Strictly Thread 9 Haunted Bees

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

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Ive said the same- I'm enjoying it but not as much as previous series. I don't know why, really.

I think it will be a male winner this year as well.

It would have been nice to let AJ and Kai open this year's series or do a turn at the final. Maybe instead of a group dance (they're starting to irritate the bejaysus out of me)

Speaking of Nazis we have fancied- mine was Reinhardt from Secret Army. Have just had to go down a rabbit hole of Nazi series to find him.

What frustrates me most when someone like Fleur is in the dance off, is we all know who's going out.
It's hard on the other couple, and it's also hard when you can see a dancer has so much more to offer that we haven't seen yet and they are out not because they are bad, but because they are up against someone good.

That said, there was only really Tony, Ellie (?) and James left to go now. The others are all pretty competent.

True.
I did wonder what would happen in a Fleur v Molly dance-off which could have happened, or a Fleur v Kym one. Though both Molly and Kym were much much better this week than in their respective dance-off weeks.
I do think James was getting better but it was a no-brainer really.

Agree it feels a bit flat this year, things improved after the first show but have gone downhill a little bit.

Maybe it’s run its course. Everything has a shelf life. And maybe, like me, people are getting fed up of the BBC shoving it down our throats. It’s all feeling a bit ‘forced fun’.

I think the show is missing Kai and Gio, maybe if they were still dancing instead of Carlos and Vito it would be more watchable but Carlos and Vito may have struggled with Kaye A and Ritchie due to height of those 2 " celebrities". The show is also missing chemistry between Helen and Gorka, Kym and Graz etc, only really showing with Hamza and J.
Overall it's too many tall celebrities chosen this year and too many shorter pros that has led to this balance.

Re Kai and AJ, I get the impression she has moved on from Strictly with her presenting jobs and may have been reluctant to return, she also may still be carrying a weakness is her leg.

It doesn’t feel flat to me, but I do think Strictly as a whole has become a bit like a 4-year-old pumped full of sugar at a birthday party; ie manic completely OTT and behaving in a way that won’t end well. I also wonder if any disappointment is due to expectations being raised so high? There was a period of time, probably 10-15 years ago, when the judges used to say how high the standard was, getting better every year etc etc, but are we so used to brilliance and being wowed now, it’s harder to be impressed?

On the subject of Fleur, I’ve voted for her a couple of times, but not this week. It was an entertaining dance but the lifts were ungainly, and (to me anyway) being swung around upside down with your legs around someone’s neck is not a good look, no matter how skilful it is.

You're spot on @hockeygrass about the lack of chemistry having a detrimental impact. You're also right about the height differences not being enough as it's making the lifts look clunky and difficult & making the women look heavy. Only Hamza and Jowita look lovely when doing lifts.

That's also true @Bluffinwithmymuffin - Fleur's lifts looked like something you'd see on Dancing on Ice, not something elegant for the ballroom.

Another chance to see Neil this week. He's doing a fitness feature on a BBC morning show this week. Programme co-hosted by Kym...

its awful that a light entertainment thread gets accusations of racism because of who people are voting for....
would people say it was disablist if Ellie s is in the DO, of course not.
I like Fleur but hated this weeks dance, crap music and awful dance.

@XanaduKira

Yes, that’s probably why I’ve never been able to get into Dancing on Ice.
Somebody upthread agreed with Motsi saying Fleur should stay on the ground more and I think that sums it up. She’s a good dancer, full of energy and fun, but lacking elegance at times. Let’s hope she gets a ballroom this week.

^^The BBC always do this! Everything is done to death. They can't just let the "product" speak for itself.

It's like they have lost confidence as a broadcaster so instead of just "showing" they are now having to "tell" us every three minutes how great their programmes are.

The Bake Off and the Sewing Bee used to be great when they just focused on
baking and sewing. But gradually the surrounding "noise" starts drowning out the essence of the programme. (Having said that, they managed to claw Sewing Bee back a bit this year.)

Another example is Wimbledon. Why not let the superb tennis speak for itself? Instead you get the presenters repeatedly asking the players "and how does it feel to play here at Wimbledon the world's number one tournament?" on and on and on until you throw something at the screen.

And they spread the coverage too thin. The Strictly results show on a Sunday is unnecessary. And why not just have one mid week ITT and leave it there?

