SCD19#2 — Last Partnerships Formed, Training Begins and the First Live Show

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

First thread here.

Tbh if I was Brenda (who knows his stuff) I wouldn't like to have Craig or Bruno critique my work.

I really wonder about the decision to drop not just bench Brendan but yet still keep Anton who is fucking obnoxious and must be hard work behind the scenes

I wish the older seasons were available to watch! I only joined in time for season 6.

Is it to do with music rights?

I loved Brendan and JJ stropping. I'm sure half of it was scripted - I never saw them as the villains!

I forgot about Will Young!

John Sargeant-gate was insane!

I seem to recall a one off highlights DVD after a few years? Maybe the first 3, I'll have a look I bet it's easy to come by second hand

Will Young has a difficult time with his mental health and that's why he didn't continue, couldn't cope

There's a DVD called "The Show Stoppers" from 2012. I'm sure there was an even older one though

I think I've seen that one thanks though! I wish I could watch every episode in order (saddo) as I loved the original professionals and missed their heyday of s1-5

Maybe they'll put it on that Britbox thing?

British channels Netflix rival

After all those years of getting to the final and actually winning I think Kevin is happy.

I agree. After years of working his socks off because he got to the final every year but one, I should imagine he's quite pleased that he stands a good prospect of having a more restful season this year. Susan Calman said he was a really kind, considerate partner who really boosted her confidence, and I think Anneka will have the same experience.

Alex Scott is flipping around a whizzy skirt and claiming she needs an alter ego on Instagram - assume paso doble?
I don’t like when they do trickier dances at a point they’re unlikely to either a) do it well or b) get chucked out because of a low score

Agreed. I really wish they'd go back to the days when everyone did the waltz or chacha in the first week.

Urgh yes! And then later on you want to see the good couples perform a good jive etc not the one the cobbled together in the early weeks.

Me too @GrouchyKiwi - was much easier to compare contestants too.

Brendan fell out with quite a few people, which probably contributed to his downfall. Same with James Jordan - eventually you run out of support if you keep annoying people! Anton, OTOH, has never complained about getting stuck with some of his less able partners as far as I know.

Whenever I watch old Strictly professional routines it is always the really old ones, not the themed ones they have today. I also preferred the format where half of the celebs did the same ballroom dance, and the other half did the same latin dance. It did make it more obvious where the talent was, but having said that the first year one of the finalists was not the best dancer so popularity has always counted in getting votes.

Well Anton has basically complained now with his “Book me in till Christmas ... I’m sorry but you don’t know what it’s been like for me” comments.

I much preferred the format of half and half dances, but at the same time that was a little boring when it was waltz week or American smooth week which I look really shit if done badly and I could basically fall asleep to

However if a salsa is done badly (looking at you, flat footed stiff hipped sportsmen) it’s still entertaining

the first year one of the finalists was not the best dancer

The first year it was all for Sport Relief, and Chris Parker was so terrible it was done for comedy

Yes, that was the one I was thinking of - my niece thought he was brilliant and really liked him. Opinions will always vary!

I think Brenda was dropped because of his mega-argument with Shirley.

So it's been announced Neil & Alex will be doing the quickstep as their first dance.

Not sure about any of the other couples yet.

Karim & Amy — cha cha
Chris & Karen — "
Amy & Aljaž — "
Kevin & Anneka —"
David & Nadiya — foxtrot
Catherine & Johannes — VW

Lots of cha cha so far!

Who's around for 7pm tonight, BBC1 professional dancers

They really ought to break it down into three different dances each week - it's very confusing having the odd VW or AS pop up! I thought there was an order to the difficulty of dances when teaching. I don't know how much input the pros get these days but are some of them trying to get the hard dances out of the way first when the odds of elimination are lower?

I lost you all! Hopefully watching tonight.

Getting the snacks readied, reporting for duty

I'm here!