Judge Jake! Strictly Week 1
šŖ© JUDGE JAKE! šŖ©
So I thought Iād start something new this series!
Every week Iām going to give my own thoughts and scores on the Strictly performances. Not trying to be Craig, Motsi, Shirley or Anton, just giving my view as a Ballroom & Latin teacher on what I liked, what Iād work on and, most importantly, how much of the actual dance I felt we got!
Itās only Week 1, so Iām definitely leaving room for those scores to go UP! š
Here goes...
1. Will Best & Dianne Buswell | Samba Ā
ā MY SCORE: 5/10
Very confident performance and starting the show and series off, Will should be happy with what he did. For a Samba there should be more feeling of bounce and it was a bit stompy. Will shows good control of movement but needs to work on posture and getting his shoulders back and head back, this will help him down the line.
In many areas showing good form, now itās about showing more of the technique and framing for me, but this will develop over his time in the show. I can see him getting rather far!
2. Tabby Stoecker & Mark Karmalita | Jive Ā
ā MY SCORE: 6/10
Great start again for Week 1. Tabby doesnāt seem to be scared of performing and Mark put out a well put together routine which matched the music very well!
Good amount of Jive sections, though I would have liked to have seen more partnering and less side-to-side actions. She demonstrated good flicks and kicks and I wonāt take that away from an early dance.
Jive has a rather complex rhythm that showcases the energy in the music and I felt that was missing. More rhythm and swing would upgrade this score up!
3. Dame Sarah Storey & Julian Caillon | Quickstep Ā
ā MY SCORE: 4/10
Quickstep is always a hard one sometimes, as though you get a good amount of partnering, which this routine did, it can have too many runs and not actual steps. Things like double reverse spins, tipples and fleckles.
As this routine mainly had runs, it increases the steps Sarah had to get right and the timing and technique was a bit off throughout the routine.
I think she held up and with a bit longer I can see her getting into her frame better and stretching left more. Not a bad performance for Week 1 but plenty of places to improve.
4. Lawrence Robb & Jowita PrzystaÅ | Paso Doble Ā
ā MY SCORE: 6/10
Rob had good timing with this performance and gave good dynamics. But Paso has a banana-like frame in the stance and I found he didnāt get his hips forward enough!
Also, I did have an issue with his left arm in hold. With his height he needs to extend away and not have his hand as close to his head.
With better shaping in posture and keeping a narrower gait this would be a very convincing dance with the vibe of the song too! Again, very confident. I liked it, just needs more shape in the body when moving.
5. Shaun Wright-Phillips & Alexis Warr | Cha Cha Cha Ā
ā MY SCORE: 3/10
Shaun showed good foot placement and routine awareness. You could tell it was rehearsed, but I didnāt see much rhythm or hip action.
Iām sure he can achieve it in time and weeks to come, but there was good effort in some elements of technique, but some big issues like doing a heel drag in a locking back action.
I think had he done more partnering and less solo it would have looked more confident. Any time he was away and solo he looked scared!
Keep those feet on the floor and maybe work on connection on the floor to help more body action, which will help his actions and dancing.
6. Bethany Antonia & Nancy Xu | Quickstep Ā
ā MY SCORE: 6/10
I liked this rather contemporary-style Quickstep and Bethanyās frame, both as leader and follower, I was very pleased with for Week 1.
I thought it was a well thought out piece. Again with the Quickstep I would have liked to have seen more basic rather than just runs, hops and skips. Yes, at a higher level this is part of the style, but again I would like to see more basics that are more challenging and push Bethany as I think she can cope!
I thought this was the cleanest performance up to that point in the show and I think Bethany with Nancy will go far into the competition!
With all the Quickstep that was in there partnered, some stronger ankles to help with some neater closes and, when in a followerās frame, a little more extension to the left. Solo sections, just get the full extension of the legs or arms, but again a good performance on Week 1.
7. Lacey Turner & Vito Coppola | Cha Cha Cha Ā
ā MY SCORE: 6/10
This was a good showcase of show Cha Cha in my opinion and something where I liked the choreography and it all worked, but wasnāt full Cha Cha to me.
A lot of the highlights worked with the music but not the Cha Cha rhythm. Now is this Laceyās choice? No, itās not. Iām not faulting the choreography, but I think this is one of those music choices that, though a great song, doesnāt highlight what you can really get from a Cha Cha.
This was a confident and strong performance but I wanted more Cha Cha characteristics to test Lacey.
Iām sure we will see it at some point, but this was a polished dance. Again, more contact with the floor through the feet to get more body rhythm rather than manually doing it, if you know what Iām saying. Hips donāt lie and you can tell when they are real hips!
Still canāt fault too much, but again for Week 1 very strong.
8. Chris Appleton & Amy Dowden | Tango Ā
ā MY SCORE: 5/10
This is a great modern Tango song in which the choreography matched well with the song choice.
Chris seemed both confident and scared, which happens more than you think with dancers having to think about the dance and perform, and I think he chose to think about the dance rather than perform.
There was a lot of over-tension in his back and shoulders and yes, itās Tango, but he could have halved it and got way more out of it. This made him stiffer in movements and harder to transfer the weight smoothly for his Tango.
Chris seems very strong and that will come in handy and for Week 1 it was another good start, but relax and take it easy is my advice!
