SCD #11 Blackpool (drink) Blackpool (drink) Blackpool (drink)

[ThursdayLastWeek]

Continued...

I voted for Faye as I thought she was undermarked ( and I adore Giovani)I don't care whether she has danced before or not I really dont.
In the real world people pay to see brilliant dancers, not someone who has been on a journey.
This applies to all sports, the fact that someone has trained all their life to participate in a sport is irrelevant, their performance is what matters.

I'm also voting for Giovani, did I mention that, because he is gorgeous.

Oh and could someone please tell Joe to hurry up and get to the front of the queue for costumes, Lord knows what is happening. I can only assume the designers, dressmakers and make-up artists are pushed for time and he is always last in the queue so has to have what they can quickly cobble together!

Thought joe was a bit stinky last night maybe it's the styling or the odd music choices he keeps getting but even my 6 yo had gone off him

Joe reminds me of dds boyfriend.
At least Shirley didn't smother him this week.
I thought Charles was good this week and I loved Kate's dress.

In the real world people pay to see brilliant dancers, not someone who has been on a journey.

This is not a performance we've paid to see though, it's completely different. I prefer to watch Stacey as there is so much joy in her when she's dancing. Faye, even though a ringer, shows that she's enjoying it. Ashley is technically excellent but lacks that joy. It's flat.

Ed Balls was not a good dancer but if I need cheering up, I watch his Gangnam Style dance.

I fear Joe may well win just because his online followers will all vote for him. Which might teach the producers not to invite a vlogger in future.

I suspect that, when compared with professional dancers, Ashley is actually a bit meh. She just looks good compared with amateurs. I agree that I find her dances simply dull - even the Charleston really seemed a bit frantic and "Look at MEEE, aren't I good?"

Just seen a spoiler on Twitter and says who goes
How is that possible? Isn't it live?

Bless you! What a little innocent you are!

(PLEASE DON"T TELL US!)

Shirley needs to stop mothering Joe

And also stop displaying such obvious bias and prejudice.

If Shirley loves/ hates someone, she doesn't even try to hide it. Ans she reflects her feelings in her scores, which is just WRONG!

It's been a pre record since it stopped being 20 mins on a Saturday and went to a full hour long show.

The spoiler is usually available from 11pm

Obviously this is a spoiler free thread

Oh and the clue is that the voting basically only opens for 40 mins

(PLEASE DON"T TELL US!)

Don't worry, I won't, hate people who spoiler things and I don't want to spoil it for anyone else!
Feeling slightly murderous towards the Twitter Twat though!

I hadn't realised Ashley's dad had committed suicide, same as Shirley's brother. Commendable they both kept it together as well as they did.

Checking in late: so much sense on this thread!

DDJ very unfairly marked compared to others, but I think he'll go this week, and I won't mind if he does. He's a great dancer but he just does his thing and if it works, great, if not, he isn't ever going to improve. There's no (apologies) journey at all.

No idea what dance the judges were watching when I was watching Joe and Diane, but it definitely wasn't the same one as me!

Still have no idea what Oti and Graeme were doing. Was it definitely an actual dance?

Love Lauren and AJ - I really enjoyed their routine. Same for Charles and Karen. I thought Stacey was a bit stiff, and I'm cross Kevin stole my waltz song for when I am on Strictly (which surely can't be long coming now).

Pashley were great, loved it. Still don't think she'll win, the ringers never do. But it I get to see dance like that along the way, I'm happy. Same with Faye and Giovanni.

I reckon either Stacey or Joe for the win.

People made the same comments about feeling that Alexandra’s dances were technically good but emotionally lacking. I didn’t see it then (she was a whirlwind!) and I don’t see it in Ashley. Confident, talented women just seem to attract a lot of criticism; I can’t thjnk why..!

Neither of them can win when it comes to public opinion: if they say they can manage the dance then they’re arrogant; if they say they’re struggling to master it then they’re lying and fake and feigning humility etc... It’s clear that Ashley is given far more complicated choreography than the others, therefore I’m sure she does find some of it genuinely challenging. I’m so glad I get to see some complicated, accomplished dances.

I like the mix! I love Stacey, I like watching how Joe has improved (until his most recent two dances which I thought were a bit crap and bafflingly overnarked), I love Graeme’s enthusiasm, I enjoyed watching Ranj - is great that there is a mix of ability and personality and different types of journey on the show or it would all get very dull.

