S14.E24: Semi Final

[Occasional Hope]

Danny's American Smooth was spectacular, especially that last jump-lift, where I gasped out loud.  He has to make the final.

I was pretty underwhelmed by both Louise and Ore, in both of their dances.  I would not be at all surprised to see Louise in the danceoff, although I bet she would be saved by the judges.

[Dots And Stripes]

We're still doing a dance off? Louise's problem was neither dance was spectacular. She's tied at the bottom of the leader board but everyone had a dance that beat her. Giving her a happy song for the tango was a gift. She has two expressions: happy and blank. Allowing her to look happy for a dance that doesn't usually call for it was a great help.

Ore lucked out majoryly. I did not like that AT at all. It was all Joanne. She had him plant his feet while she did all of the tricks and flash. Even though his job was to stand there for long stretches he still had a few wobbles. Really was mad the judges gushed over that dance.

Loved, loved, loved, Claudia's quickstep. The styling was terrific. Absouletly my favorite for the night. She still is in danger of leaving, but I hope she sneaks through.

[Pete Martell]

This is deja vu of last series and the Lisa Snowden one where the judges can't hide their blatant bias and even if it is absurd or casts a pall over everything, they're sticking to it.

I've decided to just skip the last week, but I've enjoyed reading your posts and talking to you. I hope this show will get better next year. 

[ceebee]

Claudia's quickstep was fabulous.  Given the tens they were throwing around, I just can't see how she didn't score 40.  Well, I can see why, but it isn't pretty.  Very annoyed with the judges last night.  Their ranking of the contestants bore no relationship to what we saw danced on the night.  Danny and Claudia should have been top two (Claudia top for me, but either way) and Ore probably ahead of Louise in the bottom two, but again, either way.

 

It's ridiculous having a dance off with four contestants - the judges have waaaay too much power.  Spitting tacks on Claudia's behalf!

[legaleagle53]

2 hours ago, ceebee said:

It's ridiculous having a dance off with four contestants - the judges have waaaay too much power.  Spitting tacks on Claudia's behalf!

Then again, if you reduce the judges' power too much, people will be voting strictly (no pun intended) on the entertainment factor, since the general viewing public just isn't trained to spot poor technique.  The result would be a final made up of John Sergeants, Anne Widdecombes, and Ed Ballses, with maybe an occasional Danny Mac or Jill Halfpenny if they're "entertaining" enough.  Believe me, it's a problem that has plagued DWTS since its inception.  Both it and SCD are supposed to be dance competitions first, with "entertainment" a secondary consideration at best.

Edited December 11, 2016 by legaleagle53

[Occasional Hope]

I suppose we hadn't had our Shock!!!B2 yet.  But I admit, I wasn't expecting that.  Danny's AS was so fantastic.

Poor Claudia; she looked as if she knew she was gone as soon as they named Danny as the first participant in the danceoff.  She did dance beautifully this week.

I would have much preferred the exact opposite B2.  Louise is just so boring, and I disliked the choreography of both of Ore's dances.

 

The birdcage dance by the pros was interesting.

[ceebee]

3 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Then again, if you reduce the judges' power too much, people will be voting strictly (no pun intended) on the entertainment factor, since the general viewing public just isn't trained to spot poor technique.  The result would be a final made up of John Sergeants, Anne Widdecombes, and Ed Ballses, with maybe an occasional Danny Mac or Jill Halfpenny if they're "entertaining" enough.  Believe me, it's a problem that has plagued DWTS since its inception.  Both it and SCD are supposed to be dance competitions first, with "entertainment" a secondary consideration at best.

I don't mind the dance off.  The problem is when the numbers are down to four  (usually 5) in the semi-final, it's too easy for the judges to manipulate.  They should never be more powerful than the voting public (and remember, beyond 3 free online votes, we pay for the privilege).  

There is no way Ore should have topped the leader board.  It was clear they were keeping him out of the DO and Claudia was dead woman dancing.  Claudia would have been a credit to the final - more so than Louise or Ore, imo - and I feel cheated out of seeing her showdance. 

I have to disagree about the ability of the public to get the right dancers into the final.  There was no dance off in Anne Widdecombe's year, series 8, and we saw the best three in the finale; likewise series 9.  The public usually supports the entertaining duffers to a point, but gets shot of them when it comes to the crunch.  It happened to Ed this year and he was hugely popular.  (He's actually the first duffer I would have liked to see in the final.  He and Katya brought a joy that's missing for me now).  

The only times a comedy duffer reached the final was in the first year Strictly was broadcast (S1 and 2).  The public became more savvy after that.

