Dance Dance Dance impresses in Week 2

Jonny and Chrissy pull away from the rest with a dynamic version of Cheryl Cole’s Parachute, as the couples improve on Week 1.

First up though, JB and Chloe with NSync’s Bye Bye Bye, and if learning the dance wasn’t enough to cope with, they’ve strings attached. Chloe was loving every second, that was obvious, and their timing was great. Timor called it an amazing job with very strong moments, Tina told Chloe she nailed it and she believed every part of it, while Ashley told them they didn’t disappoint. Score: 23

Chrissy was next with her first solo and it’s a biggie, probably one of the most well known, iconic pop videos ever – Britney’s Hit Me Baby One More Time. Totally in her element, she made it look easy – she didn’t even break sweat! Timor told her he thought she actually danced it better than Britney, although Tina felt it was lacking the character. Ashley felt she could have pushed even harder. Score: 24 – underscored a little I think, in relation to other performances.

The Blues Brothers classic, Shake a Tail Feather – Alesha’s Strictly Jive, FYI – was the challenge for Lucy-Jo and Rohan and they smashed it, keeping the energy up right to the end. Ashley concurred, impressed that the characters didn’t fall away, while Tina told Lucy-Jo she encapsulated the attitude. Timor called it funky and groovy, with perfect chemistry. Score: 25.5

Jess struggled with Christina Aguilera’s Dirty in rehearsal but got it together for the performance, improving on last week, although her energy level dipped towards the end. Tina loved it, and liked that she gave it attitude. Ashley was pleased she took last week’s notes on board and Timor told her they were all having as much fun as she was. Score: 24

Having not had a good week last week, Fiona and Ronnie had That Power by willi.i.am/Bieber to pull things around – which they duly did. The rigidity of these moves suited them much more than the salsa based Dirty Dancing routine, prompting Ashley to ask if it was really them, while Timor applauded the detail and Tina told them they were “right in their wheelhouse”. Score 23.5

My favourite of the night was JB with Men in Black (Will Smith) – it does help when you love the song. It was cool and tight but still had the sense of fun Will Smith brings to everything. Ashley told him he smashed it, and brought all the energy they’d seen in the training VT, while Timor said he taken his performance to another level. Tina told him he had the attitude, he kept it up and didn’t get lost in the other dances. Score: 26

Next up, Jess and Duane with the high energy LMFAO Party Rock Anthem. It was a good performance overall – Duane is such a happy, watchable dancer – but Jess began to flag again, and subsequently got upset at the comments on her fitness. Now everyone wants Duane as their best mate, he was so sweet with her. Ashley complimented Jess on her 100% commitment, Tina drew attention to the goofy faces Duane pulled and wants Jess to get to that point, while Timor said it was a great performance overall. Score: 22.5

Ronnie did his best with Ricky Martin’s La Vida Loca, and while it wasn’t as technically challenging as some of the others, he couldn’t talk after, such was the effort he put into it. Timor said it was a big improvement in character, Ashley was impressed by his approach of challenging himself and not holding back, while Tina appreciated the effort but was picky re his control. Score: 22.5

Technically, the dance of the night was Jonny and Chrissy, dancing to Parachute – with Chrissy dancing a lot more than Cheryl did. It was a full on Paso routine, with Jonny working hard to master the shaping and technique and doing very well. Apart from the occasional wobble, it’s the most accomplished routine out of their comfort zone. Ashley said it was by far the most difficult thing we’ve seen, complimenting Chrissy on her lines. Timor was impressed by their partnering and Tina called it extremely riveting and said they killed it. Score: 28

Finally, Rohan had his solo to Michael Jackson’s Bad and nailed the MJ essence. Tina called it awesome and said he kicked butt, while Ashley – already expecting it to be technically good – ended up more impressed by the performance. Timor drew attention to him taking his time in a moment like MJ used to. Score: 25.5

At the end of Week 2, the scoreboard looks like this: Jonny & Chrissy 105pts; Lucy-Jo & Rohan 100; JB & Chloe 97; Jess & Duane 94.5; Fiona & Ronnie 88.

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