It Takes Two 2017

It's been great having former pros on CC, especially liked seeing Erin again. I wonder which of the others will feature -  I'd love to catch up with Artem, or Vincent and Flavia.  Thinking about the possibilities makes me miss the 'oldies' .

Artem's still in the current American show so I doubt he'd appear. Vincent & Flavia are rehearsing their new Tango show for next year, so they may be possibles. I'd love to see Mathew back for a visit

Sid wrote:I’m convinced that’s why they did it mauve - to stem any kind of backlash there might be against Debbie for being too good, be interesting to see if they actually start pulling couples up on it routinely.

Seeing  Erin today made me rue the day we lost her from the show. She was always so good at teaching the basics and I’ve always loved her slightly kooky sense of humour. I liked her subtle shade at Mollie & Aj: “Her feet barely touched the floor”

The very same idea came into my head when the 10 second rule out of the blue was mentioned .Oh I thought they just want to pick on Debbie today so she doesnt look too good !
I am loving the pros on ITT , Erin , Camilla, Jo all have done a great job and so much better and " look at me " Karen .
I must be alone is not liking Zoe on ITT at all. I find her repetitive and very false and her gushing at Ian is awful .But to each his own ! I love Claudia and even her daft jokes and so many dont !

Although this is about ITT I've a feeling maybe I should post on A Little Bit of Honesty, because I am about to be honest - and will probably make myself a pariah in the process....

I thought Erin looked sensational on ITT - the best I've ever seen her (she suffered in the early series with the dreaded dead-black-hair-with-fair-skin syndrome that I find so difficult to deal with).  I love her humour and her sublety. I loved her demos.

But...

I found some her explanations not at all clear. Quite confusing and difficult to picture in fact - the one about the leading leg and what it is supposed to do in a foxtrot for example.  I felt that would have been a beter one to demo than either of the other two.  Although I love Erin so very much more than Joanne (much, much more..) I find myself thinking that Joanne was just so much better at explaining things clearly and in a way that I can get my head round. And I found Erin's critiques in the main just a little bit woolly and generalised - the Jonny Bum thing being an exception.  That was very precise...!!!

So, that being the case, I find that, thought I would love to see more of her in general, I'm not bothered about seeing her again on Choreography Corner, and I don't think she would be the type of judge that I am looking for.

But I DO love her!  

I apologise profusely for all the upset caused and don't expect forgiveness. However, I am so hoping that, though inside you all want to disembowel me very slooooowly with a cold spoon, egged on by Ant and Dec in some kind of very public show, you will continue to be polite and cordial, if a little distant and cold....

I will now get my coat....

PS - I am finding I am warming to Ruth more and more - which I never ever expected. (But I expect no-one cares what I think now.... )

TANGOLERO wrote:Twirlie, you probably know, but both E rin and A nton are now married (not together) and have children. Add advancing age (however young in mind) and the commitment and time needed and I think that's the answer. They also both still tour as show pros as far as I know?

They sure do...........I can thoroughly recommend the show. Both are great all round entertainers in their own shows and the sets are good. They usually have Lance with them - the singer from the SCD band who is a great crooner/Frank Sinatra act and what I have enjoyed most about seeing their shows is that there is an orchestra. It was good to see them together on the same ITT show last night.

Good for G iovanni! I really liked the way that in response to the '10 second rule' thing he said that he would respect it as long as all the Pros did the same. He mentioned those illegal lifts that took place during the first two weeks. Let's hope they are all judged consistently on this otherwise this is going to 'bite the judges on the backside' so to speak and could mean more spats - between the pros as well as with the judges!!

Its official - I love Joe and Katya - they are really growing on me and I really like their appearances on ITT. - whereas I lost interest during Alex and Gorka's interview (sorry folks). I thought that Gemma and Alijaz's paso training footage looked good. Tbh - I thought Davood looked a bit clumsy doing the VW (I know that training still has a long way to go) but I do feel he needs to work on a bit of finesse and precision in his routines.

diamondsandpearls wrote:I apologise profusely for all the upset caused and don't expect forgiveness. However, I am so hoping that, though inside you all want to disembowel me very slooooowly with a cold spoon, egged on by Ant and Dec in some kind of very public show, you will continue to be polite and cordial, if a little distant and cold....

I will now get my coat....  

