2,422 posts
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Post by robertb213 on Jan 31, 2018 17:11:09 GMT
Getting rid of him for "cheeking Shirley" seems extreme, I think I only noticed him comment back to her maybe twice and it certainly wasn't aggressive or rude. If the pro doesn't agree with the critique, surely they should be allowed to respond and stand up for themselves as long as it's not offensive/insulting etc. I'd rather they defend themselves rather than just standing there and nodding if they don't agree with it. Yes there's ways of doing it and Brendan was never one of my favourite dancers (hi Aljaz, call me), but I honestly don't think anything he said to Shirley last year was bad enough to get booted for.
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 17:31:50 GMT
Getting rid of him for "cheeking Shirley" seems extreme, I think I only noticed him comment back to her maybe twice and it certainly wasn't aggressive or rude. If the pro doesn't agree with the critique, surely they should be allowed to respond and stand up for themselves as long as it's not offensive/insulting etc. I'd rather they defend themselves rather than just standing there and nodding if they don't agree with it. Yes there's ways of doing it and Brendan was never one of my favourite dancers (hi Aljaz, call me), but I honestly don't think anything he said to Shirley last year was bad enough to get booted for. He said nothing to her that wasn't on par with the kind of stuff he's said to Len or Craig over the years. So unless she's royally kicked off about it that seems unlikely. I also feel that when judges critique something as being the pro's 'fault' they have the right of reply- respectfully obviously. Personally I don't think he ever crossed a line on that. All anecdotal obviously, but every encounter any of the staff had during one several times his tour stops at the WMC were reported as utterly charming and polite (and totally undemanding). Speaking of someone mentioned him never doing the Strictly tour- neither has Anton, and I'm sure others- there was a fascinating article about I think Aljaz and Janette about what they have to do the rest of the year to make a living (tour, teach, guest appearances etc) so I don't think not doing the tour is a black mark against any of them just a 'making a living' type approach. AND if we're talking ungrateful losers, can we please talk about James Jordan who is bitter years after being dropped.... |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 18:05:03 GMT
^ Let’s be honest, it’s not going to be just one thing that’s upset the producers, is it? There are going to be a number of things that have been said and done behind the scenes that we’ll never get to hear about. We’re really not in a position to judge.
And I can’t see him ever daring to my dear Len in the way he did Shirley. What was Len’s line (trotted out more than once): “My job is to judge; your job is to turn up, put up and shut up!”
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 19:32:49 GMT
Piece in The Telegraph this morning makes it quite clear that Brendan cheeking Shirley is why he isn’t in next series. Seems a bit childish to me. Can’t they talk about these things? And plenty of other articles making it clear that wasn't the only reason for not renewing his contract - another was his bad habit of badmouthing his former partners in Q&A sessions on his own tour... And the general consensus is that he's been phoning it in for years, which can't have helped either. I thought he was out of line in his behaviour towards Shirley, and at least deserved a strong reprimand for that, but it must have been a combination of things that led to his departure. I see the rumour mill about his replacement has started - apparently it is likely to be Oti's husband! |
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 20:03:52 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Jan 31, 2018 21:33:06 GMT
This has prompted me to do a little bit of googling, and my...I certainly wouldn't object to Mr Oti being a new pro.... Me neither, she is a lucky lady.... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 2:19:43 GMT
I wonder if the Strictly producers may be moving away from having too many couples as main dancers on the shows especially if they are a couple in real life too as it limits disruption if people are moved on. Both Katya and AJ's partners aren't main show dancers so it stops so many cliques developing.
James Jordan would have been off the show sooner than he was but for Ola being very popular.
I still think Neil should get Brendan's spot but Oti's hubby would be a nice addition to group dances.
A lot will depend if anyone else moves on or is dropped. The ladies have revolved a fair bit in recent years so I would think they may want to keep that static. They have lost Natalie, Kristina, Aliona, Ola and Joanne in fairly recent years. There must be a question mark over Karen and someone like Janette could well decide to start a family in the near future as she is 35 this year.
Shame Strictly have never had a female return after taking a year or two out to have a child as it would be a nice story. Karen Hardy was a mum when she won Strictly but she'd had her first child before joining the show.
On a fun note I wonder if Brendan and James would make a good Ugly Sisters panto duo or could we suggest Cynthia Eviro takes on one of the roles.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 7:18:01 GMT
^ Oti’s hubby is already part of the ‘Strictly Family’ as he was one if the backing dancers used last year in Blackpool. He even danced with Jonnie (and Oti!) and Oti commented on it in It Takes Two. He must have done other work back in the studio too, as extras seemed to be used quite a bit last year, boosting the group dances and in the Specials Weeks.
