Strictly '22 #11 — Not too many fireworks last night, but might somebody go out with a bang tonight?

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

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Yes, I didn't think they were lifting her because she was small, but rather because she was a beloved champion in their eyes :)

I've just caught up with Saturday and Sunday night's Strictly. Feel very emotional that Ellie S has gone, feels he definitely doesn't deserve it. She is such a lovely person and Nikita looks gutted. Thought they danced great. the camera pointing at Katya who looked upset, maybe she knew it should have been Tony?? I thought Tont was okay, its so difficult. What were they discussing at the end? Sorry if this has been said, haven't read all the new thread. Will miss Ellie S and Nikita'

I have to say that Helen has won me over. It might be because she is with Gorka a wee bit.

For some reason I couldn’t ever watch her presenting but she is getting shinier to me with every passing week.

I bloody loved her jive.

And Kym gave me the bumps. I loved her AT and it left more of an impression on me than Fleur’s one.

Gaun yersels - you’ve convinced me 💐 💐

Still gutted about Ellie S. And aye, the judges helped create that perfect storm with their haphazard marking. Sake.

@ArcaneWireless same, I used to find her very irritating as a presenter but she has grown on me, I like her modesty.

I'm not a dancer at all, but Helen seemed to run out of steam a bit during that jive. Maybe that was just the way they danced it though ?Yet the judges loved it ( it was good though )
She may well make the final!
I Hope Tony goes next. I also like him , but it's sad when others that are better have to go and he wasn't great on Saturday

The whole proportion of the dance and range of movement is altered. Lifts must have felt very different to Nikita because the momentum and physics are different. And I've loved watching them dance together, the teamwork and the performance/joy of the dance. That's the bit I don't get from Mollie despite being a strong dancer.

I had wondered if a couple of her dances had been slowed down in order to exaggerate technique that might be less evident than usual. That could explain why the Scooby Doo dance felt slow against the music.

The DO must have been hard because she really wasn't expecting or deserved it. Had the scores been less ridiculous against Ellie T, or Fleur not being undeservedly in the DO in previous weeks, Ellie S would have maintained a better vote share on a healthy judges score.

I'm so gutted for Ellie S. The irony of it is, if she'd made a few mistakes and got harsh comments/scores she'd likely have been the one getting the sympathy votes and still been in. She's been heaps better than Ellie T all the way through.

SoupDragon · Yesterday 23:39
I'm guessing they all know Ellie better than we do so can judge what she is likely to think is OK.

I agree with this, and as someone else said upthread, it’s been done with other contestants.
What a loss, though, Ellie and Nikita going out. At the start I couldn’t see how it was going to work with the height difference, but she was such a joy to watch and the pairing worked so well, I stopped noticing after a couple of weeks. I voted for them on Saturday but nearly didn’t because I assumed they’d be safe; I wonder if a lot of people thought that? Ellie T was bound to get the votes after that ridiculous score, but I expected it to be Tyler, Will or Tony against Molly in the DO.

Ann Widdecombe was as much fun as having the runs for a fortnight. She was charmless, boring and had a shocking attitude. She didn't try and didn't care. Just in it for the money.

The ultimate non-ringer, aka Tony Adams, might just get there!

Anne was charmless, not trying, and had a massive sense of entitlement, taking the judges for granted. But there was a certain amount of fun in seeing her dragged across the floor like a mop, so I can totally see why people voted for her, until her lack of progress made it a bit one-joke and everyone got bored.

and ironically this was Ellie's best dance, best scored dance
in the dangerous middle
such a shame

It’s been said on this thread many times - and Craig himself said similar once - you can trust the public to vote the best dancers through to the final (bar the odd ringer, eg Pixie Lott who fell at the last fence iirc.) John Sarjent was never going to get there, ditto Anne Widdicombe and a few others, and neither will Tony.

I feel exactly the same!

People are rescuing Tony from the bottom of the leaderboard because they're intrigued to see what the hell he and Katya come up with the next week and because they can see he's really pushing himself, risking making a tit of himself, quite often actually making a tit of himself, and spending 90 seconds every Saturday night teetering over the abyss of disaster.

I'm far more annoyed that Ellie T got through (although, fair enough, the public did save her). She nice, but I don't think I'll ever rewatch any of her dances. None of her routines have been terrible but that's because they're so safe and comfortable. She's walking and striking attitudes, not really pushing herself and dancing. It's frustrating.

people were rescuing Ellie T because Craig scored her so low.

molly wont win it anyway!

and mentioned a relative, dead or alive, i doubt does anyone any favours!

I have a deceased grandad. Just saying.

Strictly was his favourite. I would dance every step for him.

Actually it wasn’t. It was the wrestling.

I’m just not up for looking like Big Daddy reborn.

Unfortunately the public vote is what it is. And few people vote truly objectively I imagine if we take objective = best dancer /most improved.

I agree re Ellie T- looking at this thread alone (and not knocking it, I'd have probably done the same) so many people gave her votes "because of Craig"

I also agree that loads and loads of celebrities have been lifted up by the others when they leave, and given that afaik, Ellie S has not once even alluded to her limitations, it wouldn't have offended her at all. I'm sure we don't need to be offended on her behalf. I wonder too if she had refused to wheel out her "sad story" (inverted commas as an Olympic gold medal winner, why should she?)

I also don't think Katya's tears were because she thought Tony should have gone. All the professionals were crying if you looked down the row- it was just that the camera angle showed Katya in close-up.
Hamza's VT was perfect this week, funny and chatty but informative about the dance too. More of this and less let's go to a pub/school/"surprise" some people who are so surprised they've had time to make banners and paddles.

Kai and Nadya were magnificent despite the fingers on blackboard thing going on in the background.

I actually enjoyed watching molly’s dance, I thought it was rather lovely. Ellie S is an absolute inspiration and fabulous person, she will be the one we remember from this year and I hope it gives her a platform going forward. I did increasingly feel that it was very difficult for the judges to judge her both fairly and kindly in comparison to the other contestants though. For example despite her joy, style and timing she couldn’t really do the Charleston - not her fault but how could she fairly be marked either above or below someone who could.

i felt a bit sorry for molly(till the tears) it can't be nice knowing that although your a ringer and the judges love you, your not getting the votes.
sad that Ellie S went. preferred her dance and loved the pairing.

The Kataya/Tony hoha was mentioned on Lorraine this morning they even circled them in a "'discussion " if it was an argument Kataya needs to calm down shouting at your celeb isn't a good move.

I felt sorry for Molly too, she’s very young and has taken an opportunity that she was perfectly entitled to - it’s not illegal or shameful to have had previous experience of dancing! It must be very tough to dance beautifully and know that people just don’t particularly like you - same for fleur and Maisie previously. People just don’t seem to vote for talented, confident young women.

For example despite her joy, style and timing she couldn’t really do the Charleston - not her fault but how could she fairly be marked either above or below someone who could.

That's the crux of it isn't it. I always imagined that they had been told what things they shouldn't comment on because it was physically impossible for a particular disabled contestant.

Was her Charleston obviously a Charleston despite the fact she was maybe physically unable to swivel properly? I think so and I think that is what should matter.

Molly's dance was lovely 's all it was. Despite the big grins whilst doing it, for me it lacked the emotion and life of Ellie's dance.

Really difficult. I think the out and out Ringers should not be competing against people who have never danced a step. They are nice to watch but it's really not fair (which is where the public vote comes in I guess)