PS - I am finding I am warming to Ruth more and more - which I never ever expected. (But I expect no-one cares what I think now.... )

I agree diamonds about Ruth. It's well known I'm not her biggest fan, but she's a real worker (and doesn't come up with the excuses) I respect that. I think An ton is brilliant at dealing with the flak she gets from the judges and she manages to smile and remain dignified in the process.

I thought Gio's comments were interesting tonight, about ALL the Pros following the rules.

Tappingfeet wrote:
I am loving the pros on ITT , Erin , Camilla, Jo  all have done a great job and so much better and " look at me " Karen .
I must be alone is not liking Zoe on ITT at all. I find her repetitive  and very false and her gushing at Ian is awful .But to each his own ! I love Claudia and even her daft jokes and so many dont !

I sort of know what you mean Tapping. I wasn't keen on Zoe at first but I think I've just got used to her style now and see her effusiveness as her love and enthusiasm for the show. Claud is queen and I'd swap anyone for her - on anything - in a heartbeat, tho there was one thing that annoyed me when she did ITT and that was her overplaying the ditzy act when it came to discussing the dances (you've been doing the show 5 yrs don't pretend you don't know what a Quickstep is!). I think it works fine in the L.en's Lens setting (or whatever it's called now) but I sort of feel ITT is for "uber fans" who do actually want to try and understand more about techniques and stuff than your casual viewer and Zoe better enables that.

diamondsandpearls wrote:So, that being the case, I find that, thought I would love to see more of her in general, I'm not bothered about seeing her again on Choreography Corner, and I don't think she would be the type of judge that I am looking for.

OMG HOW VERY DARE Y-

Only kidding diamonds! You're right that Jwanne has a knack of explaining techniques in a way all us lay folk can understand and she's become the 'benchmark' for that when other pros come on and do the same. If you could combine her skill for that with Erin's personality (yes I detested her harsh black hair back in the day too!), we'd have the perfect Choreography Corner. It's interesting tho that the segment's called what it is when the emphasis seems to be more on discussing technicalities than choreo. I think this might be because there's more to talk about re: execution but also the pros might find it awkward being critical of other pros' choreographical choices - what with being quite good friends with many of them - and it'd end up just being lots of gushing.

mauveangel09 wrote:Good for G iovanni!  I really liked the way that in response to the '10 second rule' thing he said that he would respect it as long as all the Pros did the same.

Its official - I love Joe and Katya - they are really growing on me and I really like their appearances on ITT. - whereas I lost interest during Alex and Gorka's interview  (sorry folks). 

Yes I was cheering Gio on as well mauve, call everyone out or no one! Sticking by my "let's invent a way to mark down Debbie so folk don't grumble she's always top" theory

Joe and Katya are a great 'fit'. They just gel and I truly see them as a partnership. Alex, I felt was being overly intense last night. Each time Zoe and Gorka tried to get a bit of humour going, she made it all very serious again. She seems quite anxious about the Jive even though it looked great in training.

Sid wrote:

I sort of know what you mean Tapping. I wasn't keen on Zoe at first but I think I've just got used to her style now and see her effusiveness as her love and enthusiasm for the show. Claud is queen and I'd swap anyone for her - on anything - in a heartbeat, tho there was one thing that annoyed me when she did ITT and that was her overplaying the ditzy act when it came to discussing the dances (you've been doing the show 5 yrs don't pretend you don't know what a Quickstep is!). I think it works fine in the L.en's Lens setting (or whatever it's called now) but I sort of feel ITT is for "uber fans" who do actually want to try and understand more about techniques and stuff than your casual viewer and Zoe better enables that.

g.

Sid, thats true and Claudia could overdo the ditsy on ITT .But I find Zoe almost predictable now " How was the dance for you " "did you have fun " " do you adore your pro partner " etc etc etc !

Someone must have told Ian to calm down ! He was much calmer yesterday and less OTT and silly ! I saw the old Ian for a few minutes .!

My big annoyance now is Karens eating habits, the popcorn was bad enough but her chomping into the banana on ITT and speaking with it in her mouth looked so bad .Stop it Karen please

I love Katya and Joe they are so lovely and well done Gio for saying it as it is .Rules is rules but only if it applies to all

Still rooting for the three middlers , Gemma , Joe and Mollie .I just think they are the Strictly story, learning , trying and improving

Tappingfeet wrote:

Sid, thats true and Claudia could overdo the ditsy on ITT .But I find Zoe almost predictable now " How was the dance for you " "did you have fun " " do you adore  your pro partner " etc etc etc  !

