SCD '20 #12: Two dances per couple means two threads for Mumsnetters! The FINAL approaches...

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Previous thread

Fair point about Jamie, I hope he’s proved some people wrong, though I am very sad that Ranvir won’t be there. I agree that some of her dances have been beautiful. Maisie and NVWLS are very bland and basically interchangeable (sorry) so Bill better bloody pull it out the bag!!

Bruno is getting £125k for those bits on the results show???!!!
Have the BBC got money to burn??

No final will ever beat :

Gough/Jackson/Ball

1. THE PUPPETS
2. Ian Waite falling over in the Showdance

I hadn't considered the PR aspect of releasing the voting numbers. Fragile celeb egos and all that

Maybe Karen can choreograph a biscuit-themed showdance.

I predict Bill and Jamie's showdances will have lots of frantic running around and not much finesse. Mainly due to having to perform three dances on the night and learn SD choreo on top.
I'd love to see BvB defy expectations.

I have a hunch that Janette might produce a contemptowaft showdance based on their scores from couple's choice. Or maybe a contemptowaft-American smooth-musical theatre mash up!
I'd prefer she didn't but hey ho.

I'm intrigued to see Gorka's vision for the showdance. I hope it's epic and not a crap fusion with too many different elements crammed together - including street contemporary - taking away from the whole. Maisie can do them all but sometimes less is more.

@whatwedontknow

There’s been too much couples choice for me this year, too much jumping about and mirroring and not enough of what I call proper dancing.

Yes! I think that's why I'm going to miss Gio and Ranvir so much. They did proper couple dancing.

2. Ian Waite falling over in the Showdance

I’d complete forgotten that!

Didn’t Zoe have a fan that she discarded part way through the dance, and he slipped on that?

In my memory he turns too fast and falls on his arse, no fan, its probably on Youtube.

Here it is: she throws the fan to the side after the intro, then you can see it on the edge of the dance floor (around 1 min in, it’s on the left of the screen). When Ian goes up that side he slips on it and falls.

m.youtube.com/watch?v=M3L-KyYZqSo&list=PLd_--x5m5E2gnqsibinqSMcriImMAGb11&index=4

I think Oti could probably teach an uncoordinated hippo with chronic shyness to dance its way to the final.

Thank you for the Ball/Waite show dance link. How the hell had I forgotten that he fell over? I must have wiped the whole show from my mind in an attempt to erase the puppets.

When you think of the huge number of dances there have been on Strictly, there have been surprisingly few falls: Katya last year, Kara Tointon, Pamela Stevenson’s mega stumble.

I can’t think of any others off the top of my head.

I’d be flat on my arse every five minutes!

How do they choose which dances the couples do each week and who chooses them?

@ikltownofboothlehem

I think Oti could probably teach an uncoordinated hippo with chronic shyness to dance its way to the final.

I'd be prepared to prove that statement wrong 😂

How do they choose which dances the couples do each week and who chooses them?

It starts with producer saying ‘we’re thinking this’ , then a collaborative conversation starts between them and the pro. Sometimes a pro will fight against it or suggest something else. (Kevin's twitter this evening).

I wonder why Gio didn't fight for a couple's choice?
I wonder why Janette didn't fight for a paso rather than rumba?

@ElspethFlashman

I'm realising that I will miss Gio more than Ranvir, which says it all really.

I really was taken aback at how shit her jive was yesterday. I definitely think that played a part. She just needed to be at a higher standard at this stage.

And I ADORE Not The Heir Himself, BVB. He's like a happy Labrador. And I was quite touched when he father said "I love you, I'm proud of you" and Jamie was like, he never says that. In his own way, I suspect Jamie has been on just as much of a JURNEEEE as Ranvir.

And he's definitely the most improved. The others had a basic talent level already. Nobody expected a damn thing from Jamie, but he's shown he has bags of energy and also a really great attitude. He's been in the DO so much and yet he keeps bouncing back, just as glad and grateful as on Day One.

