Semi-Finals are approaching... SCD Thread 9!

[Gooseysgirl]

As you were...

What about “it’s such an honour/privilege to be here”?

Although we might be under the table by 7 if we do that one

Final week and I'm just finding out Joe is a ringah!

I like them all and don't mind who wins

Yeah, Joe's ringah status has been majorly played down. He's not even a mega ringah by any means (like Jay or Danny, who really were Mega Ringahs but also got off quite lightly), and he wouldn't be a bad winner at all, but I find it a bit galling that so many are pulling for him on the basis that he's Never Danced Before TM while the women get constant stick. Very very excited for Katya's showdance choreography though, I think the woman's a genius :)

I still can't decide where I fall on the Mollie/AJ showmance. Before tonight I would've scoffed, but they did look verrrrrry close during that last dance...

I’m disappointed they didn’t have a good old snog during their goodbye dance.

I think she's possibly heading for 60 Listening.

What about “it’s such an honour/privilege to be here”? - Good suggestion Moreno - along with "I'm so blessed"

She's got all her own teeth you know.

I can't see any sign of a romance between them.

Thank you Schadenfreude I just knew someone would know.

I’m rooting for Gemma. The others are all ringahs.

I'm de-lurking to ask: What's a Ringah?!

My tuppence worth - I LOVE Katya and want her to win...

I'm nailing my colours to the mast for Joe.

I think the pro is a big part of the winning couple, and I love Katya, in the same way I did Oti with Danny last year, for the cleverness of her choreography and teaching. I have low tolerance for all that "barely suppressed passion" bollocks and really like someone who takes the raw material and makes it better by making them work really, really hard. Sure Joe was actually not that shabby to start with, but that final lift yesterday was hard and daring. And they've been really good humoured all the way through. Plus I love how Katya developed Ed last year - she absolutely never treated him like the joke candidate.

A ringer- a contestant with previous dance experience. A filthy ringah- a contestant with lots of previous dance experience!

If you like a ringah, then their experience is irrelevant because millions of people take dance lessons and would you want to see 16 total novices fall tits over arse in the Salsa every week? If you dislike a ringah, then their experience means they should never have been allowed to take part and their very presence in the contest is a threat to the True Spirit of Strictly.

Thems the rules :D

Ah I see! Thanks for clarifying!

My vote is for Joe and Katya, that lift yesterday was just incredible.

I also love Oti, hers and Katya's choreography puts many of the others to shame.

Bring on the final!!

im team Joe now.
if he is a ringer he is not as much as the other two. the judges have not shown the blatant favouritism towards him as they have D and A

No idea how he is any less of a ringer than alexandra and Debbie. Anyone who can lead a dance to is a total ringer!

I just googled Debbie's dance experience and its vast. Much as I love watching her (although am sick of seeing her do the splits) I think she really shouldn't be in the competition and she shouldn't win.

Joe and Alexandra are on a parr with previous experience. Gemma was pretty awful initially and has really improved. She probably has the least experience.

I noticed Kevin and Karen weren't dancing together tonight and I really hope the rumours aren't true. :(

Surely 'difficult week' should be on the list?

"literally", although with AJ and Mollie out, perhaps we'll hear less of it.

Debbie's experience is at least partially offset for me by her age (what was it again? 😉). You lose stamina and muscle tone rapidly after a while out, and she's not danced for 30 odd years. The ballet dancers never go all the way anyway, the Latin usually trips them up because the action is too unnatural to them and they have to unlearn everything (Helen George was another in this vein). The stage school kids with more of an all round dance education tend to adapt much better to the different styles. We've had ringers from the beginning- Jill Halfpenny had 'Jive' on her resume iirc- so as long as they've not had Latin or Ballroom training per the rules I'm not too fussed about it.

Or at least, I won't necessarily take against a ringer as long as they're open about it. Denise Van Outen made that infamous 'I just sat on a chair' comment about being in Chicago and that was it for me

But she didn't just do ballet, she spent three years touring as a dancer with pop music people. And she owned a dance production company. So she's got a pretty big dance cv. Personally I think muscles that you've worked with for years come back quicker - I was a horse riding instructor, I didn't ride at all for 12 years and then started again, and it came back like riding a bike - I got back to a relatively high standard much quicker than a beginner would.. And she's not that old. A lot of 60 yr olds are fit and active nowadays.

Didn't someone post a clip from that troupe upthread? It wasn't stellar. I'm just speaking from my own dance experience- I'm pretty extensively trained but it's been a long time and I dabble here and there but I couldn't do half the things she's doing now! She's definitely got a big big big advantage and I don't necessarily want her to win (I'm leaning towards Alex) but it's still not the very specific disciplines of Ten Dance so I don't think it precludes her from taking part. If youth Ballroom champion Aidan Turner rocked up I might think differently (alright, I probably wouldn't in that case 😛)

I really don't think dance experience 30 years ago makes you a ringer, and if keeping yourself fit does, then most sports people who've been on the show are ringers. Joe Calzaghe and Victoria Pendleton, anyone?

It clearly does for me - she's been consistently superb right the way through. She's still a dancer. She always will be. It's who she is, it's in her. Being fit helps, but it doesn't make you a dancer.