(I can’t see either JJ or BC willing to play anything with “ugly” in the title, even for a joke; I reckon part of the problem there in both cases was the egos...)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 8:24:45 GMT
^ Oti’s hubby is already part of the ‘Strictly Family’ as he was one if the backing dancers used last year in Blackpool. He even danced with Jonnie (and Oti!) and Oti commented on it in It Takes Two. He must have done other work back in the studio too, as extras seemed to be used quite a bit last year, boosting the group dances and in the Specials Weeks. I think he only did Blackpool, but he is doing the tour at the minute. In terms of the female pros, I can't see that lineup changing much unless it's the ladies' decision - I still suspect Karen won't come back, there are rumours that Nadiya isn't returning because her fiancé is based in Slovenia and they have a young child, and Janette may well decide to just drop back to the pro dances-only role (she seems to love presenting so might be happy doing more ITT work) or leave altogether to start a family. If any of them go, I expect they'll promote Giovanni's dance partner Luba Mushtuk, who's been in a lot of the pro dances and choreographing behind the scenes for years. She's also on the tour at the minute. I don't think whether the dancers are couples in real life really influences whether they get a spot with a celeb or not, though I do suspect the reason Neil is on the show at all is because the producers wanted Katya and they come as a pair. AJ and Chloe are slightly different as they're not a couple, just dance partners, but again I suspect they wanted AJ to partner Claudia Fragapane and he and Chloe negotiated as a pair. I'm not convinced the producers really have the appetite to give Neil a celeb partner (though maybe the Christmas Special was his audition in a sense), but I hope I'm wrong as I think he'd be great. I agree it would be good for him to get a celeb and for Oti's husband to join the pro dances on a permanent basis. Of course if Pasha (or Anton, but I suspect that's unlikely) leaves too then there would be room for both of them! |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 1, 2018 21:38:29 GMT
It would be a shame if Neil didn't have what was considered the right image to have a partner on the show. There were rumours that Janette might have been leaving after this last series if she wanted to start a family and her and Aljaz do their own shows too. Aljaz would stay on show and maybe Janette would just do tours with him like Erin does with Anton.
The producers would be very reluctant to lose Janette as she is one of the longer serving female pros and is a brilliant little dancer. Her and Karen do seem very tight so if Karen left she may be less inclined to stay but as Aljaz would surely remain, I'd figure she'd stay on if he did unless it was for domestic reasons.
I was thinking might Strictly maybe look for a black or mixed race male pro, they haven't had one and it would be a nice diversity mix. I'm not a fan of specifically going for a certain look or race but Strictly do to try and balance things up, mix of blondes, brunettes, mediterraneans etc plus a bit of eye candy for both sexual persuasions.
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Post by justfran on Feb 2, 2018 23:37:09 GMT
I will definitely miss Brendan. I know he’s always been a bit of a character and talked back to the judges but he’s entitled to an opinion and it’s better than just being boring and saying nothing! Although they are all out of contract at the end of each series, I would imagine that the majority (especially the longer serving dancers) will always assume they are coming back so I believe that he was genuinely upset. Having worked at a venue he has appeared at with his own show I’ve only heard nice things about him.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 3, 2018 9:38:01 GMT
I will definitely miss Brendan. I know he’s always been a bit of a character and talked back to the judges but he’s entitled to an opinion and it’s better than just being boring and saying nothing! Although they are all out of contract at the end of each series, I would imagine that the majority (especially the longer serving dancers) will always assume they are coming back so I believe that he was genuinely upset. Having worked at a venue he has appeared at with his own show I’ve only heard nice things about him. Of course he's entitled to an opinion, but the problem was he seemed incapable of giving it without being patronising, and his comments to Shirley were out of line. If he assumed he was coming back then I don't have much sympathy for him, because having known enough people who are contractors, I know getting a new contract is never guaranteed, and Strictly is the same. Of course he can be upset about not getting a new one, but if he had any sense of entitlement that's his own fault and no-one else's. |
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19,803 posts
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Post by BurlyBeaR on Feb 3, 2018 11:43:04 GMT
Whether he’s entitled to an opinion depends entirely on whether the producers have asked him to give one during the judging. I suspect they haven’t, seeing as no-one else does because that segment is all about the celeb. The role of the pro cast member is to keep quiet until the interviews. That’s what they’re paid to do, that’s what all of the others do. If he’s incapable of following that simple instruction then it’s bye bye.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 4, 2018 18:22:17 GMT
I don't think he had too much of a go at Shirley, he would have known her through dancing circles and I'd hope he'd respect her. He used to have run ins with Len who would put him in his place and anything with Craig and Bruno could be entertaining.
