This Strictly Come Dancing thing - are the judges a bit racist?

[Wuldric]

So for the first time in my life, I have been exposed to this Strictly stuff. Fairly predictably it was utter crap. Brucie almost remembered all of his lines, which was good.

Then I started looking at the scores.

You tell me why this performance - Susanna Reid & Kevin dance the Paso Doble to 'Los Toreadors' - - where the non-professional swished her skirts a few times

got the same marks as this performance.
Natalie Gumede & Artem dance the Charleston to 'Bang Bang'- Where the non-professional played a blinder. That girl could seriously but seriously dance.

And then tell me that racism isn't institutional.

I think you may have lost the

How peculiar?!

Plot

Lol.

It had gone!

I think it is a 'wind up'. The OP is winding up herself.

Also, if you look at the results from other series, it doesn't seem to have negatively impacted anybody's chances.

Colin Jackson and Denise Lewis came second, Alesha Dixon won, Jade Johnson and John Barnes both got a long way through. I'm sure there are plenty of others too, can just think of those off the top of my head.

Oh for the love of god. Are you not listening? She's been top every other week. In your (presumably lay) opinion, she was the best.

In my opinion, Susanna was far better and yet got the same score. As neither of us are experts why don't we agree that it's down to opinion and not start screeching racism.

Do you genuinely believe that the skirt-swisher did as well as this Natalie person? Genuinely and honestly?

I thought Natalie was over marked tonight. And Sophie was under marked. Oh, and Natalie is top of the leader board every week. Hardly racist.

Better, in fact. They were doing totally different dances, so the moves were going to be different.

Which you might realise if you, y'know, knew anything about the dancing.

Are you a professional, trained dancer? The judges are, and they spot things laypeople miss, like posture and positioning of arms, heel leads, fleckles and bociacados - whatever they are. We don't always agree with their scoring, but the only prejudice that tends to come out is Craig's disapproval of non-dancers who are kept in, week after week, because they are entertaining and watchers vote for them.

Yes actually. Paso is a much harder dance than the charleston.

Good grief! Well this has given me a laugh this evening. Possibly not the OPs intention.

Yes Susannah was better. She is more improved and did an entertaining and dynamic dance. The audience's reaction to her performance was telling, she got cheering and a standing ovation whereas applause for Natalie was quite muted. Unless all the audience are racist too.

ODFOD

Charleston relies to some extent on the faces and the 'attitude' when you dance it. The steps aren't actually written down anywhere as far as I know - anything goes and you call it a 'choreographic choice'

Paso has cold hard technique you need to get right. And Susanna did.

Still fanning myself after Suzies paso. Nat's dance left me unmoved. Maybe it's my latent racism. I just don't know.

Have you been living in a well? How have you avoided Strictly up to now. I'd love to know so I can too. It's not racist, it can be sexist as he'll and more often than not the judges (Bruno, Arlene) need a bucket of water thrown over them for leering.

I thought the judges got a bit carried away and overmarked Natalie's charleston. I found it a bit forced and not up to her usual standard. Susannah did far more than swish her skirts and got a deserved 39 for an excellent paso.

I think it must be mine too. Patrick's easily my favourite. I guess I must forgot my inherent racism when I watch him dance.

As did the whole programme when Louis Smith won last year.

Hell not he'll

Er. It was one show. The judging varies enormously week to week. They often get it a bit wrong.

The judges score each dance as they see it - they often give someone a really high mark, then someone better comes along and they have nowhere else to go with the scores, so two good but not the same level people can easily get a similar score.

I believe Susannah went first (though could be wrong I only had it on in the background) out of the two. When that happens there is always a risk they can give her 39 and then there is not much more they could give a 'better' dancer.

Honestly, I think the Lily Allen video is enormously racist. I'd hate to think I was blind to obvious tv racism.

But this wasn't it.

Remember this whole competition is subjective. I liked Ashley Taylor Dawson the best and he didn't get any 10s. THE HORROR.

Haven't been living in a well, although it sounds tempting. Is it cool and fragrant there? Many toads?

Look, this Natalie person, whoever she is, could dance. She seriously could dance. And if she is drawing with a skirt-swisher, then there is something very very wrong. That's all I am saying.

But I do honestly think that it is racism. There is no other explanation.

There are lots of other explanations (see all the other replies for details)

Possibly your ignorance of ballroom/latin/charleston dancing could be a bit of an explanation, OP. Just putting that out there...