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

[ThursdayLastWeek]

Continued...

Crikey I was going to say thanks for the thread to Thusday But it's nearly over!

I was a bit disappointed with Stacey's waltz, but she's still great IMO she's assertive isn't she? We all seem to like her a lot.

Agree about the cheap looking costumes some of them are wearing esp.the blokes. They'll spend on lighting and useless moving props (and smoke\dry ice) fgs. Why not on costumes?

I reckon that Grahame and Kate will be in the DO. I love Oti , it's not her fault but G. is out of his depth now

Ashley needed to close her mouth , the contempo didn't suit her style . Was Pash kissing her in sympathy or something else at the end?

I totally agree with you CaptainBrickbeard, whilst it is okay for the less able/'comedy' turns/in it for a laugh contestants to be in for a few weeks at the start, I wouldn't watch the show if that was the only type of contestant in it.

I enjoy watching the talent of the professionals dancing properly, which they can do with the more capable contestants, as much as I enjoy watching the celebrities. I get totally fed up of seeing the professionals having to lug their partners around the floor, wear ever more ridiculous or skimpy costumes and use more and more outlandish props which require interminable amounts of faffing around with in order to detract from or lessen the amount of actual dancing done. I don't want to see the clodhoppers ruin the more serious dances such as Argentine Tango or Rumba.

I want to see dances that take my breath away and that I want to watch again and again and if it's the so called ringers that do that it's fine by me.

For me, personally, it has been great to see Pascha dancing as he can with Ashley. I've also warmed to, appreciated and enjoyed Kevin's dancing much more this season.

Ed Balls was never in the category of truly dreadful and embarrassing as, say, Anne Widdecombe. He did some pretty good dances overall and left the show at the right time for his capabilities.

The 'journey' is only interesting, entertaining or watchable if the people on it learn and improve week on week.

Fuzzy 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 must be truly thick then because I fail to see any irony in the comment you made nor how you could think it wouldn't offend.

Sigh all you like Ursula, if you think a comment could be misinterpreted enough to offend it's probably best not to make it in the first place.

Danny Mac did not have, anywhere near, the level of hatred directed at him as Alexandra, Debbie,Faye or Ashley that I have seen here. I was on the 2016 Strictly threads and he didn't have the same weekly accusations of being fake, humblebrag, annoying, arrogant or cold either.

MN would be half empty and a lot less fun.

And anyway I won.

I agree with captainbrickbeardtoo I think the women are criticised more than the men and have seen men win when they were not the best dancer by a mile. Darren Gough anyone?
Anyway I'm going to stick my neck out and predict that Joe will win.
Quite frankly he deserves a medal for the outfits he's had to wear.

I think Swanny should go, his dance was awful and no amount of pissing about on treadmills or Oti wriggling her arse can save him.

xsquared you are right, he didn't. I also remember equally 'ironic' comments about Alexandra when she cried about the recent death of her mother.

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..!
I loved Alexandra and believed her when she said she lacked confidence etc. I don't like Ashley and I don't buy into her humble personna at all. Danny is a 'ringer' and is having his arse handed to him because he seems quite arrogant and unpleasant.

Ursula won what, exactly?

I do agree, Captain. I love the ringers. They make the show watchable in the first few weeks, and it's great seeing them get even better too. (And Danny Mac wuz robbed.)

Ah well Cassandra we're probably equally offended now!

Not enjoying the current crop of posts so I'll slope out the back with my coat on!

Brendan Cole's weekly column:

www.hellomagazine.com/film/2018111164430/brendan-cole-strictly-come-dancing-on-which-dancers-wont-go-to-blackpool/

Just seen this... DM link
Apparently Danny's Mum has Alzheimers.... 😪

If Danny is knocked out tonight I predict an explosive interview this week. He's been quite vocal about vendettas against him and racism, I can't see him keeping quiet.

I also remember equally 'ironic' comments about Alexandra when she cried about the recent death of her mother.

