SCD 2016 #7 - They're! In! Blackpool! The spiritual home of ballroom dancing, donkey rides, rock and... huge amounts of theming apparently?

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

The last thread is almost full, so I thought we'd be prepared.

Despite the title I do love the Blackpool week really Fingers crossed for a nice ballroom dance from the pros.

Danny Mac went to Arts Ed. it's arguably one of the best triple threat colleges around (top of my dd's list of places to audition). Their dance training is excellent though for pure dance Laines & Bird probably have the edge.

He understudied Boq in Wicked. Boq doesn't really dance, he's a bit of a figure of fun, ridiculed as a Munchkin but wheelchair bound Nessarose becomes obsessed with him. He may have danced ensemble though when not on as Boq.

However Warner in Legally Blonde is definately not a dancing role.

Louise went to Italia Conti however she went to the school part not the college. Do she would have had numerous dance classes but vocational childrens classes rather than post 16 professional training which ramps it up a notch.

However although it's not mentioned anywhere I'm convinced Ore has danced before. There is just something about his technique & posture. Probably only recreational but I'd bet he's got prior experience.

Hi everyone, did watch last night but my lounge is a internet blackhole.
Love Ed, as pp has great timing & it did look like a jive & a joy to watch also agree he was, woefully under marked compared to many others.
Enjoyed Oti & Danny & Greg & Natalie, Claudia was stompy & quite a few mistakes, rest felt a bit meh really hope Greg & Ed go through.

I don't have any issue with prior experience. If they didn't include anyone who had been to stage school etc it would hugely reduce the available pool of people to take part. However, I do think they should be upfront about it. People seemed to get more upset about some contestants than others. Didn't it come out that Jay had done dance at college? Yet I think people were less bothered than they seem to be about Danny.

Overall though I have huge respect for people like Ed who start from a very low base and put in so much effort. I wouldn't be sorry to see him in the final, although I think it would cause Craig's head to explode

Oh no people were quite irate about Jay. Particularly as he was so "gee shucks hope I remember the steps gee whiz this is soooo hard" when he'd done dancing for years.

I'm torn on the whole issue.

I think it's unfair but on the other hand it can be exhilarating to watch and it is an entertainment show. I think Danny is an amazing dancer and actually I prefer him to Jay for his athleticism.

I love Dany's dancing as well.

I always felt sorry for DVD. She wasn't the first (and not the last) who came from a stage school background. Her Charlestown was one of my favourite dancers ever.

I prefer people with little or no dance experience because for me it's the 'journey' that I'm interested in. I'm still a bit sad that Tameka went out so early as I think she would have improved. Lesley did very well. Daisy and Greg did/are doing really well. It's just more interesting (and it's the inexperienced contestants who at around this point every year inspire me to start googling dance classes ).
I just can't get excited about Danny Mac I'm afraid. But then I've always been a sucker for the underdog anyway.

And I'm becoming a Louise fan - she is coming out of her shell and that's great to see. This week was really fun, I liked it a lot. I appreciate that she has had professional training (a long time ago!) but she just seems to me to be really benefitting from this experience after being primarily defined as a wife and mother for a long time and to me that's a really great thing. I hope she's in the final. And I hope Jamie is bloody well supportive because she deserves it.

I think people get angry because they feel it's hidden from them

This is from Danny's page on the BBC Strictly wesbite:

"While it might be hard to imagine Dodger Savage getting all twinkle-toed, his real-life alter-ego has dance in his blood. Danny studied acting for two years at Chichester, before getting a scholarship to the Arts Education School (where his fellow alumni include Strictly’s very own Darcey Bussell).

Long before Hollyoaks came a-knocking, Danny was a fully-fledged board-treader, starring in productions of Wicked and Les Miserables."

So not well hidden

I look at Ed (middle aged, dull profession, no dance training, no dancer's physique) and my heart cheers for him.

I see Danny and get nothing.

