Strictly Come Dancing, week 2: HRVY and Maisie Smith tied at top after delayed live show
As lockdown descends again, what better time for some shameless sparkly escapism? Strictly 2020’s second live show (when it eventually aired) was the ideal opportunity to snuggle up, close the curtains, ignore any rogue trick-or-treaters and lose oneself in razzle, dazzle and spooky wordplay.
Bidding to impress voting viewers for the first time and avoid the dreaded first elimination, our dancefloor dozen had been training hard for what could be their most important routine of the series.
But who would have a Hallowe'en horror show? Here are all the pumpkin-spiced talking points.
Strictly Come Briefing as delay angered viewers
Oh dear. That won’t do beleaguered Boris Johnson any favours popularity-wise. Strictly Come Dancing is one of the few things keeping the nation’s spirits up but tonight it was late onto our screens - because the government again delayed its already delayed press conference about the delayed lockdown.
The Prime Minister’s official Downing Street briefing was originally timetabled for 4pm. It was bumped back to 5pm, then 6.30pm and eventually aired at 6.48pm. As the PM prevaricated and endless badly formatted graphs flashed up on screen, Strictly’s scheduled 7.10pm start time was delayed by four minutes. Even more galling because the press conference’s key details had already been leaked. This was the least popular Saturday night TV since Don’t Scare The Hare.
It’s just a shame that Boris didn’t end up addressing the nation live from the Elstree Studios ballroom, with Shirley Ballas, Motsi Mabuse and Craig Revel Horwood holding up scoring paddles to rate his speech. Absolute pandemic dis-ah-ster, darling.
You’ve also got to feel sorry for girlband Little Mix, whose talent show The Search was moved from spring to autumn due to coronavirus, only to be unceremoniously shunted about in the schedules and held in an empty studio. The contest’s semi-final was due to air at 6.05pm tonight but was pulled altogether. We’re told it will now go out on Friday. BBC schedulers must be ripping their hair out.
Ballroom babies continued to set the pace
It was the youngsters who dominated last week’s opening live show, with YouTuber HRVY topping the scores and teen EastEnders actress Maisie Smith just one point behind for her sizzling samba. Here their positions were reversed, meaning equal combined scores and leaving them tied at the top of the leaderboard.
HRVY scrubbed up well for a gentlemanly and romantic Viennese waltz full of hearts and flowers. Shedding a few tears over a video message form his nanna Eileen will have fuether endeared him to viewers.
Maisie’s fierce tango was even better - full of dramatic intent, sharp footwork and snapping staccato. She handled difficult choreography with aplomb and almost looks professional standard already.
Both have scored mostly eights with one nine apiece - HRVY’s last week from Motsi Mabuse, Maisie’s this time from Shirley Ballas - marginally more coveted, coming from the head judge. There’s little to choose between them and it could be that way right through until Christmas.
Jacqui Smith looks doomed, despite Ed Balls’ coaching
According to bookies, former Home Secretary Jacqui Smith is the strong favourite to suffer the annual ignominy of first elimination. Well, her second dance wasn’t much of an improvement on her flop first. It left her cut adrift at the bottom of the Strictly polling data, six points behind the pack.
Her poor partner Anton Du Beke threw everything at their Las Vegas showgirl-style samba - feathered fans, silver frock, a rope swing, mentoring from previous prancing politician Ed Balls - but she still looked lumpen, awkward and lacked musicality. Even when Smith was singing along to Help Yourself by Tom Jones, she was out of time.
Craig Revel Horwood said she looked like she was “limping around, lost and drunk at a party”, giving her a damning score of just two. The tricky samba is known as Strictly’s dance of death and could prove fatal again. Unless there’s a huge public vote to sway the swingometer in her favour, Smith looks likely to become the first politician to be voted out first since Edwina Currie back in 2011.
Bill Bailey was exactly what the nation needed
Last week’s glorious, gold-trousered cha-cha showed Bill Bailey’s entertaining side but this week, he was even better. His Doctor Dolittle-themed quickstep was a joy from start to finish and precisely the tonic we needed after that downbeat press briefing.