So yeah, I'm happy he's in the final and I think based on improvement and work ethic, he deserves it. It's not as if he's going to win, so where's the harm?

Totally agree I love Ranvir and Gio’s partnership. However, I thought that Jamie deserved to be in the final. I just feel that he wanted it more than Ranvir . His perseverance and joy was evident every week. I really don’t care who wins the final tbh. I would be ok with no vowels winning because it would be nice for Janette.

It starts with producer saying ‘we’re thinking this’ , then a collaborative conversation starts between them and the pro. Sometimes a pro will fight against it or suggest something else. (Kevin's twitter this evening)

So the bias towards, say, ballroom for Ranvir is deliberate on the part of the producers?

Motsi on Radio2 just now was suggesting that the BEST dancer will win the final . !!!!! Well if Bill wins ,and he has gone through without a dance off, it won't be because he's the BEST dancer will it?

Ranvir was MUCH better than him. Kind of makes a mockery of good dancing doesn't it? I'm not sure why the public have voted for him so consistently. He seems a nice chap but really!!!!

Sorry to sound bitter. Jamie did deserve to go through , he improved a lot on that dance. he's also a better dancer than Bill.

it is a popularity contest, so Motsi is wrong, as usual

I'm not sure why the public have voted for him so consistently. He seems a nice chap but really!!!!

'Vote for your favourite' ~ that's the tagline I think, isn't it? So presumably a lot of people prefer Bill to Ranvir, for whatever reason (they were fans of his beforehand, they're massive fans of Oti, they're a similar demographic and like seeing themselves represented on the show, they think he's a 'nice chap' (to use your own words)).

I've got nothing against Ranvir at all. She did some nice ballrooms routines and had a lovely 'feel' to a lot of her dances. But she was pretty poor at anything that required a bit of pace or that wasn't in hold, she never seemed to have much energy or enthusiasm about her, and the 'timid, older, single mum finding her inner goddess through dancing, with a side-order of fauxmance' narrative started to get nauseating after a while.

The show really isn't a dancing competition: it's a light entertainment show disguised as a dancing competition. But, that said, I'd still say that taking the various dance styles into account, Bill is a marginally better dancer than Ranvir. His Latin is far from perfect, but he makes a bloody good effort.

Can any of you nice people explain how the final works? :D This is my first year watching!

I thought from a PP that they only re-do a dance they did previously, but now someone mentioned 3? How exciting! (yes I am chronically bored and v easily entertained )

i vote for bill because I like him and he isn't a ringer.
I hope either he or bvb wins as the other 2 are such ringers.
but.....if a ringer does win I would rather it was Harvy as the Jeanette would win.

@Foliageeverywhere122

Can any of you nice people explain how the final works? :D This is my first year watching!

I thought from a PP that they only re-do a dance they did previously, but now someone mentioned 3? How exciting! (yes I am chronically bored and v easily entertained )

In previous years they've done a dance selected for them by the judges (often an early one with obvious mistakes, so they can show their improvement across the series), a dance of their own choosing ( a favourite, or one they'd like a better shot at), and their show dance.

In previous years they've done a dance selected for them by the judges (often an early one with obvious mistakes, so they can show their improvement across the series), a dance of their own choosing ( a favourite, or one they'd like a better shot at), and their show dance.

Time for my now-annual lament that they didn't choose Danny & Oti's ChaChaCha for the final. It was such a fantastic first dance I really wanted to see what he could do with it after all that training. I'd have preferred that over the samba.

Yes Voodoo But as Craig said Bill doesn't move his centre. I agree that Ranvir's jive was grim (don't know what wardrobe were thinking, her dress was terrible too). But her AT was on a different level altogether.

Yes Voodoo But as Craig said Bill doesn't move his centre.

Well, yes. Bill’s dancing has many areas that require improvement. I’ve not suggested that Bill is a flawless dancer by any means; what I said was that, on balance, I view him as a marginally better dancer than Ranvir. He has a slightly broader range of ability, as compared to Ranvir’s one-note level of ‘good in hold and mid-paced’.