Strictly Come Dancing - General Discussion

[Occasional Hope]

This week@

GREAT

Karim - hot, hot, hot.

Kelvin - excellent as usual

GOOD

Saffron - by far her best dance, although out of sync when out of hold

Emma W - very graceful VW

Michelle - not sexy, but very classy

Emma B - I enjoyed it

Catherine- some footwork errors but the feel was right; love her and Johannes as a pairing

POOR

Alex - cheery and charming, but out of time

Will - very emotional choreography (over egged by judges) but the actual dancing was not that good, unfortunately

BAD

David - oh dear, after a good week last week he was back to his stiff awkward self

Chris - a bit of a mess

Mike - dad dancing

AT RISK: I would say any of David, Mike, or Chris, and possibly Michelle.

BTW I would like to make an official complaint about the lack of footage of cute animals from Longleat.

[Occasional Hope]

Not too Halloweeny this Halloween thank goodness.  But a slightly underwhelming night - no one was amazing.

GOOD

Michelle - graceful with an edge.  Best of the night.

Karim - love his dancing, but that was not a paso.

Kelvin - a bit jerky, almost robotic, but the man can dance.

Catherine - the dancing was just OK, lifted by great acting/characterisation

Saffron - pretty good, but tired towards the end.

OK

Alex - well performed, Kevin out of time but understandable, but not my style of dance.

Emma W - quite good.

POOR AND AT RISK

Emma B - just a bit stiff.

Mike - very walky, looked hapless.

Chris - awful.  Shambolic, cringeworthy and deserves to go home.

[Dots And Stripes]

Michelle and Gio were by far my favorites this week. I like their partnership overall and this dance was a lot of fun. I wish it had a little more Foxtrot and a little less skit though. 

I also liked Saffron. She's growing on me, probably because of AJ. Aljaz has made me like Emma W more as well. Aljaz looked surprisingly good as an old man. 

I think Alex was overscored. It was a tough position to be in. Kevin learned the dance quickly so of course he's not going to match her as well as Neil would have. As much as I dislike Kevin, he was very gracious about the whole thing on twitter and admitted he messed up because he had just learned the routine. 

[Occasional Hope]

I was a bit surprised it was Catherine who went home this week.

Sadly, Will's injury was sufficiently bad that he has now pulled out altogether.

[Occasional Hope]

Best of the night: 

1. Michelle - so stylish

2. Kelvin - HOT salsa!

3. Saffron - gorgeous waltz

It OUGHT to be Mike going home, but I'm a bit worried for Karim this week.  

[legaleagle53]

7 hours ago, Occasional Hope said:

Best of the night: 

1. Michelle - so stylish

2. Kelvin - HOT salsa!

3. Saffron - gorgeous waltz

It OUGHT to be Mike going home, but I'm a bit worried for Karim this week.  

Not to worry. 

Spoiler

Mike is out.

[Occasional Hope]

Well, I definitely wasn't expecting Michelle in the b2.  I've never thought her fanbase was big enough to win and suspected she wouldn't make the final, but she was second on the leaderboard this week and I really thought she was safe.

I suspect she will get over marked next week but then will be in the B2 every week until the judges lose faith and dump her.  It's a shame, bc she is one of the best dancers.

[Maya S]

4 hours ago, Occasional Hope said:

Well, I definitely wasn't expecting Michelle in the b2.  I've never thought her fanbase was big enough to win and suspected she wouldn't make the final, but she was second on the leaderboard this week and I really thought she was safe.

I suspect she will get over marked next week but then will be in the B2 every week until the judges lose faith and dump her.  It's a shame, bc she is one of the best dancers.

I'm hoping it's a Kimberley Walsh/Caroline Flack/Abbey Clancy situation where people maybe assumed she would be safe and voted to save the lower-placing celebs like Karim.  

[Occasional Hope]

What a fantastic evening.  

GREAT

Kelvin - outstanding jive, fun staging.

Karim - frenetic and showy Charleston, perfect for him.

VERY GOOD

Emma - classic ballroom, lovely.

Saffron, ditto.

