A Little Bit of Honesty.

My very brief notes made whilst watching and eating Chinese!

Daisy and Alijaz salsa 7
Boring song didn't help - not for me I'm afraid. Music stitch up.

Greg and Natalie paso 7
I actually thought he did a good job but again the music didn't help- no drama and quite boringly repetitive without highlights which didn't help him. Good energy in the athletic jumps!
Judge Rinder and Oksana foxtrot 8
Very charming he seemed to lead very well, but I'm not good at spotting the technical stuff

Ore and Joanne rumba 8
Good job with a tricky song. I don't know what I'm looking for with the men, it's much harder for them. As the brilliant Claudie  says rumba's boring anyway! It was interesting how the judges picked up on the lack of beat  too I'm sure that's been mentioned on here this week.( sorry I should remember who said it) love the song though

Ed and Katya salsa 6
  I think the dance might have been sh*t but I don't care! Never thought a politician could bring such joy! Onwards to Blackpool!

Claudia and AJ VW 9
She looked so graceful and for once we got to see footwork - shout out to the cameraman-which looked good

Danny and Oti AT 9
loved the way the band adapted the music but even so it took something away. I amused myself picturing Oti have a strop when she was given that song, refusing to do it unless it was adapted so she could do something with it!

Louise and Kevin AS 9
great choreography danced well - she is beginning to grow on me at last

Favourites for dance-  Judge Claudia and Louise- non dance- ED!!!
Dance off? Daisy is a dead cert IMO  -assuming not Ed ,then I think Ore over Greg.
I voted for Judge Claudia and Greg( because I don't want him to be in DO yet)

Morning all - liked reading all the posts from last night and some differing views to debate - very interesting
I thought it was another good show and all of them put in decent performances in their own way - someone said that it is levelling a bit and I would agree with that - no-one really deserves to go - this week it will come down   to which performances made the most impact with the viewers and which got a bit lost.  Those that stood out for me were Greg and Louise.

Daisy and Alijaz - 7 - Agreed with the judges that she did bits of this well and bits not so well. I really liked Alijaz's choreography and I love this track but I felt I wanted to see it danced with more abandon!!! I feel she is a ballroom girl.  I do agree with B4P about the emphasis on lifts in the Salsa on SCD - the Salsa is one of my favourite dances but I think they are turning it into a showdance.

Nat and Greg - 9 - One word 'excellent'!   Something really grabbed me about this and I thought it was worth '8's and '9's. I loved the music and thought he did even better by the fact that it wasn't traditional paso beat - but to me they produced a wonderful Spanish dance. Nat is such a great teacher and I didn't think Greg would cope so well with what was quite an intricate routine. For me this is another dance that the male celebs sometimes don't cope with and we see a lot of stomping around but I loved this one.  He fully deserves to stay.

Judge and Oksana - 8 - Really sweet and a lovely routine.  I do get what L en was saying in that I find that Robert's ballroom is a bit on the balletic side sometimes and I think Oksana should work on some of the basics with the heel leads and rise etc but this isn't a criticism - I think it would just help him get to the next level.

Ore and Joanne - 8 - I actually thought he made a really good stab at this, a difficult rhythm as B runo pointed out there was no bass rhythm which would have made it more rumba like.  I actually quite liked it though and I did see quite a lot of rumba steps and content for which they didn't really get credit for in my view. I agree that it possibly didn't pack the punch that other performances did last night - and the crying won't get him votes - I think it is possibly annoying Jo a bit too now!- picked up subtle glances.

Allse - I loved that Rumba from the Strictly Prom!   I loved that whole show - it really showed the pros in a different light I thought.

Ed and Katya - 8 - I agree he took the naff music and went for it wholeheartedly - great sport and away from the comedy I thought Katya did quite an interesting routine which as usual was on time and had some steps and lifts that they didn't really get credit for - hence my marks.  The weakest dancer left and will be toast if he ends up in the DO - but it was still under marked I thought and I am always left wondering what they will come up with next...........

C laudia and AJ - 8 - This might go against the tide but good as this was there was something lacking for me that I can't quite put my finger on and I felt it was a tad over marked.  Better music for them this week but I thought there was some time wasting in there and in parts it lacked flow and looked quite heavy to me.

