2, 3, Cha Cha Cha: It's semi-final time! SCD #9

[CaveMum]

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Is the final next week all on Saturday or is there a Sunday show as normal?

Katie and Kellie both got to the final last year and neither of them were doing the tour, so the argument about Claudia not doing the tour doesn't make sense.

Bonfire Chloe is AJ's professional dancing partner but she isn't his girlfriend.

Magenta - final all on Saturday.

Yup, first series I've been disillusioned by it all. Do not want Louise and kfg to win, she does not deserve it. He needs a dodgy dancer next year otherwise it's just not fair on the rest of the male pros!

there was no way he'd have gone home in the danceoff on that AS.

Well, personally I was hoping he'd drop Oti (not to hurt her!) as I reckoned that was the only way he would lose.

My point about the SCD tour was really just a hypothetical commercial one. I would imagine that the organisers would want the best possible line-up and ten times out of ten the winner of the series would be on the wish list. Does anyone know if a winner hasn't bee on the tour?

In general terms it seems to me that the reason there is some controversy or 'disagreement' about the semi-final is the lack of the four person final due to the premature departure of a contestant. I think for many people, putting aside the Ed Balls issue, the semi-final contained the four people most wanted or expected in the final but instead of seeing one of them crowned winner (and I genuinely wouldn't have minded who despite really loving Claudia's routines) we've had to see one of them denied the chance to take part, do their show dance etc. It's a pity.

or even been on the tour?

I don't think four of them get to do a show dance TBH, someone leaves before then. I think three is a better number for a final, actually. I wonder if Will had stayed, whether he'd have got to the final. Perhaps! I think Daisy and Laura might have got there too, just on their dancing skills.

Alesha didn't do the tour but that was a long time ago. Not sure since then.
I do think that having the danceoff at SF stage is dodgy in a 3 couple final because it makes it so difficult for the voters to save the lowest scorer, but in this year the danger was lessened by the tie on the leader board (that's what happens if you only give the judges two paddles each (OK, 3 for Craig)).

Didn't someone say earlier that they plan four in the final to cover events like Will leaving?

Yes - I think a three couple final has always been the ideal, but then for a couple of series in a row (maybe 4, 5 and 6? and they fudged it in 6 to get three people in the final) they lost a person for some reason and a two-person final is really hard work for dancing, costume changes etc. and it means you can't close the lines halfway through and get rid of one.

The dates are set so far in advance too, it's not like they can finish a week early. I think they thought four in case of drop-outs was the safest.

Claudia and Louise should've been in the DO, THAT would've been interesting. How come Louise got straight through ? I didn't vote for her (and I'm an 'older' viewer)

Maybe all her relations and her husbands' friends voted for her.!

At last Tess looks like someone reads this thread and suggested that she stops choosing the weird asymmetrical dresses.

The group dance was alrightish but I'm a modern dance dancer and that one was too OTT.

I was crying a bit about the Last Len's Lens and ALL the judges were crying too. I like that people can show their emotions without others criticising them.

Louise had from the start lovely arm and upper body movements. But her foot and legwork was somewhat heavy and laboured in the fast dances. Her costume and head dress for the Samba were unflattering to say the least and did her no favours.
I, like so many others, am very disappointed that Claudia was sent home.

BBC 1 morning has just mentioned that Louise is a singer.

I don't think it's a fix but I am surprised that Louise topped the public vote this week.

I would have preferred to see Claudia in the final.

I hope Danny will win.

And I sincerely hope they give Kevin a no-hoper next year, I just don't get how he always gets contenders, does he have it written into his contract that he will only take part if he has a decent partner? His turn to have someone like Tameka.

I still think she got a huge sympathy vote for the crock o shite tango music, theming and costuming. I can't vote but even I might have thrown her a pity vote for the fruit hat.
On stats alone Cloud was below Lou. In theory she should have gone when Greg went home, her jive was worse than his QS. So whilst it's not fair (I thought she did the DO better than Danny tbh though loved his AS) taking the whole series into account it probably is fair.
Ore has standout jive, AS and I liked his paso, QS.
Danny consistent throughout.
Louise and Cloud, both for me were lacking chemistry with partner this series. Cloud was blighted with poor music choices. Both technically good. Both had standout dances: Lou AT waltz Cloud AT Charleston
Could have gone either way.