Someone must have told Ian to calm down ! He was much calmer yesterday and less OTT and silly ! I saw the old Ian for a few minutes .!

My big annoyance now is Karens eating habits, the popcorn was bad enough but her chomping into the banana on ITT and speaking with it in her mouth looked so bad .Stop it Karen please

I love Katya and Joe they are so lovely and well done Gio for saying it as it is .Rules is rules but only if it applies to all

Still rooting for the three middlers , Gemma , Joe and Mollie .I just think they are the Strictly story, learning , trying and improving

All of the above.... Karen waving that banana around the costume that Vicky's team had spend who knows how many hours on I thought was just so disrespectful. Clearly Vicky was aware of it as she made the joke about banana being put on before the sequins.... (I thought she did that very well - it made the point - which I think went over Karen's head actually - without being grumpy). I also think she falls into the category of pro who when they get not such a good partner are not actually that suportive and encouraging but concentrates on the funny. Little Miss Raspberry (though it changed to a different hue...) Hair was the same - she actually said a lot of things on ITT which she turned into a joke but was not that supportive of the Richard. If she was still in I would be agin her... And Amy is just SO shouty.... I woud have to roar back in her face if I was Brian.

Katya is TOTALLY off my Agin subs bench and firmly in the Afors team. Joe has helped this situation enormously, but Katya has helped herself - she is the opposite of Karen and Raspberry Hair, she is just so encouraging and supportive of Joe. And she has good hair back again.... Joe and Katya as a partnership are just lovely and as someone else said, really fit.

I'm still not sure of Gemma on a personal level, but she and Aljaz are a lovely partnership too. But Aljaz will always give his best to his partner, whatever their level. He is easily my favourite male pro - he is a good choreographer and a kind and respectful teacher. A classy gentleman.

And as I have noted before, Mollie and AJ also have a good parnership and seem to fit well.

So very much agreed that those are the ones to watch and to back.

Changing the subject, thought Brenda did well to wangle out of the Spatgate thing and Charlotte shopwed her backbone. But not loving them as a partnership somehow.

The other partbership which works is Ruth and Housewives choice - not that she is in the same league as Joe, Gemma or Mollie. But it's alwats good to see a nice partnership :-)

Sorry- can't type today :-(

Tappingfeet and Diamonds, totally agree, agree, agree....seems we're watching ITT with the same eyes.

Karen SO annoyed me, especially in the training VT. If someone repeatedly made that cat hiss noise at me I'd go ballistic...Simon must have endless patience. Banana on the costume was the final straw.

I usually like Brendan, but not when the faux-chauvinism turns his partners into victims. He's done the same with previous partners (Jo Wood and Victoria Pendleton come to mind) - I thought Charlotte handled it very well in the interview.

Love love love Joe and Katya, seems such a cheerful nice guy, and a great partnership - they'd be my ideal winners.

Despite the ringer status I warmed to Aston a bit on ITT this week. Actually, I think his willingness to wear those unforgiving troll tights made me like him a bit more too.

In agreement with y'all. I didn't wait all week for Vicky Gill's segment to have it trashed by Karen stuffing her face with a banana.

I lol'd when B.rendan said we should be making it about Charlotte as if it's not been him who's been preventing that from happening!

Loving Joe & Katya for me... Karen always been in your face but recently OTT and someone take her off the sugar please... I hope she gets a frightful nylon costume Saturday one that gives her a few electric pings to quieten her down. Trouble is Karen has got used to playing The Joker card with a few previous partners however she doesn't need to with Simon. He wants to embrace the whole j.ourney (ooh I got that in!) & he wants to learn... I'm hoping she might just might after banana fiasco calm down dear

diamondsandpearls wrote:Karen waving that banana around the costume that Vicky's team had spend who knows how many hours on I thought was just so disrespectful.  Clearly Vicky was aware of it as she made the joke about banana being put on before the sequins....  (I thought she did that very well - it made the point - which I think went over Karen's head actually - without being grumpy).  I also think she falls into the category of pro who when they get not such a good partner are not actually that suportive and encouraging but concentrates on the funny.

And Amy is just SO shouty.... I woud have to roar back in her face if I was Brian.