Danny and Oti- 9 - Didn't really  like this - just a personal opinion.  I am trying so hard to like them but it isn't happening, but of course he deserves high marks for his skill and the overall high standard of dance but don't think it warranted '10' personally.   At least they did tweak the musical arrangement although to me it sounded more like a ballroom Tango - I love Allse's comments about Oti having a strop when faced with this one...........as a dance routine it was excellent but for me as an Argentine Tango it was too fast, the moves weren't finished off and it did not capture the spirit of the dance.  Sorry folks.

Louise and Kevin - 9 - Dance of the night for me. I wasn't sure about 'Hey Big Spender' for the AS but it really worked and I thought Kevin's choreography was bang on it tonight.  It was a great routine with excellent dancing and performance.

Finally - I do think that too many '10's are being waved about - it is almost as though they feel obliged to give some '10's out each week now -  I would prefer if they would have waited until Blackpool next week.

I agree about too many 10's mauve. It doesn't help that Zoe seems to be prompting the 10 begging spree on ITT either

I like Nat, but she needs to stop saying 'but Greg is working SO hard'. It's all starting to sound a bit desparate. They're all working their dance socks off I'm sure, regardless of their start position. It's also noticeable that one or two celebs are not as good at hiding their frustration when being given any negative comments or a dip in their score.

B4p wrote:I agree about too many 10's mauve. It doesn't help that Zoe seems to be prompting the 10 begging spree on ITT either

I like Nat, but she needs to stop saying 'but Greg is working SO hard'. It's all starting to sound a bit desparate. They're all working their dance socks off I'm sure, regardless of their start position. It's also noticeable that one or two celebs are not as good at hiding their frustration when being given any negative comments or a dip in their score.

That is why I don't bemoan C.raig's marking so much. Sure he is a tight bugger at times but at least he never throws needless and sometimes undeserved 10's around. I think he is so unpopular because if he sees a dire dancer or error-strewn he pounces and marks accordingly.

Mauve I feel the same way about Danny... I just cannot connect with him at all... I struggle with Louise and Daisy as well. I did wish Tameka had had another few weeks and I liked Laura so I'm not anti female celeb but I'd love an all male final

Daisy & Aljaz  – Her laid-back style of performing the Salsa was quite Sophie-esque, which I liked. But I think to stand out, especially having gone first, she needed more vim. 7.5

Greg & Natalie – THIS is what I’d been waiting for from these two – strong, dynamic, unabating, completely captivating. Okay the Spanish lines could have been better but I got so into the performance that I didn’t care. And of course putting Greg in braces did my enjoyment no harm at all Felt the judges were a bit lukewarm in their comments. Hmm. 8

Rinder & Oksana – Nice (preferred last week’s QS tho). Could have done without the whole picnic setting which made it a bit cheesy when it was supposed to be a classy number. A perfect example of props being used for the sake of it and not really enhancing a performance (likewise the lighting effect on the floor). Would probably have enjoyed it more in the old days of Strictly without the distraction of naff props and lighting effects. 8

Ore & Jo – This didn’t look good in training and it didn’t look any better on the night. I was bored (where’s the chemistry between these two gone?). I also didn’t see much hip motion, I don’t think Ore was really pushing into the floor enough to create it. Beginning to think he might be a one dance wonder with his Jive – which just happened to suit him but came along very early so everybody’s expectations were raised from that point. Overmarked. 7

ED BALLS IS MY HERO AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!! (and Katya you’re a genius). 11

Claudia & AJ – There was a real purity about this VW but again, like Rinder’s, I hated the silly background props. She's a great dancer. 9

Danny & Oti – Being so brilliant I thought they might make the music work but it didn’t, not quite. I found the performance impressive but too aggressive (lot's of yanking her around!). Oti tho - wowzer! 8.5

Louise & Kevin – I do like a Kevin AS. Could’ve done with a bit more in hold – quite large chunks were danced apart. And I still think Louise feels self-conscious pulling dancer faces and going all out (I mean I would too) but she does need to get over that cos her performance is still lacks some pizzazz. 9

Don't think you need me to tell you who I voted for  

B4p wrote:

I like Nat, but she needs to stop saying 'but Greg is working SO hard'. It's all starting to sound a bit desparate. They're all working their dance socks off I'm sure, regardless of their start position.

You're right B4, she's over-selling him.

Sid wrote:
ED BALLS IS MY HERO AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!! (and Katya you’re a genius). 11

Totally agree!  

