I was curious to know what you guys thought of the choice of celebs on both shows, more precisely the selection criteria and which do you prefer.

I prefer Strictly as they get a more varied group and more recognizable faces.
Dancing seems to go a lot with the goofiness and the shocking for example while you get people like Brooke Burke or Apolo Anton Ohno, you also seem to get a lot of novelty people. You have the goofballs like Steve-O and Adam Carolla, the reality stars like Kim Kardashian and the gimmicks like Heather Mills (The Dancer with an artificial leg) or Marlee Matlin (The Deaf participant)

You do have it in Strictly but it is more rare, you had the married couple with the Logans but that was it. and I know they try to cast people that are serious participants, and no reality stars.

I think a lot of it is networking in the American version. They wanted Kathy Griffin last year but she turned them down, so they chose Steve Wozniak, who wasn't going to go far, but they did want Kathy to appear on the show somehow. and also I hate the fact that when two people dropped out due to injury, who did they pick, a Playboy Bunny and a Bachelor reject (even if she is a great dancer).

I mean, I read a lot of articles in the magazines that say that a certain celebrity, say Melissa Joan Hart would love the chance to participate if they would be asked, and they go for the cheesy ex-reality stars.

SCD v DWTS:

Celebs: if you live in UK, then the scd celebs will probably be more well known, though to be honest, I had only heard of 2 of them in the last series! If you live in US then the dwts celebs will be more known - I had only heard of one of this series, and she was eliminated the first week!

Pros: I know this will be controversial, but I think the SCD pros are the better teachers, whereas the DWTS pros are the better dancers.

Dances: SCD concentrates more (slightly!) on technique, which as a dancer I appreciate. DWTs goes more for the razz-ma-tazz & excitement, which, as it comes from Hollywood, is not really surprising. However, I enjoy watching the Smooth dances, and get very cross when SCD say they are going to do American Smooth and promptly do a quickstep! (There is no American Smooth quickstep).

Presenters: prefer those on DWTs, they are less "in your face";

Band: Absolutely no contest, DWTs everytime.

Overall, I find both shows immensely enjoyable, and am glad they are different.

Being in the US, I really hate the new trend on DWTS of picking reality stars, and they ones they pick....ugh! Probably the only slightly likable one has been Holly, the Playboy girl. I'd never heard of her before DWTS either, but even though she's a hopeless dancer, she seems nice. Maybe I'm letting my Dmitry love cloud my judgement.

Every season it seems like the choices are the WORST EVER but I always end up liking someone : ) There's always cannon fodder on both shows, but ours really go over the top to try and stay in, even if they are no-hopers. It makes for some comedy gold.

As far as the pros...both shows have their good and bad teachers, overdancers, and bad boys (and girls). How badly someone really wants to learn how to dance can really make the teacher look good, I think. It seems like on SCD there's more of a slant towards that than on DWTS.

SCD v DWTS:

On SCD I have usually heard of the celebs although I might know very little about them because I don't watch soaps. On DWTS I have usually heard of a couple of the celebs and know what they are famous for. This year for example I knew Denise, Shawn, Belinda, & L'il Kim.

Every year though there are wild rumours about who will be on SCD and most of these rumours are false thank goodness, as the rumours often involve the type of celeb samusek2 is talking about that make it on to DWTS.

I would say though that SCD is quite a prestigious show now and that celebs are supposed to be queuing up to do it - even those whose careers don't need a boost. I think the fact that the BBC produce the show has something to do with the quality of the celebs too because as a organisation answerable to its licence payers they would avoid anyone too tacky (well so
far!).

I prefer Bruce & Tess to Tom & Sam and in fact I don't really pay much attention to what Tom & Sam are saying.

I agree with kaycee that about the music, but I'd say it is the singers who are better on DWTS rather than the band.

When it comes to the rest of the show it is hard to compare imho because of the different dancing styles i.e. UK v USA. The DWTS pros are allowed to choreograph much more 'flashy' routines, where as the SCD pros have to really concentrate of getting the celeb's technique right.

