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

[Gooseysgirl]

As you were...

Although I can’t warm to Alexandra, I do think it must have been pretty devastating to not get the bottom two “bounce”that normally happens - the week Debbie was in the bottom two, I had voted elsewhere as I just assumed she’d be safe and she wasn’t, so the following week I made sure I voted for her. But clearly, that didn’t happen in quite the same way for AB.

I think as well the fact that she was at the top of the leaderboard yet still in the bottom two must be additionally hard to swallow.

I do wonder how Gorka feels about her. His expression was quite extraordinary when it was announced and I worry thta he blames her for not being popular enough. He doesn’t seem to reassure her and praise her on the show in the way Aljaz, Giovanni and even AJ are constantly doing with their partners.

Finally caught up with the shows and the threads! Phew! I was surprised that AB was in the dance off and not Gemma. I think Gemma will be top three with that level of fan support. AJ and mollie I liked, I still wonder if there's something between them! Or whether hinting at it is making people vote for them, a bit in the style of love Island!
Davood going was the right decision.
Craig shouldn't have mentioned AB's mum, I'm not surprised it upset her.
I don't even know who will leave in the semifinal, AB is likely to be in it again but she will be saved by the judges unless against debbeh...

@MWestie o the results show last night Craig said to AB "damce for your mum" or something like that. Did he say even more during filming?

Coming out of lurking mode. I agree with these two comments:

Far too much side by side stuff in the Charleston. Not fun. She looked flat footed and ungainly, and those boots were awful and unflattering.

I agree. As charlestons go it wasn't a show stopper and in the past other celebrities would have had the usual comments from Darcey about needing to be on the balls of their feet, more bounce etc... And her legs did look ungainly. Her dancing is so good from the waist up but she's not quite so perfect from the waist down as the judges make out by their lack of criticism.

I think if the judges would acknowledge that AB and Debbeh do make mistakes, rather than praising them unreservedly, then people would be a lot more kindly disposed towards them

Yes. I think the judges have done these two women no favours by their lack of criticism. In the past the celebrities who have been good from day one have had other criticism thrown at them, e.g. need better characterisation, need more chemistry (AB and Groka have the least chemistry of the 6 coupled that were left) and the big one for me, 'because you are so good, we expect you to be doing choreography that is much more difficult by now'

They have escaped all those kinds of comments from the judges.

Gorka

I think the difference between Alexandra and the others is that she is a product of entertainment competitions, and ones which were more brutal and personally intrusive than Strictly. The X factor which she won was her third televised competition between the ages of 12 and 21. She knows the drill, in a way that Debbie, Mollie and Gemma don’t, and maybe Gorka doesn’t feel as protective as the other pros do for that reason. OTOH that doesn’t mean she’s not affected emotionally by the result. Her career depends on being seen to be “bankable” and it’s entirely reasonable to be gutted by a poor performance in the public vote. Ditto Molly - this is life or death for her career (and Joe but he appears to have that nailed and is presumably tossing up between the relative merits of the MC in Cabaret, Sky Masterson and Billy Flynn even as we speak).

I wanted to post Ainsley and Nat's penguin cha cha for all you Blue Planeters who made me smile this morning! but BBC appears to have removed series 13

I agree about the lack of chemistry now between Alexandra and Gorka ... not sure what has happened because they used to be great together (their Paso Doble is still one of my fave dances from any series, and they ignited on the dance floor -- same with Jive and Cha Cha Cha). Even the affection off stage has gone. Maybe they're just sick of each other ... it does happen!

If the public vote isn't enough to get her out of the DO after being top of the leader board, I don't see how she'll win. And I wonder if going out next would be better for her than getting to final and losing the public vote. The judges can only do so much.

I love her, both as a dancer and as a person. I lost my mom just over a year ago, and I'm still feeling devastated (and I'm closer to Debbie's age than hers!). I can't even imagine how she has been coping... throw the public fan disdain on top, and I've have been rocking in the corner.

Devastated to lose Davood, as I have seen so much improvement in his dancing, and I genuinely love to watch his performances. I still watch back three of his routines often. I have never once watched back a Debbie, Mollie, or Gemma routine. Joe is very entertaining, and I'm glad he's still in the competition. BUT he has lots of theatre experience, as well, though that never seems to be mentioned on the fan sites. Not sure why (though have a good guess).

I love Joe but he also has stage experience - don't know to what extent you dance - in Chitty Chitty and Rent: doesn't bother me in the slightest but the discrepancy between the flak Alex gets for having starred in Sister Act and The bodyguard and zero mention of Joe having also done musical theatre when younger irks me.
I know Craig did the choreo for Sister Act (he also choreoed Brother Love which starred Brian Conley) but if anything, he has been stricter marking Alex than the others.
I think Joe will win but would personally love Debbie to lift the .

i

x-post!

Maybe it is because Joe didn't start out good in episode 1.

On Saturday night as I was watching Mollie and AJ's dance, I said to my mum that I guarantee she will be starring in a production of Grease by this time next year...she is a perfect 'Sandy' isn't she?

I hadn't realised Alexandra had been in 2 contests before X Factor - I thought that was her first one

Shame about Davood - I liked him and thought he waas doing well.

So the final looks like Debbeh (59) and AB? Oh, and Joe.

I want Joe to win.

