Sorry if this is a bit long!

Some people Online have said that Joanna's Paso was only good because of Derek's choreography. That helped a lot of course, but I think that's rather unfair to Joanna. She danced it very well and she has been consistent overall. It's the job of the professional to make the celeb look good anyway. Derek doesn't always get the choreography right either - Brooke's jive a few seasons ago was a total mess!

I think that Donny has been destined to win from the start, but I don't think he really deserves to. His dancing is fairly good, but he has been very overmarked at times. Donny's AT had fairly simple choreography and I was a bit shocked that it received such a high score. That was a bit unfair to the other contestants in my view. His Viennese Waltz was very like Mya's to me (not very traditional at all). Len did make a comment about it, but it still received a score of 26. Len has been very unfair to Mya overall.

I agree with you about Joanna as I thought she did a great job in the Paso - I don't think she missed a step at all.

Donny I don't agree with you about though, as his VW is my favourite ballroom dance of the series - it was just magical.

Mya has now made it quite clear she and Dmitry are dancing for the public vote by going for the WOW factor, rather than a good amount of technical content for each dance. They know Carrie Ann and Bruno will go for that style of performance too and that they will never get a really bad mark from Len, so they can get away with it. Personally I don't like that attitude, as I don't think it is in keeping with the spirit of the programme.

I agree Buddy. I too was quite shocked when they said they were going to ignore the technical aspects and just go for the WOW factor. Not quite cricket, you know!!

I am more and more thinking that Donny should win just because of the effort he has put into the whole thing, the "performance" of each dance and the fact that's he's not at all bad at it which is amazing considering that he's also appearing in Vegas with Marie and is running himself ragged every week trying to get through it all. He rarely complains and just gets on with it.

Joanna is good but for some reason I just don't warm to her. I love Derek but she doesn't seem to have much of a personality to me.

I'm guessing those are the three who will go through to the final but you can never tell exactly how popular Kelly is with the public so it might be a Mya/Donny/Kelly finale. I suspect Mya's showdance will be completely spectacular but I really don't think she deserves to win.

I am still not sure who i want to win. Derek does make Joanna look better than she is.
Mya probably shouldn't be in the competition because she is a professional dancer.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/M%C3%BDa
Even Len hinted that he was going to mark her harder than the rest at the start of the show.
Mya is the most talented dancer i have ever seen in both SCD and DWTS but i have heard she is a pro dancer.
Maybe Donny should win. If Mya had Derek as her partner then she would have it would be wrapped up already. Mya looks like the one teaching Dmitry.

The problem I have with Donny's VW is that a lot of it wasn't in hold.

Derek does make Joanna look good, but then you could say the same about all of the other partnerships too.

Mya is an accomplished dancer, but she didn't know anything about Ballroom dancing. Is she actually a professional dancer? Sabrina had a lot of dance experience and people said that Kristi had an unfair advantage too. I'd still like the best dancer to win, even though Donny has it in the bag.

Yes, Buddy, I completely agree with that sentiment.

When we were told that the couples would be putting a spin on the traditional dances, my heart sank and I thought the show would turn into a farce.

Boy was I wrong!

Joanna and Derek's futuristic Paso was sensational.

The choreography was so creative and Joanna executed it remarkably well.

I was blown away.

Wish we could steal Derek for the UK version!

I also enjoyed Donny's 80's inspired Paso.

I didn't rate Kelly's bizarre Jive at all though. All that thumb-sucking and playing with the doll was just icky. And she struggled to keep up with the tempo of the dance. The judges were too soft on her.

I also feared the worst about the decade-themed dances but was blown away by Joanna and Derek's Paso.

If I am remembering correctly, Mya and Donny have consistently had the highest percentage of the votes on VoteNumber1, so I expect one of those to win the mirrorball trophy. If Mya outscores Donny in judges' points, I think she wins.

While her dance background doesn't particularly bother me - the show has the right to have anyone on who meets their criteria - I do wonder why Mya scrubbed her website of the following section which used to be there:

http://web.archive.org/web/200005100.../mya/main.html

That used to be my thought about any VW on DWTS, but now I am more used to the USA standards and I've just accepted there will be a lot of 'arty farty' stuff (as Len would say) in all the dances on DWTS.