I'd say both shows have their strong points & their weaknesses, but are still great to watch!

By U.S. standards the DWTS celebs typically are far more recognizable--to U.S. audiences that is.

In fact, before the two drop outs this year, the relative star power of the show was even higher, since both people who dropped out are VERY well known in the U.S. In fact, it's likely that of the "original" cast, before the playboy bunny and Bachelor babe got slotted in, only the "Rodeo star" ("famous" for being married to a much bigger star, singer Jewel, who dropped out), the French guy (who had a five seconds work in the Sex & The City movie), and the male country singer ("famous" for being the boyfriend of dancer Julianne Hough), weren't fairly well known. NOW with the two reality show stars added in as an emergency measure, that's up from three nobodies to five.


You should try listening to Tom at least--he's hilarious.

Sam is an idiot though. Best to tune her out or your brain will hurt.


To be fair, Marlee Matlin is an Oscar winner. And that makes her a relatively big star in a way. So despite her deafness it's a stretch to simply write her off as "a novelty".

And flipping that around, Brooke Burke was just a relatively lightweight TV personality, from a fluffy show on MTV, and a former Baywatch babe (of which there are almost as many as Playboy bunnies seemingly). So on paper she was probably more of a novelty than some--until people saw her actually dance.

And Adam Carolla couldn't dance a step, whereas Steve-O is actually pretty okay. So that breaks up that comparison a bit.

The point of all this being that while there are PLENTY of examples of things which can't be ANYTHING but stunt casting on DWTS (Chloris Leachman, Steve Wozniak, people like that who there isn't even a CHANCE they can dance), some of the celebs can surprise you. For example, when they started casting American football players, I think the show fully expected them to be novelties. Then Jerry Rice actually turned out to be good enough to come in second place, and they stopped assuming the footballers would be bad.

I think one of the reasons that SCD gets has beens and z listers is that no-one really famous wants to undergo the ritual humiliation at the hands of the panel.

Anyone who is truly at the top of their game wouldn't take kindly to being sneered at and patronised by the likes of Craig and Arlene or laughed at by Bruno. If they are at the top they don't want or need to be put down, but expect (in most cases quite rightly) to be treated with respect for who and what they are.

Watching and listening to the way the DWTS panel review the performances on the show is actually a nice change from the Craig and Arlene sarky/ nasty put downs. Len and Bruno are different too. They manage to get over what is wrong but always find something positive to say (even about Cloris/ Adam/ The Woz) - The SCD panel cold learn a lot - and we might see a better class of celeb on SCD if they did

Plus of course that the US is a huge country compared to UK and has a lot more celebs to choose from.

But in truth anyone who was a real "star" would be far too busy getting on with being a "star" to have 4 months or more to spend on a reality show.

I much prefer Len & Bruno on SCD to on DWTS.

In fact I prefer the approach of the judges on SCD as on DWTS it is almost like they are talking to children the way they have to put a positive slant on every performance. The DWTS approach to judging is far too light and fluffy for me - but it is in keeping with the overall style of DWTS. Also the scores are far too high in DWTS imho. I'm not saying the SCD judges never overstep the mark with their comments, but they are closer to truth than on DWTS.

I also don't think a lot of celebs on SCD are has beens or zlisters and they get a decent quality of celeb than other reality shows. There is an element of has beens, but often celebs are looking to raise their profile to widen their scope of work (especially soap stars and sports people). In fact I think the SCD producers choose people from a similar range of categories each year and they are almost all still in the public eye or well known for the right reasons. We've never had anyone year who is famous for being a celeb or for just being in a reality show. All the SCD celebs are famous for doing something.

I don't think we will ever see a celeb at the top of their game doing SCD because they are too busy doing what they do that keeps them at the top of their game and earning top dollar doing that! I don't think it is anything to do with the judges' approach tbh and I wouldn't want them to treat a couple differently just because they are 'more' famous.

