SCD 2014 #2: First boot, musicals week and beyond..

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

... well, depending upon how much we talk!

Carrying on from thread one.

Always lurk on strictly threads but rarely join in as I can't often watch live. Just caught up on tonight's show and thought I'd attempt to join you all this year.

One question for avid fans.
Are those with any prior training really that bad? They always get slated on forums but for folk like me who know nothing about dancing and have learnt bits over the years while watching, it's rather nice to see the comparison of a total beginner with someone who has done a bit before. Saves having a show predominately cast with wooden Murray's mum or crappy MP types too.

Some stage school training and/or dancing on stage/in music videos isn't the same as being a professional dancer is it? Surely they are still learning new skills even if it isn't ALL total new to them. Still have chance to watch them make progress?

disclaimer I generally quite like the ones who get bit slated for having experience girls aloud Kimberley was a fave of mine

The skills in Ballroom and Latin are very different to those taught in stage schools, though a pop background can set you up well for Latin. The issue is that any kind of dance training is going to give you at least the basic foundations of understanding how you use your body and things like rhythm and musicality.

Also being a pop star/ in a band means you are going to be used to having to learn routines for tours/videos. It is an unfair advantage.

Of course, the public would be bored if everyone was starting out from scratch, so the producers like to throw in a few with experience. Natalie from last year was the most experienced to date, her own CV said she had Latin experience, having had lessons as a child.

I don't think you can compare the male contestants with the females.
Love to watch their progress and shedding of their self-consciousness. Also the improvement in their posture and arms/hands in the ballroom and letting go in in the latin dances.

I always wish them all the best for their rumba - notoriously difficult for the men to move in the character/style required.
That is my favourite latin dance together with the spanish Paso.

With 3 theatre dancers on the panel, Len, the only ballroom judge, seems to be commenting less on the ballroom technique now and making performance more important.

I wouldn't mind the stage school types if they were a bit more upfront about it. DVO with her whole 'I just sat on a chair in my West End singing/dancing show' was ridiculous. She was brilliant every time.

A bit like Pixie saying repeatedly she'd had no time to train this week and then came out making it look so easy!

Just a reminder, if anyone has been on the Digital Spy forums to see the spoiler please don't give anything away here

Just place marking for tonight. My take on the stage school/pop princess lot. I don't mind that they have some experience but they should be marked accordingly, from their starting point. IMHO no one should be getting 9's in week 2, how do you continue to improve from there from now until Christmas. Everyone boos the 2 and 3 from Craig but at least that leaves room to reward improvement. Rant over

CMP69 YES YYYYY so true that would make a lot of difference to the fairness of the show. how do you continue to improve from a 9 until christmas?

How do we contact the show to tell them to change their stupid judging !!!????

The judging should either go back to how it was (so getting over twenty in week one was pretty special, rather than expected), or, they say there is a 'week one forty', a 'week two forty' etc. that needs a higher standard every week, so a week two forty would be a 30 in week 7.

Or they could get rid of marks entirely, and just rank the celebs. I think that would be my preferred option actually.

Or they could handicap the near pros. thus giving them all a level playing field to start.

I don't mind the folk who can dance already I just wish as sombody else said they were q bit more honest about it jake was amazing I really loved it but im not fooled that he started dancing 5 weeks ago,

It took until series 2 before anyone got a 10 for the first time.

They seemed to give Jake 9s because the dance he did had the 'wow' factor rather than him being a great dancer. I didn't like his gurning and I thought he was too 'crouched down' though admittedly I don't know much about dancing technique! But of course it was a fab performance.

Who will go tonight? Hopefully Judy (but Anton is popular so she's probably going to be around a while) or Greg. Come to think of it, I hope it's Greg as I don't think Aliona is very professional (i.e. making it obvious she's not happy she got the dad dancer).

AAAh I felt soooo sorry for Greg trying to butter up the bitxx Aliona with a meringue. Bless him.

Did anyone else think that the botox has now made a lot of them look like a character in the Lion King (foreheads smoothing down to noses) !!!!

The thing with salsa is that it doesn't really have a technique, not in the same sense as the traditional Latin dances which have foot placement/alignments written into a set syllabus, so you can get away with a lot so long as you shake your bum and keep in time

Good point CMP69 tht would be fairer. I like the ranking idea too but love the paddles and using it to pause tv and help DD with numeracy skills but yes transparency would make it less annoying.
I suppose they must get all defensive because they have 'but you are trained' thrown at them a lot.

Does anyone know how much influence the professionals have over song choice and costume?

I'm assuming Kevin was given the Happy Days theme tune and styled in that 1950s way so it then seems odd to criticise him for doing a 1950s style charleston? What else could you do in those circs??

Or thinking about it, am I completely wrong and does he just get told it's a Charleston and design the rest of it however he sees fit?

Here we go! Loving Claudes dress again. Really hope Scott doesn't go yet but I think he might

I was disappointed in a couple of the music choices, including one Tango which wasn't one and Kevin's Charleston.

The results show has started.

Tess' monoboob.

Tess's dress is very unflattering.

It's gotsta be Gregg.
Hasn't it?

Thought Judy was a dead cert for the dance off.