To say I am a little disappointed about my performance for Week 2 is an understatement - I'm extremely gutted that we did not shine as much as I thought we would, but a number of factors contributed to this:
A: For some reason, my Thursday got off to a bad start, I was late for my Call Time of 09:30 at the Carlton Centre for rehearsal etc. As someone who's time conscious, it's unacceptable to be late but the 18 Wheeler truck that was stuck on the highway just after Rivonia simply did not help matters.
B: Mood backstage was not great. I guess the air cons that were on full blast and giving us a blitz well below 0 temperatures certainly put people into a cranky mood, me included.
C: Sarah and I hitting a bump in the road - thankfully we are in LOVERS LANE again.
D: My number one fan, dearest mother getting into a SMASH-AND-GRAB on her way to the show.
E: Injuring my wrist in the lift.
Group Dance
As you know, it was our turn to do the group dance and I think most viewers will agree with me that our routine was more complex than the ladies last week.
We had about 3-5 lifts during the routine and really, it was more physically demanding. On Monday we went through the whole dance with Brandon (choreographer) and I think we all thought we had it sussed, little did we know that when you add cameras, studio audience, and a million + people in TV land, all that we thought we had learnt went out the window.
All the guys agreed after the show that it was an abomination of an awesome routine.
Sorry Brandon :-(
On the personal front, I struggled to get into the routine during rehearsal on Thursday morning. For some reason I had hiccups during my solo section where I had to twirl Sarah and lift her up perpendicular to the floor, then let her roll down to the floor while holding her arms and leg!
The maneouvre was a bit too daunting for me as I did not want to be the cause of injury to the lovely Sarah. After repeated failed attempts in rehearsal that morning - including my own “issues” - we only managed to get it right during the live show, thankfully!!!!!!!!
I thought we rocked in the rest of the routine 'til I forgot to go down and let Sarah fling her leg over me; instead I just ducked, but not enough to allow her leg to go over me which must have looked bad on TV. The rest of the steps during the line dance came out kind of perfect, just one little fluff here and there.
When it comes to the rest of the gang, what can I say? Rob and Mary are the guys to beat in the Celeb Male category. The gentle giant Garth struggled a bit all day, things were just not going so great for him. As for Adil, the dude has certainly picked up the pace. He has even redeemed himself with Robyn and is playing Prince charming (more like Richard Gere in Pretty Woman - Watch next week’s episode to see what I mean).
According to him, he says he took notes from me and tried to show his more caring character than the monster he protruded last week. He did something really special for Robyn and I believe he has changed his mind about leaving the show.
Shugamakx was in his element, he was so excited that he's getting the steps right and yes, he truly did improve as the dance allowed more movements than the Waltz of Week 1. He lost his glasses and hat during the performance, but that did not distract him from getting the rest of the routine right!!!
The Ladies
Last week I mentioned that the ladies looked too nervous for my liking and that maybe we could see some drama, you know, baddish happening, thankfully I was wrong. The girls simply brought it on!!!!!
As mentioned Tessa is the Queen, she sizzled and looked the part. She had a “moment” but recovered well to have the most daring and amazing finish to a routine. Her and her rather strict partner “NO NONSENSE” Grant rocked the dance floor.
Hlubi was good, her partner the ultra smooth Khutso came up with an awesome routine,
Aunty J aka Judith, did well I think, considering that she was nursing an ankle injury sustained earlier in the week. She even pulled a serious flinging maneouvre. Will she be voted out next week? Hmmmmm I don’t know.
Cindy looked awesome in her outfit which I think also distracted the judges from the movements. Don’t know if she's enjoying being on the show though ... I hope she is.
As for Anele, she started her campaign with a proudly SA song and spiced up her cha cha kasi style. The JZ loving sister rocked as she danced ever so confidently.
Solo Demo
The Dirty Dancing segment performed by the professional dancers was amazing!!! Khutso and Seipati are my favourite dancers/couple by far. When they get onto the dance floor I want to emulate them.
In closing, my dearest mother is OK - she attended my show even after going through a traumatic experience. Thanks also to all at Rapid Blue for the support during this period.
Next week there are no group dances, we all dance individually as couples and someone has to go home.
Hopefully it's not couple # 6.
Sarah and I will be doing the Rumba - the dance of Love. I have to warn you, our routine is simply HOT and STEAMY!!!!!!! I think just for that night, they may have to change the age restriction of the show to 18+.
Don’t forget to vote for couple # 6 and check out our pictures in our facebook group:
Support Gugu Zulu and Sarah Cooper in Strictly Come Dancing SA.
WINK*