Strictly Come Dancing - Week Eleven

Week 11, the quarter final, a swingathon and the Winkleman all rolled into one. Perfect. Things started off fairly well, we had a dose of Claudia, some wonderful choreography and a fair leaderboard. Then came the swingathon, it all seemed a little half hearted, almost as if the judges weren’t actually watching the couples and were just reshuffling the leaderboard to their liking… and no this isn’t James Jordan writing this.

Ashley & Ola

Salsa to ‘Conga’ by Gloria Estefan

The showbiz terminator kicked the show off to a full throttle start. The routine was full of brilliant lifts and super fast footwork, fantastically choreographed by Ola. Timing was lost in the odd blink of an eye but we’ll happily forgive that given the speed they were performing the salsa at. Len commented it lacked a little hip action, we only half disagree… with hip action from Ashley, less is certainly not more. It’s no secret we have a bit of a soft spot for Ashley and we shed a non-literal glittery tear during Sunday’s results show, we’d like to make a joke that merges his showbiz terminator nickname and the infamous catchphrase ‘I’ll be back’ but we’re too sad.

Scored | 35 |

Our Score | 9 |

Natalie & Artem

Paso Doble to ‘El Gato Montes’ by Ramon Cortez Pasodoble Orchestra

Nipple alert! Strictly costume department, we thank you once more. Tradition music for a Paso is always a good start and the from the first beat it didn’t disappoint. Attack, attitude, drama, precision, another clever routine from the book of Artem. It lacked the in-hold passion which is most certainly what stopped this dream team from topping the leadboard once again. Too much faffing according to Len, but then again anything that isn’t a traditional step can be considered faffing in grumpy Goodmans eyes. The flamenco influence gave it a certain edge and gave it a much needed feel of originality.

Scored | 35 |

Our Score | 9 |

Patrick & Anya

Rumba to ‘When I Was Your Man’ by Bruno Mars

A slow, intense and smoldering Rumba. His frame was solid and he displayed some great footwork. You could really feel the mood and the passion oozing from this routine. We couldn’t keep our eyes off this duo during the performance, beautiful choreography from Anya which was complimented perfectly by the music. No real surprise they topped the leaderboard this week. Wonderful.

Scored | 36 |

Our Score | 9 |

Susanna & Kevin

Argentine Tango to ‘Smooth Criminal’ by Michael Jackson

For his first time he certainly did an admirable job, it’s crazy to think that 11 weeks ago he’d never danced… oh wait. There's always a risk when modernising a traditional number, that you lose the feel and atmosphere of the dance and unfortunately we think that was the case here. It lacked that steamy charisma you expect with an Argentine Tango mainly because the music choice was simply bizarre meaning it was missing aggression and intent. However as a stand alone performance the steps were immaculate and the Michael Jackson influence gave it great originality. It certainly didn’t lack passion.

Scored | 32 |

Our Score | 8 |

Abbey & Aljaz

Viennese Waltz to ‘Delilha’ by Tom Jones

They’re certainly picking a brilliant time to step it up a notch and shine. Beautiful, dreamy, quaint and romantic. Gorgeous shaping, perfect timing and lots of spins. Initially we had reservations about the song choice but it complimented Aljazs routine fantastically adding a dramatic feel to the Waltz. Simply stunning all round.

Scored | 37 |

Our Score | 9 |

Sophie & Brendan

Tango to ‘Material Girl’ by Madonna

Another odd song choice for a Tango, this series really has been full of them. She had to perform from the get-go, but with that higher performance level came a few stumbles and a little bit of posture issues on Sophie's part. A master stroke from Brendan, nobody does it better. All season long Brendan has set an enormous standard with his stunning choreography. This was a strong, staccato Tango, bursting with character and so original.

Scored | 36 |

Our Score | 9 |

After the swingathon gave the leadboard an overhaul we saw Patrick go head to head against Ashley in the dance-off. At this stage in the competition and with such high quality dancers left it’s always going to be a bottom two that nobody agrees with. Sadly we waved goodbye to Ashley & Ola and now with only Patrick left it could easily be an all female final. Next week it’s semi-final time and we’ll be treated to two dances each from the remaining duos, we can’t wait.