I agree. I hated the music for Fleur and wasn't keen on the dance.

The poster who accused voters of racism and disliking strong beautiful black woman mentioned Alexandra Burke. She was in the final so how on earth did viewers dislike her?

Ok she didn't win and some people may think she should have done but since when did the best dancer ever win? Danny Mac should have won his year easily but didn't

<twirls in in Hallowe'en costume>

Thanks for the new thread @EineReiseDurchDieZeit.

I was away for the weekend, but did manage to watch the results. I didn't mind the bee exactly, but thought it could have bee(n) a much better routine than it was.

I'll catch up on the main show tonight, and have a read of the thread!

I don't think that Alexandra being in the final is evidence that many people were voting for her, given her positions near the top of the leaderboard throughout the series and the fact that she was in two dance-offs. She did definitely get some votes in the semi-final though.

Not as bad as Ashley Roberts though- there's no evidence that she received a single public vote throughout her run.

@Mindthegap725
And they spread the coverage too thin. The Strictly results show on a Sunday is unnecessary. And why not just have one mid week ITT and leave it there?

Or a Monday ITT to cover the exiting couple’s best bits and some choreography corner for the remaining couples going forward, then a Friday ITT to get us in the mood for Saturday. I agree about the BBC over egging the pudding with their main shows. It’s one thing to give viewers more of what they love, but quite another to flog it to death. Less is more and all that.

Or a Monday ITT to cover the exiting couple’s best bits and some choreography corner for the remaining couples going forward, then a Friday ITT to get us in the mood for Saturday. I agree about the BBC over egging the pudding with their main shows. It’s one thing to give viewers more of what they love, but quite another to flog it to death. Less is more and all that.

^^ Yes, definitely, that would be good!

I also fancied Reinhardt in Secret Army, but the one I really had the hots for was Brandt. (Although neither of them were actual Nazis.) Clearly, if we had been invaded during the war, I would have gone over to the other side for a bag of sugar and a pair of nylons. Oh god, maybe my Strictly voting patterns are a sign of my inner fascist? I thought I was invested in others more than I was Fleur and that Kym is just going through the motions, when all the while I just can't forgive Graziano and Vito for switching sides in 1943! Southern Italy: I bet their grandads were partisans. Turncoats!

I voted for Ashley and lovely Pasha! Me and her mum, I guess.:)

Alexandra Burke was my second favourite in her year but had the misfortune to be up against Debbie McGee, my absolute, all-time, the show will never get more camp than this, peak Strictly contestant ever. I loved Rose, but every time someone says she was Giovanni's best partner I start growling like a farm dog.

I liked Ashley, I just didn’t like the way she dismissed her previous dance experience as a bit of jigging about in a girl band when it was so much more than that. I remember Arlene saying to Alisha Dixon, the few ballet lessons she had as a child still gave her an advantage, and it’s absolutely true. A dance background (assuming you’re halfway decent) stays with you for life.

It also has to be remembered that Strictly isn't a show where you hate-vote people off: you vote for who you are invested in (normally a combination of being entertained by someone + thinking they are at risk). I liked both Ashley and Alexandra but didn't vote for them. It wasn't that I despised them, or anything (I may have voted once or twice for Alexandra - I can't quite remember). I voted like mad for Charles Venn and Mark Benton, and they were constantly in the dance-off, with me complaining that the public have no taste.

I don't think the public are actively racist when it comes to Strictly but I do think racist and sexist stereotypes can inform public expectations on a subconscious level. Whenever a youngish black female singer goes on the show the forums are full of people saying, 'Omg, she's going to be brilliant!' so anything less than brilliance leads to disappointment. Expectations for the likes of Ed Balls are so low that he just has to be not terrible for people to warm to him for 'giving it a go.' How many times per series do we hear someone on Strictly say that showing emotion or performing is harder for the men? Do they think women are born with the innate ability to feel comfortable wearing a chiffon catsuit and frotting an Italian to the strains of Dusty Springfield on live television?

The voting element of it is the worst, for me. It does set it up like a high school popularity contest. You have to enter as class clown, most likely to succeed, most beautiful....

I hate it when a good dancer ends up in the dance off too early because they aren't one of the 'in crowd' or a clown. I hate the way it must feel for Molly and Fleur.

That said the judges haven't been impartial either!