Well I do. I'm not arguing with the fact that Natalie and Artem won - it was freestyle and natalie is a competent dancer - but I would have liked the chance to get a good look at all the couples.
Me too - have to agree with everything but Natalie has had quite a bit of dance training and has been very good from day 1 - and supposedly a bad back. Really don't think they should have people with that much dance training in the competition.
Did any one watching even take the time to go back and look at the dancing? Yes, Susanna did leave quickly, but they were warned that little errors would be enough to get them chosen, and in her first 3 moves she definitely looked clunky and clumsy. Patrick's dad dancing actually worked for lindy hop and swing and Artem cleverly devised a short routine based off their jive and charleston and they danced it on a loop! Nat was actually the best dancer and DESERVED to win no matter what your bias is.
Perhaps all the camera angles should be from the judges' position?
I've already mentioned group dances on DWTS and the clips below show how the whole dance floor was covered so viewers missed very little. To set the scene, it's Week 6 and the couples do not know what music will be played and have to interpret what they hear -
SCD should be easily able to set up at least one camera that covers the whole dancer floor.
I don't have any problem with Natalie & Artem winning, but the length of the swingathon was far too short. The camera work was dreadful so that I felt cheated because I saw so little of each couple dancing, meaning I didn't understand the elimination order.
I can't say it was a fix because I didn't see enough dancing. I can say the format was a waste of time.
Did any one watching even take the time to go back and look at the dancing? Yes, Susanna did leave quickly, but they were warned that little errors would be enough to get them chosen, and in her first 3 moves she definitely looked clunky and clumsy. Patrick's dad dancing actually worked for lindy hop and swing and Artem cleverly devised a short routine based off their jive and charleston and they danced it on a loop! Nat was actually the best dancer and DESERVED to win no matter what your bias is.
We shouldn't need to re-watch. The way it was done hasn't done Natalie any favours. Knowledge of what she can do and the fact that it was freestyle which plays to Artem's strengths is enough for me to agree that she probably deserved to win. That is not the issue.
Did any one watching even take the time to go back and look at the dancing? Yes, Susanna did leave quickly, but they were warned that little errors would be enough to get them chosen, and in her first 3 moves she definitely looked clunky and clumsy. Patrick's dad dancing actually worked for lindy hop and swing and Artem cleverly devised a short routine based off their jive and charleston and they danced it on a loop! Nat was actually the best dancer and DESERVED to win no matter what your bias is.
Thank you. It won't satisfy the conspiracy theorists though.
I disagree with the order because even though Im a fan of Patrick he didnt deserve to come 2nd. The order should have been
1ST= Natalie & Artem
2ND= Ashley & Ola
3RD= Sophie & Brendan
4TH= Abbey & Aljaz
5TH= Patrick & Anya
6TH= Susanna & Kevin
I thought Natalie definitely deserved to win - she was by far the best. I thought Sophie was very lucky to stay in as long as she did, her energy level was dropping and certainly didn't match the others. Was surprised at Ashley's early exit, thought he was better than both Abbey and Sophie. Wasn't surprised Susanna went first, but thought it was unfair how short a time she had to prove herself. Patrick may have been lucky he was furthest from the judges as I thought there was timing issues with him and he probably didn't deserve second - I say this as a Patrick fan.
I would've scored them
1st Natalie
2nd Ashley
3rd Patrick
4th Abbey
5th Sophie
6th Susanna
Did any one watching even take the time to go back and look at the dancing? Yes, Susanna did leave quickly, but they were warned that little errors would be enough to get them chosen, and in her first 3 moves she definitely looked clunky and clumsy. Patrick's dad dancing actually worked for lindy hop and swing and Artem cleverly devised a short routine based off their jive and charleston and they danced it on a loop! Nat was actually the best dancer and DESERVED to win no matter what your bias is.