OK

Alex - felt a bit stagy and Alex didn't really stand out when she was with the backing dancers.  Not bad though.

POOR

Chris - not a lot of salsa in that, or movement of any kind from Chris.  I like his personality but not his dancing.

AWFUL

Michelle.  Sorry, but that was incredibly self indulgent chorography, and as despite gushy comments she was bottom of the leaderboard I suspect the judges thought so too.  And if she couldn't escape the danceoff last week after a very good dance and second place after judges' comments, this ain't gonna do it.  Still, as she's obviously not going to get to do a showdance, fair play to her for sneaking it in now as a couples' choice.  What kind of dance was it even supposed to be, anyway?  Dreadful.

Bottom two prediction: Chris vs Michelle, but I honestly don't know who will go home.

[Occasional Hope]

Michelle was an excellent dancer  but she totally deserved to go home this week.

Is it just me, or did anyone else think Kelvin held back from the group around her afterwards?  He didn't applaud in the balcony either.

[Occasional Hope]

A bit of a damp squib this week, I really missed Michelle even though her act of self sabotage last week was her own fault.

Karim and Kelvin both underwhelmed with couple's choices which lacked something - technically good but dull in both cases.

Saffron probably the right one to go home, very stolid and heavy.  

[legaleagle53]

You weren't the only one who felt this week was a little underwhelming. James Jordan said on Twitter that it was a huge letdown after Blackpool and that Chris's dance was the only one that really impressed him at all this week.

[Occasional Hope]

Much better this week.

1. Karim - a bit stagey, but charming and super-entertaining, loved it.

2. Kelvin - technically excellent but a bit unlikeable in that dance.  Great in terms of presenting the character, but … I just wonder if he might not find himself an undeserved B2?

3. Emma - also a great musical style dance, really very good.

BIG BIG GAP

4. Alex - it felt a bit like a school show to me, rather than a samba.

5. Chris - not much foxtrot, was there?  Past time he went home, but obviously he has a lot of fans for his personality.

[Occasional Hope]

Very good dancing this week, I will be a little sad whoever goes home tonight, though for different reasons.

Kelvin - fantastic quickstep, deserved the 40.  He's been the most consistent through the series.  I'm not sure I like his personality as much as the others.

Karim - loved his AS even if it wasn't perfect.  Not always the best, but my favourite.

Emma - beautiful waltz, terrible Latin.

Chris - such a NICE guy, and tries hard, but the weakest dancer left.

[Occasional Hope]

A lovely final.

Kelvin probably deserved to win, but I was a bit underwhelmed by his showdance.  It lacked light and shade for me.

Karim's quickstep and jive were both fabulous, but I was really disappointed by his choice of a contemporary showdance.  But he offered the greatest variety in the final.

Emma was not technically as strong, but had grace and charm and a real stage presence.

It's been a lovely series (season).

[legaleagle53]

I'm gutted that Emma and Anton didn't win. He's deserved this more than any other pro, especially since this is only the second time in his entire Strictly career that he's been given a good partner. He's getting on by pro standards (at 53, he's the oldest pro on ANY version of Strictly), and there's no telling how much longer he's going to want to keep doing this. He should be rewarded next year with the ringeriest ringer whoever rang so he can finally retire from the show on a high note instead of being either the bridesmaid or the eternal punchline to a joke that is no longer funny.

So is there going to be a Christmas special this year?  I haven't seen or heard anything about one!

[Llywela]

4 hours ago, legaleagle53 said:

So is there going to be a Christmas special this year?  I haven't seen or heard anything about one!

There's always a Christmas special.

[TVbitch]

This is the first year I watched SCD and I enjoyed it more than DWTS. There is WAY more dance content, longer numbers and more original choreo without all the faffing about. Thought Kelvin deserved the win as the most consistently excellent. Karim was a bit too frantic for me. Emma had some outstanding moments, but other times faultered. 

I hope DWTS AU has Sharna, Tristan and CRH again, cuz I thoroughly enjoyed that version the most last year.  

