SCD 23 #15 Will Craig Find His 10 Paddle? NO SPOILERS

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

Keep Dancing

@Mrsjayy is this Nikita's shirt on the this morning interview?

Me too @MeinKraft - think she's brill. I did love her doing Wimbledon this year too so think she had started to grow on me even before Strictly but she's been fab on this and improved immensely.

yes it's just so odd !

“In drag” 🙄

God, now we know the reasons for some of the negative comments about Layton. So sad.

I don’t care what clothes Layton wears - he’s incredibly talented and I love watching him.

Well, I personally think the costumes do make a difference to the overall appearance of the performance, however good he is. You're projecting about the negative comments bit though.

I loved his Argentine Tango because it was true to the style and mood of the dance.

Moulin Rouge lends itself to dressing in corsets and being very camp. I just feel he's already done that sort of thing before with his couple's choice and would prefer to see him act the part appropriate for the role, in this case a male paso, rather than treating the dance as another couple's choice/showdance showing off what he can already do.

Costumes certainly make a difference, but the use of the phrase “in drag” is very telling

I'm sick of seeing Layton in a dress.
I just feel he's done that to death now.

I don't care whether Layton wears his pajamas or his grandmas nightie.

No place on the real Strictly for such a ringer.

Why? "In drag" as in dressing in clothes conventionally worn by women.
Not sure what you're trying to insinuate.

I just think it's obvious he'll wear a corset again, and we've already seen that. It would be good to see him branch out of his comfort zone and watch him in tails doing an elegant number, rather than these high energy camp routines for a change.

.

My only question is will Layton actually learn the basics and the capture the mood of the dance or will he show us how well he can spot and kick his leg in the air. Layton is incredibly talented but his signature moves are no different to ARs signature leg lift (although he clearly does it better).

For me, their best dance so far has been the QS.

Not really.
The phrase just refers to a man who wears women's clothes.

Costume is an important part of the performance. There's a reason why the contestants don't dance in regulation tracksuits. They emphisise the body's movements, and when Layton has worn "women's" clothing, I don't think it's played to his strengths. Last week, the pink ballet pumps made the dance look flat footed, on the same way that Nigel's Batman boots did in Movie week. Dianne and Bobby's proportions affect the way they dance together and Layton wearing a feminine cut of clothing on a masculine build affects perception of the ways you expect a dance to flow and be lead, and can create a clash of expectation in the way the dance is performed in genres where are usually clear criteria.

I didn’t mind the floaty skirt/culottes on Layton, but I felt it was at odds with his muscular arms. He looked as though he wasn’t sure how to present himself. The leg kick looked ungainly as well with the flat shoes and looked as though it should have been a pointed toe, instead of looking like kicking a ball. I’m no way a dancer myself!

I used the phrase in drag myself, twice. Dressed as a girl.
As Mama Ru says, we're all born naked and the rest is drag.
It was a legitimate question from X, given Layton dressed as Rizzo for the Viennese and as a vampiress for the Tango. The paso traditionally has a matador and the woman as the cape/or the bull.
Michelle Visage started off with a skirt then Gio removed it for their sparring matadors.
It is fair to wonder whether they'll choose two matadors or one playing Satine. The original number is essentially a corset.
I like Billy Porter. I have nothing against Layton wearing a skirt and doing a Kelly Brooks going full capery. Or Nikita being the cape. Or them both being matadors. Or skirted then matadors.
I just like being surprised. Layton's just worn a skirt for their Smooth (although I hated the colour clashes) and it would be interesting to switch it up.
Jamie and Karen had matching outfits for their samba. Lakita could easily have done the same/emulated Michelle-Gio but the number itself is Gaga/Britney sexy sass. Hence most of us eye-rolling a bit that they are going to pull out the feathered corset. I know Layton can do that.
I would like to see them do a simple waltz in the semis to prove they can (without the embellishments) and top hat and tails in the final.
I have nothing against drag or the term - one of my favourite contestants of all time was Courtney Act on DWTS. I also like fluidity/changing follower and leader hence loving John/Jojo's tango and Stace taking over the lead in hers.
I just feel that I've seen Layton do femme a lot, when he can also do butch (QS/AT) and you could trade on that versatility by doing both in the paso
Similarly, Jojo as a he's already done that.

I agree.

When a muscular male comes out in women’s clothes it automatically affects the perception of the couple and the dance. When they did their AT they were absolutely phenomenal, but when Layton comes out wearing a dress or a skirt then it just makes it look comical.

I think that what made JoJo and John Waite so amazing was that they were both male and they both kept to the typical male role and male styles of dance and it worked exceptionally well. I’m pretty sure if John Waite had appeared on the dance floor one Saturday and was wearing women’s clothes they wouldn’t have been taken so seriously.

I would absolutely love to see Nikita and Layton both come out in suits, or top hat and tails and do an amazing ballroom dance with no gimmicks.