I did. I watched it 6 times in order to attempt to watch each couple all the way through. (I wouldn't particularly recommend doing that - the dancing isn't very good overall and the camera work is vaguely nausea-inducing if you're actually trying to focus on anything specific). I concluded that Natalie deserved to win by a country mile - pointed toes, straight legs, placed arms, neat footwork, good kicks, good rhythm, no mistakes that were caught on camera. Nobody else covered themselves in glory and I could make a case for pretty much any order 2-6 based on what it was actually possible to see. Off the top of my head, both Patrick and Ashley had poor legs and feet and both were shown making mistakes (Patrick with timing, Ashley standing completely still for a couple of seconds just watching Ola), Susannah (in the 2 seconds she was on camera) looked messy and flaily, Abbey looked unsteady in her spins and didn't have great limb control, Sophie was kept off the floor as much as possible (...at least from the part of the routine we could see on camera) but again lacked control through her body.
Oh and to address a previous point about Natalie repeating a short routine - they all did if they were in long enough and it's what the contestants did in previous years as well. They're supposed to have a short routine that they repeat over and over again, I think they even mentioned it on ITT in the week.
I agree that it was a stupid format. All I learnt is that I want to see Natalie's jive routine. If they were going to do the Swingathon, they should have kept a fixed camera showing the whole dance floor all the way through or broken the screen into sections showing each couple the way DWTS did. Personally with this particular collection of contestants I don't think they should have done a Swingathon at all because most of them aren't very good at it. At least last time both Harry and Chelsee were genuinely good at that style of dance, and the time before that you had Kara and Matt. They'd have been better off doing the group Viennese Waltz that they did in series 7. I think the only one who doesn't have VW as one of their better dances this year is Patrick and even he wasn't terrible at it.
Thank you Avid_Fan for summarising Natalie's actual experience so succinctly. I suspect it's a wasted effort at this point but it's nice to see the facts every now and then.
I did. I watched it 6 times in order to attempt to watch each couple all the way through. (I wouldn't particularly recommend doing that - the dancing isn't very good overall and the camera work is vaguely nausea-inducing if you're actually trying to focus on anything specific). I concluded that Natalie deserved to win by a country mile - pointed toes, straight legs, placed arms, neat footwork, good kicks, good rhythm, no mistakes that were caught on camera. Nobody else covered themselves in glory and I could make a case for pretty much any order 2-6 based on what it was actually possible to see. Off the top of my head, both Patrick and Ashley had poor legs and feet and both were shown making mistakes (Patrick with timing, Ashley standing completely still for a couple of seconds just watching Ola), Susannah (in the 2 seconds she was on camera) looked messy and flaily, Abbey looked unsteady in her spins and didn't have great limb control, Sophie was kept off the floor as much as possible (...at least from the part of the routine we could see on camera) but again lacked control through her body.
Oh and to address a previous point about Natalie repeating a short routine - they all did if they were in long enough and it's what the contestants did in previous years as well. They're supposed to have a short routine that they repeat over and over again, I think they even mentioned it on ITT in the week.
I agree that it was a stupid format. All I learnt is that I want to see Natalie's jive routine. If they were going to do the Swingathon, they should have kept a fixed camera showing the whole dance floor all the way through or broken the screen into sections showing each couple the way DWTS did. Personally with this particular collection of contestants I don't think they should have done a Swingathon at all because most of them aren't very good at it. At least last time both Harry and Chelsee were genuinely good at that style of dance, and the time before that you had Kara and Matt. They'd have been better off doing the group Viennese Waltz that they did in series 7. I think the only one who doesn't have VW as one of their better dances this year is Patrick and even he wasn't terrible at it.
Thank you Avid_Fan for summarising Natalie's actual experience so succinctly. I suspect it's a wasted effort at this point but it's nice to see the facts every now and then.
Not sure if anyone has already mentioned this, but the costuming was AWFUL, with all the couples dressed in similar colours, which along with the camerawork made it almost impossible to distinguish them.
Having seen the round-up of 'last night' during the Swingathon, I'm leaning towards the result being known beforehand, too. I didn't think that until tonight - in fact, I did think Natalie and Artem finished their routine wonderfully well, on time and everything. Then when I saw that last few seconds again tonight, it struck me as blimming convenient that there was a camera at the side of Natalie for her to smile into just as Artem dropped her down on the last beat. How would she know it was going to be there unless it's choreographed (because the camera positions are most definitely choreographed in the dress rehearsal).
