SCD 2016 #6 - Halfway there! Can we mention the B word now?

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

New thread as the last one is getting very full.

I hope Ed stays - his timing is very good. Daisy seems nice, but a bit boring, although Daisy Daisy is very nice for a Viennese.

Just got in , watched the dance off - whizzed through Mr Smug smile face with violins. I thought Greg deserved to stay- Daisy looked a bit flat I thought, though I am sad she has gone.
Sooooo glad Ed has got through !
See you at Blackpool :)

yes Greg was extremely good. So hard to do a paso without looking all camp and trying too hard. I though he had it all.

I'm so glad Katya is pushing Ed so hard and giving him such great routines. She could have decided not to give him any more difficult lifts after what happened a few weeks ago, but I thought the ones last night seemed very difficult. You can tell he is working really hard to improve and is having an absolute ball, excuse the pun!

Was Bilbo meant to be singing to hallelujah or something? Or just playing the fiddle violin?

I thought the judges reaction to Ed Balls was hilarious But can I find a link to it anywhere? Any ideas?

iPlayer?

In a way it's not necessarily to Kevin's advantage to get partnered with good dancers all the time. He consistently has to work his socks off all the way through to the final but never seems to win the thing. I'd have thought he'd be positively grateful to get a total duffer next year and be knocked out in the first round.

Just watched on catch up.

Really enjoyed (had a little cry to) the pro dance. Thought AJ and Chloe were a really good choice for the leads.

Andre Rieu - not my cup of tea at all. Those pastel Disney princess dresses seemed rather incongruous paired with Leonard Cohen.

Loved the judges reaction to Ed's dance. Can't wait for Blackpool. Will it be peak Balls though - I think Blackpool was around where Jeremy Vine left last year.

Poor Daisy, although I think Greg deserved to stay in. Alijaz seemed rather genuinely complimentary of her.

Louise - yawn. Is she on tranquillisers, everything she says is so dull and bland.

There were at least 2 moments in tonight's shoe when the camera caught Louise just staring blankly into space she is like a robot or something

*show

Right this is not going to be popular but I think Alijaz did a Brendan/Giovanni this week - he totally outdanced Daisy and made her look ploddy and crap.

Generally he is an amazingly generous partner but this week was wrong. Not sorry to see Daisy go but felt sorry for her - she seems nice but I wasn't excited by her dancing

I got a bit emotional about Daisy, because she seems so nice, and because her little sister, Betsy I think is a huge fan of the show.

I thought it was an awful version of Hallelujah, and that the ballroom dancing to it didn't work either.

l love Alijaz dearly and I love Goofy Faces Alijaz most of all, but I agree with Dalek - I think he was outdancing Daisy quite badly this week, especially in the danceoff. But because I love him I'm going to put it down to a misjudged overestimate of Daisy's ability rather than flagrant showing off at his partner's expense or a desperate attempt to distract from her weakness (naming no Giovanni names). It's not like he put special "Alijaz showing off" bits in; he just did the same routine so much sharper than she did that she looked worse.

I thought Andre Reiu and his face pulling made him look like Father Jack.

I half expected his microphone to suddenly start working and to hear him say "Arse!"

I think Daisy was tired and dancing for enjoyment rather than to win. Greg was dancing to win.he deserved it last night for taking the comments on board but was a close dance off.
Also they were 2 of of the bottom 3 so not like they were 1/2 in the leader board.

Daisy had grown on me though and I'd rather see her dance than Louise or Danny

I liked Daisy's dancing but she did seem to lack energy. I'm not sure if Alijaz out danced her or if she under danced him IYSWIM. She seems to be very fluid and languid and perhaps better suited to slow romantic dances.

I think maybe Alijaz was calibrating his speed and precision to the best she's ever danced it in rehearsal and she didn't quite live up to that on the night, either time.

Andre Rieux' Christmas concert from his castle in Maastricht (broadcast on Sky Arts) is one of the most festive things ever and I'll watch it every December, but last night's performance was odd.

I wish they'd go back to the old way of only having 2 dances per week so you can actually compare like for like.

Yes, I used to like that. And back in the day there was much less emphasis on creating a character and using fancy gimmicks - in the ballroom dances Len used to have a go at anyone who didn't get straight into hold and get on with it. I missed a couple of series in the middle when Brucie got too much for me to bear, and when I came back in it had very noticeably become more of a variety show than a dance contest.

Never seen/heard of Andre Rieu (sp?) before, and don't care if I never do again. I thought those dresses the poor women had to wear were horrific, and certainly did nothing for the more mature among them (which was most of them). Inappropriate and undignified, as was the whole notion of them being his backing group. Hello 1970s. However, just as I was reaching for the remote to forward it, in wafted Brendan and Natalie and their VW was my idea of complete and utter dance heaven, and definitely the highlight of the series so far for me.

Basil and Madge prodance made my eyes leaky was just lovely Aj & Chloe were perfect for it. Shame Daisy went I think Aliaz outdanced because he knew they were going ,

I'm glad I wasn't the only one to dislike the Disney Princess dresses that Andre Rieu's orchestra were wearing. I assume it is all part of his image, and he doesn't give a shiny shite about how ridiculous they look.

They are professional, classical musicians, not kitch-y set dressing for Andre.

The dresses were embarrassing. Many of the women are clearly of slightly older years, they are all professional musicians, and they were dressed like extras in the ballroom scene of Cinderella. That's obviously their 'thing' but it was awful.

I did wonder why I couldn't hear his violin and thought it pointless to have a violin of Hallelujah anyway, as the best bit about it is the words!

Jeremy Vine didn't make it to Blackpool last series, but Blackpool does generally seem to be the cut off point for the 'comedy/bad but loved by the public dancers' so it could well be Ed's swansong, although if Great Balls of Fire is anything like Gangnam Style he could well break the duck.

I hated KFG's paso at Blackpool with Susannah Reid.

Watching the couples together I think Katya and Ed and Rob and Oksana seem to have the best partnerships, there seems to be a genuine liking and respect between them. Both Katya and Oksana choreograph for their partners and make them dance rather than just play it for laughs. Both Ed and Rob seem to want to learn and try which will garner public support. I am impressed with Katya and Oksana's attitude to their partners, I wonder how far Katya and Oksana thought they'd get in the show when initially partnered with Ed and Rob but they deserve to be this far because they didn't just give up or take the Ola option of wearing a cat suit and just twirling around whilst your partner was rooted to the spot looking gormless.

who is Rob and Oksana?