I love the comments here. Interesting discussion.

For what it is worth Adam Carolla had a morning radio show and he has interviewed many a celebrity (some of them A and B) and of course they talk DWTS. Mostly making fun of him right to his face but intrigued with the show.

But the general gist I get is lack of time to really devote to the practice while trying to do another gig. In other words you have be a celebrity without a regular job or least be able to wrangle a busy schedule. You pretty much have to forego anything else for the duration of the show. What I found interesting was a lot the male celebrities said they were astounded at the weight loss and they would do if they had the time just to get into that shape the celebrities by their time on the show. Al Pacino said he would do for the weight loss alone.

Personally I think if a celebrity who is already well know and does not need the publicity comes out and does real well it is another career boost but if they do poorly mockerly will ensue and follow them forever. I am sure they think about that and their publicists advise them. Celebrities who are not in show business do so well because it brings attention to whatever it is they are famous for -cooking, race driving, sports.

Adam C. tried to have a cap put on practice time but most of the celebrities told him to go to hell, if you put in the time you will do better and that is just how it works. When Adam was on he was doing his morning radio show and shooting the pilot for the American version of Top Gear. He had very little time, hated practicing, not seeing his twins and was tired all the time. And he had no natural rhythm. But Adam said he did it because it terrified him and not much scares him but doing DWTS did. It really did not do a whole lot for his career but he felt proud that he took something on that he is skewered for by his all jackass buddies. And now they are following him - DAG and Steve-O, Jeff Ross. Jimmy Kimmel has said he would love to do it but with the time constraints it would be impossible.

The stars have to be fully committed both timewise and effort wise or be a natural and quick learner or made fun off forever.

I think SCD is beautiful show in every sense...beautifully produced and executed. I enjoyed every minute of it and it was my first season of watching each dance, every ITT show, etc. all on youtube mind you.

DWTS is what it is and I am glad that it does not try to be SCD because ithen it would be a cheap imitation. It is very LA/Hollyweird and entertainment is essential for the show to work. They are competing with a large number of very popular cable shows in that time slot and we all know what short attention span the American public has.

I love Tom. I think he is a master at live tv/ad libbing and has some really quick come backs. Sam on other hand is painful to watch and she suffers from foot-n-mouth disease. God bless her but she is so awkward.

The only area that I think DWTS does better than SCD is the camera work. I almost feel like the camera operators at SCD should come over to the US for the spring season and observe and see if they can't tweak it bit.

That is so interesting about Adam! It has always been harder on SCD for celebs with day jobs, but the advantage of that is that they can usually canvass for votes (their work colleagues actually do it for them)! But on SCD no matter what the celeb's other work commitments are, if they don't put in the hours then they are really slated on the SCD forum and do less well with the public too. At the end of the day we want commitment to doing SCD to come first and woe betide the celeb if that isn't the case, especially if they mention or moan about it!

I'm liking Tom a lot more this series, but half the time Sam speaks so fast I can't make out her point and often she doesn't wait for the celeb to reply half the time any way!

You are so right about the camera work - I wish SCD would do something about it. The DWTS studio looks much bigger than the SCD studio as there seems to be a much bigger audience, so I wonder if that is a factor. SCD has a man with a camera that runs around the dancers, but it just doesn't work particularly well.

I kind agree with Lilli. I prefer SCD because is closer to the ballroom competion and the judges look more for the technical aspects of the dance rather than the entertaining.
About the celebrities, well I can't give my opion because I'm not a tv fan person, I just watched some Dr Who programs and sometimes I watched some tv Dramas and I really don't know most of the celebrities, here or in the USA. Sometimes I can recognize some people from pop groups but that's all.
I think SCD is a little bit more fair with the professional in terms of matching with a cebretries than DWTS ( Although I know some of the professional still have better partners than others) but at least most of them have the oportunity to have a good partner.
DWTS seems to have their favourites pro dancers and give them always someone with good chance to win. I love Cheryl but I would like to see other professional like Kym, to have Giles, she seems to get the funny guys and not too good partners except Joey and Warren was ok but not too good.
And The male professinal dancers well, I'm very happy that tony is having a good partner this season but that was for accident. ( And seems that she's not going to make it to the final because some people hate her)
I can't deny that Mark and Derek are the best choreographers there, but I wpuld love to see the other professional also have a chance to get to the final.

