and I thought last year was bad..

Last year we had;

Rachel, Lisa, Austin, Tom, Christine as the final 5.

This year we have;

Laila, Ricky, Ali, Chris, Natalie as the final 5.

*Sigh*

I hate to say it but this show is really going down hill, not impressed by the "rock and roll" two very similiar dances added that will not suit anybody except Ricky W.

Looks like we have Ali vs Ricky W. *facepalm*

And? Perhaps some people like Laila, Ricky, Ali, Chris, and Natalie.

I like all of them actually.
Not so much Ricky W though.
(i<3laila)

But the dancing compared to last year is not nearly to the same standard.

Coincidentally or not, Strictly hasn't been the same since the advent of the DO.

It's still a good show but the last 3 series have all had significant problems.

I think the failure of the 'rules' to do more to help ensure a 3 couple final is particularly unforgiveable.

We were bound to have a bad year sooner or later.

The standard is poor this series. The likes of Natalie, Chris and Laila, who are playing catch up, are great personalities but not consistent enough in their dancing. They give us one good week followed by one bad.

And the two front runners aren't as exciting as previously talented celebs such as Ramps, Alesha and Jill. They haven't wowed me as much as I thought they would in week one.

Jade is going to be sorely missed in the final. She blossomed as a dancer and I was warming to her personality too.

It didn't look great at the start and now with Jade and Ian gone, it's a bit rubbish.

The standard just isn't there, now we've only got one couple, Ricky and Natalie who can do both Latin and ballroom, it's a mess really.

I prefer this year to the last two

Series 4 was the last series I loved though, I was obsessed with it back then lol.

We should be looking at..

Ricky, Ali, Zoe, Jade, Laila

To be honest.

I like all three girls left, Ricky W is growing on me but Chris is starting to annoy me a little..

in a word, yes it is

the only decent dancers are ricky, ali and jade - now jade is gone and ali hasn't been stand out

I must admit I'm struggling a little bit this year with Strictly. I don't like Alesha as a judge and I don't think the standard is as good as other years. The dresses are shocking and not in a good way! And some of the music choices have been questionable.

The standard of dancing compared to DWTS is pretty bad.

I understand where the OP is coming from, at this point it doesn't look very good, losing Jade is a total disaster, I think I know who is going to win.

I must admit it is the worst SCD that I have seen, the only two worth watching is Ali and Ricky, and although they are good they just leave me cold.

I watched DWTS for the first time ever last night, and have to admit their four semi finalists were far better than any four of the five we have left. RW and Ali could hold their own, but even Kelly Osborne would blow away any of the others.

Poor show tonight, and the one ten given was not deserved. Ah well...

I agree with the OP. Can't get interestsed in this years' at all. The only people left who seem to have any aptitude don't seem to have the charisma on the dancefloor that others have, and neither are the relationships very engaging. Normally, i am looking forward to SAt. by this stage. I forgot it was on tonight. Haven't bothered with itt either.

It hasn't helped that the music choices have been terrible, the costumes awful and the guest singers mostly well well past their sell by. Only memorable thing for me thus far has been Matt Cutler and the red heads hip hop inspired thingy.

You summed it up for me Sid. I can only sigh if only Jade was there she at least had sone perosnality as well as been able to dance. I am so gutted for her

I actually prefer this year to last year. I didn't didn't really support any of the final 5 last year - I mean, I prefer some to others, but none of them really engaged me. I accept that others might think it's a good series though.

Personality and magic on the dance floor is subjective. It might be the worst for some people, but not others.

Aren't we being a bit bleak here? The Blackpool show was brilliant, as was last week's unexpected Tess and Claudia show - then there was Matthew and Aliona's scorching routine, a few weeks back! - and like them or not personality wise, Ricky W and Ali are as good as any previous contestants in the dancing department. And it's been lovely the way people have warmed to Ola this year. Yes there are things to moan about, but what's new there? :yawn: We were lucky to have Jade as long as we did. Long live Strictly!

Wish i could agree. I am usually so hooked by now.

Really not bothered.

Despite being an avid strictly fan from the very first show - I have to say the prospect of firstly ANOTHER two couple final followed by the prospect of it being Ali Bastian and Ricky Whittle as the last two standing fills me with total dread.

Slowly but surely over the last couple of weeks the "characters" have gone - and before the "dancers" among you give me grief - yes I do appreciate good dancing but in a prime time Saturday evening show I would really like to be "entertained" as well. IMHO the two most lacking in character and personality are the two looking most likely for the final.

I HATE the bloody dance off and the fact that when someone drops out through an unforeseen matter - we STILL lose a couple.

..........and finally - did anyone else have trouble getting through to vote tonight - it was only in the last 3 or 4 mins that the lines for Anton and Ricky G weren't engaged hmmmm

I agree that it is going downhill and tonights episode was painful in many ways BUT how can we complain about the standard of dancing - they are all meant to be celebraties starting out, learning to dance as beginners. some will develop more or quicker than others - or not at all - how is anyone at the Beeb to blame for that - they surely cannot tell how well people will do - there have been surprise across the series.
so whilst the format, the judges, the music etc could be changed, we can't really complain about the standard of dancing if people are trying - can we?

I agree from a personal point of view, my two favourites went last week in one fell swoop

I also agree that this year, it has been rather more predictable with the factof any of the chasing pack (I would say lalia, chris, phil, natalie) failing to make that crucial step up which has previously come around week 6/7/8 where things 'clicked' for the likes of Austin, Goughie etc. Not having warmed at any point in the series to either Ali or Ricky (for no particular reason) this has made it a bit of a damp squib for me and I am really disappointed that I find myself not looking forward to the next few weeks.

I think, if we had been looking towards a three-couples final I would have predicted Chris, Ali, Ricky, which would have left the imagination open to Chris & Ola producing something spectacular in the final to make a game of it, as it is, however I am struggling to see anything other than an Ali v Ricky final. This would make for a good couple of hours dancing, but I would find myself personally indifferent to which of those two actually won.

As I see it, the only other possible scenario would be if those two couples should end up in a dance off against one another and one is lost, but that would mean the end of the series as a contest as other would be bound to reach the final, and (rightly) the standard of dancing does usually come through as the decisive factor.

You kind of know who is going to be in the final. Ricky and Ali are almots embarrasingly better than the others. It does take a lot of fun out of the show.

BTW even by his standards Bruce was dreadful tonight.

It was really boring tonight. None of the dances moved me whatsoever. Blah blah blah

Agree - BUT by now they've had 13 or 14 weeks one to one training with someone at the top of their profession. So that's (conservatively) about 225 hours.

Usually by now the celebs really have it nailed and are consistently performing at a high standard. But with the obvious exceptions these guys aren't. Not the beeb's fault - just one of those things.

And it was a very low scoring round tonight, only 2 couples made it over 30
Not quite what you would expect, surely?