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

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Previous thread

Polka
I can’t sleep either!
That’s really interesting... shows what a lot we’ve missed though. Getting rid of CC next series would help a lot

Could someone tell me please which dances count as ballroom, which count as Latin and which are speciality? I always thought salsa was Latin but from that list above it looks like a speciality dance. Thanks!

polkadots thanks for that - shows just how little ballroom there has been this year when 3 out of the 4 finalists have only done 2 ballroom dances it really has moved away from it's original premise hasn't it?

@ChessieFL

Could someone tell me please which dances count as ballroom, which count as Latin and which are speciality? I always thought salsa was Latin but from that list above it looks like a speciality dance. Thanks!

Ballroom: waltz, foxtrot, quickstep, Viennese waltz, tango

Latin: cha cha, jive, samba, paso, rumba

Specialty: salsa, Charleston, American smooth, Argentine tango, couples choice

The American Smooth has a ballroom foundation (in that it can be foxtrot based, waltz based, etc) but you’re allowed the break hold and add lifts. Although for SCD you’re apparently allowed the break hold at will now anyway.

@Theromanempire

polkadots thanks for that - shows just how little ballroom there has been this year when 3 out of the 4 finalists have only done 2 ballroom dances it really has moved away from it's original premise hasn't it?

It really has.

They might as well drop the nods to ‘Strictly Ballroom’ and ‘Come Dancing’ from the title and just call the show ‘Dancing’ from here on in, because it’s more of a generic dance show now.

The snarkiness I felt uncomfortable about was the series of comments about ( paraphrase) "I'm not watching, it's all fixed because Ranvir is our. She is so much the best dancer", which is a valid opinion, but phrased in such a way as to make me feel very awkward about being happy it was the right ( dancing) decision.

There was also some negative posting about someone dubbing Maisie "MEaisie". Disagree if you want to, but it got a wee bit personal imo. Goodness, it's been a bad enough year! Let's just enjoy some fun and dancing!

just watched Ranvir on ITT,
very well said

just made me think, how will the finalists and their dancing teachers be able to celebrate christmas?

random thought

can they rejoin their family?

i hope so

@FuzzyPuffling

The snarkiness I felt uncomfortable about was the series of comments about ( paraphrase) "I'm not watching, it's all fixed because Ranvir is our. She is so much the best dancer", which is a valid opinion, but phrased in such a way as to make me feel very awkward about being happy it was the right ( dancing) decision.

I agree @FuzzyPuffling. Be sad for Ranvir but there is a lot of negativity against Jamie which also makes me feel uncomfortable.

It was me that asked about MEaisie. There always seems to be one contestant or pro that posters take a universal disliking to. A few years ago it was Alexandra Burke, then Ashley Roberts, Neil Jones and now Maisie.

Such a shame they didn't show ALL of Zoe's and Ian's tango on ITT they both looked AMAZING, her especially, That dress !!!! I noticed how CLEAR and well lit the ballroom\studio was too, it was easy to see them !!! Blimey

Iam another non voter btw. I'm a non tecchie, the show won't miss my votes.

I noticed how annoyed Joe Varney was, that they hadn't got into the final on ITT, he said it and showed it too. (I wouldn't like to cross him)

@ppeatfruit

Such a shame they didn't show ALL of Zoe's and Ian's tango on ITT they both looked AMAZING, her especially, That dress !!!! I noticed how CLEAR and well lit the ballroom\studio was too, it was easy to see them !!! Blimey

Iam another non voter btw. I'm a non tecchie, the show won't miss my votes.

It’s on YouTube, I found it last week - I was delighted because it was missing for a while, and I love the earlier dances

@ChessieFL

Could someone tell me please which dances count as ballroom, which count as Latin and which are speciality? I always thought salsa was Latin but from that list above it looks like a speciality dance. Thanks!

BigBadVoodooHat has listed them (thank you!) but just to explain why, there are ten internationally-competed ballroom and Latin dances. Then the others were added and they had different rules, like lifts being allowed (although the salsa was danced without lifts for years, I'm not sure when that changed).

You could say AS and AT are ballroom (although AT is quite different in terms of hold/movement) and salsa and Charleston are Latin (but Charleston is more closely related to rock 'n' roll and swing dances), and couple's choice is an abomination standalone, but I think the 5:5:5 split is a bit easier to look at.

Voodoo Thanks. HAPPY CHRISTMAS [frin] Everyone I'm off line now.

No final will ever beat :
Gough/Jackson/Ball

1. THE PUPPETS
2. Ian Waite falling over in the Showdance
Agree. What an epic And Gough's showdance was actually pretty good. I loved him and Lilya together.

Well. I'm sad about Ranvir but I think on balance it was the right choice; her ballroom is beautiful but her Latin VERY ropey, whereas Jamie is a bit worse at ballroom but a bit better at Latin.

I'm just so happy Bill and Oti made it. I know he's plateaued a bit but I just love them together. He'll raise his game for the final.