I look at Ed (middle aged, dull profession, no dance training, no dancer's physique) and my heart cheers for him. I see Danny and get nothing

Exactly.

And its like when Jill Halfpenny won years ago and much was made of her being an amateur dancer until one day one of the comperes said, and you were a ballet dancer as a child for quite a years, and she said - well yes but its not like that. Of course it was like that!

Just found this thread and it seems I agree with the general sentiment - last night was marked very strangely indeed. The judges clearly have an agenda and it's more obvious every week. So last night I voted for Ed and Judge Rinder just because I'm sick of the biased marking from the judges.

BTW. I already know the result

BTW. I already know the resultwink

You have to tell us just to prove it.

I like looking at yvette cooper's face as she watches her DH dance...her smile changes from slight horror to disbelief...to embarrassment and back again but it is always there. I bet it's the most fun they've had in ages, must be light relief from the world of politics.

I watch Ed and I enjoy how much he has learned and how much he is enjoying the dancing. He is so much fun to watch.

I watch Danny and Oti and I love the elegance and beauty of their routines, and the stories they tell.

If you watch Danny and get nothing - each of us responds to different dancers differently and I am the same when watching Louise. I don't expect everyone to love Danny. I just get bored of everyone banging on about his experience as a reason not to like him as a dancer.

You have to tell us just to prove it.

No! Ffs don't tell us!!

I like looking at yvette cooper's face. It's one of my fave things too. She seems to be really enjoying it. And Louise's mum and MIL are nearly always there too.

I don't want to spoil the result for anyone. I don't like the results show (after the initial dance) as it's a whole load of dramatic music and couples standing waiting - actual content is minimal. Much preferred it when the results show was live on a Saturday as it was originally. It's quite easy to find the result online.

There's no way Ed deserved that 4. He's improved so much and has gained so much confidence. I mean, I thought he at least deserved a 6 from Craig.

I don't know why they're marking him so low when he's been the stand out conversation starter of this year's run. I'm dreading him getting voted out and it becomes all po faced and serious.

If you watch Danny and get nothing ...

No sense of anything other than a great dance.. like watching the pro ensemble.

I just get bored of everyone banging on about his experience as a reason not to like him as a dancer

It's a valid reason not to like him as a competitor.

*You have to tell us just to prove it.

No! Ffs don't tell us!!*

Put a cushion in front of your eyes.

There's usually one dance per series that I remember really well. SOphie EB's Charleston, Jay's jive... this year it will be Ed's Gangnam Style salsa. Or samba. Damned if I can remember as I always get the two confused!

No spoilers on the thread please.

Put a cushion in front of your eyes.

Learn a little patience.

Or go google it for yourself, the result is, I believe, very easy to find.

That about Danny is very very misleading. He went to Arts Ed a college for students aged 18 plus that offers degrees in musical theatre for intending professional performers.

Darcey went to the Arts Ed school aged 11 for two years before getting into the Royal Ballet School aged 13.

The two organisations used to be linked & run by the same people but they became completely separate. The school relocated & eventually became Tring Park.

To confuse matters there is now another Arts Ed secondary school for children linked to but run separately to the college.

If you havnt lost the will to live my point is that Darcy & Danny didn't go to the same school.

The fact that Yvette Cooper is there every week brings it home that "other halves" can go every week, but the famous ones usually don't. Jamie Rednapp has been a couple of times. If my DH was on it, I'd be there every week to support him, even if I hated Strictly.

I have presumed for years that they only ever get a ticket for one week because famous spouses only ever seem to go once (with the exception of Rod Stewart - when his wife was on it I don't think he turned up ever!). But there's Yvette, cringing and smiling and cringing every week, bless her.

No spoilers on the thread please

Hear Hear. No spoilers on the thread please.

Not that it was ever a serious attempt at trying to pry the result out of Fernie. It was just a bit of humour. Im sorry you didnt see that. But perhaps you did and you just couldn't help yourself anyway.