Tameka was actually someone with great potential. Any other series she would have progressed beyond week 2.
Noone predicted Susanna was a contender. Nor Kellie: she nearly went out waltz week. Only Frankie was a genuine She'll make the final contender pre performance, her and Pixie (and look what happened there?)
No obvious duds this year. I would have loved to have seen Kev and Led, only because the height diff with Anton was too much. I think Kev could have got Les a longer way in the comp. I personally hope Kevin gets a duffer next year (old/fat/newb/stick whatever prejudice you want here). And then I hope he takes her all the way to his fifth final. That would make me laugh my ass off.

Les

Does anyone know the format for the final? Last year so far as I remember it was judges' choice, then showdance, then a vote, then couples' choice. Is it the same again? I always think it's a real pity when a couple has practised something and they don't get the chance to do it. I still remember the disappointment that Brendan and Sophie didn't get another chance to do their Charleston.

Never mind Len going its Craig that should go his voting is all over the place and he gives the weakest of reasons especially if he doesn't like the celebrity. To say I could watch you dance all night to Louise,well he must like watching paint dry.It should have been Claudia Danny and Ore in the final.

I think Craig is the most honest and consistent! He's the only one who is truly fair with marks.

They all have an issue that they give marks that are too high and then have nowhere to go. Giving 10s for routines that have errors is ridiculous

Of course it's subjective! When people say they are voting for the person they like the most, that doesn't mean it's the personality that they like the most, it's more likely that it's the person they like watching the most. That's why the best dancers invariably make it to the final. Popularity will only get you so far. Being technically better doesn't make you more interesting to watch.

I remember when Tom Chambers was on it years ago. The judges kept marking him down as they thought other dancers were more technically able, but the public loved watching Tom because he was a joy to watch. All these calls of "fix" are just daft. The most they can do is manipulate with things like the dance order. These things are regulated and checked - they cannot just lie about the votes - it wouldn't even make sense for them to do so! It is in their interest to keep the most popular dancers in the competition. If they removed the public favourites, it would reduce their viewing figures. Why would they want to fix it for the Cliftons or for Louise? It makes no sense at all.

Louise stayed in because she got a lot more votes than Claudia, because more people enjoyed watching her dance.
I liked Claudia and I was really hoping she would do well, but I didn't get as much pleasure from watching her dance.

I don't know about it not being fixed. I think that there are wheels within wheels, and the winner is pretty much decided unless they do something really naff.

I don't know whether it is "political" - but I can well remember when Penny Lancaster was preferred by the judges than Gabby Logan in the 5th Series dance-off. All Penny did was sort of "strut" on the spot, while Gabby did an amazing dance.

Nothing will convince me that that wasn't a political move.

Chipstick10: "I'm convinced it's fixed. I find it very strange that even with very low scores Ed was still there and yet the second Darcy went public and said she wanted him out and the MSM all reported that the show wanted Ed out because he would make a mockery of it if he won , he was gone that very week."

But that was the week they did the second dance. So (as I understand it), because Ed came bottom of the cha cha as well as the main dance, that meant he had two judges' points, while the winner had 12. When there's only one dance, the winner has six points from the judges, and the last-placed couple one point.

So in a case like that, it becomes pretty much impossible for the public vote to override the judges' vote. Even if Ed was the most popular person, he'd still only get six points from the public, giving him eight overall - well behind whoever came top.

It's quite a serious accusation to suggest the BBC is fixing it. I can't see that they'd have a motivation for doing so, plus if it turned out that they really were fixing it, there would be a huge public outcry and repercussions for the licence fee.

Exactly. The anti BBC papers like the DM and all the Murdoch press are itching to get their hands on the BBC and bring them down. Now they don't have their lapdog John Wittingdale in cabinet to do their dirty work for them, a vote fixing scandal would do nicely. The BBC have everything to lose and nothing to gain from fixing the strictly votes.

I don't think it's fixed and it's an annual event for one or more of the Jordans to claim it is, although I don't recall Ola responding to Craig's tweet of 'was it fixed the year you won it' to Ola

Gabby Logan - she had no flow for me, did the steps but (gymnast like Claudia) they were very individual and didn't really come together as a dance. Claudia was a bit the same at the start - focused on each individual step - so perhaps Gabby would have got that bit if she'd continued. But I thought they were right to pick Penny that year.

Craig is the most consistent judge for me too, Bruno is the worst for pointing out faults and then waving the 10 paddle.

Oti didn't come across well last night, I think it's dawned on her that they may not win because they are not popular with the public. He is very good and she has come up with some amazing choreography but it may not bring home the glitterball.

I do think the standard generally is much higher nowadays.