SCD#7 - It's the Glittery Semi-Finals

[Fiderer]

And off we sassshhayy...

There was a memorable paso in series one, Christopher and (Hannah?), not necessarily for the right reasons. They show excerpts occasionally.

I remember Scott being absolutely murdered by his EE schedule. He almost cracked up, didn't he?

Every week he just looked more and more haggard. He looked like he was on the verge of tears towards the end!

I really don't think its wise for EE actors to do Strictly. Its too hard.

Re: Gleb vs Giovanni.

I've come to the conclusion that whilst Gleb is stunning, he actually isn't massively charismatic. Once you notice how detached he is during the VTs and the interviews up with Claudia, you can't unsee. He's just smiling vaguely in the general direction of the camera. I'm not at all sure he even gives a shit, which is hilarious!

Giovanni however is a lot more invested. Gleb is prettier, but I think Giovanni is the one I'd take home.

Just watched Austins jive, and now off to watch more of him. I forgot how hot he was!

Ref. EE actors. It sounds very mean of the producers. I wonder why they can't just film before SCD starts . EE isn't live is it?

I really liked the quickstep that Natalie Gumede did with Anton when she was totally off her head on pain meds, Sophie EB's Charleston, Vincente and Rachel's Argentine Tango and Jay's jive. I know that I liked loads more at the time, but those are the ones that have stayed in my memory the clearest.

Alesha Dixon radiated pure joy in all her dances. I loved watching her.

Also watched a group dance in which the contestants were all marked. It was Dirty Dancing in 2007. Was difficult to recognise the pros but Mathew Cutler partnered Alesha.
Craig had nothing bad to say and had the smiliest face ever.

I hate myself for it but one of my favourite dances was DVO and James Jordan's Charleston, the Egyptian themed one. Where they both danced great but DVO was actually better than JJ.

Sorry.

I wonder if Gleb just isn't particularly fluent in English so doesn't feel that comfortable when TV is live?

You don't need to apologise sparklingbrook, that was my favourite charleston too! I watched jake and janette's salsa the other day and it was even better than I remembered it, I got goosebumps!

I know MrsJ but I can't stand JJ or DVO. I feel all torn.

Who cares what his English is like?

I know that the the judges say that they standard is fantastic every year, but actually I think this year is a bit so-so standard wise. We still have a couple of weak-ish dancers and it's semi-finals already. I've hardly had any chills-down-the-spine dances, and other years have had loads. The year that Abby Clancy won it, for instance, was glorious. There were loads of spine-tingly dances that year, and there were about 5 or 6 dancers that would probably be champions if they were competing against this years cohort.

I agree, I don't think the standard is that high this year. Not many wow moments.

digerd Matthew Cutler was my favourite ever pro.

I agree there is nobody stand out this series. Normally early on there are some grests, adn then there are the ones who improve massively and become amazing. There are still a lot of mistakes and occasional bad dances from them this year.

I agree about the standard this year. In the few years I've watched it, there always seemed to be a lot of improvement, even in the "trained" dancers who started at a good level. Jay hasn't really lived up to the promise of his Jive, Helen and Kellie seemed to only improve slightly, if at all, as the weeks went on and Georgia just leaves me cold. Anita seemed to have most promise who has improved from a base level of nothing but now seems to have reached her peak.

Oooh, I had such a nice time on Youtube last night catching up on all the old favourites thanks to this thread. Jill and Darren's jive - yes, I'd forgotten just how good it was. A few things struck me watching the early dances:

1. Brucie was lovely during the early series. I'm afraid I got so fed up with his non-jokes and his 'doddery I am not' that I stopped watching the last two he compered. I'd forgotten how good he was at the start.

2. Like Darren & Lilia said on ITT yesterday, things were so much simpler in the early series. I rather like the musicals theme, and the movie night, but I don't honestly appreciate all the props and the extra dancers in the routines. Len used to be very hard on people who didn't get straight into hold and on with the dance, but now it seems compulsory to wave your arms about 'telling stories' for ages before getting on with the dance content.

3. The judges' comments used to be so much harsher. Not always in a good way - I think they were sometimes gratuitously nasty. But now the pendulum seems to have swung too far, and the moment they say anything remotely critical (no matter how constructive) the audience start booing. Are the celebrities now so fragile that they can't be expected to face anything other than gushing praise and assurances of how much we all loved it? I think the theme (every year) that the current year's standard is higher than ever is part of that.

Does anyone remember which of Anton's partners he carried off stage halfway through the dance when she was unwell? At least I think it was Anton, but maybe it was Brendan.

mornington I feel the need to look at some of the old stuff now. Interested to see what Brucie was like.

I don't remember anyone being carried off ill, but would be interested to knwo who it was.

Didn't Natalie Gumede faint at one stage? I seem to remember she had a terrible run of luck when she was in it.

Yes, Natalie fainted in the rehearsal and was give a bye to the next week.

I think she also injured her back before that.

It might have been Kate Garraway who Anton carried around. She certainly had horrendous injury problems - they couldn't impair her dancing talent though.

Googling to confirm this I learned something new though. She sued the Mirror for libel when they implied she was shagging Anton - and won. That seems like a very long time ago - a sex scandal involving Anton.

www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/1584568/GMTVs-Kate-Garraway-wins-damages-over-Strictly-Come-Dancing-libel.html

I don't know what I'm more shocked at.

A sex scandal with Anton.

Or Sparkling liking DVO's excruciating Charleston.

Tell me what was wrong with it so I can hate it Fiderer.

Apart from lovely Lee Mead beaming from the audience.

I liked DVO's Charleston too. Didn't take to her, and can't bear JJ, but that dance was a cracker, impeccably performed.