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No Strictly this year
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No, can manage a whole Saturday evening without tv
Dave - Actually don't watch Celebrity as that really is rubbish! in fact SCD is the only reality show I watch but what does reality mean? Because going into a jungle and eating bugs is not real. Nor is big brother. I guess it was coined as in principle it was real people on say big brother rather than actors but the people who do that sort of short is not a reflection of real people.
SCD is a light entertainment show. Early Saturday evening for all the family. No idea why it gets put into Reality category at awards shows.
Nessie - don't disagree on Katie on Rumba. As I said I just don't tike the dance but did think it was a lot better than I expected, Then again I expected her to be bottom of the scoreboard with that dance or at least last but one which was why I thought she did a reasonable job.
Blackpool will be interesting this week as it is a bigger floor than Elstree although not as big as Wembley (not sure if they are going there this year). A bigger floor works for some people and not others. Haven't seen the full dance list for Saturday yet just picked up on a few mentions from last Saturday.
This week's dances
Anita and Gleb will perform the Paso Doble to the dramatic ‘Malaguena’ by Connie Francis.
See no reason why Anita won't maintain her consistency with this
Georgia and Giovanni dance the American Smooth to the Whitney Houston power-ballad ‘I Have Nothing’.
Again they should be fine with this.
Helen and Alja?? are going to Charleston to ‘Anything Goes’ from the musical of the same name.
Charleston is a genre of it's own but they have been good this year. Should be another good one I would think but can't be sure. Could this be a surprise blip? Music should suit this though.
Jamelia and Tristan Quickstep to 1960’s classic ‘I’m A Believer’ by The Monkees.
Well may be Ok. In hold but not sure how much pace she can handle. Music should be Ok for this. Still my favourite to go this week.
Jay and Aliona will Salsa to the disco-flavoured ‘Cuba’ by The Gibson Brothers.
Um, Salsa. Should be OK on the steps I would think. This is quite a lively dance though and as such if he can't demonstrate some enjoyment in his face he may get criticized for that aspect even more than usual, So might be down the leaderboard again unless he can find that something extra in his performance.
Katie and Anton perform the American Smooth to Dean Martin’s ‘Ain’t That A Kick In The Head.
Katie sometimes get nervous and that can affect her performance. However an American Smooth at Blackpool with Anton should be a good dance for her. So I think she will be higher up the board but if she makes a mess of it then I think she could well be in the dance-off. So up to her to do a good job in a dance where that should be perfectly possible for her,
Kellie and Kevin will be Quickstepping to Dolly Parton’s ‘Nine To Five’.
I think Kellie will be back on form with this and the music actually should be OK, especially with master choreographer Kevin. I think she will be fine with this.
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Peter and Janette are Jiving to Tina Turner’s ‘River Deep, Mountain High’.
trying to think back to Peter's Latin dances. Jive can be tough and similar to Salsa, he will need to maintain the extra dramatic performance element he has had in the last two weeks. This might be a risk for Peter.
So dance-off
I think Jamelia will be towards the bottom of the leaderboard and probably won't get votes.
Outside of that it could frankly be anybody although I am thinking that Jay, Peter or possibly Helen may have a problem this week. Katie I am thinking will have a good week but.,,,,
Of course Jamelia may pull out a very good performance and there could be two of the top 6 so far in there. Getting towards the business end now. I am still expecting Jamelia to go this week but we will see.
Pretty much agree with all you say there Brooks
Not seen any of this weeks ITT so will check out their training and see how they are doing.
No ITT is good but I hardly ever get home in time to see it
So comments based on previous weeks rather than any insight from training. We'll see. Could be a shock this week or could be a bit limp from a competitive perspective if Jamelia does live down to her billing as the clear next one to go.
Jamelia should definitely be in the bottom two, she is clearly not getting the votes, so unless she is in the top 2 or 3, she'll be there. The other one is wide open and unless they (the other one) fall over in the dance off, it will be Jamelia to go. Still haven't seen ITT's, might try for tonight!