Hi sweetie! <smooooch>

I've really enjoyed the changes on DWTS this year and would like to see SCD pick up a few of them -[LIST=1][*]the double elimination weeks with the 'dance off' dance [*]dancing the Charleston and the Jitterbud (instead of the Rhumba and the Samba)[*]the decade theme[/LIST]
I do like Kelly though, for me she's not good enough to win - go Donny & Kym!

I'd like to see Derek and Mark - plus a couple of the others like Chelsie and Kym on SCD!

Evening gorgeous - mwah! x

Doesn't this final hour before Strictly drag?!

Anyway, yes I liked the double elimination twist.

I also enjoyed watching the Charleston and Jitterbug - although I'd want them as additions as opposed to replacements because the Rumba and Samba are my favourite Latin dances!

I started off liking and backing Kelly. But she's come across as a bit too needy and she wears this false smile constantly.

Since Natalie, Melissa and the Chinese geezer (I keep forgetting his name! It's so rude of me) have departed, I'd be happy for Donny to emerge victorious - I'm a big fan of his partner Kym.

I loooved Joanna's Paso! Derek is some sort of genius. It was brilliant! They have got to win!

Lol, Sid! His name is Mark! I miss him though, he had much more to give.

Donny annoys me, he's a bit too much of a performer.

What do you think of Mya?

I agree! I love Derek anyway, but that paso was amazing. It was completely fabulous, the whole concept and the choreography and the way it fitted her perfectly.

I'm another one who's loved all the different ways they've played with the programme's formula this year, and I wish they'd try it on Strictly. From new dances (jitterbug, lambada, bolero, two-step - ok, maybe not that one!) to the last-couple-standing dance off thing, the relay dances, the formation team challenge, and especially the decade-specific latin. Love it, really mixes it up a bit and makes it unpredictable.

Hiya sweetie! <smoooch!>

I think Kelly is needy, but I can certainly understand why with her parents, so I can make allowances for her. Louis clearly 'gets' her I'd say (love him to bits).

Kym is my favourite DWTS pro, so I'm glad Donny is with her and I'd love them to win!


I think Mark would have done better with a different pro as I didn't feel that he gelled with Lacey. I thought he was very good, although I could have done without as many jumps, etc. - but he was really great at them!

It's funny because I was a David Cassidy fan when I was growing up and it was my best friend that was the Donny fan. But I've loved watching him since he did Joseph and the Technicolor Dreamcoat as he was fab in it!

Mya shouldn't be on the show.

I don't really have a problem with her being there - I don't think she's any better than Kristi was, and I don't think she's had any more advantage than Kristi or Sabrina, or even Mel B. And at least she has some decent competition - Kristi was never really challenged in dance terms, the guys were there because they had better stories (as much as I loved them).

Out of all the celebs that have appeared on DWTS and SCD, Mya is the first one that I have thought shouldn't be there. Her past dance and choreography experience is too much of an advantage for her and a celeb should never have the technical ability to be so dominant in the training room. As I said on another thread, the way it comes over to me is that this is just another job for her, she is not learning to dance in the same way as any other celeb on this type of show. To me including Mya as a celeb is not 'Strictly Ballroom'!

Not a lot

She's not easy to warm to and I object to her extensive prior dance experience. I know that's a contentious issue but like Buddy, I do prefer my celebs to start pretty much from scratch

I have only recently heard that Mya is a professional dancer, but must admit I did wonder. What sort of dancing does she do - I just thought she was a singer. I agree that anyone with a real dance background shouldn't be in the show.

Last week I loved Joanna and Derek's paso. Thing about it was, although it was "themed" and extremely well done do, it was STILL an authentic paso doble.

Of the others, Donny looks as if he is getting tired, he doesn't seem to have the same energy he started with; and although I like Kelly, she needs a boost of energy. She is only young but seems to lack that extra bit of pizz-azz and I think is sometimes over generously marked.

Being in UK I had never heard of Aaron, but absolutely loved his jive of a couple of weeks ago. But how on earth was he justifiably top of the leaderboard with the judges, but in the dance-off with the viewers? What has he done that makes him so unpopular?