Twirlie wrote:

Totally agree!  

Not long til we find out if he's made it Twirlie! Almost 2 MILLION views for his Salsa on the Strictly Facebook page

Just wanna add, I struggle with the idea that it'd be some sort of "injustice" if Ed keeps going through. It's hardly a fair contest in the first place when they all start at different levels and are of different ages and fitness. The accomplished ones are further advantaged by receiving extra points from the judges. So a novice like Ed is up against it from the start but if he can achieve what he's doing and win over the audience, then all power to him!

Sid wrote:
ED BALLS IS MY HERO AND I DON’T CARE WHO KNOWS IT!!! (and Katya you’re a genius). 11

Me too!

Daisy loses out in a tight dance-off against Greg. Sad to see Daisy go for being purely the less popular celeb.

I thought Greg's dance had a better feel to it than Daisy's. He upped his game this week sorry Daisy but it's not all about long legs and pouts.....
I'm glad Ed got to Blackpool..... I do think it might be Ed next week thou in do

Sorry, but I'm not one of the ones glad to see Ed through at the expense of a better dancer. Okay, it was always Hobson's choice where the G.B.P are involved, but for my money poor old Daisy missed out after an excellent dance. Feel sorry for Aljaz too as he's a male pro I really like. I thought it might be Ore and either Judge or Ed in the d-o and Greg being in there just proves what a farcial thing enertainment is. Blackpool (well, the Tower Ballroom) week is the show highlight and to miss out must be really sickening for anyone involved. Ed has to go next week and then it's up to dance and not comedy for the rest. Looking like Danny to win with Louise second and a scramble for the rest, but flying pigs do exist I believe....

Loved Andre Rieu who alway puts on a spectacular performance.

Have to say I'm really glad Strictly introduced me to Daisy Lowe, she's absolutely lovely. I'd miss her dances less than Ed or Greg though, so I'm totally fine with the result

I was not surprised that Daisy went out tonight - she simply wasn't such a well known face and didn't have the vote share of the others which was obvious from a few weeks back, and much as I liked her I think she didn't master the latin as well as the ballroom and you need to do both to get through to the latter stages in my book. I watched the routine very carefully in the Dance Off and it didn't seem as good as the first time round - lots of time spent with her legs wrapped round Alijaz - I didn't really notice this in the main show but I think because I like this track so much I maybe didn't see it. I will however miss Alijaz's choreography and will miss their partnership which I've liked.

I was more surprised to see Greg in the DO - especially after such a good performance this week - there obviously must have been a huge vote for Ed. Ore had a lucky reprieve and hopefully they will do something special next week to maintain their vote share (might have been a bounce back this week) as I really want to keep that competition at the top and satisfy myself that Ore is not just a 'one dance wonder' ( to coin a phrase from Sid I think).

I'm glad Ed has got to Blackpool and even gladder that Greg is there too - I did think that there might not be room for both of them.

I reconciled myself long ago to the old dancing/ entertainment conundrum that is strictly...there are always "better " dancers that go out too early but post Blackpool the cream always rises to the top and the best ones make it through to the final

I wonder if Danny is as popular with the GBP as the judges? Undoubtedly he's a good dancer but haven't really warmed to him. I love Oti, but I can't take to him. Seeing as the result of the final is purely decided by  GBP is he as certain as we think ?

Allse - feel it might be a situation like the Nathalie Gumede year or the Denise Van Outen year - In that Danny gets to the final but won't necessarily win - I hope so anyway normally I don't mind the ringers as I love good dance but I can't warm to him and as you say, it will be interesting to see as the field narrows down, just how popular he is with GBP. I'm hoping that a bit of competition will be put up by the others to keep it interesting and I also have a feeling this year that GBP might have an appetite for a 'People's Champion'

I just find Danny a little bit....dim. That might be really unfair of me to say but there you go! I do think he and Oti have a good rapport though and he produces the goods. Going by other parts of social media, they're very popular indeed - they seem to be regarded as the anti-judge and anti-Clifton vote. Whether that feeling is replicated among the wider audience I'm not sure. I still think they'll win and that the only person who could possibly cause an upset is Robert.

Have to say, Claudia's vote is holding up well. Even with dire songs or understated performances on nights when others have more impactful dances, she still pulls in the votes. Good for her.