[Maya S]

11 hours ago, TVbitch said:

This is the first year I watched SCD and I enjoyed it more than DWTS. There is WAY more dance content, longer numbers and more original choreo without all the faffing about. Thought Kelvin deserved the win as the most consistently excellent. Karim was a bit too frantic for me. Emma had some outstanding moments, but other times faultered. 

I hope DWTS AU has Sharna, Tristan and CRH again, cuz I thoroughly enjoyed that version the most last year.  

Craig, Sharna and Tristan are all returning as judges.  The Irish DWTS is also starting its fourth season this Sunday.  

[Occasional Hope]

Very sad to hear of the death of Caroline Flack, 2013 champion.

[Occasional Hope]

AJ has announced he is leaving the show.

[legaleagle53]

This just in: Strictly is getting its first same-sex couple this year. And it's about bloody time, too!

Also, Bruno won't be on the panel this year because COVID-19-related travel restrictions make it impossible for him to commute between Hollywood and London this year. So we get him all to ourselves on DWTS this year!

[TVbitch]

Yay, I hope this mean Craig Revel Harwood will get to be the funny one. He is so much more lively on DWTS AU, but it seems like he tones it down for SCD to let Bruno be the "funny" one. 

[Llywela]

Strictly launch show was last night. As usual, I only knew a handful of the celebs going in, but they all seem really charming and excited so far, so I look forward to seeing how they all work out. They've gone through some fairly major contortions to make the show possible this year, given pandemic restrictions, but it's great to have the show back - I think we all need it, after the year we've had.

On a more flippant note, I know haircuts have been hard to come by this year, but I am desperate for Claudia to trim her fringe, all that hair constantly flopping into her eyes is already driving me mad. I don't know how she stands it!

[legaleagle53]

Unfortunately, after getting such a star partner in Emma last year, Anton got saddled with one of the older female  celebs again for this year. If it weren't for the fact that he'd have to uproot his family (which he'd never do), I wouldn't blame Anton one bit if he decided that enough was enough and moved someplace where he might actually be given a decent shot on a more regular basis.

[Llywela]

So Anton and Jacqui are the first to leave the show - unsurprising, as they really were the worst, but a shame for Anton. I'm glad Jacqui was first to go, though, because she was the only contestant I couldn't warm to this year. I really like all the others. Unusually for me, I had at least a passing familiarity with just about all of them this year, except the American footballer, who seems really sweet. I don't want any of the others to go, I'm enjoying watching them too much - perfect comfort viewing for this time of plague.

There's a bit of a question mark over the show now, mind, with a new lockdown declared for England coming into effect on Thursday, but I expect they will find a way to keep going despite that. They've got pretty stringent safety measures in place (although the contestants do all keep whooping and cheering, which makes me wince at the thought of all those aerosols in such an enclosed space).

[legaleagle53]

And look who's finally made it to the judges' panel to replace Bruno in 2021: 

Congratulations, Anton -- and it's about bloody time!

[legaleagle53]

And here is your Strictly Class of 2021:

The only one I know is Adam Peaty thanks to the Olympics, so I'll be cheering for him this series!

[Wee S]

So, this topic has been quiet- no takers?

 

Semi-final next week and it will definitely feature the best four. It's a shame they still eliminated someone when Robert left, as these would have been in the final.

 

Although I doubt it, I'm pulling for Rhys to make the final. He just seems to be peaking at the right time, and with the multiple dance-offs has a bit of the Tom Chambers about him. Yet, I fear he'll be eliminated like Claudia Fragapane, when she should have made the final her year. I'd happily see JoJo go - they've plateaued and all their dances feel very samey and predictable.

Rose will win. She has this in the bag.

Edited December 5, 2021 by Wee S
Spelling error

[Wee S]

Dropping in again to bump this up!

Really enjoying this years cast - Bobby, Khrishnan, Nigel and Ellie are faves so far. Layton is the ringer of ringers so wont win,but is dancing with male pro Nikita and its great seeing his choreography at it's best. 

Highlight of the series has to be the pros Barbie dance. I just think the qualities of these pro dances far outweigh dwts; their dances always have the same 'sexy/sensual' vibe whereas strictly incorporates the 10 dances on a weekly basis. Anyway, enjoy: