I agree about the bb dresses - they always cover the knees, but they shouldn't be so long that they also cover the feet - as you quite rightly say, was the case with Rachel. Apart from anything else, overlengthed bb dresses are dangerous - if lady steps back correctly, she will almost definitely tread on the dress and slip.

Having said that, as you will understand, an experienced judge will be able to tell whether a lady is bending her knees correctly by the quality of her movement - even by watching head and shoulders level, he/she can tell if the correct footwork has been danced. The problem with scd is there is only 1 judge experienced enough, and if he disagrees with the other 3 less experienced judges - he is the one who is slated!!

Sorry you're right - I shouldn't ask you to put your head on the chopping block to satisfy my curiosity - however if you want to PM me then feel free. I won't be offended if it turns out to be a celeb I supported which I half suspect it might be although I do have other suspicions too. It's almost certainly a male celeb of that I'm convinced.

Tbh I don't think any of the fans here are particularly agressive But then I came here from the beeb boards of SCD5 so Afganistan would probably seem ok after that experience

LOL! I take it you never been threatened by PM yet then?

I had my baptism of terror in my very first month on here!

Really? You've never posted anything I've seen that struck me as being imflammatory, Buddy Stuff I might not altogether agree with maybe, but not personal...

OMG thats horrible ! did you report it to the mods ?

Exactly! I was SO shocked! I had PMs from a couple of other people saying they had also received nasty PMs from the same person (who still posts on here BWT) - I felt like I'd been initiated into a special club or something LOL!

Serious though, it was not a nice experience.

I did report it to the mods, but they said the member hadn't actually broken any of the T&Cs. I've noticed there are quite a few members who walk the line of the T&Cs very closely.

I agree about the difficulties of long dresses. I went on a cruise recently and although the formal nights are very nice, my dresses were a bit on the long side and this did deter me from dancing.

Although Len can annoy me, I do like his attention to footwork. There are some very basic principles (e.g. heel leads, straightening of leg in latin as you mentioned earlier) which, if absent, I would expect to be commented on by any judge worth their place. It's very easy to spot the problems with the upper body, but not so easy to pick up on someone's footwork because you've got to be quite quick to see it - I admit something I find difficult to spot (although not helped by the cameras). If I have a criticism of Arlene it is that she does go for the obvious in her comments.

It's getting tiresome coming on here just to agree with you vivacious lady but I do agree that as much as Len gives me the hump - especially when he's got the hump - he does help an idiot like me with his comments on the footwork.

Incidentally, I've been looking back at previous SCD's and apart from Arlene using the phrase 'That was the most virile waltz I've ever seen' on 3 seperate occasions, what I noticed most of all is that Bruno appears to say very little of substance at all...Ho hum!

It's nice to have someone agree with me after a long hot and tiring day.

Maybe that's why Arlene has to leave before the next series starts. If the waltz's are becoming increasingly virile, it might take only one more performance for her to be completely overcome and faint in front of the viewers.

As for Bruno, I've seen no evidence that Bruno knows anything whatsoever about ballroom. And only marginal evidence in respect of his knowledge of latin.

Edit: The lack of comments about footwork are interesting. For example, if I hadn't had lessons, I would never know from watching SCD that your feet are supposed to be turned out on certain latin steps.

Maybe I should qualify my previous comment, since there are differing views on when and how much feet should be turned out, and so maybe better for the judges not to go there!

After all our speculation we'll probably get the same four judges!

With the possible exception of Craig who has done a little ballroom, Len is the only one who really knows about the correct footwork, and I agree that the camera work doesn't really give the viewer much opportunity to see the feet.

But an experienced competition judge (as Len is) can instantly spot when footwork is wrong - they can do this when there are 15-18 couples on the floor, so only having to watch 1 (scd) is no problem! It is even possible to tell if footwork is wrong by watching the upper body.

Your right all this panic for nothing!

Although I wanted Alesha to win her series I can't agree that she was a better dancer than Mark. At his best he was the best and I believe that it is harder for the male contestants. I think the overall marks reflect that.

Alesha might make a good presenter but I have read that Tess is returning.

Arlene has officially said she hasn't heard anything from the BBC!

...and probably to the relief of most of us, albeit for different reasons

Btw...If Arlene does return I'm putting a tenner on the phrase 'That was the most virile VW I've ever seen!' returning for a fourth outing

As well as 'you've got so much style, you must have been born with style' which she's said at least three different times. Also 'you must have been a dancer in a former life'. The virile VW is by far the worst though!

Who has she said it to- Mark, Ray and Kenny?

Spot on Katie! I'm not sure if it's down to a lack of imagination or part of some kind of bet though...

Arlene didn't make that remark about a virile VW to Mark! She just said 'I'm pleased to say that you will be batting in the final, that was fantastic' and then went on to comment on Karen's dress!

So perhaps it's only twice whe said that one although she does repeat herself, as does Len at times!!

I'm afraid you've got the wrong Mark, dayglo ...She said it to Mark Foster

Sorry....................only know of one Mark Didn't take much notice of Mark Foster as I didn't like him on SCD

Was Mark's VW virile? It was flipping dull whatever else it was!

Edit: Just checked and I don't think he actually did a VW. No wonder I couldn't remember it!

I checked as well...the whole of SCD6 in double-quick time! and I can't find the reference either

*Moves on to SCD5 discs becoming increasingly frustrated*

I'm sure I've heard the phrase 3 times, anyone got any ideas? Or is my imagination running away with itself? I heard this sort of thing happens to you as you get older but never thought it would happen to me

A virile waltz is most likely to be performed by a sportsman, I think. Would expect it to be Kenny and possibly Austin, but I'm too lazy to check back.