Absolutely he did. He moved round the floor and finally finally looked like he understood why he's on the show.

Scott on the other hand did the same move on the same piece of floor for the whole routine. It was like the needle on the record got stuck. Rubbish.

!

Don't understand the weird scores for Scott's rumba? That said I normally can't stand Gavin but this week he beat Scott.

no he didn't in my opinion

Whoa, that's not sad, that is a huge compliment to Scott actually.

Scott's rumba was excruciating. He's usually a very good dancer though so he won't be panicking about being not as good as Gavin tonight. Plus Scott probably has a very large fanbase. Not much to worry about.

That gave me a much needed cackle. Ta very much.

It was Scott's worst dance by a country mile, but IMO Gavin did not outdance him, they were level pegging. In any event I still preferred watching Scott, because yes he was bad, but he was not hiding behind stupid gimmicks or other tricks as the irritating Katya and Gavin do. Natalie would have realised this was not going to be a good week for Scott, but she did not get him to cover this up at all with diversions.

I hope they survive this week and go back to their best next week. I cannot wait to see the back of Gavin.

I enjoyed Gavin's dance more. He was smiling and dancing at the same time! It was better to watch whereas no matter who does the rooooomba I always find it horrible.

Totally agree. I'm really tired of the gormless poser. Comic value has been spent. All these promises of finally showing his potential... it'd be a shame if any of the others went because I think he gives least entertainment value and ranks highest on the irritation scale. Yes, even above Dr. Pammy (although it's a close run thing!).

Scott is a good dancer; but rumba didn't suit him, and compared to his previous dances, it was definitely his worst performance.

Gavin is not a good dancer, but compared to his previous dances, this weeks attempt at the cha cha it was definitely his best performance.

All I can say is thank goodness these 2 didn't end up in the bottom 2, and then have to do a dance-off .....

I'm sure both will be back to normal next week!!

No, he didn't, but why tell the guy that he out-danced Scott, and then give him the same mark with him????

Bit of a joke the scoring this year, if you ask me...

I think Gavin was streets ahead of Scott this week. The only person who was worse than Scott this week was Ann.

That said, I hate the rumba with the passion of a thousand fiery suns but even I - for whom Scott is the winner - could see that he made a complete and utter dog's dinner of it.

Yes, I think Gavin out-danced Scott tonight. Scott is a favourite of mine, but I cringed and winced my way through that awful, laboured rumba. Sorry, folks, but I leaned towards Craig's 4 rather than Len's 9 (even though a 4 was shocking!). Bloody dance - I've always hated it.

Gavin, by no means a favourite of mine, surprised me last week and again tonight. No, it wasn't the most adventurous choreography in the world, but what he was given he did really well. I'm not a great fan of the cha-cha-cha, either, and the only memorable version of it in Strictly history is Alesha's, IMO.

Yes, to a certain extent it is about the expectations we have of the dancers, so I was disappointed with Scott and impressed with Gavin. But it's all about the j******, isn't it, and Scott was in reverse gear tonight.

I just hope his fanbase keeps him in the competition, because Scott certainly doesn't deserve to go home. He deserves to be in the final, IMO, and even on tonight's form, Gavin probably doesn't. One good dance does not a champion make...

Sorry Fiffy but cant agree with you there, Gavin and Katya were much better than Scott and Natalie tonight! I think you have to give credit where it is due, the rumba didnt suit Scott but the cha cha cha suited Gavin! The best dancer, as has been said many a time, often doesnt make the final. IMO in the last 3 finals the best dancer didnt make the final!

Pffffffft. Tell that to Chris "Charlston" Hollins.

The cha cha is easy by comparison though. Gavin's rumba vs Scott's rumba would be a much more informative comparison.

Yes he can & he did outdance Scott tonight

Exactly - the rumba is one of the hardest if not the hardest routine for a man to perform if he`s not an expert.

Very unfair to compare them imo.

Never a truer word spoken..or even typed

Ellie

Yes, it's true they have props, but no one can top the props and faffing queen, Anne!

The difference is, Gavin actually did DANCE a cha-cha. Yes, some moves are rhumba sped-up but that's basically what cha-cha is, a speed-up version of rhumba.

I hope Gavin gets a soft ballroom dance like he did in his first week waltz and I believe he'll score very well there.

He definitely outdanced Scott on Saturday night, no doubt. Scott was almost embarrassing to watch tbh.

Been dancing Cha Cha for nearly 18 years as hobby and for social dancing.
Only aware that Gavin was supposed to have danced Cha Cha due to this thread. I didn't see a genuine Cha Cha step in his routine. Didn't see Scott dance so can't comment on his rhumba.
However Rumba is most definitely more difficult than Cha Cha for a begginer.

Amazingly Gavin's Cha cha was slower and had fewer steps than Scott's Rumba, so the answer is a definite no.

Katya was smoking hot though!

So I went back and watched Scott's other latin dance so far - the "salsa" from week 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8GrID0y0zKo

His salsa basics (break step, forward right turn) look just as awkward as his latest (Rumba). His leading in that salsa was pretty rough, just like his leading in the Rumba was marginal. However, in the first dance the choreography really played to Scott's strengths of making shapes and hitting beats and being acrobatic. It was sharp and energetic. So the judges loved it.

However, in listening to the judges remarks on that "salsa" convinces me more that the judging in this series is a work (as I explained elsewhere). Unless Craig or Bruno are speaking very specifically about well defined dance concepts in order to instruct the celebrity on a specific technique, I now don't take anything the judges say seriously.

Scott was wooden in his Rumba (which correlates well with his performance of the basic steps in his Salsa). Now, Gavin has always been pretty wooden - so his "spoon" movements in the Cha cha routine were surprising to many of us.

Did Gavin out dance Scott tonight? To me they seemed more similar than different, wrt quality. Scott's routine though more accurately showed basic Rumba steps while Gavin's Cha cha was mysteriously absent of many chasses or lock steps (which given how weak the syncopations were in the music didn't look as out of place as they would have with a classic, traditional piece of cha cha cha music.)