At the minute I just find them irritating as it all seems to be about showing off and the shock factor and in my eyes that’s the complete opposite of what Strictly is about. Strictly Dancing should include beautiful, respectful, humble, exact, composed and skilled dancing and Nikita and Layton just don’t have that element.

He can show off and do back flips, climb up poles and prance around whilst trying to steal the limelight, but as for actual dancing in the Strictly sense of the word?

I don’t dislike Layton as a person, I think he’s lovely when I see him on various shows and YouTube clips etc, but as a contestant I just don’t think he belongs in the Strictly final.

‘I feel like we’ve always come out and kind of like done something potentially a little bit more out there pushing the boundaries… we’ve thrown in this and that… and there’s always an element of surprise,’ he said.

That's my issue I think. I want to be surprised now.
Whether that's by a stripped back ballroom, a barefoot make-up free rumba or Nikita being the cape instead on Saturday.
I also like that variety with women and love a lady in a tux or suit, hence my love for Helen's jive, Faye's jazz, Holly's jive, Karen and Oti's street; although am partial to a nice culotte/skirt pant like Meryl's tango.

I want him to be in the final personally. He's worked hard.
Maybe he's just not a "ballroom boy" or as confident in hold but I still like watching him. I'm just sad we haven't seen a more understated performance - I don't think of it as showing off or flamboyance - I think I mean more in terms of light and shade/lyrical.
So I'd hoped we might have had a slower number to Seasons of Love or I know him so well, just two men dancing tenderly with each other. As a gay man, I thought he'd might have wanted to show that too.

But I do like a paso so will wait and see what Saturday brings. I don't actually want him to go through an Ashley or Alexandra run of dance offs as I think he's quite vulnerable. Semis will probably see a full-on bells and whistles Charleston and a filthy rumba because the pressure will be to do showier numbers.
I think it's a shame we won't have seen a different side. An elegant suited waltz executed cleanly would be good but I think Nikita added waltz/foxtrot to the Smooth to tick them off.

Weirdly when I watched the results show on Sunday I thought they said Annabelle had a samba this week ... obviously my glass of wi E confused me - foxtrot is better but not the best alternative to some of the other dances this week which are more popular eg Charleston and quickstep . If she gets through do you think she will get Argentine Tango for semis ?

Quite. It appears he's pissed someone off behind the scenes as it definitely feels like they want rid. I'm going to keep voting for him a so hate this kind of manipulation.

I thought it was Louise Redknapp that took over the lead in her tango. Did Stacey too?

No one ever had a problem with Jayde Adams dressing in mens clothes, funny that.

@PastorCarrBonarra
I agree with all of this.

Everyone had a problem with Jayde's fugly Charleston troos and braces combo. She was eliminated that week.
Her other outfits included: mechanic's overalls she ripped off to reveal a dress, a red jumpsuit, a black leotard, her AS dress. Jayde didn't really do androgyny, drag king or masculine suits in her routines, even though I've seen her in some sharp suits irl.

Do you mean Nicola? She wore trousers throughout iirc. She didn't like dresses and wasn't having any of it. I'm not sure whether at any point she'd have done a dress had she stayed longer. I do remember some said that they wished she'd switch it up or dress the same as Katya like many women pairs do in competition. Jojo Siwa wore many outfits/dresses to match Jenna on DWTS.

Shane as Courtney wore dresses throughout his run, apart from a couple of routines as himself rather than his persona and one where he removed his drag mid-routine.

Layton said at the start he didn't want to be pinned down and wanted his outfits to reflect different sides of his personality. I think he's done that but now risks putting himself in a box if he rinses and repeats. I know it's unfair of me but it also feels like it's more performative i.e he wants to make history/be ground breaking as opposed to it feeling more authentic. I say unfair because I know he experiments with different looks on the red carpet.

I'd have loved Conchita/Wurst on the show switching looks and follow/lead each week between the two personas. But there you go, I'm going back to the binary again.

All that said, and I've said it several times already I know, Layton does all the flourishes that come naturally to him. He's almost outdanced Nikita at least twice. It's why I mentioned Cassie in A Chorus Line. It's not his fault but that's also why some (including me) want one pared back routine and costume: so you can see the partnering/mirroring/hold/steps where they are in sync rather than in competition with each other. Sorry if I'm not explaining it very well.

Annabel already did a Shakira samba in Battle of the Sambas which Krish lost.

"would like to see them do a simple waltz in the semis to prove they can (without the embellishments) and top hat and tails in the final."

Exactly this. I love watching Layton, but to pinch what a pp said a few threads ago, he needs to be properly strictlyfied - once, at least - rather than all his dances being laytonised.

Watched Layton and Nikita on ITT last night and not sure now whether Layton genuinely struggles with ballroom, or if he just can't resist putting his own spin on the moves. I also thought for the first time that Nikita seemed a bit weary of it all- but I could be completely wrong about that.