I agree, I don't think many people do improve that much to be honest.

Darren Gough and Matt Dawson stand out as people who had massive breakthroughs in ability.

But Mark Ramprakash, Alesha, Rachel Stevens and loads more were always good and didn't get 'that' much better.

Ricky had a transformation last week in terms of performing to the audience and Chris has picked up a bit of technique here and there but it's a bit spurious to say either should win because they have improved drastically.

Here`s an idea although it may seem daft - why don`t peeps just ignore this type of thread instead of giving the OPs more attention?

So this is why people start moaning about any discussion before it gets offensive? Effectively that does mean that any discussion of him is jumped on immediately. Look at this thread and all the nasty, unconstructive things said in response to the post. Was that necessary?

It's got nothing to do with 'honest criticism'. It's because of the over-abundance of threads decrying Chris's place in the final, questioning his dancing ability (which he does have although not one supporter has ever tried to maintain he is in any way better than Ricky or even Ali (and neither has he) and all the incredibly personal, cruel and unfair (and unwarranted) insults which have been thrown his way simply because he has reached the final of a flippin' light entertainment show!

It's gotten to the point now where as Chris and Ola fans (and I was an Ali and Brian fan as well, incidentally, as well as a Jade and Ian fan) we're so damned tired of seeing criticism of him for even being in the final that we cannot be bothered any more.

It's no use in us even trying for the most part. Because people have made up their minds and are going to dislike him/blame him for Ali and Brian's 'dismissal from the show (that was the voters, not Chris and Ola!)/badmouth him 'just in case' he beats Ricky (so that they can then revisit those insults if he should by any chance, (heaven forfend!) win irrespective of anything anyone else says in defense

(And then we're labelled as being blind, or stupid or thick for voting for him. How polite - not).

Honestly, why can't we simply all enjoy the final and what it will bring to Saturday night instead of starting multiple threads dedicated to insulting one of the contestants (and isn't that all this is? He hasn't won the flippin show. Why are we getting our knickers in a twist about any improvement (or not) BEFORE the final when we don't even know what will happen?).

And - there are numerous other threads out there in which you could have made the same point. Why start a new one if you didn't want to be noticed?

But you wanted an answer? Here.

Maybe the rumba was better in week one, but as has been pointed out by numerous professionals (you know, the ones who actually KNOW about dancing!) on ITT, there were things he was doing in the Argentinian tango and the Charleston from the other week and various other routines) which he could not have done in week one because of the way he has improved.

Don't take my word for it. Take the word of those who have appeared on ITT - the professional dancers. The ones who actually know a thing or two about this.

There - that erudite enough for you? Or would you like me to try harder?

I'm going to be honest and quite harsh here and say the OP has a point.

As likable as I find Chris & Ola and as much fun as their dancing has been to watch, I would have liked to have seen a bit more progress. I was so looking forward to their Rumba last weekend, and yes it moved me just as much as their first attempt did, but I knew the judges would talk about Chris' splayed hands and lack of hip action and I was disappointed that he and Ola didn't at least try to fix those things. On ITT the other night, Chris showed a slight disregard for the technical aspects of dance (can't remember his exact words but they were along the lines of "I didn't care, I just wanted to enjoy every second of the dance"). I understood where he was coming from when he said that but I wish he could have both enjoyed what he thought was one of his last performances and shown that he'd developed as a dancer.

Ricky, on the other hand, has made visible improvements recently. I really admired him for trying to correct his pigeon-toes. It's that attention to detail that really made him go up in my estimation.

So I'm in a bit of a dilemma now. I'm more attached to Chris & Ola. I've invested more time and emotion in them throughout the series. But I've begun to prefer Ricky & Natalie's dancing and I like their attitude.

It's going to be tough to decide who to vote for at the weekend. I might just leave it to everyone else to decide!

Chris's rumba may not have shown huge improvement, but he and Ola did get the same score as Ali and Brian in the Argentine Tango - and this was a dance that Ola (to the best of my knowledge) hadn't done before, whereas Brian has been reported as having danced this. It is possible that they felt that they needed to put more time into this.

As to his hands, he did seem to try to correct them during the routine which he doesn't seem to be credited with.

In the interests of fairness

Week 2 - Waltz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rEkr1...eature=channel

Semi-final - Waltz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1v2-1Z8_cMc

I think Ricky has improved quite a bit, the first waltz was good and the second outstanding.

I don't think i did insult Chris, i actually think he is a nice guy i just don't rate him that highly as a dancer and i think that Ricky deserves to win. There's nothing wrong with healthy debate about the dances though aslong as it doesn't resort to insults.

I hope everyone will enjoy the final regardless of who wins


I didn't see any threads about the improvement he has made but i admit that i should have tried harder to search before i started this thread


No need to try harder lol thanks for the sensible reply

of course you do!

I think the OP made a very fair and valid point. He has come in for a lot of really unecessary and unfair criticism.
I compared the two dances out of interest and thank you to the OP for posting the links.

And thank you for being so polite and courteous back - it does make a refreshing change of late (- not from you, obviously, but those threads I mentioned - which are now obviously beginning to have quite a detrimental effect on my usual demeanour ... I am generally a lot calmer! I apologise if I seemed to come on a little strong.

I should take my own advice - this is a light entertainment show, after all!

I think the problem for me is that everyone seems to throw all Cola fans into one bag, shakes it and then assigns whatever result comes out of the bag to different individuals. There are lot of people who have stated that they do not vote for them or support them on improvement alone, or that they think that he is a better technical dancer than Ricky or Ali, or that he invented saturday night entertainment.

