Strictly Judge Anton

[zico]

Important and sad news for the nation concerning an important and popular figure famous for their many short-lived relationships who has received millions of votes and is widely admired for their entertaining and inventive performances. Seems they’ve been a bit careless with covid and now need to isolate for two weeks. Not Boris of course, but Katya. If anything went wrong, it was always going to be Katya, wasn’t it? A real shame because she’s one of the most talented choreographers, but this second blot on her copybook will surely be her last as I can’t imagine the BBC keeping her on after this. A disappointing end to Strictly's first-ever same-sex partnership, and a shame for Nicola.

Motsi is also in quarantine for a couple of weeks, having flown over to Germany for personal reasons, which leaves a vacancy in the judge department, giving Anton his opportunity at last. Amusing from Claudia telling us Anton “reluctantly” agreed to do it, as everyone knows how much he would love to be a judge.

HRVY & Janette (Salsa). We find out that Janette is Cuban and she tells HRVY how the salsa is her favourite dance, dusting off her old home movies to prove it. This is a proper fast and lively salsa, with a lot of tricky lifts including ones where Janette is perfectly happy to have her head whirling about just inches from the ground. HRVY has good timing and this is pretty impressive from him. Time to find out what sort of a judge Anton is going to be. “Oh, fantastic, terrific, you’re so wonderful, golly gosh, great” – oh, that sort of judge. Craig says the transition in and out of lifts was a bit clunky, but is otherwise happy, and scores 8. Shirley says “it’s never too early for a 10 from Shirley” – but that’s not strictly true, and certainly not in this case. A slightly more restrained 9 from Anton gives 27 points.

Max & Dianne (American Smooth). In rehearsals Dianne talks about the importance of Max leading the dance, so we watch out for this, and it’s clear he’s really not leading at all, but following Dianne. She’s got a glamorous green dress and he looks a bit lost, though he’s doing the steps OK. Craig says there was no style or flair and it was disappointing. Anton tells him how great he is and praises Max’s excellent left arm. I seem to remember Dianne praising Max’s neck when she first met him. Must be a bit disconcerting for poor old Max to have people telling him how much they like specific bits of his anatomy, though he probably got a lot of those sorts of comments when he was a boy band member. Before the scores we get to see Max’s girlfriend who has amazingly large lips – I can’t tell quite how big they are because I only have a 57 inch TV screen. Scores are in – 5,7,8 for 20 points.

Ranvir & Giovanni (Cha-Cha). Ranvir talks a lot about having issues about body confidence in rehearsal. She’s got a really good costume, looks the part and starts off really well with some great hip movements and sensuous rolls with Giovanni then suddenly seems to get embarrassed and self-conscious at what she’s doing, and seems very relieved when it’s over. Maybe she was distracted by Giovanni who has lost all his shirt buttons and appears to be wearing a dead beaver on his head. Her most disappointing dance so far, but still lots of bits to like. Scores of 5,7,8 for 20 points. Apology from Claudia because Max apparently said a naughty word at the end of his dance.

JJ & Amy (Jive). JJ gets a video-call from his special friend, Prince Harry, HRH Duke of Sussex, oh you know, Meghan’s hubby who tells JJ what an Amazing Journey he's having, and reminds him (and us) about JJ's success in the Invictus games back in the days when Harry was still royal. JJ tells us that his old mucker Harry is just like anyone else, but I seriously doubt that's true. For this routine, he’s dancing to the wartime tune “Boogie-Woogie Bugle Boy” and wearing his old uniform. He tells us he never expected to be wearing his uniform again in these circumstances. There’s lots of life, action, energy and pzazzz in this routine, but it’s all coming from Amy who is absolutely knocking herself out here in a one-woman show to make up for JJ’s lack of energy. Craig says it needed to be much sharper. Shirley says he has a very good upright frame, but needs to be leaning forward to do a decent jive. Anton tells him he’s a truly wonderful inspiring inspiration and actually salutes him. 4,6,7 for 17 points.

Maisie & Gorka (Cha-cha). Maisie badly needs to make friends with people in the costume department as she gets a duff costume for the third week in a row. They start with a robot dance before getting into cha-cha proper to “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun” but it’s a weird stop-start routine. Maisie looks to be undecided whether to play a robot or a girl who wants to have fun. She does quite well, but it’s just an odd routine and not that enjoyable for all concerned. including us viewers. Craig says she was dancing like she had a rod right up her ……back (phew!) and it made the dance a bit stiff. Anton takes a break from gushing over the celebs to give her a piece of useful advice, saying she just needs to relax more. Judges generally think she needs to work on her footwork more. She seems to have gone backwards this week. Still high scores 7,8,9 for 24 points.