9. Melanie Walters & Aljaž Å korjanec | Cha Cha Cha Ā
ā MY SCORE: 4/10
Now I liked this for many reasons. One thing I think helps is when the pro dances in a way that compliments their celeb! Aljaž does this very well and does every year!
Now Melanie, Iād like an intro not to last a third of the dance, but when they started there were plenty of recognised steps and in a good Cha Cha rhythm, which is very important for me.
Posture and lines could be improved across the whole dance and being a bit stompy doesnāt help the leg and body action.
She performs it very well with great confidence and style that matches the song and style of the story they were showing. Again, for Week 1 it was a good performance!
10. Cach Mercer & Maddie Ingoldsby | Quickstep Ā
ā MY SCORE: 5/10
He comes with a lot of musical understanding and performance value, though I donāt think his lines in either the freestyle sections or closed frame position matched the energy he was putting into the dance.
For me, too much open freestyle and not enough Quickstep. Scatter chassĆ©s and pivots arenāt enough for me.
But I do think Cach has very high potential and now really needs to work on his posture and show me he can do more of the leading, as I think he can!
Great energy, too much fusion for my liking, but I like where he can take it doing the style more each week!
11. Graeme Hall & Lauren Oakley | Cha Cha Cha Ā
ā MY SCORE: 7/10
Maybe very much a surprise performance for myself and many others!
Graeme showed maybe the highest accuracy of the technique of Cha Cha of the night and rhythm. He kept good contact with the floor which helped achieve more movement than most during the night.
Now there were a few routine or hold mistakes between linking sections, but this is something that comes better with time!
My one thing Iād like to see from him now is his posture and head placement and looking! He liked to look down a lot and I think he can now think about performing more.
If I could give half scores I would, so Iām rounding up! Because Iām feeling kind! š What I saw was also more Cha Cha, which scores higher in my book, and was entertaining in the routine and style!
12. Jaime Winstone & Carlos Gu | Tango Ā
ā MY SCORE: 5/10
Great song choice, not going to lie, disco-style Tango has my name written all over it!
But I feel in this number there were just too many disco-style sections rather than disco-flavoured Tango steps. Which leads me to talk maybe a little more negatively about when they were in hold through the Tango sections.
Jaimeās lower position up to the waist and rib connection was good and strong, right arm in hold, but the left side needs much more work. It was down and didnāt allow, in promenade positions, to have space for her head placement.
Music accents and highlights looked great and styled really well. Very confident performer and great choreography, but Iād again like a bit more of the Tango!
13. Dani Dyer & Nikita Kuzmin | Samba Ā
ā MY SCORE: 5/10
With Dani sadly not dancing last year, it was nice to see her having another shot.
Now Samba is a fast dance. Nowadays a lot of people dance it like a Cha Cha, even at the highest levels of comps, and this means we can lose the bounce and Brazilian feel to such an energetic dance.
Now Dani did well with the speed and the moves but for me it was NICE!
Pupils that know me know that though itās not a bad thing, itās just missing more!
I felt I could have had more Samba moments which would have helped. It was a little stop and start with cute TikTok bits for me! Things that maybe followers may do as a fun video, but yeah, I just wanted to see more.
Wasnāt bad but wanted more lines, more performance, more Samba.
14. John Nellis & Katya Jones | Foxtrot Ā
ā MY SCORE: 8/10
John is very much an unknown to many, that includes me, so I didnāt know what to expect!
Well, I was very pleased with a lot!
Posture, CHECK! Was very good. Rise and fall was smooth and graceful, not rushed. Footwork was a very good display from what I could see, but looking at his body you can tell he was using the balls of his feet well and not over-heeling and stomping!
Foxtrot timing is hard! He got it.
The routine was a good mix of proper Foxtrot and touches of American Smooth, which is a great combo!
Now small improvements John could do is finish some arm lines and not need to look at Katya all the time. It worked in this dance but the performance when out of hold and slightly solo, Iād like to see him connect with the crowd and audience!
Also, being picky, getting a better idea of step sizes. Sometimes he didnāt quite stride right and then had to over-stretch.
But Iām being picky for a reason. I think John is this seriesā wildcard underdog that was a surprise on the night. Now can he deliver in a Latin dance? š
15. Delta Goodrem & Kai Widdrington | Samba Ā
ā MY SCORE: 7/10
I love hearing a proper Samba used from the circuit used in Strictly. This song is one of my favourite Sambas as it uses so much of the usable Samba rhythms!
Now to this performance. It was a great show and showed lots of Samba steps and timing I thought was very strong with this song!
I would have liked to see more bounce in the body action and legs to give it that true Samba feel, but I wonāt argue the leg work and foot placements were very good.
Connection with Kai was very good and held posture very well! Was a very fun routine and was performed with the same intensity.
Some areas I felt could have kept the energy higher in the arm work and hands, but dancing takes it out of you and Samba is hard!
With it being Week 1, itās another top performance!
šŖ© SO THATāS JUDGE JAKEāS WEEK 1 SCORES! šŖ©
Now I want to know what YOU think because Iām sure there are a few scores here people are going to disagree with! š
Was I fair or too harsh? Which score do you disagree with most? Who did I undersell? Who did I overscore?
And most importantly, who was YOUR dance of Week 1?
Get into the comments and tell me! I genuinely want to hear your opinions, especially if you disagree with mine! š
Know someone who watches Strictly every week? Share this with them and see whether they agree with Judge Jake! šŗšŖ©
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