Layton Williams in Strictly

[Char65]

I am a big fan of Strictly but I have lost interest in it this year because of Layton Williams as he is a professional dance. His CV reads

2007–2008: Billy Elliot the Musical
2008–2009: Beautiful People
2016: Hairspray the Musical UK Tour - playing Duane
2016-2017: Rent UK Tour - playing Angel
2017-2018: Hairspray the Musical UK Tour - playing Seaweed J. Stubbs
2018-2019: Kiss Me Kate - playing Bill Calhoun/Luciento
2019-2022: Everyone's Talking About Jamie - playing Jamie New

He was also in a Michael Jackson show - and I believe Jackson could dance a bit!

To me its no fair to pitch a pro against amateurs though I accept a lot of actors have also done dance at stage school but not appeared in the West End like this guy! What do others think?

There's always a ringer. Typically the ringer gets to the finals because they're so good, but typically don't win because the public likes a journey/underdog.

If you accept the fact that they tend book someone who is pretty much a nailed-on as a finalist from day one, then it doesn't really matter if that person is a regular ringer or ringiest-ringer, the outcome is probably going to be the same.

And professional musicians will have a natural sense of rhythm. And most contestants will be professional performers of one sort of another, which is why I felt sorry for Judy Murray as a contestant.

I don’t know but isn’t she quite fit? Arguably gives her a certain advantage. She could jive better than someone unfit. 😆

Well, the winner does get £100K, and there are financial incentives for getting through to the later rounds even for those who don't win.

i love watching him, the Tango this week was amazing. Fabulous seeing the Argentine Tango as it was meant to be, two males dancing it.

Yes, he is a professional dancer, but he is NOT a professional BALLROOM dancer, which is the only rule, they can't have ballroom experience or training.

Hmm, so the rules are no ballroom training. So that doesn’t extend to Latin?

But you can have someone like Michelle Williams from Destiny’s Child and Lulu who weren’t very good or cricketers Darren Gough and Mark Ramprakash who I believe had no dance experience.

Yes, my husband is a professional musician but he can’t even sway in time. His body apart from his fingers are so unco-ordinated it’s woeful.

I’ve just heard Nigel Harman talking about when he worked in Blackpool. Looked him up and he started out on stage in musicals. It is starting to become clear why the standard seems so high. I look back fondly on the days where everybody was just a bit crap.

Tonight's episode was incredible! I was so glad it wasn't all Angela Rippon-style dancers. It was amazing to watch such brilliant dancing and great performances.

It’s not amateurs having a go though is it? It isn’t supposed to be a professional dance show.

Well I like him. He has not had an easy ride. Growing up on a council estate in a very working class area. His dad obviously out of the picture and him being mixed race, gay, and liking dancing is a receipt for torture at school.
I have read interviews of his in the past and he clearly states that his childhood was made difficult by bullies. I know there is still the spiteful, nasty mentality lots of men instill into their children.
I’ve heard grown men yell at their small sons to stop crying, only girls cry.
So all in all good for him.
Oh and I’ve seen him years ago and he was awesome.
However, I do think Ellie should win.

I thought their dance was brilliant tonight. I don’t think he’ll win though

Harman acted quite shitty last night when his dancing mistakes were pointed out, bad tempered git.

Hmm I don’t know I thought he was frustrated/annoyed with himself rather than acting badly. But he could have hidden his frustration a little better.

I loved Angela and Carlos' tango. That woman's dancing is seriously underrated imho!

To be fair she got 3 10s @Meredusoleil!

Sure it was funny when people who couldn't put one foot in front of the other came on the show and everyone laughed at how bad they were - which I suppose didn't feel very nice (for them either) - that joke has worn thin. It's unlikely someone who thought they had no sense of rhythm would agree to dance in public (unless they were desperate for cash). So we're hoping for some deluded or desperate celebs to come along and give us real entertainment so we can go back to laughing or if they are lucky we get to go on the real journey with them when they realise they can actually dance and hard work really does pay off - that I think is an increasingly rare thing.

I think the one this year who has done the best with no dance experience is Annabel Croft. She's tall, elegant and athletic, but most definitely wasn't a dancer before she started.

I haven’t bothered watching much over the last couple of years but I’m here for Angela Rippon. I think she is a truly elegant woman. As a small child I remember when she did the dance on the Morecombe and Wise show and outraged huge parts of the nation by having her legs on display, such innocent times.

Completely agree, she seems to have the ability to lose herself in the dance now which is just beautiful to watch.

Angela R is wonderful but I do think she’s struggling a bit now. That said she’s still great to watch.

The trouble is, when the style of dance means that the sleb dances better than the professional, the edges are very definitely blurred. Layton danced better than Nikita last night, but something still felt off.

I reckon Angela Rippon and Nigel will be in the bottom two tonight and Angela to go.

I would love to get rid of the couples’ choice now. It’s become more like a showdance which I prefer to save for the final. Layton was amazing. But it was a showdance for the last show, in my eyes!

It felt off because it was off. Craig was absolutely right in what he said about it.

If you're going to do a duo performance in that style, it is vital to synchronise and be completely in unison. It is extremely difficult to do, and is a very advanced technical skill in itself. Layton could have done it, but chose to upstage Nikita instead. He's not a better dancer than Nikita, he's just flashier and was showing off, and you just don't do that.

I agree about couples choice.

with a very few exceptions it’s also always either street commercial (in the style of Lizzie Gough rather than the plethora of more current styles) or contempowaft with no Graham/Cunningham et al in sight.

Give me tap, or proper lyrical or or jazz (thank you Nigel) or heels or commercial jazz or something else.