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Week 4 Strictly Come Dancing Thoughts - Neil Jones

Published by Neil Jones on 20th Oct 2015

As part of our work with the BBC on supplying the shoes for 'Strictly Come Dancing' we thought we'd invite one of our sponsored dancers to give us their thoughts on the show that will dominate television screens across the country between now and Christmas.

Neil Jones, who along with partner Katya Jones are choreographers on the show, gives us his thoughts on the fourth week. Here are his thoughts couple by couple, do you agree or disagree? Neil's comments on the exit of Daniel O'Donnell are at the bottom!

First up this week and aiming to top the 'Gleb Special' from last week was Anita Rani & Gleb Savchenko with a Samba. This was a great Samba, and I really enjoyed it, it was very rhythmical. There were the odd footwork mistakes, but nothing major. Rated: 8.

Up next with an American Smooth was Daniel O'Donnell and Kristina Rihanoff. I know Daniel had been very nervous on Saturday but you didn't see that in his performance at all. He's got great musicality, lifts and frame, the one thing he does need to focus on is his shaping within his movements. There's room for improvement. Rated: 6.

Next up was was Kirsty Gallacher & Brendon Cole with their Paso Doble. Now it's easy to see negative points in beginners but let's remember that they are beginners and not professional dancers. Kirsty might not have the greatest shaping but she certainly had the passion and emotion for a Paso. Kirsty does need to work on the extension of her arm movements in the future. Rated: 6.

Georgia May Foote and Giovanni Pernice were up next with their Quickstep and this, for me, is Georgia's best performance yet! She really is a Ballroom girl. I think it was a great Quickstep, but for the future she'll need to just be aware of her shoulders. Rated: 8.

Up next was Jeremy Vine & Karen Clifton with their Jive and I think Jeremy created his own 'Gleb Special' here! But this is what Strictly Come Dancing is all about: beginners improving. Jeremy is not a natural, as I said last week, but he is very entertaining! Rated: 6.

Kellie Bright and Kevin Clifton followed their impressive Charleston from last week with a stunning Foxtrot this week. I just found myself saying ahhhhh.. It was just so calm and graceful! With Ballroom the hardest part is the frame and Kellie just needs to work on her right arm, but it was a great job. I loved this performance. Rated: 8.

Wow! Next up with a Charleston was Jamelia & Tristan MacManus and what a difference this was to previous weeks! I honestly felt as though she was a professional dancer! Rated: 9.

Following on from that incredible Jive last week it was Jay McGuiness & Aliona Vilani next with with their Quickstep. Oh no. This is really hard for me because I am a huge fan of Jay but there were too many mistakes. It was very hard because last week he was incredible and with that comes extra pressure. His technique is still great, but I think the choreography was very difficult. Don't worry though Jay, sometimes we need these hits to make us stronger. Rated: 6.

Next up was Carol Kirkwood and Pasha Kovalev with their Paso Doble. Go Carol! I'm proud of you! I agree with Len that Carol really got into character. This is her best dance yet and I also agree with Craig that she needs to use her hands more, as she showed us in her VT she certainly can do it! Rated: 6.

Following up next was Ainsley Harriott and Natalie Lowe and I thought Ainsley had a great flow, with a great rise and fall. For me, he lost his neck because of his shoulders rising. I don't like it when people say 'relax and you'll be fine', mainly because to stop the shoulders rising you need to strengthen your back muscle. Apart from the shoulders though, this was a massive improvement. Rated: 7.

Helen George and Aljaž Skorjanec went up next with their Salsa. Each week I have criticised her for her legs being too straight so naturally the Salsa should be a hard dance for her but she was amazeballs! I wish my nurse looked this good! This is her best dance so far for me. Rated: 8.

The penultimate performance of the night was a Tango from Peter Andre and Janette Manrara. I think this was my favourite routine, there was a great story and excellent content. I think Peter is the most consistent of performers and he's improving each week, which is exactly what we want from this show. On a constructive point, he needs to learn not to slouch too much into Janette, but it was a lot less this week. Rated: 8.

Last but not least it was Katie Derham and Anton du Beke. This was a real Viennese Waltz! Topping the leaderboard for the week - could this be Anton's year?! There was a lot of quality in this dance, though always room for improvement of course. Rated: 8.

This week I thought it was great to see the bottom of last weeks leaderboard improving so much. This is what Strictly is all about and I can see it becoming tougher and tougher as the season goes on because there is so much quality out there. I'm so proud of everyone and the work they're putting in. As for the exit of Daniel, I thought he was really improving. It was a good performance on Saturday night and I didn't expect him to be in the bottom two. However in the dance off, I have to agree with the judges in that there were too many mistakes and on that I think the judges made the right decision.


Tweet me your thoughts using the links below and let me know if you agree or disagree with my comments!

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