Anita - Wow. What a Paso. Loved it. All the acting and performance as well as the dance. My dance of the night. She is a contendor and if she gets to the final, this dance will be back.
Georgia - another good performance although for me I wouldn't put this above Anita. Great dance though.,
Helen - Thought it was OK, Very 20s style. Possibly just missing a bit of wow. Good dance though.
Jamelia - her best dance by a long,long way. She brought her feet together at the appropriate points and moved well across the room and did handle the pace. GIven the quality of the others she was still rightly towards towards the bottom but a good performance.
Jay
Jay - a good performance and he was enjoying it but the competition is fierce at the top now and he will need to find another gear. Still good though.
Katie - well said she should be fine with this at Blackpool with Anton and she was. Anton went for the very traditional Hollywood but played well to Katie's strength. Very classy and a good dance. Felt there were a couple of step wobbles but the overall impression was pure class.
Kellie - Very, very good. I said Jamelia's quick step was good but she was rightly towards the bottom. This showed why. Kellie's quickstep was a cut above Jamelia but again In fairness it was because Kellie's was great rather than Jamelia's bad.
Peter - said this might be a risk for Peter and turned out to be more right than I ever expected. Got to the end of his dance and I just wasn't remotely impressed. It wasn't awful but wasn't really anything. There were NO kicks and flicks. There seemed to be a point where he was going to do them and just waggled his foot around. It was like training on a Tuesday. Let's get the routine clear and then we will come back and out the steps in and then he forgot to do it. Bottom of the leaderboard and rightly so.
So thought the leaderboard was right, apart from Anita would have been top or at least joint top for me. Loved that Paso.
The voting didn't change it and Peter and Jamelia in the dance off.
Well I do think Jamelia wasn't as good section time. Mainly the first half of the dance where she had a couple of balance issues but still good.
Peter didn't improve at all in my opinion and agreed with Len that Jamelia SHOULD have got the vote.
So why didn't she? Were the judges deciding to save her another week in the dance off. Likely she would be there again next week and she wasn't going to win it. On that basis as well did they effectively vote for Peter's potential. The Jive was awful but that might just be because it was his worst dance. Everybody has one they are poor at.
However you have to say on the dance off alone, Peter should have gone and he knew it as well.
So ended up with the result I expected but not in the way I expected and frankly the wrong result.
Now having said that Jamelia wasn't going to win whereas all the remaining seven could win.
Katie is inconsistent.
Peter frankly also although if he has his bad dance out of the way then may not have another big blip.
Jay - plateaued a bit but sill think he is good and I think better than Peter (by the way another reason for Jamelia going may have been a desire to not be down to one male celeb in seven)
Georgia - has added the something extra from the early shows and is maintaining
Kellie and Helen - good every week.
Anita - She is now really a contender and rightly so. She has been good and consistent but this week the performance was fantastic.
So next week as well as their own dance they have the group quickstep. Always a a bit difficult to catch the judges eye. This should suit Kellie and Katie. Jay had a bit of a mare with his quickstep. The others all good.
As for individual dances, only heard a couple mentioned.Anita has the Rumba. Oh no the dance of death just at the moment when we are down to the magnificent seven. Now Anita might manage this better than many but Rumba's never score well. So a good Rumba may still only be a low 30 score.
Katie has an Argentine Tango. This is not in her comfort area and being more Latin is not Anton territory either so this could be a problem for her as well. Will have to see what everybody else has.
A travesty, that's what it was!!!!! Jamelia was way better in the dance off than Peter - his Jive didn't even resemble a jive, lazy and poor choreography there I think. He was also heavy legged and flat footed - at one point he was just jumping on the spot, it was terrible!
Feel sorry for Jamelia - no, she may not have got much further in the competition but she was better on the night than Peter, but he got the votes because he's 'the more popular celebrity' - shocking decision and judges should be ashamed of themselves. What's more, they obviously knew they were screwing Jamelia over by the sheepish expressions they all had! Disgraceful conduct!!
Right, as for the others, all brilliant with the exception of Helen - she just didn't 'get' the dance for me, like Craig said far too clean and precise, not enough slapstick and certainly not enough quirk. Think she was lucky to avoid the dance off.
Back to Peter - I disagree that he's a good dancer. I think he tries hard, but he's just not in the league of the remaining dancers and if he stays in beyond the next two weeks then I shall be making a formal complaint!!!!!
Thought Anita and Gleb's paso was amazing - he's really bringing a breath of fresh air with his alternative choreography. Can't wait to see their Rumba - I think (if he pitches it right) it'll be sensational.
You do know that it is all make believe ? And only meant a vanilla entertainment for the masses ?
Beth, Yes agree. Feel the same about Peter actually. I think he will get found out soon. I think he is this far on merit, well apart from Saturday, he really should have gone but not much longer.
Also think you may be right on Gleb and Anita Rumba. I can't stand Rumba but just wonder if this may break the mould.
It is always interesting to try and work out how much is down to the choreography. I don't think Janette did that bad a job on Peter's Jive. HE just didn't deliver with kicks and flicks and was heavy legged.
Dave - it is light entertainment but these guys actually have to do something and get critiqued unlike most of these shows. More to the point some of these celebs won't be used to that! Not a fan of most talent shows or reality stuff but Strictly has something about it, which not everybody likes of course
By the way they seemed to bring in some guest professional dancers during Anastacia on Sunday -wasn't impressed.
Light, it's featherweight .....
You seem to intimate that it's down to who the public like ? so it isn't a competion really
Well Dave it isn't sport so not really a competition as it is subjective. Note that applies to Gymnastics, dressage etc which aren't sports in my opinion. Also a bit like Sports Personality of the year.
However people who watch Strictly, certainly once it gets to the business end, do tend to vote for the best dancer.
Just like SPOTY Is usually more or less the right decision.
If you don't like Strictly that is fine just leave it to the people that do.
On this occasion Brooks, I'll have to disagree with you (politely of course), I didn't spot much jive content to be fair and I used to do jive so like to think I can identify the moves.
Also, gymnastics and dressage (including any equestrian sport) are valid sports - the amount of work, training and sheer physical strength and fitness required to compete in these disciplines is immense. People think that the horse does all the work, but if you have ever ridden a horse you would know that this is absolutely not the case. (they really struggle on the parallel bars.....
)
Now, darts, snooker and pool on the other hand....................................they're games, not sport.
Fair enough Beth on the jive. To be fair we are probably disagreeing on detail as overall we both think it was the worst dance on the night and the Sunday night as well come to that.
The other topic is much more interesting and controversial. I definitely think dressage is skilful and indeed requires strength and fitness (you aren't just sat on the horse). Gymnastics even more so.
However if the result is subjective then it is art not sport. It is even called Artistic gymnastics and ice skating even gives artistic impression points.
In a sport the crowd know who has won without having to be told
Which of course means that I do consider darts, snooker and pool as sport
It does become a bit more interesting if you come to Bridge or chess. However I do consider these games because to be a sport it has to be primarily a physical activity for me. Darts is fundamentally about throwing something involving a skill even though supreme fitness is not required. Playing a card or moving a chess piece basic motor activity like eating your dinner.
I should also say that whilst sport if fundamentally a physical activity there is still a mental side to all sport especially at the elite level.
Actually noticed I said any equestrian sport above. Bit of brainstorm that because that is not true. Only dressage is judged. Show jumping, cross country and horse racing are of course sports because the crowd know who has won..
Fair comment, taken on board.
And yes, we do both agree that it was the worst dance of the entire weekend.
The only thing I will add is that dressage itself is more for the purpose of testing and showcasing the athletic ability of the horse, not necessarily the rider, although the rider has to provide the right aids (or instructions to the horse through the reins, use of leg, seat, balance etc) to encourage the horse to move in the way it should be doing, which I can confirm is quite difficult to learn!
But anyway, back to the dancing!!!! Do we think the judges (or indeed the show itself) will acknowledge the outrage of viewers regarding 'Dance-off Gate'? And who do we think will be in the dance off this week - hopefully it'll be Peter Andre and Helen. Think Helen got through by the skin of her teeth last week.
Oh no.... No one told her it wasn't real
http://www.msn.com/en-gb/entertainment/tv/axed-strictly-star-jamelia-claims-show-is-fixed/ar-BBnnuga?li=AA9SkIr&ocid=hmlogout
I could handle eating your dinner as an Olympic sport!
Beth,
No they won't acknowledge it, well in fairness Tess might say after last week's controversial elimination or some such.. There was a bit of s stink when Pixie Lott when early last year but that was the judges getting rid of a good person early.
Anyway to this week
Anita and Gleb are dancing the Rumba to ‘Read All About It’ by Emelie Sande. -
UM so the dance of death but Anita and Gleb could possibly pull this off. A risk though because even 'good' Rumbas tend not to be much more than low 30s Very poor timing to get the dance this week.
Georgia and Giovanni will perform the Paso Doble to Europe’s epic soft rock anthem ‘The Final Countdown’.
Like the music for this and on current form should be good, If Georgia maintains the form of the last few weeks it should be good. She will have to go some to be better than Anita's Blackpool performance though
Helen and Alja?? perform the Viennese Waltz to the beautiful ‘At Last’ by Etta James.
I think this is probably right up Helen's street and the Viennese that Aliaz choreographed for Abi Clancy was outstanding so I think this will be good.
Jay and Aliona are performing the Tango to the Prince classic ‘When Doves Cry’.
OK well I think the music could just about work with this. He needs to take emotion out of the face so that could work as well. I think they should have a good dance here and perhaps Jay could get back on form a but after a few mid table performances
Katie and Anton will dance the Argentine Tango to Ástor Piazzolla’s ‘Libertango’.
Well I think Anton needs to put a lot of content in and challenge Katie but this is Latin and not a strength for either. It is also a dance with a lot of impact when done well so will show up if not. I think she could be dance off material this week.
Kellie and Kevin will Salsa to the poptastic ‘I Want You Back’ by The Jackon 5.
Their Samba was great and I see no reason why the Salsa wouldn't be either.
Peter and Janette are going to dance the American Smooth to the soulful ‘Sweetest Feeling’ by the great Jackie Wilson.
Could be quite good actually.
So I think Katie for the dance off and possibly either of the guys, especially Peter if people decide not to vote for him in protest.
However remember, because I only just did that there is a group quick step next week. This actually may well favour Katie. Jay had a bit of a mare when he did it first time. Also as everybody is on the floor at the same time then some ability to manoeuvre will be important and the man leads so the male celebs will struggle with this due to a lack of experience where the Male Pros have done this loads of times.
So again Jay and Peter may struggle here.
So not sure how this might go but as even 'good' Rumbas don't generally get more than low 30s I think Anita may be in trouble. I think if she does a good attempt at the Rumba I will vote for Anita this week because to get the Rumba at this stage is a huge disadvantage..
Anita - well everything I feared given it was the dance of death. I actually thought it was a reasonable Rumba and by and large so did the judges but got the predicted 'good' Rumba score of 31. Made up some ground in the quick stepathon but still in last but one place. As trailed I voted for her to hopefully avoid her going out to the Rumba and obviously others did as well as she avoided the dance-off. Which in overall terms was right.
Georgia - Good but not as good as Anita's last week and I think that reflected in the result. Seen as second in the quickstep.
Helen - well the Viennese is a bit of an Aliaz speciality (remember Abi Clancys?) and as I suspected this was the dance of the week.
Jay - well again this was one I thought they might excel at and they did. He had the face for the tango. Second was right but Quickstep was third bottom (obviously not his dance). His Tango was so good though it was irrelevant.
Katie - well I thought this might be a disaster for them but actually they did a good job on this. Not as sexy as some but more sultry and it was a style that worked. I also felt they were a bit further apart than they should be for Argie Tango which is usually glued together. However a good effort from them although in practice they were third bottom with the Tango but a very strong Quickstep pulled them up a place which was always a likelihood.
Kellie - thought the Salsa was good actually as did the judges but they bombed in the quickstep which meant they ended up just above the dance-off places and with Anita getting public support dropped into the dance-off on the night..
Peter - The Smooth was Ok but this lot are too good now for OK and he finished up rightly bottom. Completely bombed the Quickstep and probably after last week wasn't going to get Public support.
So into the Dance-off he went and rightly went home on his performance over the weekend. So if there was a Producers conspiracy to keep him in it didn't last long!
I think along it was a wrong decision last week there was a lot of rubbish written but Peter once in the full glare of the remaining group was shown to not be quite as good.
One comment, I have to be honest I couldn't really distinguish on the Quicksteps. I think you have to be there and used to judging a group.
So then there were six in the quarter finals and only one man left.
Next week is musicals' week and that always tends to work for me, unlike Halloween week.
Not sure what dances people have? We will have to see what is announced. I did hear Katie has a Foxtrot which with Anton should be a good one for her.
So to be honest I think it will come down to which dance they have and if they make any mistakes because I wouldn't like to call it next week at all.
Katie is possibly the most inconsistent of the ones left BUT has ballroom. I really don;t know how this will work out now and perhaps there will be a lot of similar scores and left to the public. I am not sure it is obvious who is getting public votes or not. Jamelia obviously wasn't. I suspect Kellie is not particularly and Katie probably is. Helen is dancing very well but not sure she is getting votes. As the only man left I think Jay will get a certain group voting for him. Georgia and Anita I am not sure. Going to be a tough week
Fair result, and to be fair, Peter looked quite relieved. It's now down to the 6 best dancers, and it's anyone's, IMHO.
I must be the only person that likes the Rumba, although it's rare to get a good one. I think Anita's was almost there, but she lacked the self confidence to really get caught up in the emotion. (Ignoring the lift....).
Katie too, was almost there with the AT. I think we may see that again if she gets to the final.
Nessie - could be, I just don't get the Rumba to be honest
Rachel Stevens was the only one who ever did a decent one in my opinion but then see previous sentence.
Not sure we would see Katie's AT again unless the judges picked it, I am sure she and Anton would pick an out and out Ballroom. Perhaps last week's AS or maybe the Foxtrot from this coming week if it is a good one.
I wasn't sure what was planned for the final this year so looked it up. Apparently it will be four dancers. The other option would have been a double elimination in the semi.
For an excellent rumba, go back years and watch Colin & Erin! Boy, could that guy dance, much as I loved Goughie, Colin was robbed
Really enjoyed Sat night. I am watching Strictly from USA (till next weekend - yippee!) and I wasn't sure whether my internet was a bit 'sticky' but I thought Kellie's Salsa was really steppy; there didn't seem to be any flow to it.
Katie was good and like you guys I thought there was something lacking; they were sort of going through the steps but didn't look like they were feeling it.
Anita, I felt was similar, I love this partnership and there dance was good, she was lucky she got a 9 from Bruno otherwise she may have been nearer the bottom. I think she would have got a sympathy vote though from Len being a complete arse about it
Georgia was OK, obviously not great as I can't remember it now to be honest
Loved, loved, loved Helen's VW. I adore this partnership and will be voting for her when I get home. Aljaz seems a bit of an expert at choreographing beautiful ballroom and Helen was great, even her footwork was good.
Peter's was a lot of dancing and not great technique.
It was the bottom two that I expected and the right decision - although it felt so forced!?
Next week we hit the trouble though, all good dancers now. Brooks agin spot on with the fact that Katie has ballroom so should do a good dance. Im not sure what their public vote is but a lot of people love Anton so who knows. Kellie will be there again so it depends on what dance they're doing as to how the dance off will go?
Crumbs, just remembered Jay! They leave me cold to be honest which is maybe why. I will be pissed off if (when?) he wins as I don't feel he has actually improved much since the beginning, apart from conquering his nerves. I don't dislike him, or Aliona, I just don't care about them.