Maybe it is because Joe didn't start out good in episode 1

He got 29 for his jive in week 1. Which was the third highest score after Aston and Debbie! I assume you mean his tango in week 2 which I hated. I can forgive his CCC but that Narnia tango is the reason Debs has my support rather than Joe (Love her tango on mute over tango music, not her fault some goon decided Black eyed peas was appropriate!)

It's a shame Davood left because he really did improve his dance for the dance off I thought. In a normal dance off that would probably have got him through. Alexandra didn't improve anything even though there were things she could have improved on according to Craig.

I think Alexandra was stitched up by wardrobe though and I wonder if she would have looked less clumpy had she been wearing shoes rather than those awful boots. No one looks light footed in boots.

So the final looks like Debbeh (59) and AB? Oh, and Joe.

Will they have 4 in the final, dropping to 3 before the last dance? If so, I wonder whether Alexandra would get enough votes to go through to that last dance as the judges have no influence at all in the final.

It is very hard to understand the public vote. I suspect my mother, who is over 90, is typical. She always makes several votes for Anton, when he is in the competition - despite the fact that she can never remember who he is dancing with and really doesn't care. Once he was out she voted in accordance with her homophobic beliefs, and she won't vote for Debbie because there is, apparently, no smoke without fire and she is deluded. She is now voting for Joe, which makes sense but for the most illogical of reasons. I suspect there are hundreds of thousands like her.

Well I would never vote for Debbeh(59) as I can't stand her. Nor for AB, as she is false and a bit grasping.

Mollie and AJ - out next week. Or Gemma.

Joe to win!

I'd be a crumpled mess if my Mum had died and Craig said that. I think she holds it in amazingly well.

What did Craig say?

I thought he was mean when he gave his DO decision and said one couple 'outshone' the other. No need for that. Just say who you're saving if you can't say something less mean.

Davood wasn't that good this week so it's fair dos, really. He had two outstanding dances IMO (American Smooth and Charleston) but was otherwise middling. He's got about as far as he deserved, I think.

Having said that, I'd choose him to be in the SF over Mollie, more because I can't stand AJ than because I dislike her.

If so, I wonder whether Alexandra would get enough votes to go through to that last dance as the judges have no influence at all in the final.

Once Alexandra gets to that point in the final she will be kicked out. She and Gorka know it and so do the judges.

Debbie is the same, I think, although after this week I slightly wonder if people like her more than they like AB.

AB's gushing and Gorka's face like a slapped arse in the DO's aren't doing them any favours in terms of popularity.

I said their body language weeks ago was not the same as their mouths were saying

His face would light up when talking or interacting with Zoë and so it was obvious that he just wants AB to shut up and stop talking

It has just been fake for weeks

I think it would be better to be honest and just say we don't really like each other but are going to continue dancing as best as we can rather than pretend that they are best friends

There does seem to be public antipathy to AB.

From what I remember she tried out for X Factor more than once before she got through to the Final stages and went on to win it. AB cried buckets during and after her duet with Beyonce, she is obviously an emotional person but the British public seem wary and critical of too many displays of weeping. Once she'd won X Factor there was hype about her becoming the next Leona Lewis and taking America by storm which didn't happen. When AB came back as a judge in the early part of one series of X Factor she snapped at Louis Walsh (who was never a fan of hers) and made that hashtag comment which was widely pilloried on social media at the time. If the same people who watch/ed X Factor at the time were/are on social media are now watching and voting on SCD it could explain some of her lack of popularity. AB is clearly not engaging with the people who vote.

Mollie was in the dance off two weeks in a row and had a bit of a backlash after Aston went out but she appears to have turned it around in the popularity stakes.

I think AB should make the final her dancing ability is worthy of a place there but I don't believe she will win it unless public opinion moves dramatically in her favour.

Ok sassy I will let you BORROW the FK in case he gets all upset by my love of puffins!

Apart from that, I shall be watching IT2 very closely this week for all relationship nuances.

I do wonder if AB and DMcG were head to head who would win the public vote, at the moment Debbie seems to have the edge after her stint in the dance off.

Just a cotton-pickin' minute Fuzzy. I have "custardy" of the FK over Christmas , if you don't mind - and it is in writing ALL OVER MUMSNET!!!!!

Not a court in the land would deprive me of the precious li'l fluff pot, now - I have special Grubs and Creepy-Crawlies in for him and everything. And I've made him a cracker that he can pull with his claw with a tiny hat in it.

I remember a clip of behind the scenes (on ITT) with AB pushing past a crew member and almost knocking the script or whatever it was the crew person was holding

It looked so rude and I thought at the time, crumbs you really aren't a very polite person to crew members are you?

Sort of like a diva going down a corridor

IMHO if you aren't a nice person to people like crew members then that says quite a lot about how you view others in a supporting role

Kind of like the type of person that would be saying "don't you know who I am?"

If you watch the other celebs and dancers react to her it is different to how they react to others, their faces in the background when she is talking

I think if she just danced and didn't speak or pull faces it would be much better, just let Gorka speak

I don't think even if she goes into final her bankability will be very high for future stuff, she is only 29 years old but has been round the block for quite a while but the lack of connection with public will be harming her £££££ I bet her agent would rather she is out now than being in DO yet again

Unless the agent gets on the phone and votes for her so they get their 10%

I have never heard of Mollie or Gemma or Joe before this, just AB and Debbie so just know them as they are on show