The series moves on, lots of pros have come and gone, the series has even continued minus Len and the late great Brucie.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 5, 2018 9:16:02 GMT
Whether he’s entitled to an opinion depends entirely on whether the producers have asked him to give one during the judging. I suspect they haven’t, seeing as no-one else does because that segment is all about the celeb. The role of the pro cast member is to keep quiet until the interviews. That’s what they’re paid to do, that’s what all of the others do. If he’s incapable of following that simple instruction then it’s bye bye. I disagree- only because the judges often direct comments to the pros as in 'you did x or y that I don't like' and in that case I think they have a right of reply- as you say it SHOULD be comments on the celeb but often it becomes nit picking about choreography style and directed to the pro- at which point I think they're within their rights to comment. (the celebs comment after all) And a lot of the 'talking back' from pros comes as part of being defensive about their celeb or protecting them. And anyway, an incident of 'Brendan talks back to Len/Shirley/Craig' ALWAYS gathers a tabloid headline or two so don't tell me the BBC don't like that... |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2018 14:27:26 GMT
I would think a pro would respect Shirley's view perhaps more than the other judges as she came from the same dance background as them. The judges can certainly handle themselves and if they got too rude to a celeb Brucie used to step in or if Craig got his claws out then Bruno or Len when he was on the show would put him down.
It seems strange Brendan has been told so far in advance he is being dropped, maybe he asked about it or the show felt it was fair to give him as much notice as possible so he wouldn't turn down work thinking he would be on Strictly.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 6, 2018 16:40:38 GMT
It seems strange Brendan has been told so far in advance he is being dropped, maybe he asked about it or the show felt it was fair to give him as much notice as possible so he wouldn't turn down work thinking he would be on Strictly. Apparently the pros always get told their contract decisions at this time of year, they just get asked to pretend they don't know until the official line-up confirmation is released before they start pro rehearsals in early August. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 7, 2018 14:28:25 GMT
If a pro has been released then they will likely go public unless they are on some sort of retainer throughout the year.
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2018 9:14:08 GMT
Was at Wembly last night for the Strictly Tour. Having poo-pooed it for years, thinking it’d be a naff night out, I couldn’t have been more wrong... Superb show- the seven celebs we expected, all with their pro partners, with endless backing support from most of the other Strictly pros with some newbies thrown into the mix. A-ma-zing pro routines, most of them musicals based, great music choices all evening (proper stuff, not the pop we get so often on the telly and all performed live by the band (no Dave Arch) and singers, who got to come onto the arena with the dancers. The celeb routine costumes were the ones we’d seen already, but we were minus the OTT make-up and hairstyles and all the better for it. We were all the better for the lack of pointless props cluttering up the stage too. Ore was a great host, and the judges pantomimed their way through their critiques with some corpsing thrown in for good measure. Craig even replicated Joe and Katya’s tango balancing act with Ore, so it was all good fun! The VTs were hilarious, with many of the pros coming into their own, sending each other up. Neil Jones really is good value; I seriously hope he gets a celeb next season. I really didn’t miss Anton mugging at the camera and hogging all the limelight or Brendan looking pissed off and peeved. Oh, and Karen was conspicuous by her absence with the exception of a very brief appearance for a Sports Relief special which was performed and filmed before the show. I’d be surprised if we saw her next year... It was very hot up in the balcony despite zero temperatures outside which could only have been down to the tingle that many of us were feeling at the sight of our favourite dancers shimmying feet away from us. (I have a ‘thing’ for AJ which is silly, I admit, as I’m almost twice his age...!) Great mix in the audience too- there were all ages from grannies to little girls in their glittery dresses, chaps bringing their mums and gals bringing their gals... From the applause throughout you could only assume that we were all overjoyed to be under the same roof as all that incredible talent. The dancing was bloody good too.  Highly recommended for next year if you haven't seen it already. |
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1,089 posts
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 10, 2018 11:50:05 GMT
Thanks, Caiaphas, for that great report on the Strictly tour at Wembley Arena.
Please could you possibly tell us what dance each of the celebrities did and to what piece of music?
