For me I much prefer dwts for a couple of reasons.

1. I can not abide Bruce Forsyth he is co presenter with the equally inane Tess but he is constantly trying to make the show about himself with his childish jokes and giving his opionions on the performances .He is supposed to be a presenter end of and he cant even do that right.
dwts presenter Tom Berenger knows how to do his job well and can still make the audience laugh with his one liners .

2. For some reason dwts seem to get a better class of celebs who seem to improve week after week and sometimes end up dancing as well as the pro;s.

I love both shows but Bruce is ruining scd for me.

There's not much that isn't preferable to std.

You beat me to it lol
Last edited by Bonnie96 : 22-11-2009 at 00:31

I was thinking along the same lines.

SCD all the way, at least I know the celebrities, with DWTHB's I hardly know anyone.

For me they are two different shows, each with their own good points and bad points.

The SCD producers could certainly learn a thing or two from DWTS about how to keep the excitement going throughout the series and also how to handle someone dropping out of the show.

In that context, what would DWTS stand for?

Despite it's flaws, I much, much prefer SCD. I can't abide the American pro dancers -- I would much rather watch our pros.

Doesn't bear thinking about

The Americans are much more polished and slick which can be OTT but everyone seems to be at a much higher standard by the quarters than the Brits offerings.
The compare is better, keeps his thoughts to himself mostly which is a refreshing change from 'I know it all' Brucie.
Still prefer SCD though.

I like SCD but it is a bit boring compared to DWTS imo.
Mya is probably the best dancer ever to appear on any of the shows but i still want Donny to win this years show. They should do a USA vs UK.

I love watching Derek Hough, but all in all I prefer SCD. Probably because I know the celebs and dancers more. However in saying that I do think the standard in DWTS is much much higher.

I like both although I do find DWTS more entertaining. Has for watching the pro's they are much the same as ours with very few home grown Americans in it. You only have to look at the quality of Brian and Kristina to know how well they all dance. Derek Hough is amazing when he puts a dance together, I know I've mentioned it before but do watch the futuristic Paso he did if you can. Sorry but in a head to head DWTS would win. Even the interviews with the losers are better again if you can watch Derek's on you tube. His partner is on the cover of play-boy magazine and he his advised to wear loose clothing when he looks at it. LOL

It's very difficult to compare the two (as I think someone else has said) because the audiences and,therefore, the choreography is so different.

American audiences want pizzazz, tricks and flicks and a good deal of style over substance. The technical step content of the DWTS dances is not as great as that required for the dances on SCD. The audience would probably be a little bored by a traditional quickstep say, so the American pros throw in every trick in the book in the way of lifts and flashy moves. I agree, it all looks very flash and slick and there certainly doesn't seem to be anyone on the US show to rival the incompetency of the worst of the UK celebs but we're not really comparing like with like. Although the DWTS dances look better, they are actually not as difficult overall.

It would be interesting to see how some of the American celebs would manage if they had to perform a dance "straight" with all the technical content that is required for SCD. I'm sure they would be competent, but I don't think we would be remarking on the apparent increase in ability of the American celebs so much.

I'd quite like to see some kind of trial merger of the two shows. Have a mixture of American/UK celebs/pros and alternate weeks. Have one week where the dance has to follow the traditional format like on SCD and the following week where anything goes a la DWTS. That might sort out the men from the boys...

I usd to like DWTS but now, not so much. It is too gimmicky for me, although there are some entertaining dances. They do have 2 series each year though and I suppose they need to do something more than straight ballroom to keep the viewing levels up, as ratings are the only thing that counts.

They have had celebs who are just as bad as the worst we've had on SCD (Edyta seems like the US version of Anton in that regard) but where the US celebs really score for me, is in performance. They rarely seem to be frozen with nerves or at least they don't talk about it so much. Most of them, even the bad ones go onto the floor with a confidence that allows them to outperform if not outdance, their SCD counterparts.

I love Tom Bergeron, though. Samantha for me, is about on a par with Tess, adequate but nothing more.

Tom Bergeron and the DWTS music are streets ahead of SCD.

I agree that some of the dances they are now adding do make it look a bit "gimmicky" such as the Texas Two-Step and Bolero (fancy Rumba in my eyes still).

I think the pros on DWTS have to be given credit for how well they've managed to build up their personality on the show seeing as they don't have an equivelent ITT, which is how we grown to love/hate certain pros.