CGI animals ensured it was family-friendly, while the light and frothy footwork pleased the purists. The furry funnyman had been working hard on his posture, training in a crucifix-like frame rigged up by pro partner Oti Mabuse, and it paid off. Bailey was clearly having a whale of time and it was utterly infectious. Even Craig Revel Horwood agreed he was: “Doctor Do-A-Lot, my darling. Absolutely fan-tas-tic.”
Beardy Bill duly scored a hat-trick of eights, propelling him into the top half of the table. The endearing and surprisingly twinkle-toed 57-year-old looks set to be this year’s dark horse, dancing by stealth all the way into December.
Nicola Adams delivered another groundbreaking dance
Was it too soon in the series for a Couple’s Choice routine? Probably yes but this year’s first - and also the first same-sex one in Strictly history - still made for an emotional moment.
Former Olympic champion Nicola Adams and her pro partner Katya Jones performed a streetdance-meets-contemporary number, telling the story of her life from Leeds council estate to Haringey boxing club and gold medal glory. There were sitting-down sections, silk-waving, side-by-side synchronisation and big smiles. Katya’s choreography was cracking, if a little literal and heavy-handed at times.
It was heartfelt, angsty and ultimately celebratory. The judges gave it a clean sweep of eights, partly out of sentimentality, leaving Nicola third on the leaderboard. She looks destined to go deep into the contest - but could she be doing something similar for a showdance in the final? Don’t rule it out.
All the Js are in dance-off danger
Barring miracles or an unexpected surge of support, Jacqui Smith looks destined to appear in Sunday’s dreaded dance-off. So who might be joining her? Former Royal Marine commando and Invictus Games medallist JJ Chalmers should be safe, despite an underpowered paso doble.
Made In Chelsea socialite Jamie Laing was stranded second from bottom on the scoreboard. His Hollywood-style American smooth was half-decent until he stiffened up considerably in hold. “You were creeping around like The Grinch,” said Craig Revel Horwood.
American footballer Jason Bell wasn’t much better when he closed the show with a stop-start hi-vis salsa. Perhaps he was hoping that a fluorescent lime outfit would mean viewers couldn’t look directly at the screen and notice his lack of hip action or spicy Cuban fluidity.
It could well be these two who are vying for enough votes to lift them clear of the bottom two come Sunday evening. Both should see off Smith in a dance-off but need to raise their choreographic games fast or they won’t last much longer.
Cancelling Hallowe'en special got mixed reaction
BBC bosses made the decision to axe Strictly’s annual spooktacular this year. With the series slashed to just two months and Hallowe'en falling on the first elimination weekend, they deemed it too soon in the contest to stage a themed episode.
Were producers right to pack away the cobweb decorations and pumpkin-shaped scoring paddles? Well, fancy dress, novelty song choices and special effects do tend to overshadow the dancing. It’s only the second live show and viewers are still getting to know the celebrities. Throwing the supernatural kitchen sink at their routines this early would be a distraction.
However, a few couples didn’t get the memo. Clara Amfo and Aljaž Škorjanec’s viennese waltz was black-frocked and Gothic styled. So was Maisie Smith and Gorka Marquez’s dramatic tango, complete with Addams family lipstick. Ranvir Singh and Giovanni Pernice even filmed their VT in a pumpkin field.
That still didn’t stop many fans taking to social media to express their disappointment. With parties cancelled and trick-or-treating against the rules, a spooky Strictly might have helped fill the Hallowe'en hole. But hey, that’s 2020 for you.
First elimination now looms
Viewers now get a chance to have their say and Sunday evening sees the dreaded first elimination of the series. The judges’ scores will be added to last week’s, then combined with the public vote. The bottom two couples will face the dreaded dance-off for survival.
Who will get the ballroom booby prize of a sparkly-handled wooden spoon? This year’s first results show airs at 7.15pm on Sunday (timing dependent on Westminster whims, naturally), with music from Sam Smith and a ghostly group number from the pros. Join us back here for analysis, reaction and positively no pumpkin puns.
