Strictly Come Dancing 2023 #28

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Ablemabel said:
I think there has been quite a lot of inconsistency this year with performances week to week and thats even before we start on the judging. I feel there is far more focus on trying to capture the look of a dance than the technique of the dance nowadays. Maybe it was ever thus but I preferred it when there at least seemed to be more focus on technique and you saw contestants build week on week, so by the time you got to this stage of the competition you could see obvious improvement even with dufferesque contestants. (Season 1 aside) Loathe to say it, but the only contestant that fits that bill this year for me, is Annabel.



I think Angela S potentially could have done much better if there had been more focus on technique, but it's hard to be sure and I do think, particularly in that cha cha she was let down by the choreo.



I think part of the issue is the introduction of the speciality dances and the loathsome CC, plus some contestants having a particular story board (Angela R), as a result of which they perhaps either have too many of the non ten dances or the ballroom and Latin aren't mixed up enough.



I absolutely adore Layton and I would love him to be in the final, but I do think he's perhaps not really mastered technique beyond what he was already able to do, particularly with ballroom. Ellie has been brilliant from the start (although the Vito little skit they do every week is starting to grate) Bobby is one note for me. Nigel has been all over the place but I think that picture is confused by the very inconsistent (and at times harsh) judging. Nigel/Ellie/Layton would probably be my preferred final because I think it might really deliver with the dances, but there has to be chance of Annabel slipping through purely because of that most obvious improvement trajectory.
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I keep coming back to Kevin from Grimsby admitting that he gave up teaching the ‘correct’ technique for the cha cha because it was too difficult in the time frame and going for something that passed as correct. I wonder how often that happens and with how many dances. However irritated he made me, I can’t deny that he had about the best success rate of any pro so he had obviously worked out what, well, worked.

I think some of the problem is introducing the speciality dances too soon - the celebs don't get a good enough grounding in the basic technique and then when they’ve just got going they don’t actually do another 10 dance for 3 or 4 weeks and it’s starting from scratch again. In them there olden days, the celebs had longer with the pros before the first dance and both Ian and Anton said they used that time to get the basics in and only started teaching the actual routine later on.

With regard to Layton and his flexed foot … I thought that was a deliberate thing to go with the slightly more frantic part of the dance. He did exactly the same in the dance off.
 
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Boring Monday said:
I keep coming back to Kevin from Grimsby admitting that he gave up teaching the ‘correct’ technique for the cha cha because it was too difficult in the time frame and going for something that passed as correct. I wonder how often that happens and with how many dances. However irritated he made me, I can’t deny that he had about the best success rate of any pro so he had obviously worked out what, well, worked.

I think some of the problem is introducing the speciality dancinges too soon - the celebs don't get a good enough grounding in the basic technique and then when they’ve just got going they don’t actually do another 10 dance for 3 or 4 weeks and it’s starting from scratch again. In them there olden days, the celebs had longer with the pros before the first dance and both Ian and Anton said they used that time to get the basics in and only started teaching the actual routine later on.

With regard to Layton and his flexed foot … I thought that was a deliberate thing to go with the slightly more frantic part of the dance. He did exactly the same in the dance off.
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Completely agree. I liked it when the AT was semi finals only so it was a special dance for a very select few and the celebs were excited about the possibility of doing it. Now when you have salsas and CC weeks two or three and then say a mix of Latin until week 7 or 8, how on earth can basic ballroom be learnt for example?

I was interested looking at what dances left to see it's actually Annabel and Nigel who have done the most of the basic ten and I think to some degree it shows.
 
Ablemabel said:
Completely agree. I liked it when the AT was semi finals only so it was a special dance for a very select few and the celebs were excited about the possibility of doing it. Now when you have salsas and CC weeks two or three and then say a mix of Latin until week 7 or 8, how on earth can basic ballroom be learnt for example?
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Same with the AS; it used to be saved until the later stages so that the contestant was building on the base-dance technique they’d already learned.