Tom is great on the show, brings a very relaxed feel to it all and it seems as though all these shows have to come with a Tess' like personality. She's just as useless backstage. The only thing they're missing is a Claudia - every program should have one IMO .

That's a good point. The lower end US celebs may be bad but at least they're fluently and stylishly bad. The UK ones are just... bad.

It makes SCD look like a cheap, tacky end of the Prom amateur show.

Everything is better, more polished, more professional and vastly more entertaining than SCD. There is a far greater variety of dance, better guest artists, two superb presenters, a band that actually can play and singers who stay in tune.

They put far more variety into the choreography, the costumes are a zillion times better and the 'stars' are actually interesting. Even the male pros are more like men and less like Penge sequins. They dance like male leads whereas the SCD boys are lovely but far too mannered and OTT.

SCD can't compete at all. Of course I prefer DWTS. No contest. If I want to watch trash TV (SCD, X Factor, DWTS) I want to be entertained!

That's the main reason why I don't like DWTS. I prefer traditional ballroom.

I see your point. I think quite a lot of the British public would think like you. I quite like the showy style on DWTS but it can get a bit much; you find yourself thinking "Put some bloody content in!" It often seems as though the pros are shoving a load of flash in just to get over the fact that their celeb aint very good. It's another reason why, as maltipom says, the lower calibre US celebs tend to sell their performances better than their British counterparts. Many of them would probably look just as awkward as the Brits do if they had to play it straight. I do think they handle their nerves better though.

I'll take DWTS anytime!

But is gonorrhoea REALLY that bad? Or chlamydia? Hm.

I can't see the DWTS love at all! Everytime I've watched it I have to "guess" what dance they're supposed to be doing. The judges seem to let the pros get away with murder in their choreography and some of the "great" dances/dancers wouldn't get away with the bad posture, footwork, timing on SCD. IMHO they're very different shows.

I agree with tabithakitten.

I think that the standard can look higher on DWTS because they don't dance as much of the steps of the set dance as on SCD, but do a lot of posing and 'swirly' bits! The introduction and the finale in each performance can each be a long as the set dance which makes a routine much easier to perform - something Len has really been moaning about so far on this series of DWTS. I know the US dances are less prescribed than in Europe, but some of the dances are almost unrecognisable in comparison to SCD e.g. the VW. Plus the audience loves all the showy stuff and boo Len when he quite rightly says there wasn't enough actual dance steps, but even I can see what he is talking about.

On DWTS the celebs are taught routines that contain far less of the technical content of each dance and a lot more of what Len would call faffing about. The level of technique learned on SDC is higher than on DWTS, but the routines on DWTS are more pleasing to the public. I'd say Kelly would be on a par with Natalie if she was on SDC. Mya is a pro dancer as far as I'm concerned. Donny and Joanna are like Ricky and Ali.

Like Natalie Lowe, Mya has also said on camera that they will keep doing routines that please the public rather than Len - they both know the other judges like the showy stuff too.

DWTS has played about with the format and dances for the last couple of series and I like what happened on DWTS this series. Around the half way point in the series there are two weeks with a double elimination and in those weeks, the couple with the lowest score after the public vote goes home. The next two lowest scoring couples are in a dance off and the judges choose which couple to save. The twist is that when the double elimination weeks start, every couple left in the competition has to prepare a 30 second dance off dance of their choice, so they get those 30 seconds to do their best to impress the judges enough to save them. The dance off dances are not show dances and normal rules apply (i.e. no lifts). It is a great way of starting with a lot of couples and still keeping the series to a reasonable length of time. I'd love to see this done on SCD as it really adds to the excitement of the show, as does revealing in stages every week ('The Moment of Truth' bit), who is safe and who is in the bottom three and in still in jeopardy.

At the end of the day DWTS has to keep the audience happy to keep the show's network happy, to keep the advertisers happy!

BTW Dancers from DWTS have competed against SCD dancers in the "Champion of Champions" showdown as the Christmas Special in 2005. The final four couples from Series 3 of SCD - Colin & Erin, James & Camilla, Zoe & Ian & Darren & Lilia - with Evander Holyfield (& Karen Hardy), and Rachel Hunter (& Brendan Cole). Darren won, Rachel was fourth and Evander was last (he was dreadful!). Rachel and Evander were on the first series of DWTS and there were only 6 couples. Rachel was 4th and Evander was 5th.

It would be good to see finalists from both shows compete, but what rules would they follow? I'd say make it a two stage competition - dance one in the UK under SCD rules and one in the USA under DWTS rules!