How would she know it was going to be there unless it's choreographed (because the camera positions are most definitely choreographed in the dress rehearsal).
Because they have a guy with a steadycam who could have moved into position within seconds of Patrick being voted out.
Because they have a guy with a steadycam who could have moved into position within seconds of Patrick being voted out.
I see what you mean, but there was nobody near her when the camera switched to the long shot as they collapsed on the floor. So it was like "dip, smile to camera, long shot". I think the camera was further back in the audience and they zoomed in on her or something for that last couple of beats. I wonder if someone who was there would remember seeing what did happen? That'd be interesting, actually.
(Mind you, I do have a bee in my bonnet about them grabbing every bit of camera time they can get - all of them. The only one who didn't do it tonight (I think) was Patrick).
Me too - have to agree with everything but Natalie has had quite a bit of dance training and has been very good from day 1 - and supposedly a bad back. Really don't think they should have people with that much dance training in the competition.
There wouldn't be many finalists ever in SCD if you did that.Almost everyone but the sportsmen has had dance training. Patrick has more training than Natalie. He's like Tom - drama college trained with a past interest in recreating the classic dance movies.
Me too - have to agree with everything but Natalie has had quite a bit of dance training and has been very good from day 1 - and supposedly a bad back. Really don't think they should have people with that much dance training in the competition.
Yes I agree, she has been dancing before and ballet and she was good form day one while Abby and Sophie have worked and got better.
I hope the swingathon is axed next series. It added nothing, they booted Suzanna out before any of them had a chance to get going, kicked some off too early and let worse dancers continue on too long, it turned the leaderboard on it's head which was in no way reflective of the actual show and the dances they had put a week's effort into or of their abilities. I just don't see the point of it at all.
Yet another thread on a different subject but oh my goodness still gets back to Natalie and her dance training somewhere doesn't it and even more bashing.
Back on topic ( let's not keep going over the 'Natalie shouldn't be in it' tediousness ) I, too, think the Swingathon was decided before it even happened.
Sophie and Brendan should have been out way earlier than they were, so should Patrick and Anya.
It was, and has been since they decided to introduce it for this very reason, a way of repositioning the competitors to their liking before the public vote happens.
When they vote for the individual dances they know they have to be quite honest with their scoring because we, the viewers, get a pretty good look at the dances.
With the Swingathon they know we can't look at all the dancers simultaneously so they can get away with voting them off in whichever order they choose.
I thought Natalie definitely deserved to win - she was by far the best. I thought Sophie was very lucky to stay in as long as she did, her energy level was dropping and certainly didn't match the others. Was surprised at Ashley's early exit, thought he was better than both Abbey and Sophie. Wasn't surprised Susanna went first, but thought it was unfair how short a time she had to prove herself. Patrick may have been lucky he was furthest from the judges as I thought there was timing issues with him and he probably didn't deserve second - I say this as a Patrick fan.
I would've scored them
1st Natalie
2nd Ashley
3rd Patrick
4th Abbey
5th Sophie
6th Susanna
I honestly would have put Sophie above Patrick, but other than that, I think this list is spot on.
On the goodbye Ashley clip on the strictly website only Kevin talks about the swingathon but it's very funny. He probably wouldn't have had that attitude if they had been in the dance off but it is funny.
On the goodbye Ashley clip on the strictly website only Kevin talks about the swingathon but it's very funny. He probably wouldn't have had that attitude if they had been in the dance off but it is funny.
Yes we don't know whether they'd have laughed about it quite that much, perhaps not, I'm sure being in the DO wouldn't make anyone laugh too much.
On the goodbye Ashley clip on the strictly website only Kevin talks about the swingathon but it's very funny. He probably wouldn't have had that attitude if they had been in the dance off but it is funny.
Thanks for the heads up. It made me laugh on a Monday morning!
