Strictly '22 #14 — Craig's broken his duck! Who's next for a 40?

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

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SPOILER-FREE THREAD

Did will have covid or just a cold?and why now after everyone vacced does kym need to miss(if she's feeling OK that is)
I also can't take to Carlos.
Felt the same of Nancy last year but like her more this series.

I didn't like Nancy with Rhys as together they were just HYPER HYPER HYPER all the time - it was exhausting! She seems a bit calmer with Will.

Molly and Carlos just leave me cold, I'm afraid, they're quite bland. Vito and Jowita are my favourites of the "new" pros.

Johannes is at the South African state banquet tonight. Bet he's loving that 🕺

Are Oti & Motsi there too? I'd love to see their dresses!

Sad for Kym but glad that she intends to return. I hope she shakes it off quickly and that no one else associated with the show has caught it (seems unlikely though).

Delighted that Johannes has been invited to the State event, as a high-profile RSA national based in the UK. The gov wants trade deals with the country presumably. I don’t know if Motsi would be there, I think she’s in Hamburg with her husband and child in the week (but could make an exception I guess!).

I can’t wait for Hamza’s AT. It’s my favourite dance and he’s my favourite contestant.

I hope Molly’s ok. A lovely person but a small fan base.

I think Will was given the option but chose not to take it.

It does seem quite late in the competition for getting a week off and allowed to return. You could argue that Tony should have had a week off to recover from his injury. It's difficult, I don't like all this getting a week off particularly now there are less of them. Before I heard that Kym was out this week I thought it would be her or Ellie that went Saturday (based on who was bottom last week and who is left) but unfortunately for Ellie, I think she'll be the favourite to go this week now.

Tony was given a bye to Blackpool when he was injured, but chose to dance as he said it wouldn't be fair on the others.

@xsquared oh really, I didn't realise Tony was given a bye and chose to dance. Good on him for not wanting a free week

Just caught up on the last thread. Watching Fleur on the X factor link, it really isn’t fair she got to dance pop style for the couples choice when she is obviously trained in that, even if not prior to the x-factor then certainly during it, which is months of specialised personalised training. Not surprising she was good at it,

For that reason she won’t get my vote. I am still rooting for Hamza and Helen.

She won't get your vote because she had a few months of dance training but Helen who has an award after years of tap dancing will...?

I think Helen has an unfair advantage in general because of her tap background, I agree; but this poster means Fleur dancing pop style, which she is trained in specifically. Equivalent would be Helen doing tap for her couple's choice (which I suppose she still might!).

Where do you draw the line of having dance experience being an unfair advantage?

Everybody has had some dance experience but that does not mean they would automatically good at ballroom and Latin. I could be wrong, but I am aware that the remaining celebs have had the following dance experience:

Kym Marsh: Dancing in a pop group.
Helen Skelton: Tap Dancing award at 17 years, and admits she's a good tap dancer.
Fleur: Pop singer so plenty of contemporary dancing there.
Hamzah: Has danced in Ceilidh, probably at weddings.
Will: Has theatre experience which may or may not have included Dancing. Had a brief career as a pop singer. Married to someone who is a dancer.
Molly Sylvia Young Theatre School. Trained to act, sing and dance. Main job is singer and actress on a CBBC program.
Ellie No idea, but I'd be surprised if she had never set foot in a night club in her student days.

Out of all of all of those left, it's only Hamzah and Ellie who have not attended formal training in dance.

Personally, I draw the line by not caring about their previous dance experience:)

Nor do I, but it clearly bothers some people.

It's hard to say I think.

Wasn't the first hoohah about ringers about Denise Van Outen? Am I remembering that right?

We could, I suppose, say also that - come on, you'd have to be a bit daft once you've signed that SCD contract (how far ahead do they know?) not to have a quick go following some YT lessons etc. I very much doubt ANY of them come to it completely never having even seen a foxtrot etc.

Particularly as every single one of them always swears on their dead relly's grave that SCD has ALWAYS been their favourite show and they've not missed an episode since they were 4.

That said, there are obviously ringers and ringers. Most of them are the products of years of trying to get into showbiz and it's rare that an actor won't have danced, or a dancer won't have sung. Etc.

Too much ringery though irritates the public, as we see year after year.

On the Spoiler public votes, Molly is constantly bottom. Hamza is constantly top and everyone else shuffles up and down gently.

I can't remember any cases, but I think it's been going on since before Denise Van Outen. She was a particularly egregious ringer though, having been in West End musicals, as opposed to just having been to Sylvia Young or whatever, as a lot of people who end up as actors/presenters etc have.

I do find it interesting that on the one hand people bang on about how they're superfans and they've never missed it etc, BUT at the same time do the wide-eyed to-camera thing of 'I had no idea a foxtrot was so hard!' etc, despite every VT and judges' comment ever telling us how hard a foxtrot is...

I agree about ringery irritating the voting public. At least one ringer always makes it to the final, often by dint of having been saved from DOs by the judges, but when it comes to the final itself and the public having 100% of the power, it's a different story. Massive ringers hardly ever win.

Ooh I loved Denise Van Outen:)

It's an advantage for one single dance though.

learning how to dance over years creates a feeling for movement and music. DD will always be able to dance way better than me because she has done years of tap etc. she knows how to move.

A celebrity's previous dance experience doesn't bother me as such, it's when they hide it or change the narrative. Helen has gone from previously saying that people would be surprised how well she can tap dance to, now she's on Strictly, laughing it off as nothing.

i do far prefer seeming a complete beginner discover a love of dance though.

The problem with so many complete beginners is they always seem shambling/gawky/awkward to me. There's probably joy of dance but not much technical finesse, esp in Latin IMHO.....See Bill Bailey, Stacey Dooley, and to some extent Hamza as well.

It's an advantage for one single dance though.
Yes, I know. As I said, and as the pp was saying, it's specifically about Fleur doing a number in the pop style, for which she's trained, in one specific dance.
I do agree though Helen must have a thorough grounding and a lot of experience in dance more broadly; I may be wrong, but I have an idea that tap is quite ballet-based, and if you've got ballet technique that's the foundation for every other kind of dance.

She said she won't vote for Fleur because of it. Not that she didn't vote for that one dance.

I think Fleur and Molly will be in the bottom two with this week's dances, and thanks to Kym not being there, the judges will have to send Molly home. www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/strictlycomedancing/entries/36e7e04f-814c-4c35-a912-eef8a2631db0

Yes, she's withholding general support for Fleur as a 'protest', for want of a better word, against her doing a specific dance that was in line with her professional training.
One could debate the logic of that, but the line of thought seems pretty clear to me, and doesn't negate the poster's original point about Fleur's pop-dance training and doing a dance that showcased it.