SCD week two and on!

[ThursdayLastWeek]

As you were ladies...

Revvo and Reddo irritate me too. I expected to love them but it's just not happening.
Chizzy is only the fourth female first boot (Siobhan, Martina, Edwina being the other three).
I originally wanted Ruth, Jonnie, Gemma and Susan in the last four.
My money's now on Jonnie. Alexandra comes across really well. Either she's an amazing actress or she is no way as diva as what others made her out to be. I never saw her on X-factor so no frame of reference but on this she seems genuinely humble and grateful to be there.

I can’t understand why Chizzy went over Brian!

I agree Daily

I think johnnie will win with alexandra and Aston through to final too. Debbie goes after Blackpool in shock exit following a dance that doesn't suit her (like samba or salsa).

I think while ringers in previous series have just about been able to claim to be actors who've done a little bit of musical theatre, or musicians who've danced on stage but never been trained, Debbie is unambiguously a trained professional dancer and, for me, that crosses a line.
I can just about accept Alexandra though - and that Paso was beyond incredible.

Debbie is unambiguously a trained professional dancer

Totally. I never vote for the ringers - like Louise last year who was a judge on another dance show. I think there is a huge difference between someone who is a singer in a boyband and has done a few routines in a group like Jay or Aston, or someone who started off as a solo singer and has done a bit of musical theatre like Alexandra, and Debbie who was at the Royal Ballet and had a career as a dancer.

@PoppyPopcorn Aston has also been a judge on a dance show!

Aston, Debbie and alexandra
alexandra are the ringers

Chizzy suffered because there were 3 other 'can't dance comedy characters' Richards, Brian's and susan which is more than usual. They all want to be the Ed balls of the series.
Charlotte and ruthless have no personality

Jay and Caroline both studied dance for 3 years at college (dance focussed courses as opposed to more general Sylvia Young).

As said up thread, I think the fast-paced dances like Jive, Samba and Salsa will be Debbie's undoing. Whilst her turns and spins will always be good as she is trained to spot, she is used to dancing on straight legs with carefully placed feet. I think she'll struggle to get "down into the floor". Don't forget the only Latin she has done so far is Paso and that's the most Ballroom-like dance of the 5 traditional Latin dances, so we've not seen her truly attempt hip action yet.

I'm happy to be proved wrong though!

To be fair to Alexandra, she was 19-20 when she was on X-Factor and is now 29. I think we would all be a bit mortified if people still thought of us now, based on how we acted in our late teens.

CaveMum you might be right. I remember DD's tap teacher moaning about "beautifully pulled up ballet dancers not able to get down into the dance".

HSMMaCM, my dance teacher has said exactly the same thing. She's taught several ex-ballet dancers and says they also often struggle with the concept of dancing with a partner as they're so used to doing it (mostly) solo.

Re ballet dancers posture - that was my problem for years, I'd go to hip hop classes and be all beautifully placed arms and back straight, upright posture

It's taken years of practicing different styles of dance to relax my posture a bit now, I haven't done ballet for years but am very grateful to have that base training even if it was hard to change for a long time!

Thank you for that lovely clip plokadots - what a joy! Real dancing without all the shitey, stupid gimmicky crap any extraneous content to detract from the experience.

I'd love it if they went back to the old format of

1. 2 different dances only each week so we could compare standards

2. talking about the wardrobe and why particular styles/colours etc were chosen for particular contestants (get rid of all this "here I am dancing on top of Blackpool Tower with a live wombat to get over my phobia of freckles" rubbish - it's embarrassing )

3. the results in a short programme later the same night - then we could all go to bed and have a kip without our DH's saying "Hell's bells I suppose you'll want to watch this crap again tomorrow to find out who's out?" and "flipping" the newspaper.

Fab clip Cavemum - a short, fat middle-aged man and she had him oozing sex-appeal (well - I would have shagged him!.)

THAT'S real dancing.

I'd like them to return to a more traditional Salsa instead of all these tricks and lifts they keep using. Go to a proper Salsa club and you will rarely see lifts - it's a dance designed to be danced in enclosed spaces (like nightclubs) with lots of people around you, so none of this swinging from the chandeliers lark!

It should look like this:

Agree Schadenfreude's 3 points. The results a day later is silly when its prerecorded. I would have them all doing the same dance in the early weeks and if they do pre dance clips show them training not spending BBC money on stupid stuff

Definitely would be better if they went back to two dances a show, so we could compare properly.
Am amazed they think Brian 80's Quiz Shows has a bigger fan base than Chizzy Holby City, especially as they went for two Holby actors this time. She was robbed.

To be fair Schadenfraude, that man is an ex-World Champion himself Just hasn't worn as well as some other dancers

www.wikidancesport.com/wiki/2170/michael-chapman

Hi just sashaying in i finally caught up with first and second week shame it wasn't Brian who went first he was shockingly bad and Ruth is really irritating me thank god for sky+ she can be FF and the gmtv woman, can i just say Joe Mcfadden in a waistcoat

This thread and Monkseal's blog definitely enhance the Strictly experience for me! I was talking with the DCs about it at breakfast this morning; one of them mentioned the lack of Len's Lens and I said Monkseal was vexed about the judges' analysis bit having no name... 12yo DS1 said they should call it 'Strictly Speaking'.

Our family favourites are Jonnie and Joe. DCs also like Aston, and I like Gemma and Susan. Enjoyed watching Debbie and Alexandra too, and do appreciate that there needs to be a range of talent, but personally want to see more of a journey. We all like Shirley, and agree with her and everyone else who has said 'less of the faffing'!

I was watching a few dances from other series on YouTube (will never get tired of Anita + Gleb's paso!) and just wondered if a more knowledgeable poster could explain what the rules are for having other dancers performing with them? Is it only allowed in later weeks? (I didn't mind it in the A+G paso, but watched Jake Wood + Janette's AT and found them very distracting.)

To my knowledge there aren't any rules about using backing dancers, but they tend to use them at Blackpool as it's such s big dancefloor - it's very hard to expect a Novice to be able to cover such a large space solo, whereas a good professional couple would have no problem.

I guess it's so the live audience don't feel short-changed.

What's the name of the pro dancer whose never had a partner but is brilliant? Red hair, he did the dance with emile sande yesterday. Is that pro his partner?

Horrified at the judges' decision! I thoguht Chizzy was MUCH better than Brian. Much better musicality and acting, and much more entertainment value. Shame! And she was so upset :(