Actually - I'm pretty sure Alexandra are in for similar criticism. I'm afraid that I'm one of the people who think you should keep your private pain private.

Some people, rightly or wrongly, appear to "milk" these situations, and it then devalues the genuine grief of others. I'm not saying that either Alex or Ashley were being false in their emotions, but there are so many programmes like the X-factor where everyone has a sob story, that it makes me cynical. Particularly when only half the story is given, and the second half released when people appear to be critical. It may well be a way of retaining a degree of privacy, and the papers have winkled it out against the celebs wishes,* but it can seem like a drip-feed to make critics feel awful.

*Though when has the DM gone to the trouble of "winkling"? If somebody else hasn't done the work for them, it doesn't get printed.

I think Faye and Ashley haven't benefited from being in the same line up. Their skill set is fairly similar and this just emphasizes their ringeriness more. I actually prefer Faye dancing, no idea why.

I don't get the thrill watching them that I got on seeing Danny Mac and Oti (or was that the excitement of seeing Oti for the first year)! A lot of people didn't like Danny Mac's ringer status, he was scored lots of 8's and 9's when he was fantastic (the same score Joe got last night lol) and didn't win, so I don't think he really had the edge in scoring well with the public.

I liked Debbie a lot last year, but instead a stage-trained Nice Guy named Joe won. I bet no-one's rewatching Joe's old dances (confess if you are!)

I'm afraid that I'm one of the people who think you should keep your private pain private. I agree. It seems a bit crass to air your family's painful story to influence the public to vote for you on a bloody dance competition.

Confident, talented women just seem to attract a lot of criticism; I can’t thjnk why..!

One of the main problems with Ashley is that she tries to pretend that she isn't confident. And, just for the record, I was distinctly grumpy that Debbie didn't win last year, so it's nothing to do with animus against female ringers.

I also wanted Debbie to win last year.

The thing is, people here have criticised Ashley for not having enough emotion in her dances. Then she draws on her emotions to create a dance and people now want her to keep her emotions private... I think she’d get ripped to shreds whatever she did! I really have never viewed any of the Strictly contestants as playing on bereavements to win votes. I think the producers encourage them to talk about that kind of thing where they can to get interest and create storylines, but it would be horribly cynical to think that people are using their own tragedies quite so coldly and calculatedly.

I think a Graeme/Danny dance off maybe tonight and I really don’t know who the judges would save. I would prefer to see what Graeme and Oti come up with to Danny - I’m not sure Danny has a lot of improvement left to show, I think he’s going to plateau as he can’t overcome his stiffness whereas Graeme can still get better..I hope!

I also wanted Debbie to win last year.

So did I.

I thought that she blossomed with Giovanni, and although I began not much liking either of them, I ended up thinking that she was a lovely woman, and also that there was a side to Joe Varney that I never realised existed - he was so nice!

Then she draws on her emotions to create a dance and people now want her to keep her emotions private

Most actors etc draw on personal feelings and experiences to help them achieve believable characterisation - particularly painful experiences. They don't publicise what has happened to them in the past, or what depths it has plunged them into.

I'm not saying that Ashley, or anyone else, is being insincere, but I do admit I feel very cynical about it.

I stopped watching The X Factor long ago because of the cynical sob story stuff and I generally agree with the private grief should be kept private stance. However, once these celebrities are signed up for the show their entire private lives are trawled not only by the media but also the production team.

There is always a desire from production to 'hang a narrative' onto a performance which is why we get regularly treated to:

I remember mum and dad used to dance this in the kitchen
My grandparents always waltzed to this tune
My mum always used to sing this song when I was a child
I want to get to Blackpool because that's where my parents met/used to dance

from other contestants.

I suspect that in the case of Alexandra and Ashley with the deaths being recent to them appearing on the show the drive for the song/dance to honour their dead parent came from the production team more so than from themselves.