Originally Posted by Iphigenia:
“I'm a big Brucie fan - just for sheer nostalgia's sake.
By the same token, I like the faintly end of the pier feel of the whole show - the glamour of the dancing and the frocks, the slightly amateur feel of the rest of it. Again, it's nostalgic, warm, Saturday-evening viewing, and it works for me. I really wouldn't watch something that was transatlantically slick or over-theatrical.
Apart from anything else, the format of SCD doesn't take itself too seriously, it's only about dancing, after all.
What I would like is to have fewer contestants, so that the programmes were shorter; and that the contestants were chosen/hired from among people who had the possibility of being able to achieve. Not being a dancer but willing to give it a go, is one thing; but the humiliation value of Lynda and Natalie and, in the past Letitia Dean, in fact all the big women has just been unkind. Yes, LD improved a lot but picking large ladies with no dancing history just seems unkind, the creating of a freak show by allowing the judges to comment negatively about personal appearance rather than ability/performance. Men who have shown no aptitude, the Dancing Pig and, this season, the Block of Wood are just as embarrassing. Cruel is never funny for me.
5 judges is a good idea.
I didn't hear the Stone Joke - oh, I just got it as I wrote it. Duh. You mean she hasn't really lost weight? I'd been going to say I'd be delighted if anyone thought I'd lost a stone. Oh. Got it now.”
I agree with most of your post. However, aren't you being rather dismissive of those ladies with a "fuller figure" ?
If you go to Latin countries, you will often find the female dancers are more mature with ample figures. Of course, the professional circuit may be completely different, but the "story" of some latin dances often requires a more "experienced looking" performer..I'm trying to choose my words carefully.