I think fans have already admitted that his rumba could have been better, but that his charleston and his AT were really good. Also, his foxtrott in Blackpool was better than the dance he did in the first week.

However, all of these points don't matter as people do not use one criterion when voting/supporting people. Cola fans like Chris and Ola for a variety of different reason partnership, their dancing (I once compared it with CSI, us mere mortals might not know all the intricacies of the dance world) and their enjoyment. Ricky and Natalie are very good, and there is nothing wrong with them, but for some reason some of us cannot connect to them in the same way as with Chris and Ola.

Respect for being so open-minded and honest Sid.

I think he did very well in the tango too. Surprisingly well. But I don't think the judges credit you with improving on a fault within the dance, recovering well and quickly from a mistake - yes, but not correcting something that should ideally be dealt with before such as posture or hold. They should become more automatic with practice and so look more natural. So seeing someone trying to correct it is a flaw.

I think Chris has improved. He was in the begining pretty much like Laila forgetting his routines, making silly mistakes etc. I think Ola has also learned not to give him complex moves, repeating what he has learned from one dance and putting in filler moves to eat up their time but he has improved - just not as much as many others hve done over the years.

Thank you so much for this.

While I found last Saturday's rumba a bit disappointing, I took solace in Chris and Ola's Argentine Tango which, along with his Waltz, Foxtrot and Charleston, showed clear signs of improvement.

Having read your post, I now realise that I have been mistaken and shall now change my allegiances on Saturday, voting instead for the rightful winner of SCD7: Dave Arch.



The OP claims to be making valid comparisons. That might well have been the case had they not then accused Team Cola fans of being 'deluded'. So not such an objective case, after all, then ...

I'm afraid you just shot down your own argument and also generated some more votes for the 'sainted' (:yawn Chris.

The sarcastic post tactic grew old - very old - in 2006.

Cheers

That's exactly it. I have loved them since the beginning (and since before the onset of 'Team Cola' or all of the attendant stuff on ITT). Chris has always come across as a nice bloke and someone who has natural rhythm - even if he doesn't learn as fast as someone like, say, Ricky. that's not to say that I think Ricky is having it easy because Natalie does do incredibly complicated routines for him and he makes it LOOK easy (which can be a problem for some of us 'armchair' dancers as we tend not to see the difficulty of the routine sometimes).

Unfortunately, and for whatever reason (I've tried to find one, honest!). Ricky and Natalie have not connected with me personally as a viewer. I like him from what I've seen on the TV and his dancing is amazing (as Craig would say) - but he just doesn't engage me.

Maybe it's because we're all different with different tastes. We don't all like the same TV programmes, films, books, clothes, etc etc. if we did we wouldn't be human. We'd be automatons!

So some of us enjoy watching Chris and Ola. Some enjoy watching Ricky and Natalie (and some enjoyed watching Ali and Brian - and I was amongst them! It was a bittersweet moment on Saturday when it was between Chris and Ola and Ali and Brian!).

I loved Rachel from last year and didn't get why everyone said she had no personality (which isn't possible, by the way. Everone has a personality - they just meant she wasn't overt or loud or effervescent or whatever. Again, we're all different, with different personalities as well!). I adored her and Vincent and although my heart was with Tom I wouldn't have minded at all if she had won. In fact I would have been very glad.

My inability to connect with Ricky and Natalie (and I've tried! I've watched them intently and really attempted to 'feel' what I feel for Chris and Ola, what I felt for others in the past) reminds me of how I felt about Colin and Erin way back when. He was a wonderful, fluid dancer and yet the partnership left me cold (and feeling guilty for feeling that way!). I was a Zoe and Ian fan but I did love Darren and Lilia and was very glad when they won.

'Horses for courses'. We can't all like the same people (otherwise there would be no need for shows like this as everyone would just vote for one couple and all the others would have to go home at the beginning of the season!).

It would be nice, however if we could all just accept that people are going to enjoy certain couples more than others and desist from resorting to insulting either the fans or the couples that those fans enjoy (not necessarily this thread, by the way! The OP has not done that - although I think the 'deluded' remark could have been better omitted!!! I'm not deluded. I simply vote as an individual ... )

Unfortunately, sarcasm was just about all that post deserved. Pretending to start an objective debate whilst at the same time branding one side as 'deluded' says rather a lot, don't you think?

Sarcastic posts are being used as a tactic to wreck threads, to make discussion seem pointless, and even to get threads closed. All from the fans of one couple in particular.

Hi Cally's Mum

They simply must make up for it by winning the Xmas Special!

And on a positive note - Apparently, Rachel & Vinny did win most of the tour shows which will have made them (and me!) feel a bit better after losing the final last year.

Respect for another honest opinion. If you just like Team Cola and connect with them that is a valid reason for voting for them. You shouldn't feel the need to search for other reasons to justify what you feel or pretend they are what they are not.

Can you just tell me where all these masses of Cola fans are that do pretend that they like team Cola for any other reasons than Cally's mum has just stated?

Is there actually any of us fans who states that Chris is a better technical dancer than Ricky?

I think the fans of 'one couple in particular' are just getting damned tired of being called deluded, thick, idiotic (etc etc etc) and sick of the uncalled for insults being thrown in the direction of 'one particular couple' on the numerous threads which have shot up this week.

I don't believe, however, that they are using sarcasm to close threads.

But we don't have enough conspiracy theories on here - so let's start a new one!

Chris gets my votes beacuse for me he dances, entertains and sells his performance.

Ricky is a great technician. But I need more from him in terms of performance beofre I would vote for.

And let's not forget Chris has improved - it just tends to go unheralded