I thought it interesting that Karen said they were going for the entertainment angle this week. Going on past experience this is usually pro speak for 'I've given up'

Amy needs a slap

saxonsiren wrote:Karen always been in your face but recently OTT and someone take her off the sugar please... I hope she gets a frightful nylon costume Saturday one that gives her a few electric pings to quieten her down. Trouble is Karen has got used to playing The Joker card with a few previous partners however she doesn't need to with Simon. He wants to embrace the whole j.ourney (ooh I got that in!) & he wants to learn... I'm hoping she might just might after banana fiasco calm down dear

It's caffeine sax. The scary thing is if Janette is now the longest running female pro, then Karen must be the second, yet I still don't feel I've seen any memorable choreography from her. The nylon costume idea is hilarious!

B4p wrote:

Amy needs a slap

Amy did an 11-hour day with Brian Conley, she deserves a pay rise

Sid wrote:
Amy did an 11-hour day with Brian Conley, she deserves a pay rise

but if he had ear plugs in, it may not help his dancing?

Maybe Amy trying to find personna? To fit SCD. Some new dancers are not asked back after one series

B4p wrote:
It's caffeine sax. The scary thing is if Janette is now the longest running female pro, then Karen must be the second, yet I still don't feel I've seen any memorable choreography from her. The nylon costume idea is hilarious!

Yes I agree with everything you've all been saying -  Karen and Janette have been my least liked female pros in recent years - very much epitomising the 'Burn the Floor' direction that the show took - and I'm pleased to see that it seems to be reversing it now to be much more pure ballroom and latin   I think I was originally a bit 'agin' them as they came in at that time that some of the old original SCD pros had been given the heave-ho.

I am less 'agin' Janette because of her husband and how good and likeable he is - I think she is an absolutely brilliant professional dancer when you see them dancing together - however, as we always say, a great dancer does not automatically make a good teacher and choreographer - and I just don't think Janette is brilliant at the latter and has frustrated me over the years.    Similarly, Karen is one of those who if she gets a partner of lesser ability just can't seem to raise them up in the way others can - she pays no attention to teaching the basics, whatever the standard of her partner and like B4P - I can't ever remember any memorable choreography from her.   I know I shouldn't say it but I wonder if she would still be there had it not been for hubby and his dazzling SCD career.

The only thing I would say is that I felt a bit sorry for her last year when Will Young walked off - because I think he would have been a real contender and her best chance of making a final.

As for the new girls - I think Sax has a point that they have very little time to establish themselves and make an impact particularly if they have a partner who is likely to get knocked out early. However, I must confess I've not really taken to any of the three new girls - although I remember I have felt like this about some others in the past and then changed my mind the next season!!!  I would have liked Chloe to have been given a go this year.      The best newbie from last year for me is Katya - I think she is a good teacher and seems a good fit as an SCD pro.     I wonder why Oksana Platero was not asked back?  I thought she did well with Judge Rinder.

Back to ITT -  I love Zoe Ball and I loved her dance partnership with Ian - still some memorable dances although it was a long time ago now.

Did not enjoy last night's panel - what was that Bake-Off woman doing on there??????

B4 and Mauveangel - totally agree about Karen and Janette re their choreography. I was stunned when Zoe mentioned on ITT a few episodes back that they were the longest serving female pros... I had then down as coming the season before last. They still seem to be finding their feet in terms of making an impact. I guess it is arguable that Janette made some impact with Jake (when we didn't realise she only had variations of the same Salsa routine up her sleeve) and she can be genuinely funny when on ITT. Like Mauve, I give her a bit more slack because of her charming, professional husband.

Sax - interesting what you say about having to find a persona.... Does Amy think she needs to be the roaring sergeant major do you think? Personally I don't think that's a good persona or that there is room in a contest like Strictly for it. But maybe that's just me...

Sid - roared when I saw your comment about her deserving a payrise after working with Brian all day I can see both sides of this - if I was brian I would be beyond peed off with the shouty shouty teaching treatment. But if I was Amy I would be so peed off with having to work with Brian all day, every day. Basically a partnership from hell... It does make me wonder how they do the pairings. Obviously Amy was never going to get a real contender in her first season (although YASB got Davood who though not brilliant has some potential to work with), but they could have given her someone that she can stand a bit more. It was always going to be Mollie and Aj because of height and Ruth and A.nton because it seems to be written in his contract and I think Ruth probably wanted him anyway. Kevin was pretty much always going to get Susan because of her love for him but the rest.....?