Now you can do a foxtrot-based AS before you’ve even done a standard foxtrot, which is utterly ridiculous. 🙄
 
Ick at the thought of Knobby mashing his hips awkwardly, flailing his arms and hoisting Tryanne above his head like a waiter setting up chairs for a wedding in the umpteenth time Strictly have done I've Had The Time Of My Life.

Should couples really get two outside choreographer speciality dances in a row? That seems a bit unfair at this stage of the competition.
 
Chita said:
I don't know how you all remember so much stuff so clearly.
I've forgotten who was voted off in this series. No way can I remember stuff so far back.

Someone mentioned Eddie a few posts back and I had forgotten who he was!!!!!

I'm rubbish, I know.
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I probably would have forgotten him too except for when they show them all at the beginning and I mark the ones who are out, in my head, gone, gone, gone 😁

Annabel slightly irritated me on ITT last week and I can't even explain why. She never acknowledges that Fleur might actually know what it's like being in Strictly.
Now I know that's beside the point, in fact it's irrelevant but Johannes will always say something like 'as you know, Fleur'.

I think it was Annabel's husband who was the big Strictly fan, and Johannes was his favourite but I imagine she must have known something about it before she signed up.

She gives nothing back in interviews.
Aaaaagh, I don't know what I'm trying to say. It just put me off her or something,

Ignore me! 😁
 
Layton's dance made my skin crawl, all twee, affected and childish. Bjork barely got away with it in the video but she was weird anyway so it was more of the same from her. Leaving aside actual dance ability, I'd say it was one of my most hated routines ever.

A guy in my work just said Nigel will get to the final as 'he has all the menopausals voting for him'. Thanks mate.
 
Boogs said:
I agree that the earlier weeks should be spent working on the basics to give them the foundation they need for the more specialist dances later. It’s a hell of a lot they expect contestants to learn in 4 days. I’d be just about managing to not fall over by that stage I think.
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I think the producers are scared of audiences getting bored. They want big, flashy dances straight out of the gate.

It would have been far better for Layton if he'd have started with a Waltz rather than a Samba, and then maybe fit in the AS (with an entirely different theme) somewhere a bit earlier. Maybe instead of the jive? If he'd have done the QS later - it would have seemed even more impressive.
 
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Woolmercardington said:
I think the producers are scared of audiences getting bored. They want big, flashy dances straight out of the gate.

It would have been far better for Layton if he'd have started with a Waltz rather than a Samba, and then maybe fit in the AS (with an entirely different them) somewhere a bit earlier. Maybe instead of the jive? If he'd have done the QS later - it would have seemed even more impressive.
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Annabel and JoJo have had the most traditional run of dances … if you look at the early series week one was cha cha/waltz and week 2 rhumba/quickstep and she had done 3 of them by week 3 (and rhumba is one I can see them skipping). Her dance order seems to … flow?… rather than the stuttery stop-start of some of the others.
 
ChastityDingle said:
That always strikes me too, and I saw it mentioned somewhere else recently. They often ignore the 'why' bit.
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Shirley gave a reason and got absolutely vilified for it. If Layton had been in the DO with anyone else with the exception of Annabel and even that would be marginal, he would have been a goner and quite rightly based on that performance. It was a mess.
I've rewatched some of the Mark Ramprakash dances and there is far more purity about the dances.
 
For me, all of the remaining celebs have their pros and cons for winning.

In terms of Annabel, I remember her first dance was the tennis themed Cha Cha, that was surprisingly decent. I remember something to Moon River, which was fine. Her Jive, also surprising decent. I can't remember much after that, except CC, and the past couple of weeks.

So, for me, she actually started off OK, and I'm sure there has been improvement, but the best way I can describe her dances is... nice but forgettable.

Safely and carefully moving from one routine to another. Which has clearly worked for her, and appeals to many, but I would find very boring for a finalist.
 
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