Comments
Me too - have to agree with everything but Natalie has had quite a bit of dance training and has been very good from day 1 - and supposedly a bad back. Really don't think they should have people with that much dance training in the competition.
I've already mentioned group dances on DWTS and the clips below show how the whole dance floor was covered so viewers missed very little. To set the scene, it's Week 6 and the couples do not know what music will be played and have to interpret what they hear -
Challenge - Group 1
Challenge - Group 2
SCD should be easily able to set up at least one camera that covers the whole dancer floor.
I don't have any problem with Natalie & Artem winning, but the length of the swingathon was far too short. The camera work was dreadful so that I felt cheated because I saw so little of each couple dancing, meaning I didn't understand the elimination order.
I can't say it was a fix because I didn't see enough dancing. I can say the format was a waste of time.
We shouldn't need to re-watch. The way it was done hasn't done Natalie any favours. Knowledge of what she can do and the fact that it was freestyle which plays to Artem's strengths is enough for me to agree that she probably deserved to win. That is not the issue.
Thank you. It won't satisfy the conspiracy theorists though.
1ST= Natalie & Artem
2ND= Ashley & Ola
3RD= Sophie & Brendan
4TH= Abbey & Aljaz
5TH= Patrick & Anya
6TH= Susanna & Kevin
I would've scored them
1st Natalie
2nd Ashley
3rd Patrick
4th Abbey
5th Sophie
6th Susanna
I did.
Oh and to address a previous point about Natalie repeating a short routine - they all did if they were in long enough and it's what the contestants did in previous years as well. They're supposed to have a short routine that they repeat over and over again, I think they even mentioned it on ITT in the week.
I agree that it was a stupid format. All I learnt is that I want to see Natalie's jive routine. If they were going to do the Swingathon, they should have kept a fixed camera showing the whole dance floor all the way through or broken the screen into sections showing each couple the way DWTS did. Personally with this particular collection of contestants I don't think they should have done a Swingathon at all because most of them aren't very good at it. At least last time both Harry and Chelsee were genuinely good at that style of dance, and the time before that you had Kara and Matt. They'd have been better off doing the group Viennese Waltz that they did in series 7. I think the only one who doesn't have VW as one of their better dances this year is Patrick and even he wasn't terrible at it.
Thank you Avid_Fan for summarising Natalie's actual experience so succinctly. I suspect it's a wasted effort at this point but it's nice to see the facts every now and then.
Good post.
Because they have a guy with a steadycam who could have moved into position within seconds of Patrick being voted out.
I see what you mean, but there was nobody near her when the camera switched to the long shot as they collapsed on the floor. So it was like "dip, smile to camera, long shot". I think the camera was further back in the audience and they zoomed in on her or something for that last couple of beats. I wonder if someone who was there would remember seeing what did happen? That'd be interesting, actually.
(Mind you, I do have a bee in my bonnet about them grabbing every bit of camera time they can get - all of them. The only one who didn't do it tonight (I think) was Patrick).
There wouldn't be many finalists ever in SCD if you did that.Almost everyone but the sportsmen has had dance training. Patrick has more training than Natalie. He's like Tom - drama college trained with a past interest in recreating the classic dance movies.
Yes I agree, she has been dancing before and ballet and she was good form day one while Abby and Sophie have worked and got better.
Sophie and Brendan should have been out way earlier than they were, so should Patrick and Anya.
It was, and has been since they decided to introduce it for this very reason, a way of repositioning the competitors to their liking before the public vote happens.
When they vote for the individual dances they know they have to be quite honest with their scoring because we, the viewers, get a pretty good look at the dances.
With the Swingathon they know we can't look at all the dancers simultaneously so they can get away with voting them off in whichever order they choose.
I honestly would have put Sophie above Patrick, but other than that, I think this list is spot on.
And "Natalie and artem were fantastic she defiantly should of won"
It's DEFINITELY!
Defiantly means something else entirely!!
Yes we don't know whether they'd have laughed about it quite that much, perhaps not, I'm sure being in the DO wouldn't make anyone laugh too much.
Thanks for the heads up. It made me laugh on a Monday morning!