And yes, it does take a while for newbys to settle in and make me like them. There have been exceptions - aljaz and Gorka being two (and Kevin worked the other way round - loved him in his first season but have been cooling exponentially with each season). I didn't like Natalie in her first season but she grew and grew with me until she was pretty much my favourite female pro - an exceptional teacher and a good choreographer. And I really miss her now.

Amy is shouty and has bad hair and can't be doing with her partner (no that I blame her for the latter). Miss Rasberry Hair I wanted to like, but she seemed very much not to be really her but trying to be someone else and I thought she was quite disparaging and unsupportive of the Rev's dance difficulties. Which brings us to YASB... I have a nasty suspicion she will do a Natalie on me. She has so far done ludicrously lusty. sleazy chorography, but I think she is possibly a good teacher, and I think she has probably has some good choreography once she calms down from wanting to be different. She is very much her own person at least. I don't like her partnership with Davood and Davood is suffering in my popularity stakes as a result. He has rhythm etc but he needs to concentrate more on technique and less on the gyrations... YASB has made it all about sex appeal, but dancing is so much more than that - hip wriggling is also about interpreting the rythm of the music. There are some tunes and rythms you just can't help moving your hips to.

Oksana.... hmm, yes. Wonder what happened to her? I found her a bit meh, but she undoubtedly did well with the Judge.

And wholeheartedly agree about Chloe - I said it right at the very beginning of the series. Neil and Chloe should have both been given partners.

I wasn't fussed about last night's panel either. Every time Chris Hollins pops up it's a reminder of the grave error I made ever voting for him. WHY SID WHY!!! His biggest crime (apart from stopping Natalie winning) was setting the tone for gurnfest Charlestons (Sophie, Kara and a couple of of others being exceptions). And Louis Spence kept yapping over the Bake Off winner (who was not a favourite GBBO winner of mine either) so all in all a crap panel.

Mollie makes me laugh tho. I really like her.

Sid wrote:I wasn't fussed about last night's panel either. Every time Chris Hollins pops up it's a reminder of the grave error I made ever voting for him. WHY SID WHY!!! His biggest crime (apart from stopping Natalie winning) was setting the tone for gurnfest Charlestons (Sophie, Kara and a couple of of others being exceptions). And Louis Spence kept yapping over the Bake Off winner (who was not a favourite GBBO winner of mine either) so all in all a crap panel.

Mollie makes me laugh tho. I really like her.

I was supporting Ali Bastian that year.............If I had known how much I would like Nathalie in future years I would have voted like mad!!!!!

mauveangel09 wrote:
  I was supporting Ali Bastian that year.............If I had known how much I would like Nathalie in future years I would have voted like mad!!!!!

It's out fault for not appreciating her goddess qualities sooner, mauve

Tbh tho, I much preferred her and Scott. He was a lot more engaging than Ricky and gave more stand-out performances (the QS, VW, Jive, I could go on...). If only Scott and Nat had been in a less competitive series and when he wasn't literally dying of exhaustion.

Oh I loved Ali Bastian too .! And Helen George  too .


Louis Spence is truly and very large thorn in my side on the panel .Does he ever ever stop looking for attention and acting like a two year old who had two many blue Smarties .
And for you Sid , well Louis reminds me of itchy scratchy wool , when I knit it it irritates and annoys and makes me roll my eyes !

Sid wrote:

It's out fault for not appreciating her goddess qualities sooner, mauve

Tbh tho, I much preferred her and Scott. He was a lot more engaging than Ricky and gave more stand-out performances (the QS, VW, Jive, I could go on...). If only Scott and Nat had been in a less competitive series and when he wasn't literally dying of exhaustion.

Yes and Yes
Feel so sorry that this was to be her only bash at the final. I really disliked her I don't know why?? That year I was also caught up on a thread with some sort of Brian Fortuna fan club on the bbc boards - (they were rabid) why I ask myself? It has taught me a lesson however that I shouldn't judge new pros too quickly (so trying not to dislike this years new girls) - you can view a pro differently with different partners.

Scott and Nathalie would have been two worthy winners in my book - they produced some SCD classic routines - such a pity that he 'burned out........................... one of those great SCD 'what ifs' xxx