And like Lilli said, DWTS is hollywood style, because they need to capture a young audience too, here we pay a TV license but there they need sponsors and and high ratings to keep the show going.

I think the sponsor v the licence payer is a huge factor in the differences especially as SCD doesn't have ad breaks!

I don't know the DWTS pros well enough really to remember a lot of the time which celeb they were paired with, but some stick on my mind like Maks always seems so get someone glamorous. I guess it comes down to what will be the most entertaining. On SCD if a pro gets a good celeb one year they do tend to get someone not so good the next year, but of course you can never be sure who might be good or not and sometimes is is a real test of the pro's choreographic skills. We hear a lot about SCD pros and celebs being paired by height too.


The one thing that always goes through my mind (and it did again this week), is why do most of the couples on DWTS always seem to be better than those on SCD?

I mean it is only week 3 and apart from the two Steves, most of last night's performances seemed way a head of what we would see on SCD in week 3. Is it all down to SCD being stricter technically than DWTS or am I missing something?

Lili27: I agree with all you say about the comparison between dwts and scd. They are the same but very different, and both - I think - are great.

You are right about the camerawork though - it is one of the greatest complaints from scd fans, and I have to add the band. The US band is far superior to the UK one - especially the singers (the UK singers are pretty dire at times!)

And I love your word: Hollyweird!!! That should be in the dictionary!

I think you are probably right - because we tend to concentrate on the technicalities of the dances our celebs are not as advanced as the american ones, however I was watching this week and most of the foxtrots had about 3 steps of actual foxtrot in them and the rest was filler.

The dances look better because they're more showy and razzmatazz - if you put a week 3 celeb from the US against a week 3 celeb from the UK and taught them to do a Ballroom foxtrot I bet they'd be of a similar standard.

That's two new words I've learned this week - Hollyweird and Autocutie! Thank you!

With Marlee and Heather I was really curious about how well they would do so their participation added interest. I'd include Cloris in there as well because I had no idea how she was going to do these dances.
I like how DWTS mixes it up in that way, it's something you don't see on SCD. In America they just have a greater variety of celebs that they can pick like a cowboy, a volley ball player, a 300lb football player,a billionaire.
I was expecting to hate Melissa I was expecting this fame seeking bimbo but she comes across as smart and really funny.
I actually prefer it if the celebs aren't known to me. It's always turned out the people who I thought I would really like always end up irritating me.

If they ever manage to get her on please don't pair her with Derek!

And I agree the camerawork and band and singers are much better on DWTS.

And the stunt casting continues with Republican house leader and crook Tom Delay getting chosen for Season 9 and already people are threatening to shut off their tvs. I would rather see Laila Rouass or Rav Wilding then him. Still, it's an interesting group this year with Melissa Joan Hart and Chuck Liddell. Sure there are weird choices and the skewing to the young side, but I still enjoy it when I get to see it. I mean every year, you get the " I don't know most of these people." comments on both sides, but I mean what do you expect? Jude Law or Johnny Depp are going to drop everything and spend 4 months practicing their dance moves?. You take who you can get. Sometimes, as with Delay, DWTS tries to shock people but fort herest it is harmless fun.

I think SCD is a much "bigger" show to the UK audience than DwtS is to the US audience. SCD gets 10 million viewers or so (out of 60 million) whereas DwtS only gets 20 million despite the population being 300 million (5 times more people yet only twice as many viewers.) The US So You Think You Can Dance is a bigger show among the under-40s I think (DwtS audience average is age 54 and more females than males.)

