And the Oscar goes to… Aljaž and Janette for a great night’s entertainment.
The popular Strictly Come Dancing couple stepped off the telly and into the Music Hall with their latest show, Remembering The Oscars, for a glitzy evening of dance and song – and they literally rolled out the red carpet for the event.
They also pulled out all the stops in a show that once it started didn’t pause for breath, with a roster of movie moments delivered at an all-out pace, from the opening montage to the last high kick from A Chorus Line.
Aljaž Škorjanec and Janette Manrara built the show around a simple premise of, the clue is in the title, Oscar movies.
Whether they won one of the coveted golden statuettes or were nominated or were even just deemed worthy by the hugely-popular couple, they were in there.
Remembering The Oscars gave Aljaž and Janette a huge dance canvas
That gave the duo a massive canvas to work with, along with their eight-strong talented dance cast and two gifted singers – as well as a hi-tech, high-definition screen backdrop that worked its socks off.
From Footloose to Carousel, Frozen to All That Jazz, the dancing was, as you would expect, spectacularly good. Think of all the pro numbers that open Strictly laid back to back and you’ll get a sense of how the evening played out.
But Aljaž and Janette didn’t hog the limelight, allowing their cast to take centre stage for many of the numbers, such as a haunting take on My Heart Will Go On or a high-energy Bollywood offering from Slumdog Millionaire.
The couple didn’t bagsie all the duets either, with Aljaž pairing up nicely with Ash-Leigh Hunter to essay the theme to The Godfather and other numbers.
Meanwhile, Janette was reunited with her Burn The Floor dance partner Robbie Kemtoni for one of the highlights of the night.
This was a sublime and lyrical interpretation of John Williams’ score for Schindler’s List. It was just Janette and Robbie, simply lit on a near pitch-black stage with that heart-wrenching, strings rich music. Beautiful stuff.
Music Hall show was at its best when Aljaž and Janette danced together
It was a lovely balance and change of pace in a show that fairly hurtled along. It also meant the visual backdrop – which was a bit extra at times, and in some instances, vertigo-inducing – was turned off to let the dancing really shine.
Some segments of Remembering The Oscars landed better than others. A Bohemian Rhapsody segment risked crossing into the cheese zone, then danced away again, but then it’s Queen so there’s always that danger.
But the Disney segment was a belter – especially so thanks to singer Janine Johnson whose Frozen would melt the hardest heart with that sublime voice. Little wonder she was given centre stage, sans dancers, for numbers like Don’t Rain On My Parade from Funny Girl.
And there were some surprises too. Did you know Janette has a fine singing voice? Check her belting out All That Jazz.
The show was at its best, though, when Janette and Aljaž danced together with the ease and slickness of not just professionals, but a couple of 11 years standing who just fit together seamlessly.
From La La Land to “that” lift from Dirty Dancing this was their show.
Couple’s warm banter shone through Remembering The Oscars
It was this flawless partnership that offered the showstopper of the evening, their Argentine tango from the iconic movie Scent Of A Woman.
Passionate and physical, there was one daring move from Janette at the end that brought an audible gasp from the audience before thunderous applause, with a fair few folk on their feet.
That, combined with their warm and friendly banter with the audience, left no one in any doubt whose names were going to be in the winner’s envelope at the end of the evening.
Well deserved for a show that brought dance and movie magic to the Music Hall.
