The Strictly Sweep – Week 9
Life does have a way of putting things into perspective. I said on Sunday evening that it was probably a good thing that the results show doesn’t go out live, because there’s no way that Robbie would have been in any kind of mindset to actually do it having heard the news about his great mate Gary Speed. I wonder whether he’ll be in the right frame of mind to carry on at all, given how he reacted when we saw him interviewed on BBC News. The irony of it was that the last time Robbie spoke to his mate, on the phone on Saturday afternoon, he was told “don’t let Craig give you a 2″.
Before we all found out the tragic news on Sunday, there was some dancing on Saturday, with Brendan doing his Knight Errant routine once again. Having stepped into the breach when Artem hurt his back to dance the rumba with Holly, he mounted his noble steed to ride to Anita’s rescue after Robin managed to get an infection in his foot. What is it this year with the pros getting injured? Usually it’s the celebrities. Now that we’re down to the last seven, and the dregs (sorry Russell) have been ejected, we should see better and better performances. Unless you’re speaking to Judge Craig, who was of the opinion that Alex & James’s charleston was “a step backwards” after their tour de force tango at Wembley. I think it would be fair to include James in that group of somewhat highly strung professionals who find it difficult to accept the kind of blunt criticism Judge Craig hands out, as evidenced by him storming off in a huff upon their exit from the studio. I even tweeted Alex today to suggest that he might want to take a chill pill, or even a timeout once in a while. To be fair, a timeout would probably be nicer as it’s made of chocolate. And then there’s Harry. A lot of people are wild about Harry. Including Judge Bruno if you hadn’t noticed. You do get the impression that Judge Bruno is interested in more than Harry’s footwork. But it was the footwork that impressed everyone in his and Aliona’s quickstep – Judge Craig gave it an extremely rare 9, while the other three handed out maximum scores, to give them a total of 39 out of 40 – the highest score of the series so far. I wonder if Dougie knows?
All of which led to the bottom two, with Holly & Artem down there for a second consecutive week. We’ve had young ladies of the FHM cover girl type before, but it’s rare for any of them to be consistently down in the bottom two at this stage before the final. Like Lord Blackadder, is she not popular? I don’t think I’d go so far as to suggest people say when they’ve trodden in something dogs leave in the street “whoops, I’ve stepped in a Holly”. Perhaps the viewing public simply don’t like her for being gorgeous and ensconced with a chap that has more money than, if not God, then certainly Lord Sugar. And who were they joined by? Alas, it was Anita & Brendan, who, having been in the bottom two for a second time, is evidently not the national treasure Guest Judge Jennifer seemed to think she is. And so, when the time came and Tess called out the next couple to leave, it was Anita & Brendan. And there was nothing Robin, with his poorly foot, could do about it. So I’m afraid for you, if you had Anita & Robin, then your time in the sweep is done. But you can have the satisfaction of blaming it on Brendan.
Moving to the leagues, we find Chelsee & Pasha still topping the main table, but with their lead over Harry & Aliona now down to four points. Long time pace setters Jason & Kristina are now a whopping 27 points further back in third, while Alex & James are also losing ground in fourth. In the ballroom table, thanks to only two couples performing a ballroom routine this week, Holly & Artem have leapt into the lead with a 19 point advantage over Jason & Kristina with Chelsee & Pasha in third, while in the latin table, despite their elimination, Anita & Robin move to the top with a six point advantage over Chelsee & Pasha, while Jason & Kristina move up to third and Harry & Aliona drop to fourth.
In the minor competitions, it is literally all change thanks to Harry & Aliona’s massive score. Their three tens give them a total now of seven, while only two other couples (Jason & Kristina and Chelsee & Pasha) have been awarded maximums so far. Their score of 39 is now the one to beat in the highest weekly score contest, and so that will take either a perfect score to beat it, or an equal score to go once again to countback. And in the average score competition, they hold a 0.2 point advantage over Jason & Kristina.
It’s Movie Night next week, and so we wait with baited breath to see the themes that the professionals have come up with for their routines. But, more importantly, we’re down to the last six, and there are just three weeks to the final. The wheat has been sorted from the chaff, and now we’re going to lose talented performers. The competition is heating up. But remember James, there are more important things you know. Ask Robbie.
Chairman Pip’s Railway Thoughts Strictly League 2011
| Dancers | Points |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 604 |
| Harry/Aliona | 600 |
| Jason/Kristina | 573 |
| Alex/James | 563 |
| Holly/Artem | 557 |
| Anita/Robin | 526 |
| Robbie/Ola | 510 |
| Russell/Flavia | 449 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 392 |
| Audley/Natalie | 356 |
| Rory/Erin | 303 |
| Nancy/Anton | 219 |
| Dan/Katya | 204 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 126 |
For the ballroom and latin leagues, the tables look like this: Celebrations Ballroom League
| Holly/Artem | 160 |
| Jason/Kristina | 141 |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 136 |
| Harry/Aliona | 135 |
| Alex/James | 127 |
| Robbie/Ola | 119 |
| Audley/Natalie | 106 |
| Anita/Robin | 91 |
| Russell/Flavia | 83 |
| Rory/Erin | 78 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 62 |
| Dan/Katya | 58 |
| Nancy/Anton | 47 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 24 |
Roses Latin League
| Anita/Robin | 216 |
| Chelsee/Pasha | 210 |
| Jason/Kristina | 197 |
| Harry/Aliona | 195 |
| Alex/James | 178 |
| Robbie/Ola | 163 |
| Russell/Flavia | 156 |
| Lulu/Brendan | 155 |
| Holly/Artem | 151 |
| Audley/Natalie | 83 |
| Rory/Erin | 66 |
| Nancy/Anton | 66 |
| Dan/Katya | 61 |
| Edwina/Vincent | 52 |
