I thought Matt and Aliona's was pretty amazing too and loved it so much it's one of the ones I watch again and again.

I hope she goes with something a bit more traditional with Harry as i think it'll suit him more.

I liked Jill & Darren's showdance and Mark & Karen showdance. They were both familiar songs, quite upbeat and just basically took moves from their previous latin dances and incorporated them into a new dance with fancy lifts but made it look good.

My favourite is Tom & Camilla's showdance. It was different, cos it was ballroom, it was entertaining and I think a really fun dance.

Didn't like any of the three showdances last year, nothing that spectacular about them, nothing that made me want to watch them again.

Worst is still Lisa and Brendan's. I don't mind that style of dance - as long as the dancers can do it and do it well!

Just wondering if anyone has been openly critical of that piece of car crash tv, on It Takes Two or newspapers or something?

How's this for a showdance..........?????????

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-viob...eature=related

(Ann Widders as you've never seen her before)

To this day I still youtube Alesha and Matthew's showdance. I'll never forget it. It was amazing.

I hope Pasha doesnt do too funky and ruin it

Aha

... and you still clicked on the thread!

There have been a number of very good showdances but Tom & Camilla's is still one of the best for me. It was quirky, fun and absolutely charming and the characterisation was brilliant.

I also like these showdances from Dancing with the Stars Australia and USA:

Bridie Carter & Craig Monley - DWTS Oz
Apolo Anton Ohno & Julianne Hough - DWTS USA


My problem with Matt & Aliona's showdance was that it was full of the same gymnastics they'd used throughout the run of the series. Aliona overused that so much that by the time the showdance came around, it had completely lost its wow factor. It was just more of the same and felt a bit meh.

Showdances are about gynaecological lifts for women or spinning girls like pizza dough for the men. Heaven forfend that for a dance program, they might actually offer us STEPS.
I reckon Pasha is the one least likely to forget the requirement of steps in the final which may prove the key... we shall see.

Well, apparently it's rock 'n roll based, which I think will suit Harry very well. He looked very good in both jive and swingathon, and he performed in both of them as well.

I hope Pasha goes with something salsa-y for Chelsee. She's good at shaking it all around!

And I want Kristina to choreograph something gay for Jason. I loved the disco section of their tango!

I think Jason's will be Disco inspired as well. Chelsee will be interesting the only clue we have is funky which could mean anything upbeat.

so long as Pasha stays away from the Shrek ears... and doesn't wheel in a big ass prop! I'm rather worried about what Pasha's "funky" is going to look like. Especially if he thinks he's been normal up till now!

Thank you for putting up the links..I've enjoyed watching them again. I loved Alesha and Matt but couldn't stand Tom Chambers..I know everyone loved him, but I couldn't take to him at all. sorry to his many fans.

Really? I couldn't stand him either. But the show dance changed my mind!

Still I think his show dance was his only memorable dance.

Yup agreed

Nope! I disagree I also enjoyed his AS, QS, Salsa and Foxtrot as well

Bless you for posting those links!

ETA: I hadn't seen the DWTS one to Bust a Move - brilliant!

I was going to try and find 'that showdance from the Australian version' on YT, so thanks for doing it for me! Absolutely love it. I remember watching it before the final last year and praying that Kara and Artem would do something lyrical and moving like that, which would have been playing to her strengths. I guess that doing the rumba, AS and waltz as their final dances meant they had to go upbeat on the showdance, but I absolutely loathed it.

Mind you, I have loathed virtually every showdance I can remember watching, with the exception of Tom and Camilla's. I just don't care for the acrobatics, I guess, which to me have remarkably little to do with dancing. Don't care if it's amateurs or pros doing it - I made a cup of tea while that pro couple were contorting themselves all over the screen during the results show on Sunday. Dancing? I think not!

So I'm not looking forward to this year's crop either - funky? disco-y? rock'n'roll? Erm, maybe, except Aliona's choreographing it.

I was away last Xmas and as I normally hate showdances I didn't bother to watch Kartem's from last year...til now Blimey, she was lucky that Matt Baker's was even more horrifically awful.

I think the only ones I've enjoyed are Darren Gough's (mainly because it was an eye-watering relief after Colin), Tom Chambers' and Chris Hollins'. I thought both the latter had great concepts which really helped lift them above the normal 'check out my lifts' routines.

Oh, and Lisa and Brendan's, for reasons already stated

I think showdances will always favour the female celebrity because the male is expected to do the lifts. Having said that, I think most people have voted by then 'for their favourite' regardless of how the show dance goes.

Unless your Colin Jackson You then phone up to retract your vote

oh poor Colin

Showdances don't have to be about lifts though, it depends on the style of the showdance. The point is to choreograph to the celeb's strengths and if the male celeb can't support lifts, then don't use them. Do something different instead. Look at Bridie Carter's showdance (link in post 32) - that was very lyrical and was completely about the storytelling rather than being about lifts and fancy moves.


You're welcome

I agree with you about Kara & Artem's showdance last year. Holly & Artem's swan dance and Harry & Aliona's Halloween Tango would both have been brilliant showdances, so I'm hoping we might just see something along those lines as a showdance but I'm not holding my breath. I think they'll all be upbeat, which in a way is a shame because if just one couple takes the risk, it'll stand out from the other two.

I liked Tom and Camilla's and Alesha and Matt's as very good showdances

but i also liked Jill and Darren's ,Lilia's and Matt, James and Pamela, flavia and matt and Chris and Ola all plenty of content and very likeble music to get you into the mood

Less liked, rachel and vincent, brendan and lisa, kara and artem and matt and aliona

I can only recall seeing two showdances that weren't a bit of a :yawn: tbh, and curiously enough they both happened on the same night...the SCD6 Final.

Tom and Camilla produced a routine that never fails to make me and Lisa and Brendan produced a routine that took me from this to this to this and finally to this in the space of under 2mins. I doubt that anyone else will achieve as much if Strictly runs for another 100 years

Tom and Camilla own the showdance in my opinion

I actually like Chris and Ola's- Ola played it right - like Camilla she played a supporting role.

I think Kristina will excel at the showdance. She is a very clever choreographer who will play to Jason's strengths. I am expecting something by Abba or Bee Gees for Jason - who will sell it perfectly

Tom and Camilla's showdance sticks in my mind as the only really outstanding showdance there's ever been in all my time watching Strictly.

The showdances last year were a disaster, Pamela's was actually my favourite, and it really wasn't great. The less said about the other 2 the better...

I loved Alesha, but her showdance was so very nearly a disaster, and the last lift was a bit too ambitious!

The only other one I really like is Chris & Ola's - it really did reflect their journey quite well.