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Strictly Come Dancing 2020
Dec. 24th, 2020 02:23 pm(possible flashing lights warning)
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were paired together in this year's Strictly Come Dancing, as the first same-sex couple on the show*. They were, of course, fab and adorable. Unfortunately they had to drop out early on due to Katya being in contact with someone with COVID.
The only upside to this was that I didn't have to listen to Shirley Ballas finding new ways of saying that Nicola Adams didn't have "feminine lines" (whatever the expletive that means), because I was worried that if that did happen, I would have a rage embolism.
Nicola and Katya came back for the finale for a one-off performance (see video below), and it looks like Katya was also expecting that, and choreographed around it.
It turns out that Nicola Adams is a stronger lead than any of the male celebrities and as good at lifts as several of them.** This does not surprise. Despite my terribleness at latin and ballroom dancing, I know that at the heart of being a good lead is confidence, and in boxing (and all fight sports) you have to convey a sense of being confident even when you're not, which helps enormously.
I was team Bill Bailey/Nicola Adams/Jason Bell/JJ Chalmers. Which meant I was down to team Bill/JJ remarkably quickly, in between Nicola Adams's removal due to COVID protocols and JBell being done up like a kipper by someone*** deciding to make him dance a paso doble to the Star Wars theme. Yes, that's a "need a strong beat and to count to 8" to the Star Wars theme.
Done up like a kipper.
I was less surprised than most people that Bill Bailey was competent, mostly because you can't be that good a musician and be a completely incompetent dancer, but I was surprised by quite how good he was.
(Yes, I am biased because Oti is my favourite of the female dancers)
Given my usual involvement with Strictly is reading who has been paired with whom to answer the question of "has Anton been given the lemon?" with the almost inevitable yes, there has been more Strictly in my life than usual. (One day Anton will retire and someone else will have to learn how to choreograph for lemons. I think it will probably be Johannes.)
I am very happy with Bill Bailey winning.
*because I lack joy, I still think it's a gimmick, because if it wasn't a gimmick, straight celebrities would be in same-sex pairings too. It would make life easier for some of the shorter men and taller women.
** I completely understand Bill Bailey not wanting to do lifts, because I think he's more aware than some of the youths about the damage that could happen if he dropped Oti, and lifts are something you shouldn't do if you're not confident.
*** I know the someone wasn't JBell or Luba, his dance partner, because she'd never seen Star Wars before.
Nicola Adams and Katya Jones were paired together in this year's Strictly Come Dancing, as the first same-sex couple on the show*. They were, of course, fab and adorable. Unfortunately they had to drop out early on due to Katya being in contact with someone with COVID.
The only upside to this was that I didn't have to listen to Shirley Ballas finding new ways of saying that Nicola Adams didn't have "feminine lines" (whatever the expletive that means), because I was worried that if that did happen, I would have a rage embolism.
Nicola and Katya came back for the finale for a one-off performance (see video below), and it looks like Katya was also expecting that, and choreographed around it.
It turns out that Nicola Adams is a stronger lead than any of the male celebrities and as good at lifts as several of them.** This does not surprise. Despite my terribleness at latin and ballroom dancing, I know that at the heart of being a good lead is confidence, and in boxing (and all fight sports) you have to convey a sense of being confident even when you're not, which helps enormously.
I was team Bill Bailey/Nicola Adams/Jason Bell/JJ Chalmers. Which meant I was down to team Bill/JJ remarkably quickly, in between Nicola Adams's removal due to COVID protocols and JBell being done up like a kipper by someone*** deciding to make him dance a paso doble to the Star Wars theme. Yes, that's a "need a strong beat and to count to 8" to the Star Wars theme.
Done up like a kipper.
I was less surprised than most people that Bill Bailey was competent, mostly because you can't be that good a musician and be a completely incompetent dancer, but I was surprised by quite how good he was.
(Yes, I am biased because Oti is my favourite of the female dancers)
Given my usual involvement with Strictly is reading who has been paired with whom to answer the question of "has Anton been given the lemon?" with the almost inevitable yes, there has been more Strictly in my life than usual. (One day Anton will retire and someone else will have to learn how to choreograph for lemons. I think it will probably be Johannes.)
I am very happy with Bill Bailey winning.
*because I lack joy, I still think it's a gimmick, because if it wasn't a gimmick, straight celebrities would be in same-sex pairings too. It would make life easier for some of the shorter men and taller women.
** I completely understand Bill Bailey not wanting to do lifts, because I think he's more aware than some of the youths about the damage that could happen if he dropped Oti, and lifts are something you shouldn't do if you're not confident.
*** I know the someone wasn't JBell or Luba, his dance partner, because she'd never seen Star Wars before.
