dance for week 1. I was a bit afraid he'd overdo it and it'd be a mess, but Nikita seems to have reined him back just the right amount so far. A great place to start and looking forward to seeing what more they can do. Will be interesting to see what approach they take with choreography/styling etc for the ballroom. Also lovely to see Nikita looking so joyful dancing in a same-sex partnership as opposed to Gio looking embarrassed last year. I don't think personally think Layton came across too cocky but can see why some would, he'll have to be careful if he wants votes.
Zara - I thought she'd be decent but that was pretty yikes. I think nerves may have gotten to her a bit though, because I thought her cha cha walks looked a little better on Graz's insta story yesterday, so maybe some room for improvement?
Les - Well it could have been worse! Not much, but he gave it a good go.
Shirley's score was a little generous. The same as Angela S? Shirley picked her pretty young woman to be mean to early this year.
Ellie - The hair flip at the start! Was not expecting her to be anywhere near that good, really impressed. I don't even generally like jives all that much, but really enjoyed hers. She and Vito continue to be an adorable partnership.
Jody - Also a bit better than expected. I don't see him lasting a super long time, but Jowita's doing a great job with him, and they're damn lucky they got the best song and costumes of the night. Time will tell if Latin will be his undoing.
Bobby - Meh. It was ok, but 8s were ridiculous. The height thing was worse/more noticeable than I thought it would be and will put a cap on how much he can improve. Hoping for a 'shock' midseason boot ala Tyler.
Annabel - She was quite a bit better than I expected but the scores were a little nuts. Also, Jojo's a sweetheart. I'm not generally a big fan of his choreography, but I loved his partnership with Ellie last year and he's really grown on me.
Amanda - She must have some stealth dance experience, surely? Those spins were way too good for her to have never danced before. Gio escapes duffer duty once again.
I don't have any strong opinion of her either way, and I liked her dance, but at the moment there are others I like better so keeping my fingers crossed she doesn't take a finale spot over them.
Krishnan - Not too bad, reasonably entertaining and I'm glad he looks to be having a great time. I think Lauren's choreography was a little boring/repetitive though, but of course it was her first dance with a celeb, so hopefully it will improve.
Nigel - Also didn't completely blow my socks off, but a great dance and I'm so happy Katya has a ringer after so many hopeless cases (even if I'm rolling my eyes a bit at his 'I'm totally not a ringer, my musical theatre experience means nothing, my wife laughs at me when I dance!' shtick) and their partnership is growing on me too. The training footage with her cashew rewards and his dismayed 'I may starve!' had me in stitches!
Overall a pretty high standard for week 1, shall feel sorry for whoever goes next week.
Noticed Vito's brother and Graz's wife as well as Nikita's sister in the audience, aww, lovely they came to support them.
we can hope for both!!!
www.theguardian.com