TANGOLERO wrote:Sorry, but I'm not one of the ones glad to see Ed through at the expense of a better dancer. Okay, it was always Hobson's choice where the G.B.P are involved, but for my money poor old Daisy missed out after an excellent dance. Feel sorry for Aljaz too as he's a male pro I really like. I thought it might be Ore and either Judge or Ed in the d-o and Greg being in there just proves what a farcial thing enertainment is. Blackpool (well, the Tower Ballroom) week is the show highlight and to miss out must be really sickening for anyone involved. Ed has to go next week and then it's up to dance and not comedy for the rest. Looking like Danny to win with Louise second and a scramble for the rest, but flying pigs do exist I believe....

Loved Andre Rieu who alway puts on a spectacular performance.

Well said TANGOLERO.

I have been saying the same for a few weeks now. But as I have been told on here before entertainment over-rides dance - it is unacceptable to me but sadly it is a fact. You will always get situations like this arising as long as the present system of elimination continues. The only way to avoid such a situation would be to have the person bottom of the judge's leaderboard in the dance-off (but in event of a tie viewers votes decide who of those in tie is in dance-off) and the second person in the dance-off being the person with the least votes. That will never happen though. That being the case why not just rename the show That's Entertainment.

Trouble with that theory CD re judges bottom two in Do it could be manipulated by the judge's. If your favourite had a mare of a dance still score them highly to stop them going out. I feel 5 judges and two sets of scores presentation and technique would help and a 0.5 allowed 6.5, 7.5 etc....

I still feel scd is about a j.our ney starting out knowing zero about dance and learning basic steps,presenting them and eventually expanding their technique. Ed does fulfill this and Greg and Robert. Trouble is having celebs that have a knowledge of dance moves be it getting jiggy on a stage/concert ie Louise or dance school etc. They all get choreography for a stage routine.
To all start with the same skill level would be better viewing,Widdy,J'S, Russell,Chris,Nancy, Edwina, Ed,Judge,Carol etc all would have been in the same starting line up re skill......

It is just sad when you see the judges weeing themselves laughing at a celeb's 'dancing' and they get through to Blackpool - the Wembley of dance.

I think fundamentally all of us on here watch the show primarily for the dancing. That being said we also accept that it's entertainment and for that reason there will always be some exits. It keeps us talking about the show and the ratings up. I know that Ed is rubbish but in fairness to him he he's tried to learn the dances and he is surprisingly nimble on his feet and is nearly always in time. I was fully prepared to dislike him as much as I did Widdy- but I find him endearing ( how can I say that about a politician?!) I really liked Daisy and Alijaz but I'm not too sad they've gone either.

Sax I agree the ones we like best are on their way to Düsseldorf which is partly why I don't like Danny but I haven't really seen any personality either to make me warm to him. Louise the same although the last to weeks I've warmed to her a bit. Creeping up on me slowly since the beginning has been Claudia and I've been willing Greg to smash it too. I still haven't got a favourite.

All of which begs a question CD- for the dance purists is it time to resurrect Come Dancing - perhaps upgraded but remaining true to the original-would there be sufficient viewers? I'd like to see it, for one. Anyone else?

All I'd love to see the original scd format come back. If the Beeb felt they had to hide it on bbc then fine! I too cannot get excited or warm to Danny in fact I cannot recall his dances at all

I think that things started to change on the show when they started to have celebs who had stage/movement experience - the first few years it was more about people like presenters, sports people, singers (not dancers) so it was more of a level playing field - then you got the odd one with a questionable background creeping in and now there always seems to be a crop every year so it almost turns in to the 'haves' and ' have nots' from the word go and recently it seems that there haven't been as many journeys as perhaps there were in the past - however, I think it's wonderful when there are journeys and people who don't have related experience come through and develop into good dancers which we have seen this year in people like the Judge, Greg and Ore for example. In a year where there are several popular characters and good dancers the dance offs were always going to get difficult - at the moment I think they all deserve to be there for different reasons but I'm pretty sure that as in almost every other series dance ability will start to win through in the latter stages............................

Sid wrote:

Have to say, Claudia's vote is holding up well. Even with dire songs or understated performances on nights when others have more impactful dances, she still pulls in the votes. Good for her.

Yes - you are so right - must have a huge following - I have half expected them to end up in the DO on a few occasions. I think that she has found herself as a performer in recent weeks and I'm glad they have stopped relying on the acrobatics.