The weakest dancers to win were Darren Gough in S3 (no dance off) and Chris Hollins (with dance off).  

I'm afraid I also have to disagree that the show is a dance competition first and entertainment show second.  It's the other way around, but it just happens that good dancing is entertaining ;-)

Edited December 11, 2016 by ceebee

[Dots And Stripes]

3 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

Then again, if you reduce the judges' power too much, people will be voting strictly (no pun intended) on the entertainment factor, since the general viewing public just isn't trained to spot poor technique.  The result would be a final made up of John Sergeants, Anne Widdecombes, and Ed Ballses, with maybe an occasional Danny Mac or Jill Halfpenny if they're "entertaining" enough.  Believe me, it's a problem that has plagued DWTS since its inception.  Both it and SCD are supposed to be dance competitions first, with "entertainment" a secondary consideration at best.

Widdecomes' series didn't have a dance off and she didn't make the final I also think you'd have to look pretty hard to find that level of "joke" reaching the finals on DWTS. Bristol was bad but helped by the judges giving her so-so scores instead of terrible ones. The jokes mostly fade by the midpoint. It's also worth noting that the US system means that actual scores matter more than just placement. On Strictly, it doesn't matter how much of a point deficit Ed had, he was never going to be more than 1 point behind his nearest competitor once everyone was ranked. Judges can decide how big of a whole someone is in. At this point I'd rather see an Ed balls in the finale then boring judge's pets. I don't think the judges do a very good job of anchoring the competition in reality, they just have different biases from the audience. 

I don't completely buy James Jordan as an honest broker, but I have to say I completely agreed with him this week that Claudia and Danny got hosed. 

I'm so disappointed both Cliftons sailed through to the final. They're fine but man did their celebrities got nice gifts from the judges this week. Danny was himself given the gift of two dances with lifts, good for producing crowd pleasing moments, and yet he still got fewer points than Louise. Either Danny fans were overly confident or Louise is suddenly looking like she has the edge over Danny in the final. It's a shame since both of her dances this week were kind of a mess. 

[ceebee]

14 minutes ago, Dots And Stripes said:

At this point I'd rather see an Ed balls in the finale then boring judge's pets. I don't think the judges do a very good job of anchoring the competition in reality, they just have different biases from the audience. 

I don't completely buy James Jordan as an honest broker, but I have to say I completely agreed with him this week that Claudia and Danny got hosed. 

 

Completely agree about Ed!

Brendan also had something to say about the judging this week:

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/strictly-come-dancing/feature/a816581/brendan-cole-strictly-come-dancing-column-judges-scoring-beggars-belief/

[Dots And Stripes]

Thanks ceebee! Who knew I would agree with Brendan so much. (Bonus points for him sharing my love of Ed Balls) The scoring for Louise and Ore didn't seem right. I think they've been giving Louise a pass for a while. She has lovely footwork at times but her mistakes get overlooked. I thought last week they were much easier on her than Claudia too.

I'm not big on conspiracy theories. A popular theory seems to be that TPTB want to rig things for the Cliftons. I'd like to not believe that. It's also possible to me that the judges have a pro-Kevin bias that is there own. Whatever is going on, hopefully Danny picks up some support next week. The results this week are making me hope a Clifton doesn't win.

[legaleagle53]

So Kevin, Joanne, and I assume by marriage, Karen, have become the UK's answer to the Hough/Ballas dynasty?

[Pete Martell]

11 hours ago, Dots And Stripes said:

I'm so disappointed both Cliftons sailed through to the final. They're fine but man did their celebrities got nice gifts from the judges this week. Danny was himself given the gift of two dances with lifts, good for producing crowd pleasing moments, and yet he still got fewer points than Louise. Either Danny fans were overly confident or Louise is suddenly looking like she has the edge over Danny in the final. It's a shame since both of her dances this week were kind of a mess. 

Louise has always been a strong contender. She has always been safe and also generally got studio audience response. I think many forget about her because she's so incredibly timid and clearly hesitant about being involved, as was her husband. I'd venture to guess she hasn't actually enjoyed any of this. 

9 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

So Kevin, Joanne, and I assume by marriage, Karen, have become the UK's answer to the Hough/Ballas dynasty?

I'd say they are less personally offputting (and Joanne doesn't go around wearing blackface...), but they are poorer dancers - surprisingly limited dancers (Joanne has struggled many times this season). And whoever decided to have Kevin's wife around leading the charge for him in the Clauditorium every week does them no favors. I know she was there before him, but I can't say I've ever found her that memorable - the Maria WSS dance was the first time in years I ever saw her doing anything I wanted to watch again.