Polkadots thanks for that breakdowns. It’s quite illuminating as so easy to have a perception of what each celebrity has focused on. I think our feeling of Ranvir sticking to ballroom looks accurate. However, Maisie has done an even spread although I think of her having done slightly more faster paced dances. The other 3 being equally is interesting too as Jamie often pegged as Party Latin but he’s same spread as the other two.

As a relative newbie (watching 3 years) I don’t have any problem with way it is because I’ve come into it being a entertainment show. Dances need to be entertaining and there are lots of props and flashy stage sets. However, if I’d been watching since early years I think I might be sadly mourning the loss of an old favourite tv show. The sets were practically empty from the small clips I’ve seen like the Zoe/Ian one posted here (not even sure which series she did), hardly any props, good lighting as PP mentioned with no dry ice covering bad footwork, appropriate music, appropriate costumes etc etc etc. Today it’s very much entertainment. Costumes to match themes, flashy sets, lots of props etc etc. A very different show really. Sadly I think that how all reality tv goes anyway - the need to be flashy and entertaining outweights any purity of the “skill”. I only watch “skill” based reality tv (so no BB, celebrity germs out here stuff) and noticed GBBO has also gone same way (fancier unable to do at home recipes and far too tight timeframes does the added “drama”). I think Sewing Bee still feels quite a cosy authentic skill based one yet their deadlines as also getting tight for the drama too.

I saw ITT last night. Bill basically said what we’d all been suspecting that he was pegged as the joke and he was determine to not go into that role and take it seriously and Oti also took that approach right from the start so no funny routines etc. Makes sense why should he get silly routines just because he’s older and doesn’t look like he’d be any good. I think they assumed he’d be completely rubbish and out within first few weeks and here he is in the final.

Ranvir was a bit cringe in it for me. I have no doubt she has undergone some massive personal journey but she was a little ott with it all I felt in ITT. Then kissing Gio in cheek cringe. I feel she’ll look back and be embarrassed. I remember as a teen I was in awe of a boss in my pt job and when I left wrote a long thank you about how they’d given me confidence and I’d be forever thankful for them and they were amazing etc etc. I am so embarrassed for myself now Yes they were a lovely boss but it was also just my time to gain confidence in myself and they didn’t do anything special for me they were just a decent boss. I attributed my Improvements to them whereas it wasn’t really anything to do with them. I have a feeling when the heightened emotions die down Ranvir will be feeling a little embarrassed about how much credit she’s given dance and Gio for completely Transforming her. I hope they aren’t actually involved either because I can’t see it ending well for a Ranvir. I don’t think Gio will be hanging around her long. He’s doing a job at the end of the day as sweet as he is with his celebrity he has a job to do and an aim for the final and I really wouldn’t want to cross him either!!

In terms of liking people, I think most viewers have an idea of how Strictly should be done 'properly'.

So if you imagine a score out of 100, I give roughly 20 each to being good ballroom and Latin, then the remaining 60 is stuff like enthusiasm, relationship with partner, improvement, interest in the dancing (I think it was maybe Jodie Kidd who became one of my favourites after she went on ITT and had learned the names of all the different types of walks in the rumba).

And the closer to 100 you get, the better. So some people score really highly in the dancing, but not in the other categories (Louis Smith, Maisie). Others can make up points in the later categories (Susan Calman, Jamie). Then some are good in all of them (Alesha, Debbie McGee).

Everybody's proportions will vary, and of course you have to add predjudices on the top (Ranvir and Victoria Pendleton got initial boosts for being local, some Americans lose marks in the enthusiasm section for seeming over-gushing etc).

There was also some negative posting about someone dubbing Maisie "MEaisie"

I stand by everything I said about that although any comments I made were not directed at a single poster.

I don't think Ranvir has anything to be embarrassed about.

I preferred the show the way it was years ago.(Ignoring Bruce and TD) I would watch religiously-always taking the most notice of what Arlene had to say. Went to the live tour every January without fail, really looking forward to seeing the slebs and doing the voting etc. Len used to say he hated any non dancing mucking about at the beginning and I agreed, he'd hate it now!
I think it's been 3 years since I went to the tour, just doesn't have the appeal now.

In terms of liking people, I think most viewers have an idea of how Strictly should be done 'properly'.

I'm in the little group that doesn't really care how it's done and just wants to be entertained 😂 I suspect there is a big crossover here with the group who know nothing about dance.

Thanks for the list and further info Voodoo and Polka.

I see Jamie & Karen are doing their showdance to 'I'm Still Standing'.

They've got a bloody good sense of humour where the dance off is concerned

He's joined Jamelia in top place as a 'bottom two goddess' now

I love Im Still standing (particularly sadly the Taron Egerton version in Sing) but also love the Show Must Go On that Bill is doing.

Do we know HRVY or Maisie showdance tunes

It won't be a Contempowaft show dance then!