This week's dances
Anita & Gleb will dance the Argentine Tango to ‘Cell Block Tango’ from Chicago. - Looking forward to this. Should be good
Georgia & Giovanni will Foxtrot to ‘Beauty & The Beast’ from the show of the same name.
Again should be good and an interesting straight comparison to Katie and Anton.
Helen & Aljaz perform the Paso Doble to ‘At The End Of The Day’ from Les Miserables.
Now I wonder how Helen will manage Paso. She can act so should be OK but just wonder if this might not be her style.
Jay & Aliona are going to Rumba to ‘Falling Slowly’ from Once.
Dance of death. Even 'good' Rumbas score low 30s. I think Jay will get votes though but do expect him to be down the leaderboard.
Katie & Anton are dancing the Foxtrot to ‘Maybe This Time’ from Cabaret.
This will be right up Katie and Anton's street and really interested to see how they do and score versus Georgia.
Kellie & Kevin are performing the Viennese Waltz to ‘Oom Pah Pah’ from Oliver.
Again see no reason why this shouldn't be good. Interesting choice of music but I think Kevin will make that work well.
So no idea what is going to happen.
I really think that with the Rumba that Jay will be bottom 2 on the leaderboard. His acting isn't great which won't help. However I think he will get votes so could get lifted up.
Helen - could Paso be a problem for her? No real reason to think so and I am sure Aliaz will choreograph well but looking for any possible chinks now.
Katie and Georgia in a Foxtrot head to head. so who will finish above who.
I really think Anita will be good at the Argentine.
So a concern on Jay and maybe a concern on Helen, but for no real reason why.
So those are my bottom two views but frankly based on not a lot apart from Jay and Rumba.
Roll on Saturday and we will see. any mistakes will be costly. Might even depend on a costume causing problems..
Um well.
Not ure I agree wit hthe judges this week.
Georgia's foxtrot was good but Katie's was better in my opinion and certainly should have been the same score.
Kellie's Viennese was good and as anticipated Kevin did a great job with unconventional music for it.
Jay's Rumba - well I have made no secret of the fact that I don't get this dance. I didn't see it being that good at all frankly. I man I thought it was an OK effort but didn't see what the judges did. The wife thought it was good though before the judges spoke.
So Helen's dance was interesting. Well choreographed and good style and actually overall danced it POK but lost her balance twice, maybe three times and with it coming down to mistake she was scored correctly I thought.
Anita - well again thought it was choreographed well and portrayed well but it wasn't as sharp as it could have been and as much as it pains me to say it I think it was the worst dance, although note as bad as the score given. 6 Craig ?! Come on....
I think votes could make a difference here though and I thin Helen WILL be in the dance off. Not sure about Anita though.
Hasn't Katie got decent legs
A random but accurate statement Spartan!
So I called that right.
Helen was in bottom 2, Anita did get the votes.
The interesting point was that I thought Katie 'decent legs' Dereham would be the one likely to be caught out but it was Georgia.
Suspect people thought she was safe, although Kellie was on the same score and perhaps hasn't got votes before.
However I was pleased because I genuinely thought Katie's Foxtrot was better than Georgia's.
I thought Georgia might crumble but she held it together and danced well. Helen actually corrected all her errors or balance and danced it very well. Frankly I am glad I didn't have to make the decision because I am not sure what I would say.
I did think that Craig and Bruno were disingenuous when they said the judges hadn't put them there and both shouldn't be in the dance off. Helen was second bottom and they clearly HAD put her in the dance off!! It was just that they thought she should be against Anita who they would have send home.
So Helen did get caught out a bit with her Paso although actually it was pretty good I thought. The mistakes first time round put her in the dance off but she eliminated all of those in the dance off itself.
it is tough now and they will have two dances in the semi-final. Need to see what they are as again it could come down to the dances they and again to mistakes which with two dances to learn in a week could happen.
Ex-Spartan