Strictly Come Dancing

Do people really think the judges don't really make the decision? I have never thought anyone has told them what to do - maybe in the heat of the moment, live telly, etc. they do things that, in retrospect, they would do differently?  Chizzy's dance off dance wasn't good either, though I agree wickedgrin that Brian didn't seem to be trying. 

Chizzy was a Holby regular for the last 5 years and whilst Brian is known to us a musical theatre performer and top Panto star, he hasn't been a TV regular for probably past 15 years so you could argue that Chizzy is currently more well known. I believe that Strictly is a flat fee per celeb with those that make it to Halloween and then Blackpool getting extra. So it might be 50K-70K-100K for example - these are only illustrative figures I've used.

Also next week Susan Calman is apparently going to be Wonder Woman, the first thing I thought of when hearing this was the old Bella Emberg character Blunder Woman opposite Russ Abbot. I sincerely hope no-one is setting Susan up for a fall or it is some sort of in joke as Bella Emberg's real name is famously Sybil Dyke.

I doubt there is any ulterior motive in it but thought I'd put it out there as someone else may mention it and lets get the jokes out of the way.

They always set up the no hopers in the dressing up shows. I do hope they don't make Susan look too stupid. I suppose the blondes will get decent roles. I'm not bitter but we do have to accept that we are being manipulated.

Can someone tell me the date of the final? Ta

Is anyone else prepared to admit that they write this date in their diary/calendar/planner as soon as the series starts so that Nothing Else Is Planned that night so they can watch it live? 

We do. 

(And theatreian’s date is the one I had in the diary from the off, based on last year’s final date; I’d have been Really Pissed Off if it hadn’t been that night...  )

Have they entrusted the costume, make-up and hair design to a bunch of work experience kids this weeks? I have seen a better aesthetic in a village hall panto.

Cheap

Good to see Shirley came as Golda from Fidler on the Roof.

Gorka's trousers being right have far more to do with Gorka than Vicky Gill I would imagine @caiaphas!

Joe's 'dress' ruined his dance - the judges liked it but I couldn't get past the costume.

I like Jonnie, but thought he was awful tonight - his shaping wasn't good. Still not sure of his partnership with Oti.

Judges nit-picked Debbie. Not often we see a quick step that fast from someone even half her age. I loved it! 

I'm warming to Aston - though I suspect that's muchly down to Janette. They were brilliant.

Rubbish pro dance at the beginning - the show is already too long, we really don't need a filler of that level of crapness.

Someone tell Brenda to button it - I'm presuming there is history between him and Shirley? Their sniping is awkward to watch.

It's funny - I have never, ever, ever heard anyone ever say they think Tess is a good presenter. And yet, there she still is!

Claudia is funny, but they've obviously entrusted her scripts this year to whoever wrote the Jokes Page in the 1969 Brownie annual.

Surely the pros know the rules? I really hate it when they let their celeb down like that. 

As for the VTs - just ugh. They can't act, the scripts are stupid and they could be training instead of freezing to death in fields. 

Oxfordsimon has summed it up very neatly and Tibidabo has added some further good points.

The only two dances I really enjoyed tonight were Debbie and Aston. As people have already noted, the costumes and make-up hit rock bottom – worse than any Halloween night and that's saying something.

As to the rules, we know they have always been there because Len used to trot them out from time to time, but I have the impression that recently, the judges ignore the rules when it suits them to do so but, apart from Len, I don't remember the other judges actually criticising a dance because the couple stayed out of hold too long or put illegal lifts into their routines. Honestly, so many of the dances right from week one look like show dances that I wonder how many of them are obeying any of the rules at all!

I think the only word I can use to describe tonight's show is dreadful!

Nearly all the pros seem to have forgotten how to choreograph, most of them can't do a decent ballroom anyway but this year it just seems to have got worse - none of the American Smooths had more than about 2 steps of the dance they were supposed to be based on. The rules should be applied to all of the couples, not just Debbie & Giovanni - until Craig's comment tonight I had thought the rulebook had been abandoned entirely as we haven't had a proper traditional ballroom dance yet. The only pros who did a decent job with choreography tonight were Janette, Katya and Oti, and I'm not impressed with any of the new female pros at all. Very few of the dances were remotely watchable, and the overall standard this year is really, really poor.

The themes and gimmicks are out of control - the amount of faffing with props is ludicrous, the VTs are just embarrassing and the costumes this week were abysmal. The less said about Tess and Claudia, the better.

Brendan needs to learn when to shut up - Shirley knows as much about dancing as he does, if not more, and she's the one judging so it's her opinion which holds sway. And she was right - he was clearly not intending to do rise and fall, but Charlotte was bobbing all over the place so it looked like that's what was happening. He needs to deal with his partner's limitations and not just do what he wants!

The whole show just feels like a parody of what it used to be, it's really quite sad.