I like to get the gossip and a range of opinions on these threads but I hated the catty spite directed at Alexandra last year and I hate the sour bile directed at Ashley this year. If you didn’t see her emotional connection to her dance last night, then I don’t think you’re giving her a fair watch - I don’t see how anyone could deny her strength of feeling and the power it brought to the dance. I’m not a massive fan of contemporary, personally, but it wasn’t a cold, technical performance by any stretch of the imagination.

I also admired how Pasha choreographed it to give the spotlight entirely to her - AJ and Kevin, I felt, approached the Couple’s Choice as far more of a vanity project for themselves (I really loved Kevin and Stacey’s street commercial, mind, but it was definitely about his dream dance above all else!) I hope that accomplished and talented female dancers in the future aren’t put off going on Strictly because of the unfair nastiness ladled out towards them. When I watch old dances on YouTube, I watch the good ones - I don’t revisit the heartwarming clodhoppers. I hope there is an Ashley/Alexandra every year and that people finally stop complaining about them.

Confident, talented women just seem to attract a lot of criticism

It has nothing to do with that.

Faye is also confident and talented. However, she also has joy.

The comments from some MN that their dad was also dead, do they win...we're totally out of order

The comment I made of this ilk was loaded with a huge dollop of irony. I am sorry it obviously didn't come across this way and did not mean to offend anyone.

I hate it when people try to dismiss opinions as just being spite/jealousy/sexism.

Soup, I don’t deny that it’s some people’s opinion but it is noticeable that Danny Mac never got the volume of criticism as the female ringers. That’s not to say that everyone who doesn’t like Ashley is sexist or feels that way for sexist reasons, but when you notice it en masse it’s clear that accomplished, assertive women come in for a harsher time. Faye has a much more apologetic demeanour so people seem to forgive her for her talent a little bit more. There have been some hugely spiteful comments directed at Ashley on these threads. That isn’t to say that everyone who doesn’t like her is spiteful either. It just gets to be an uncomfortable pattern.

And as for people who complain about the presence of ringers at all; I just don’t know what the show would be like if they had their way - but I definitely wouldn’t be watching! Just as I wouldn’t if all fifteen were ringers either.

I can't remember if the volume of criticism Danny Mac got was on the same level as female ringers, but there were certainly plenty of people who thought he shouldn't be there.

Fuzzy. I've been begging for an irony emoticon on here for years.

Need to mark my place for tonight. I was out last night at a tasting so haven’t watched the show yet.

Graeme was AWFUL. Not even any entertainment or comedy value. I don't know what the judges were watching.

Stacey and Kev were sweet if a bit bobbly.

Ashley: meh. I agree with Craig that she didn't breathe through it enough; it wasn't very flowing.

Faye overpraised IMO: I thought she didn't have much pumping action. Looked a bit lazy. Is that what Shirley was trying to say when she said you can see how hard the others are fighting?

Kate was good and seems to have her mojo back AT LAST! Wedding theme was sickly and in slightly poor taste IMO, but it was a nice dance.

Joe is too thin. He looks ill. Is he just training too hard and not getting a chance to eat properly? I hated his dance too. Didn't get it at all. I think they've just decided they want him in the final.

Charles was excellent. Stylish and humorous. I hope to God he doesn't end up in the DO again but Karen looked sad already last night, like she was resigned to it happening.

Lauren was lovely. She really is starting to love dancing.

Danny was OK. Love Amy.

Surely Graeme will be in the DO?

And imagine if he hadn’t been, Grouchy! We’d never have had that misty blue American Smooth or that amazing samba. Instead we could have had another Jeremy Vine or Ed Balls..? Wouldn’t be quite the same experience...

Danny Mac did get a lot of criticism for being a ringer, and even if he hadn't stuffed up in the final he wouldn't have won overall because of the ringer factor. However he was very charming and delightful to watch so the level of criticism reduced over the course of the series. It's not an anti-female thing particularly, Debbie McGee enjoyed herself so much and was so elegant in her dances that people cared less about her dance experience by the end than they did in the beginning.

Ringers do occasionally win, Jay McGuinness for instance had considerable dance training as part of his stage school background. But he still had a 'journey' because he had to work to overcome his nerves, and he clearly loved dancing which made the viewers love his dances too. The ringers that do badly are the ones who view it as just a challenge or as work, you get accuracy and professionalism in their dances but not enough joy, like Ashley this year or Denise van Outen.