That said, I like both shows. I think ours (the US) has the hotter male pros. A LOT hotter. Maks, Alec, Derek, Mark, Dmitry - even Tony - they're just SIZZLING. (They're desperately trying to get a younger audience.)

And I think Tom's better than Brucie, but mainly because Tom is FABULOUS!! (I do like Brucie.) I think Tess is better than Samantha but hell, who wouldn't be...

I don't know if I'm annoyed at the bigger level of razzmatazz or not. I like Lacey's Gothic touches, a la Wade Robson or whatever his name is. I look forward to her weirding things out a bit. (just like I adored Camilla's Mein Herr number - and her showdance with Tom last season.)

Our golden triplets have a lot of Broadway spectacle-type things too - but mostly, I have to admit, I fall for them. Julianne did a Lucy and Ricky number a couple seasons ago I loved - I still think about certain of their numbers fondly. I think Flavia has some really memorable ones on the UK side as well. I guess, not being a dancer at ALL, I like the musical-comedy extravaganza and/or off-beat surreal stuff, though our showdances get WAY out of hand with the flashy/lifty cram-too-much-in business. (though SCD can be a bit like that too with those dances.)

Oh hell, since I don't give a hoot about "form" -- I'm fine with both shows, but the sexy American hunk pros win the day. (although none of them is American except Derek & he lived/trained in London from age 12 to 22.)

When I say whether or not I know the celebs, I'm just making a simple comment not complaining.

I'm with you on that remark! I don't know most of the celebs on SCD so have no chance with DWTS!!!

Me too. Although, I really don't expect to know them, on either show. DwTS rarely get huge international stars, who we'd be most likely to know, and I don't watch much UK tv, or read magazines, so I'm quite out of the loop for the level of 'celebs' Strictly gets too.

I usually know more celebs on SDC and by the time the show starts I know a bit more about the others!

I go to the hairdressers every four weeks and read all the gossip magazines like Heat when I'm there and if I get stuck over who someone is there is always somebody there who knows!

Apparently Tom Delay was a good social dancer in his youth and his daughter is a professional dancer so he at least has some interest in dance. He's paired with one of the better female pros. I think if he leaves politics out of the ballroom he could do better than expected.
But still I would rather see Rav Wilding than him


Got to agree, I think they are better looking and in better shape! I prefer their dancing as well.

My two cents:

The pros: I don't think one show has "better" pros. Each have their strenghts. On DWtS, Mark, Lacey & Chelsie excite me whereas pros like Edyta, Kim and Maks just don't. Dmitri is nice to look at but not convinced of his teaching ability. Similiarly on SCD, pros like Lilia, Darren, Brian, Flavia, Matthew and Brendan excite me, whereas Ian, Vincent (EURGH), Anton & James don't. I do think the pro dances om SCD are much better.

The band - DwtS wins hands down.

Presenters - SCD wins hands down.

Atmosphere - SCD, all the way. It's a lot classier. I hate the DWtS modern take.

Celebs - Who cares, really? Most of my favourite dancers have been people I never heard of - Tom Chambers, Gethin Jones, Shawn Johnson & the guy Cheryl had the season Kirsty won.

I'm an SCD girl though. I've watched it since I was 14 (I'm 19 now). I love it. And in many ways, DWtS is a total copy.

A few more points: Nobody, nobody can top the magic that is Darren and Lilia. Craig Revel Horwood us miles better than Carrie Ann.

Well technically speaking Mark is American despite his British mum I like both shows but celeb wise think the cast of DWTS has more proper celebs on it this year if celebs can be proper surely people have heard of Donny and melissa etc

As for the dancing I just ignore the fact they dont do the ballroom I am used to and that the tempo's etc are not correct (not that strictly gets the tempo right as laid down) but their band is so much better than the one on SCD - why don't they get a proper dance band in?

There are good and bad pros on each show but prefer the strictly dancers witha few exceptions