Personally, I think Aaron is too uptight and I find his movements when he dances aren't smooth and artistic - they are too sharp/jerky.

I'm not at ease when I watch him.

I agree with you Kaycee, that Aaron jives was incredible, was all about a Jive should be. For me the best jive from a Male celebirity danced on DWTS or SCD. I loved so much that I have it in my favourites dance.
I think the public didn't like him because he was too much hyper and someone here mention in this forum , at the start at the show he came accross inmature to the public at home. But I have to said that jive was incredible.

I know that she's a trained tap dancer - not sure if she's trained in any other kind of dance, but she'll obviously be used to picking up routines etc easily.

I don't like her - she's smug which isn't an attractive feature and I hope she goes this week.

I did want Aaron to win but that can't happen now and because I loved Derek and Joanna's paso soooooooo much, I'm going to be backing them from now on - I love Derek anyway so that's ok! lol

Excerpts from Wiki:

Mýa took violin lessons throughout her childhood, but dancing was her primary after-school activity. She took ballet lessons from the age of two and added jazz and tap dancing lessons to her schedule two years later. She entered some dance competitions with her brother as a partner, and then joined the Tappers With Attitude troop as a ten-year-old. Her tap dancing skills led to an opportunity to study with one of the best-known tap dancers in the country, Savion Glover of the Dance Theater of Harlem, when he came to Washington for a workshop. Glover later chose Mýa for a solo spot in a dance performance at the Kennedy Center.

While she continued to study dance and appeared on Teen Summit on the Black Entertainment Television network, Mýa changed her focus to music as she entered her teens.

"I definitely want to be able to sing and back that up, and being a dancer first has sort of given me a complex that I have to be able to sing, period, with a band."

Harrison is a versatile performer. As a child, she had terrible stage fright, but dancing eventually gave the all-around performer the confidence she needed to test the waters as a singer. She’s best known for her aggressiveness, carelessness, and fluttering, expressive vocals on stage. Captivating audiences around the globe, as both a sassy, soulful singer and a supremely gifted dancer, when she steps on stage or behind a microphone Mýa doesn’t just blossom, she ignites; improvising tap dance numbers, strutting and voguing and in control, commanding the stage with an energy and passion that have made her one of today’s most popular performers.

Interesting!! I'm with Buddy - I don't think she should be on DWTS.

Aaron's jive was his best dance, but it was the one most suited to him - he could use the nervous energy to keep the pace up.

I think what Carrie-Anne said was extremely accurate, when he danced his rumba (I think) and she said he was trying too hard and put people off, it was exactly how I felt. I think that may have a lot to do with him not getting the votes, plus he's not that famous, and got started off the back of his brother's career anyway. I think he was as needy as Kelly is, but I would guess that is far less appealing in a male celeb, maybe.

I'd also prefer Joanna and Derek to win over Mya and Dmitry, but I'm not sure they will. I still think this is Donny's to lose, but if Derek continues to pull off dances like that Paso, then they could give them a good run. I think she has improved the most out of the remaining dancers.

THanks for all that info, Force Ten. I'd never heard of Mya before, and she was introduced as a singer at start of series, but I agree with all those who say she shouldn't be on the show. But there's nearly always someone, isn't there, who has a dance-type background? What about that fabulous skater who was an ice dancer? Swapping iceskates for a pair of dance shoes must have been a piece of cake!

As for Aaron - I agree with above, and with Carrie-Ann's comments about his rumba being off putting, and apart from his quickstep, his ballroom was dreadful. But when he did pull such a fab dance out of the bag, yet still didn't get the viewers votes, it seemed that it was more than just his dancing they didn't like. I must admit, I was surprised when someone (might have been Len) said he was 20 - I thought he was about 17.

That was Kristi - she won with Mark in season 6. Last season Melissa got it for having done ballet and being a cheerleader.

Aaron Carter will actually be 22 next month. He started his singing career when he was 10, opening for the Backstreet Boys, because his big brother is Nick Carter. Most recently he seems to be famous just for being famous and dating Lindsay Lohan.