Strictly Come Dancing Movie Week recap: Cynthia Erivo brought Hollywood magic but not for everyone!
Hollywood reporter Ross King was voted off the show in Movie Week!Strictly Come Dancing returned to our televisions this week with superstar Cynthia Erivo bringing some Hollywood sparkle in Movie Week!
Cynthia provided some expert advice for the dancers during their training, and she was on hand to give her feedback on how they’d performed. Though only the judges were allowed to score this week.
It did seem as though Cynthia’s advice – or maybe just her star-like presence – had really helped the dancers raise their game because there were some wonderful performances this week.
There were also a couple of duds. But we feel quite strongly that some celebs were set up to fail with the frankly odd and uncomfortable choice of music and costumes.
And we’re not happy about this week’s eviction either.
Here’s everything we thought of the action in this week’s Strictly review.
Everything we loved in Strictly Come Dancing Movie Week
Let’s start with the good stuff.
Amber Davies and her partner Nikita Kuzmin started the show with a gorgeous American Smooth to 16 Going On 17 from The Sound of Music.
We must confess here that we weren’t convinced by Amber joining the show so late when Dani Dyer was forced to withdraw. She’s clearly a trained performer, with the confidence and ability to dance already. But she won us over with this dance.
Karen Carney and Carlos Gu smashed it with their Miss Congeniality-inspired cha cha. We were cross that Craig only scored her a four, which we thought was very mean. And Harry Aikines-Aryeetey’s Lion King-themed samba with partner Karen Hauer was joyous and energetic and we loved it.
We were wowed by Alex and Lewis!
Alex Kingston and Johannes Radebe danced a quickstep to Suddenly I See, inspired by The Devil Wears Prada. And here’s the thing about the brilliance of Alex Kingston (and of Jojo!). Usually we are traditionalists when it comes to a dance like quickstep, foxtrot or American Smooth. We want Fred and Ginger, we want the swooshy dresses and the dapper suits.
So, Alex Kingston dressed as Miranda Priestly made us nervous. Until she took to the dance floor and WOWED us with her amazing characterisation and brilliant dancing. That’s us told, then.
Meanwhile, Lewis and Katya stayed traditional for their Zorro Paso and Oh.My. God it paid off. Wasn’t that great?
But our fave dance of the night was Ellie dancing her Barbie samba. She looked like she was having a ball, she really suited the dance, and their height difference didn’t even seem to cause too much trouble. It was totally her best dance of the series so far and we loved it.
What didn’t we like in Strictly Come Dancing movie week?
Chris Robshaw seems like a nice chap. He also seems like he doesn’t want to be in Strictly and he doesn’t seem to be trying very hard. His Thor-themed paso to Sweet Child o Mine seemed to involve a lot of him walking round while partner Nadiya Bychkova danced beautifully next to him. We weren’t impressed and we were convinced he’d be the one to go.
But we were wrong.
Vicky Pattison and Kai Widdrington danced a Charleston to music from The Great Gatsby. The music was not right for the dance. Vicky was nervous and it showed. She was tearful when the judges gave their feedback. It wasn’t a good week for poor Vicky.
But we still love her and we’re glad she avoided the dance off.
Then there was George Clarke and Alexis Warr and their K Pop Demon Hunters inspired couple’s choice. We have really warmed to George over the last few weeks. But this week he seemed self-conscious. We also thought he was really overmarked, especially by Shirley, who gave him 9!
Who was eliminated from Strictly this week?
And so to Ross King and his partner Jowita Przystal. Sadly they had to dance off this week against Balvindar Sopal and Julian Caillon (WHAT? That was madness!). The judges chose to save Balvindar Sopal, which was probably the right choice.
BUT, we think poor Ross was nobbled! He was set up to fail, with that awful comedy paso to the Thunderbirds theme. We understand that Ross wasn’t the best dancer in the competition – not by a long way. But in many respects, he was the sort of dancer that really adds to Strictly’s magic. He was working so hard and trying his best, and really, really enjoying himself.
While strong dancers can pull off the comedy performances, it seems pretty unfair to give someone like Ross a novelty dance so early in the competition.
But sadly not even Cynthia’s magic Hollywood stardust could save him, and it was goodbye to Ross and Jowita. And for the rest of us, it’s onwards to week four.