And who won?!
Tonyloco
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2018 11:59:48 GMT
Nice! I too had always poo-poo'd the idea of the tour thinking it would all be a bit OTT and naff. But you might just have convinced me for next year.
Also I saw last night while at St David's Hall Pasha is FINALLY coming close enough to me to see him (and not at all try and inappropriately touch him)
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2018 22:04:06 GMT
Thanks, Caiaphas, for that great report on the Strictly tour at Wembley Arena. Please could you possibly tell us what dance each of the celebrities did and to what piece of music? And who won?! Tonyloco Dances were all ones they did on the show, to the same music they used on the show: Alexandra & Gorka - Jive & Quickstep Susan & Kevin - Quickstep & Samba Davood & Nadiya - Paso Doble & Charleston Gemma & Aljaz - American Smooth & Paso Jonnie & Oti - Jive & American Smooth Debbie & Giovanni - American Smooth & Salsa Joe & Katya - Charleston & Argentine Tango There was also the pro opening number from the launch show (complete with red carpet) the Run Boy Run pro routine from last series and a version of the La La Land number, plus a new Dreamgirls medley and Sweet Charity medley, both involving the celebs as well as the pros. Last night Debbie won with Susan the runner up. Overall on the tour Debbie, Susan, Joe, Gemma and Jonnie have all won shows, and Susan has the most wins overall, but Debbie is only one behind with 3 shows left - tonight and then two shows tomorrow, all at the O2. |
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Post by Deleted on Feb 10, 2018 22:10:49 GMT
@caiaphas I was at Wembley last night as well! Completely agree with you, I had a great time, and the Sports Relief special recording was an unexpected bonus! I was sitting in the first row behind the floor seats near the end of the dancefloor so had a brilliant view of everything. I was really surprised by how differently some of the dances came across compared to on TV - Susan's routines were much more entertaining, whereas I was disappointed with Alexandra's and Gemma's - they got a bit lost in the vast arena. Thought Joe & Katya were the best on the night (that lift in the Argentine Tango!), and I'm always going to be biased towards Jonnie & Oti, but I thought they were really entertaining. The pro dancers are fabulous - Oti and Katya are as brilliant as they appear on TV, and Neil Jones was really funny on the VTs and a great dancer. I also loved watching Luba, the assistant choreographer, and ended up watching Janette more than Debbie in the latter's Salsa! @emicardiff - I can report that Mr Oti is as attractive in the flesh as the picture you posted He and Oti looked really good together, and seemed to be having a really good time. Neil & Katya did a gorgeous bit of Rumba together at the start of the Dreamgirls number that was electric. I really liked that all the pros got to walk down the red carpet at the start of the show and have the attention on them not the celebs! Not a huge fan of the judges anyway but they stayed on the right side of ridiculous and Ore generally kept them in check. A couple of funny line flubs from them that added to the fun. Such a feelgood night overall  |
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Post by tonyloco on Feb 11, 2018 13:00:53 GMT
Thanks to Poster J and Caiaphas for those splendid reports on the Strictly tour at the Wembley Arena. I wish now I had made the effort to go myself as it all sounds so enjoyable – and the Arena is within walking distance of where I live!
Of course, being in the venue meant you could actually watch all the dancing and not just the bits the cameramen and video editors decided you should see and that must have made quite a difference and added to your pleasure.
Thanks again both for sharing!
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Post by Deleted on Feb 11, 2018 13:39:47 GMT
Thanks to Poster J and Caiaphas for those splendid reports on the Strictly tour at the Wembley Arena. I wish now I had made the effort to go myself as it all sounds so enjoyable – and the Arena is within walking distance of where I live! Of course, being in the venue meant you could actually watch all the dancing and not just the bits the cameramen and video editors decided you should see and that must have made quite a difference and added to your pleasure. Thanks again both for sharing! Walking distance, tony?!?!  If I'd known that I'd have parked on your drive for free and popped in for a cuppa and a natter before the show. Not only that but you could have had my dad's ticket which he was unable to use because of The Knee Operation. Funny you should mention us seeing what the cameramen and video editors want us to- the celebs aren't nearly as good as they look on the telly. The pros- as you'd imagine- can dance rings around them. But that's part of the fun, as you say. But yes, very revealing. You see everything, warts and all! |
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If I'd known that I'd have parked on your drive for free and popped in for a cuppa and a natter before the show. Not only that but you could have had my dad's ticket which he was unable to use because of The Knee Operation.
