The Strictly Sweep – Week 7
Reaching Wembley has been the first major goal of this season, as if you can get to Wembley, you can see the final in sight, and you know that maybe, just maybe, you’re in with a shout of lifting the Glitterball trophy. And so it was that everyone danced their little socks off to try and impress both the judges (with returning Head Judge Len) and the public. Of course, impressing the judges is no guarantor of impressing the public, as we found out when we saw who got into the bottom two. But more of that in a moment. We saw the start of argentine tango, with Harry & Aliona gaining yet another pair of tens for their performance from Judge Alesha and Judge Bruno – however, it evidently didn’t pickle Head Judge Len’s walnuts, as he only gave it an eight. The same could have been said of Judge Craig’s reaction to Jason & Kristina’s viennese waltz, who stated that it could have been a ten, had it not been for poor arms:
This dance could be a 10, but it’s not because your arms are letting you down, they’re wooden. You have to have shaping otherwise it will remain a poor Ballroom.
Then there was Russell & Flavia’s american smooth. Judge Craig had one word for their paso doble last week – “Astonishing”. This week he had one word – “Immortal”. Or perhaps Judge Bruno put it better:
And so it was that, for the third week running and fourth time overall, Audley & Natalie found themselves in the bottom two. To be fair, Audley did have a bad knee, and the cha cha isn’t the best dance to do with that kind of injury. But it’s also true to say that he’s not really built for the cha cha. However, the surprise was Anita & Robin being in the bottom two, in spite of their score of 33 for the argentine tango. Anita was described as “a national treasure” by Guest Judge Jennifer last week. Should we have a re-evaluation of that? As it stands, Anita & Robin survived, and it wasn’t fourth time lucky for Audley & Natalie. And so if you had Audley & Natalie, I’m afraid you’ve been KO’d as far as the sweep is concerned.
Moving onto the leagues, we find ourselves with new leaders at the top of the main table for the first time this season, as Chelsee & Pasha take a one point advantage over Jason & Kristina, who have been leading since week one. What can we take from this? Have Jason & Kristina peaked too early? For the second week running they did not top the judges leaderboard, which may be a sign that others are ready to make the jump ahead. We’ll see. Harry & Aliona remain in third, a further four points adrift. Jason & Kristina do retain the lead in the ballroom table however with a ten point advantage over Chelsee & Pasha, who in turn are a massive twelve points clear of third place Robbie & Ola. Harry & Aliona replace Chelsee & Pasha at the top of the latin table with Anita & Robin in second, and Holly & Artem lying third.
In the minor competitions, the two tens awarded to Harry & Aliona give them four now in total, while Chelsee & Pasha become the third couple to enter this competition, having received their first on Saturday putting them equal with Jason & Kristina. Jason & Kristina still head the average score competition, but now by just 0.15 of a point over Harry & Aliona, while their score of 37 gave them the top spot with the judges this week, meaning for the highest weekly score we revert to countback again and go back to Jason & Kristina’s 33 in week two.
So, Wembley. Dancing in front of 6,000 people. Audley fought there early in his professional career, but he’s missed out. Robbie played there and won with Leicester City, and he’s made it. If I wasn’t going to Coventry, I’d have busted a gut to try and get a ticket. Alas. I wonder if Dave Arch and his wonderful orchestra will play Abide with Me
Chairman Pip’s Railway Thoughts Strictly League 2011
| Dancers | Points |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 462 |
| Jason/Kristina | 461 |
| Harry/Aliona | 457 |
| Holly/Artem | 441 |
| Alex/James | 436 |
| Anita/Robin | 426 |
| Robbie/Ola | 408 |
| Russell/Flavia | 379 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 346 |
| Audley/Natalie | 326 |
| Rory/Erin | 293 |
| Nancy/Anton | 209 |
| Dan/Katya | 199 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 121 |
For the ballroom and latin leagues, the tables look like this: Celebrations Ballroom League
| Jason/Kristina | 141 |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 131 |
| Robbie/Ola | 119 |
| Audley/Natalie | 101 |
| Harry/Aliona | 96 |
| Holly/Artem | 95 |
| Alex/James | 92 |
| Anita/Robin | 91 |
| Russell/Flavia | 83 |
| Rory/Erin | 73 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 57 |
| Dan/Katya | 53 |
| Nancy/Anton | 42 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 24 |
Roses Latin League
| Harry/Aliona | 161 |
| Anita/Robin | 154 |
| Holly/Artem | 151 |
| Alex/James | 144 |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 135 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 134 |
| Russell/Flavia | 127 |
| Jason/Kristina | 122 |
| Robbie/Ola | 107 |
| Audley/Natalie | 78 |
| Rory/Erin | 61 |
| Nancy/Anton | 61 |
| Dan/Katya | 61 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 47 |
