Watch: Strictly Steamy Tango To Stevie Nicks’ Edge Of Seventeen
AJ Odudu & Kai Widdrington won plaudits for their Argentine tango to Edge Of Seventeen, a classic solo track by Fleetwood Mac‘s Stevie Nicks on the latest episode of Strictly Come Dancing. The pair picked up 35 points out of a possible 40 from the judges for their sizzling dance. Judge Shirley Ballas gave them 10 out of 10 and said: “This is for me about as good as it gets. World championship level for me,” while Motsi Mabuse described it as “phenomenal.” Their overall score leaves them fourth on the leaderboard.
The steamy dance added fuel to the rumours that the pair’s relationship is blossoming off the dancefloor as well as on it, even though a potential romance has been downplayed. Earlier this month, Kai ended their American Smooth during the show’s Movie Week by quietly telling AJ “I love you.” The pair explained the moment later on Strictly Come Dancing‘s offshoot programme, It Takes Two, with AJ clarifying: “I was in character at that moment on the dance floor this week. I was playing Rachel, he was playing Frank [from The Bodyguard]. They were in love!”
The soundtrack was provided by a cover version of Stevie Nicks‘ 1982 hit single, Edge Of Seventeen, yet another example of the enduring appeal of Nicks and Fleetwood Mac’s music. The third single from Nicks’ hugely successful 1981 album, Bella Donna, Edge Of Seventeen has resonated through the generations, not least thanks to Destiny’s Child sampling it in their 2001 worldwide chart-topper Bootylicious.
Nicks wrote the song while grieving two tragic deaths: the assassination of John Lennon in December 1980, and the passing of her uncle shortly afterwards, mere weeks after he had been diagnosed with cancer. Recalling how the song began to take shape right after the Beatle’s assassination, Nicks told Entertainment Weekly in 2019: “That was a very scary and sad moment for all of us in the rock ‘n’ roll business – it scared us all to death that some idiot could be so deranged that he would wait outside your apartment building, never having known you, and shoot you dead.” Explaining that Lennon’s death felt “unacceptable” to the rock community, Nicks added: “So the white dove was John Lennon, and peace.”