Bill & Oti (Couples’ choice). In rehearsal, Bill shows Oti lots of films about his career combining music and comedy, and although it's not clear how this will help this week’s dance, Bill’s comedy/music things are worth catching up with on YouTube. They wear pin-striped suits and feodoras (I think) for a street dance to a rap song. Lots of synchronicity here, and though it’s not perfect, it’s pretty good and very entertaining. Creative stuff from Oti. Bill is improving week on week and is on a Journey. Judges are very happy indeed and tell Bill his energy is an inspiration to blokes in their 50’s. It’s another too-early 10 from Shirley, 8 from Craig and 9 from Anton gives a scores of 27.

Caroline & Johannes (Waltz). Their routine starts off with a bit of messing around with a brolly and this is an enjoyable waltz which suits Caroline much better than previous dances. Very nice. Caroline seems to wear exactly the same style of dress every week, with just the colours changing. Anton is handing out yet more advice, saying she should bend her knees more, and Craig wants more body contact between them. 7,7,8 for 22.

James & Karen (Samba). In rehearsals, Karen is sporting a bandaged wrist, presumably sustained from one of the two times that Jamie dropped her last week. I bet there’s no lifts this week in her routine. This looks like it’s going to be a comedy routine with them dressed as full-on Mexican guitarists complete with sombreros and dancing to “Bamboleo” by the Gypsy Kings. It’s actually a really good routine with lots of enthusiasm and good timing by Jamie, plus some actual Samba bounce – which is pretty rare amongst celebs. Most enjoyable dance so far tonight. Really clever choreography from Karen, playing to Jamie’s strengths and she also adjusted and toned down her dancing style to match Jamie’s so they looked good together – a few of the pros could take notes here, yes you, Johannes. Anton says “Fab-u-lous” and Craig says “Fan-tas-tic”. Shirley spotted how Karen planted a firm hand on Jamie's chest to stop him going wrong in the routine. 8,8,9 for 25.

Clara & Aljaz (Charleston). Clara gets into character as a 20’s flapper. Not the most complex of routines, but Clara sells it very well, though it’s a little bit messy at the end. Pretty good stuff, but Shirley thinks it’s absolutely brilliant and Anton thinks she was perfect. Shirley tells Clara she has “legs of death” which reminds me of a Bond villainess’s assassination technique, but Clara takes it as a compliment. Clara is unsurprisingly delighted with the comments. 9, 10, 10 for a score of 29 and the outright lead.

Some really entertaining routines, but also lots of silly overmarking tonight, and Judge Anton was guilty of excessive fawning. I hoped he’d be wittier and sharper (maybe like a young(ish) Uncle Len), but he just wanted to be everyone’s friend. I expect JJ and Caroline will be in the bottom two, as they seem to be falling behind the rest. Maisie is in dire need of a decent costume from Wardrobe and a normal routine from Gorka. Top comment from Craig when people starting booing him – “10 people booing doesn’t scare me”.

RESULTS SHOW

Strange supermarket pro dance to open the show, with dancers in trollies. Claudia surprises us all by wearing a dress that isn’t black but a very vivid scarlet. Enjoyable enough musical interlude from The Vamps. Len’s Lens is very international tonight with Bruno dialling in from Hollywood and Motsi from Germany. Some enjoyable friendly bitching between Craig and Bruno about Bruno’s mauve jacket.

Results time with both Caroline and JJ being put through early which scuppers my predictions. Maisie is first in the bottom two and is clearly a bit shocked. More results with Ranvir and Max in the running, but thankfully Ranvir is saved and it’s Max to have a last dance before the judges pick Maisie. This week, both dances seem less good than first time round, but Maisie is very clearly better, so Craig and Anton pick her so she’s through. Shirley tells us she’d have picked Max – is she just letting him down gently, or did she really think he was better?

Next week it’s "Blackpool week", but because they can’t go to Blackpool, the cunning plan is to recreate the Blackpool atmosphere in the Elstree studio, so maybe we can expect to see groups of hen parties in pink fancy dress wandering around the dancefloor during next week’s dances.

[Rhyd6]

I think I've lost the will to live!

R6

[stewamax]

A good summary; how about some detail to back it up.

[Laughton]

Anton terrible (just my opinion).
Hope they don't seriously consider giving him the job full time next series.

And regarding Katya - what happened to all those extreme precautions SCD were going on about at the beginning of the series?

[zico]

Anton terrible (just my opinion).
Hope they don't seriously consider giving him the job full time next series.

And regarding Katya - what happened to all those extreme precautions SCD were going on about at the beginning of the series?

Definitely agree about Anton. Thought he'd be a soft judge, but he wasn't even witty or funny.

SCD put in extreme precautions, including both celebs and pros quarantining even from their families, but you can't make people follow the rules. Wouldn't be surprised if Katya caught it through seeing her family/partner - obviously against the SCD rules, but can't really blame her for being careless when many people in far more important jobs caught covid through not following the rules.