I just can't believe how rude the audience can be whooping and cheering when the professional dancers come on during a singing performance. Even if its not to their taste it is disrespectful to behave like that, surely they could all get applause at the end. Perhaps without Moira Ross next year the show will regain some dignity, it can be fun without verging on the yobbish.

The problem with the Military Wives is that they aren't really that good. Village Fete standard, and that's pushing it. I really support the cause but this doesn't blind me to their level of competency.

The pros helped to take my mind off how bad they were on the night.

Oooh Holly, you'd better take cover! Didn't you know you're not supposed to say anything on this thread, other than how marvellous, fantastic, brilliant etc etc it all is?

In any case, going by some of the fan posts, I wonder if it's more about keeping X Factor off number one than supporting a charity? I'm no lover of XF (the total opposite in fact) but as a previous poster said, I'd rather have George Formby at number one. Or Nirvana.

I think this thread should be re-titled "The Military Wives Appreciation Thread", then everyone can eulogise to their heart's content whilst drowning in a sea of crocodile tears. Saint Diana of Wales would be proud - after all, it's what she would have wanted.

My sentiments also. I was hoping there was going to be no 'whooping and a hollering' during the song, but the minute Flavia and Vincent appeared, it started
This to me was different from the normal 'turn' on the Sunday show... This was all about listening to the words and feeling the emotion from the Military wives, not listening to cheers every time Flavia was lifted or spun around

Totally agree wth this, I think the performance would have been so much better, I'm sure the wives aren't used to performing with people clapping and distracting them, it must have been very off putting and made it so much more difficult for them.

I still really enjoyed it though (minus the dancing and audience noise) and have just pre-ordered my copy

Its the fault of the warm up guy Stuart and the floor manager.

When I went earlier in the year, I didnt want to applaud the music act and dance act until the end and wanted to enjoy it... however because there was not enough whooping during the performance it had be filmed 3 times before the floor manager was satisfied...

I fancy the same thing happened on saturday night... I dont think the Military Wives was filmed until after the live show (ie when the results sequence was filmed)... and by that time, the audience would have been appropriately brain washed to cheer and whoop anything that moved.

I agree with you 100% and find the sickly trend for romanticising the military quite distasteful.

I don't think the BBC accomodated the needs of the choir very well last night. Instead of letting them be the focus of the moment, they pulled back and made the dancing the focus. they felt a bit surplus to requirements!

The audience were very rude in my opinion, whooping, cheering and clapping over the song, and it made the choir appea to be a mere accessory to the performance.

Why was the soloist just given a microphone to hold? It all looked a bit rushed and ill-thought out. The camera was focused on the dancing and missed the images projected at the back of the soldiers and the women's faces as they were singing.

I also felt it sounded a bit too fast and slightly off-key.

However, I do think it was the BBC at fault - either invite them on and set it up to allow them to perform at their best, or don't have them on at all, but to stack the odds against them and then to encourage or insist the audience to cheer and shout over them is downright disrespectful.

I mentioned earlier that it looked as if they'd not been given enough rehearsal time, but if it was recorded, surely someone in the BBC should have noticed the "tattooed lady" was off-key?

Are the producers tone-deaf or has all that audience screaming and shouting each week made them so?

I'm not someone who generally goes in for the breast beating, gnashing of teeth at the drop of the hat but I would like these girls to have the Christmas Number One.

I watched the original program, I'm not expecting the wives to sing brilliantly, they have performed well whenever I've seen them on TV although the bits I could actually hear last night were not their best by any stretch of the imagination.

This exactly - It would be interesting to know when they recorded it and if anyone from that audience is a DS poster, to know if they were encouraged to clap and cheer during the song.

Sorry shrew, I missed your reply before, but I understand what you mean and on reflection agree with you.


Does anyone know if all of these site count towards the BBC charts? I don't want to buy the song and find out the purchase won't count for the charts.


My thoughts too.


Thank you for posting. It is good to hear from someone who was in the military, rather than being related to someone who was.

