Perhaps, but the average standard of dancing has fallen twice as much, and the marking is not on actual dance content and technique anymore even from Craig a lot of the time. I wouldn't expect Alesha to mark technique, but I would expect it from the other judges.

Too many props and too little dancing in some cases, too much faffing around and not enough steps. The routines don't often feel like 90 seconds long anymore to me, I'm not sure if anyone else feels the same?

You said it all for me, Pet monkey.

I loathe the VTs and really want to bin Bruce, but am happy with the rest. As a classical musician, (hobby, not work) I hate most of the music performed but when combined with the dances, I'm happy with it (unless it's Prince, M Jackson or BeeGees, then I puke) - Il Divo on "Sunday" were superb and I think the dancing in the top half of the draw is pretty good.

People appear to have forgotten how a hobbit won one series, - sadly you can't have the likes of Alesha, Rachel, Lisa, Kara every time.

Given the terrific viewing figures that both the main show and the results show are getting I think you are in cloud cuckoo land!

I think that the producers will be looking at a big bonus!!!!

Yes I agree. They have succeeded in giving the show wider appeal.

It's a shame for those of us who have followed it for ever....the programming equivalent of faffing abaht instead of dancing. However, what I always loved about the show is still there,amongst some dross, so I continue to watch and love it!

I think your views are those of the minority here.

The trend seems to be, that the actual dance content is in inverse proportion to the hype and faffing about.
Given that the BBC will be happy with the ratings, expect more of the latter next year.

Initially on paper the casting looked great but but I've changed my mind since.

Still good entertainment though even if the dancing & esp the costumes are awful.

The only ones I like are Russell & Artem...how's that for random choice of favourites.

Who was that?

And thank goodness for that!

Poor old Chris Hollins - my heart went out to him when the tabloids howled at him for "daring to win Strictly" when he had worked so hard with Ola over all those weeks while holding down his day job.

Yes,his dancing did improve, but this year we already have some better dancers on the floor.

Tom Chambers

I think some people analyse SCD far too much, the ratings don't lie - I love this year just as much as every other year and wouldn't miss a single thing about it (well maybe the stupid VTs). I just pour a drink, put my feet up, and enjoy the whole thing - I don't count the sequins on the dresses, or count the bars of the music, or compare this jive with one 7 years ago, or check the legality of every dance move.

Its only television and its entertainment, its escapism, its FANTASTIC.

I certainly think that's true for this forum. The general viewing public just enjoy it I think.

Add to that, OTT obsessing about certain pro's or celebs.

Including a comparison of how much sofa time they have (as just seen on another thread)!

unfortunately, the ratings don't always reflect the quality of the show. Eastenders springs to mind.

Are you one of the masses?
How did you find out about us?

I voted for Chris and thought his dancing was pretty good by the final (he wasn't as good as Ricky though). But I bet his technique beat most of the dancers in this series. With his stocky build, Chris was like Darren Gough in a way and slimmer guys look more sleek on the dance floor - that can distract people.

Very well said

At least the hobbit had a personality, a fabulous partnership with Ola and really, really tried hard doing predominantely proper dancing with no props! And thank goodness we don't have Lisa-types every year, she shouldn't be mentioned in the same sentence as Alesha and Kara!!!

The fact remains that for me I've yet to see a dance that put a lump in my throat/made me go 'wow'. In comparison, last series Pamela's waltz and Matt's Cha Cha did that in week 1, in series 5 Alesha's jive did it in week 2, and she went on from that to produce some stunning dances pretty much every week, without the need for props and just by putting in a lot of hard work.

Most of this year's celebs are driving me mad on twitter too, at least last year's weren't tweeting excessively and begging for votes as much...


Too true!

Lisa - er, HELLO?!?!?

Only Harry can start to rival Lisa's appalling overmarking and even he can't match the outrageous bias the judges showed towards someone whose ballroom was OK but whose latin never rose above mediocre.

So you didn't like Tom Chambers? You are in a minority. For all her technical excellence, Rachel just didn't have a strong enough personality to bring onto the dancefloor - and that is why Tom won. If Austin had replaced Lisa in the final - as he should have done - Rachel would almost certainly have been relegated to third place. Strictly isn't, and never has been, about technique above all else; it's just as much a reality show about character, and provided a celeb shows progress in their dancing, the public are more likely to engage with a distinctive personality than they are with perfect fleckles. That is why Chris beat Ricky and Ali, and why I can see Robbie outlasting Holly this year.

And Doghouse Riley is absolutely right: however much we may complain about aspects of the show this year (and I certainly have ... ), the ratings are through the roof and the BBC will take that as a sign that it is doing the right thing ...

You say 'blame the public' but actually the public has been reasonably sensible this year. The only person who really left too early this year was Rory Bremnar and he wasn't amazing.

Really? : - 0 is someone really obsessing about that?

The point is and that what most here are missing, is that no one is 'amazing' this year. Maybe this is due to the producers not allowing decent music to accompany the dances and allowing too many distractions such as props and out of hold dancing.
The music, well that's another béte noir of mine and completely spoils the atmosphere.
But I'm in the minority here but there again I have got taste and know what dancing should be like but perhaps not in a programme designed for the baying masses.

As a musician watching a dance show, wouldn't you prefer to see people dance to the music?


Why not?

We've had very good dancers each year until now. But this year, there's really no-one who's a "star", in either performance or ability.