Permanently Peevish: Natalie Gumede's Rumba does it for me in week 3 of Strictly. But it's hardly surprising really #scd #itt

Monday, 14 October 2013

Natalie Gumede's Rumba does it for me in week 3 of Strictly. But it's hardly surprising really #scd #itt

I've been waiting for a performance that would make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up (always a sign that I'm watching something really special) and Natalie's beautiful Rumba did it for me on Saturday night. It was so good that I doubt a casual viewer would have been able to tell which one of them was the professional and which the celebrity.
The storytelling was so good and her body movements so expressive that one might have been watching a ballet.
Only one thing marred it for me, and I know I'm being picky, but Natalie seemed to pause for a split second mid routine to brush her rather vagrant hair out of those strikingly alluring eyes.

(Edit): It now emerges that Natalie had considerable professional coaching in dancing from the age of 4. But as viewers are supposed to be voting for celebrities they enjoy watching the most, I don't see why it should make any difference to the voting. The people who will object, maybe with some legitimacy, are the other celebrities who may feel at a competitive disadvantage. See this item in the Mail Online

I'm glad to say that the Beeb's web site worked for me and I was able to cast my votes. Why on earth have we got 5 votes each? Doesn't the BBC realise that some people will use them all on the one single contestant and thus skew the results? I do not consider one person casting five votes in a single direction as being as valid as five people casting a single vote each for one contestant.
Oh and another gripe; why are we going on with this silly idea of a plethora of theme nights - it's just too pointless and X-Factorish. A Halloween night and a Blackpool event is quite enough. Why not concentrate on the basic dancing skills
Here's the latest betting and my comments:

Natalie Gumede Highest score of the night - 36. Unsurprisingly tightened in to 6/4 from 9/4 although 13/8 is available in a place or two.

Sophie Ellis-Bextor After last week's superb Jive, I though her Samba was too controlled. Now 9/4 from 11/4.

Ashley Taylor-Dawson I just don't see what others see in this guy's performance. 5/1 in a place.

Susanna Reid As tedious as ever but at least she kept her legs covered - mainly. Still loitering around 8/1.

Abbey Clancey Eased out to 10/1. Unsurprisingly really. I didn't get her Jive at all. Far too much 'skirtology' which I don't recall being a feature of a traditional Jive. I suppose she just didn't know what else to do with her hands.

Rachel Riley A bit better than last week - her hips made a slight debut. I'm still a little frustrated because I keep thinking what she could be like - it's not her fault it's mine. slipped a point to 33/1

Out with the rags

Ben Cohen Although I am not interested in Ben Cohen's dance performances, I'm quite transfixed by his obvious reaction to Kristina. This week his hands were all over her and I'm beginning to smell some naughtiness. Remains at 50/1.

Mark Benton A delightful American Smooth, full of characterisation. No change 80/1.

Patrick Robinson Stylish Foxtrot. Slipped out to 80/1. It's strange because he is a million times better than Ben Cohen.

Dave Myers 125/1 seems such a mean price considering the sheerentertainment value of this guy. Will I be watching Hairy Bikers? No.

Fiona Fullerton An elegant waltz 125/1

Deborah Meadon Tries so hard. 150/1

Julien Macdonald I enjoyed watching Janette's legs in the jive. 500/1

Vanessa Feltz Gone.

Conclusion There have been no significant market movers this week other than Natalie tightening up and I would suggest that no value remains antwhere else. Natalie's performance was so near perfect that I would say she is pretty much uncatchable now barring acidents.

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Causes of Peevishness

These are the things which get up my nose in day to day life. OK they're maybe not serious in the grand scheme of things but they make me shout at the television, change channels and raise my blood pressure to dangerous levels. The first of these is Estuary English. Of course I know that people who speak this uneducated and lazy form of English cannot help it and I'm fine with them using it in their own homes etc, but why do they have to bring it into my home? They really should be banned from getting jobs in television (apart from cleaning jobs obvs)
The use of particular words annoys me too and the people who overuse these are often (but not always, speakers of estuary English). These include:- Amazing: Vastly overused and mostly completely inappropriately too. To me an 'amazing' thing is something that is so jaw dropping that there are simply no other words to describe it. It should certainly never be used to describe your friends, relatives, babies or holidays etc. And certainly not the prices of furniture in a DFS sale. There are millions of other words so get a dictionary or thesaurus. And if you're too lazy or stupid to do that then STAY OFF MY TELEVISION FFS. And don't write anything I'm likely to read either (on Facebook, Twitter, Radio Times etc).

Then come a couple of words and phrases which are completely unnecessary in any sentence: At the end of the day,Basically, Go for it and Do you know what I mean The last of these is perhaps the most irritating of them.
It also annoys me when anyone uses the word Delicious to describe anything other than a taste or smell. How can a colour or design possibly be delicious FFS?

And then we have: To Die For: I've been with people who were dying and I know that not one of them would have said that it was a price worth paying for a pair of shoes, plate of food or whatever fashionable colour. It's a stupid unthinking thing to say.

I don't understand the use of the word: Like in this kind of context - "I was like, she was like" and so on. I don't know what purpose it serves. I know it probably means that the perpetrator has spent too much time watching American television but is that any reason to inflict it on the rest of us?

Utterly maddening is the use of Floor: instead of ground. It's just laziness. Isn't it easy to tell whether you are inside or outside? Think before you speak goddammit!

Can I get I hear this all the time in shops and pubs and I think it's the height of rudeness so I assume it's American in origin. Of course anyone with any manners would say, "May I please have."

Trust me: The last thing I will ever do is trust the person who says "trust me".

Yeah: Obviously not when it is used as an affirmative but when it is used to end a sentence as in: do what I tell you, yeah? Or: Have a good day, yeah? And especially - You need to cheer up, yeah?..... No I fucking don't, you twat!

Poo: I've never understood what exactly is wrong with shit or crap. We all know what is meant and the word poo is just childish. There is also manure or dung for the animal variety. And if you simply must be polite you can always fall back on ordure or even excrement

Then we come to what I call unnecessary abreviations such as: Ciggie: This makes me cringe every time I hear it and Goss: Seemingly favoured by continuity announcers on the second rate television channels. And I quite often find that when "goss" is used, there is little or no real gossip involved in the publication or television programme concerned.

I hate the insidious way Americanisms are creeping into English usage. Such as: Gotten and Snuck and Dove. And there are many more that have snuck in so sneakily that we are hardly aware of them being Americanisms any more e.g. Campus which is something to do with a university or college. and Intern It used to refer to a junior level of hospital doctor in the U.S but it has become to mean some kind of unpaid employee.

Monday, 14 October 2013

Natalie Gumede's Rumba does it for me in week 3 of Strictly. But it's hardly surprising really #scd #itt

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