I was totally against the war in Iraq and this one in Afganistan and think it has made terrorism more not less likely. Having said that I feel desperately sorry for the soldiers families when they are killed or for the young soldiers suffering horrendous injuries. I enjoyed the military wives and also Gareth Malone. (I would hate for this country to become like the USA where if you express any doubt about the validity of a war they are involved in, you are ridiculed as unpatriotic.)

I'm a hard-boiled old bird and don't sob easily at sad movies, reality shows, puppies on adverts etc - but that flippin' Military Wives song has me welling up every time.

It annoys me all the more because, as some of the braver posters have pointed out, the Military Wives aren't outstanding singers, nor is the song particularly brilliant, and the lyrics drawn from letters are fairly maudlin. So why is my apathy towards their skills - and, I should say, my dislike of the jingoistic attitude towards 'our boys' - so totally overridden by the giant lump in my throat?

The best job I can do of analysing why is to say, as others have, that it's the universal appeal to human emotions in the song that does it - the fear for their other half, the need to come across as brave and strong to reassure them, the words of support to spur them on etc. I can't listen to the song without thinking about women writing down these words and worrying about their fellas on the front line.

And that transcends all the other rubbish about what we're supposed to think, or asked to think, or forced to think. What we feel is a much better barometer of whether something is right and worthy, or not.

What? Like Bob the Builder and Mr Blobby? Doesn't make them experts on music.

All the sites I mentioned do count towards the Official BBC Sunday Top 40 Chart Countdown, yes.

Get ordering people...

Absolutely right.

For me, it is powerful because the lyrics reflect real experiences and emotions, Gareth's involvement, genuine. None of this was contrived or set up as 'money-making scheme' for a record company or a television network. The song was released due to demand.

Instead of moaning, get behind the Wives, Gareth and the song.

I may be the only one but I was furious after watching the audience just because they had professional dancers but why applaud during the choir how disrespectful because of it you could hardly hear them sing and you could see it put a few of the ladies off!
Last edited by paulwj : 12-12-2011 at 14:04

Thanks!

^^This.


^^And this...

Thanks to both of you for putting my feelings into words. I'm totally against our involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan and loathe any kind of jingoism or glorification of war, but that doesn't mean I'm devoid of feeling and that I can't empathise with the wives and families of those involved in the fighting.

IMO, the Military Wives Choir were ill-served by the Strictly production team, which resulted in a sub-standard performance. Actually, Vincent and Flavia were ill-served as well, since I couldn't enjoy their performance in the midst of fuming about the inappropriate applause.

Utterly ruined by the whooping of the audience....

what a disappointment for Gareth and the Military Wives who deserved better.

Either Flavia and Vincent should have done a gentle Viennese Waltz with no applause until the end, or no dancing needed.

It was embarrassing to hear and see the ignorance of the studio audience.

I was horrified.

No wonder the soloist Sam and the choir sounded less good than usual - what a disaster. I just hope that at least the sales of their record will have been boosted....

Love you Gareth

Totally agree I am sick of people telling other posters it doesn't matter what the singing was like we should all get behind them. They were performing on a prime time BBC show which is watched by millions and everyone is entitled to give their opinion on the standard of singing just like they do with every other guest on the results show,irrelevant if it's a charity record or not.

With regard to the charity aspect of the song there are thousands of charities to support and every one has the right to give money to whichever one they want and not to be told to get behind a specific charity. As I said in my previous post people make the decision to join the armed forces now and should know what the consequences are no one is forcing them to do it. Now if it we went back to having conscription then that would be a completely different matter and I would then support the cause.

The choires perfomance was ruined but don't expect the BBC to care, they call for all the inane whooping (five years behind the USA as usual) how long before we hear WOO WOO YOUR THE MAN BRUCIE. Sadly the BBC staff involved with Strictly are clueless which is why you only see the feet of the dancers for about a third of the time they are on the floor and they are more interested in standing ovations than the viewer experience.

I agree it totally ruined the performance of the choir to have all that brainless clapping just because some know all producer thinks we have to have something moving to hold our attention!

Jeez. BIB 1 - So it's okay for you to have an opinion, but not okay for anybody else to disagree with you?

BIB 2 - I'm happy to support the Royal British Legion and SSAFA by buying the record and am equally happy to encourage others to do so. However, this does not mean you have to 'do as you're told'. Your bank account is safe.