I am not fussed about Vincent getting a good celeb. For me his Italian 'cheeky chappy' routine has worn thin and I would rather see more of Artem and Pasha who, for me, have far more to offer than Vincent. Obviously it's all a matter of individual opinion but I don't particularly care about fairness to the pros. They get paid whenever they bow out during the series and get amazing exposure from their time on strictly.

For me getting a good mix of celebs and pairing them with the right pro (even if it means Aliona, Kristina, Artem and Pasha getting good celebs again) is more important than fairness. It's reality TV after all

Yes it's all a matter of a opinion and for me Vincent's personality will never 'wear thin' - he's a great character and dancer .......we just haven't seen him with a good celeb for a few years and the same applies to Flavia......I personally find Artem rather withdrawn and sometimes boring......yes he's a great dancer but to me his partnership with Holly didn't work for various reasons last year!.....He also has injury problems so I personally think for his own good he needs a weaker celeb....then perhaps he can lighten up and we'll see a different side to him. Pasha I really like and I wouldn't mind if he's given another good celeb for his second year but I want to see more of his personality because like Artem I sometimes find him withdrawn - reality tv is about people showing their personalties after all

I personally do care about fairness to the pros - It might only be an entertainment show but to me the 'entertainment' factor will wear thin if I see the same pros in finals and semis year after year - then it will just be Aliona offering the same old same old and Len blowing his top with her..........I want to see varitey and different pros in the finals and semis and Len having a go at those pros for different reasons..........Aliona is not the only one who can offer cutting edge choreography and I don't even think she's the best choreographer/teacher out of all the females and she sometimes has a surly personality which I find off putting!

I agree. Also, I remember how fabulous Vincent was with Rachel Stevens. he's a terrific dancer and choreographer. There are others who deserve a chance to shine again too.
Whilst I love to see the pro dancers onscreen - when they're not, dancing and it is, necessary,- I'm more influenced by their work than by if they are young/ 'hot'/ older/ funnier etc. if the emphasis is on who's hot and who's not, it will, get really predictable in terms of results.

I do hope Pasha gets a good partner.... someone who he can let shine, which he did with Chelsee, for me i didnt notice Chelsee or paid attention to her much but then something happened, there was something in her and Pasha brought it out. and Pasha did so well as himself as well...... and he really lets his partner out on their own for abit and then comes in, for me he works alot better then Artem, Pasha has that atmosphere about him

Flavia is another one i want a good partner for.......

I agree that I like to see a different mix of pros reach the semi and finals each year. I'd love to see Anton reach the end with a great celeb and also Flavia.

I'd say Pasha is one of the few pros now who consistently produced traditional choreography whilst using as little gimmicks as possible. He has truly put the 'Strictly' back into the show for me - his Waltz, Quickstep and Paso with Chelsee were brilliant. It was so endearing watching her embrace ballroom & latin dancing.

Very wise comment I can't be doing with this, they must get a duffer nonsense. The producers will decide on their best fit when the line up is clear.

Except the last lot of producers didn't decide what was for the best last year. Can anyone honestly say that they thought Brendan and Lulu and Holly and Artem were the best fit? The producers might have got the few headlines that they wanted out of it but the dancing and partnerships and quality of the show suffered as a result. With Lulu and Brendan there was the ridiculous height difference and they clearly couldn't stand each other and Artem & Holly although they tried their best to get along were clearly not suited to each other either in height or personality..........Artem got himself injured again putting pressure on himself.

And why is it 'nonsense' to want to see other pros be given a chance to shine and show off their choreography with contenders? Artem and Aliona have had plenty of chances now.........it'll just boring and predictable IMO to see Aliona paired with the bookies' favourite yet again! If Artem and Aliona really are as wonderful as their fans say they are then they should be able to choreograph for and partner weaker celebs!

BIB , Well one thing for sure Brendan worked hard for his wages last year!!!! Wellllllllll ! Enough said!!!! When he was super sub and worked with Anita , I thought he was wonderful, perhaps they may consider him with an older lady- would Brendan and Fern work ?

I am sure Artem could, holly wasn't such a great mover.
How can anyone predict who will get on or won't. I thought Brendan and Lulu was an interesting mix when first chosen
We all have our own opinions about what is best.
Luckily or unluckily we can't all choose the contestants, dancers or partnership. But to insist certain dancers get duffers is in my opinion

I wouldn't mind seeing Brendan with a sports lady - I think that would be interesting and yeah he certainly earned his wages last year - at least he got to dance with Holly and Anita who were appreciative of his abilities!


Well Holly was certainly not a 'duffer' and ok I'll accept she wasn't a great dancer but she was a decent mover and a very good prospect on paper! She would have been better off with Brendan because in height and personality they were more suited and we could have perhaps seen her more at ease - she just didn't seem that way with Artem .....I or anybody else is not 'insisting' that he & Aliona gets a duffer - we all know we have no control on what the producers decide ......we're merely voicing our thoughts that we would like them to get weaker celebs which is what this forum is for! I for one would be interested to see what they come up with when given celebs that are perhaps older, not so attractive and less talented!

The producers have a good idea of the characters and ablilities of the celebs because they audition them and it should have been clear to them that Lulu and Brendan was never going to work

This,

I agree with this.

During the tour this year, I remember thinking that it was a shame that Artem and Nancy hadnt been paired during a main series because a) he certainly got more performing/dancing? out of her than Anton ever did and b) their partnership could have been a scream in say interviews on It Takes Two. I know the part Artem played in the tour was mute to Nancy's whatever but it would have been funny to see how they would have got on in VTs and on the ITT sofa.

Id love to see Artem with the comedy figure this year - and see if she would get him to open up a bit more than being his Russian stoic personna.

Yeah I didn't go to the tour but I saw it on youtube and I thought he was great with her - I think it would do Artem the world of good in the tv show to have a comic figure or a bubbly personality that's not so talented a dancer - as you say it would hopefully bring him out of his shell - he could offer something different in choreo and he wouldn't have this highly visible pressure he seems to have to succeed at all costs even to the risk of his health and similarly for the sake of variety it would be more interesting to see Aliona with someone different to who she's been partnered with before!

I didn't want Flavia to be partnered with Russell last year but now in retrospect I can see how much she benefitted from it - they did better than most people were expecting and people got to see her comic side! I'm now hoping the producers see that she deserves someone good this year.

Holly semed to me to have the best technique of all the celebs when she arrived on the show (and she could do the splits).
She also was a beautiful woman with a good personality and sense of humour.

At the end, I didn't understand why she had ever agreed to go on the show as she seemed half-hearted about the learning to dance bit and maybe even put weight on during the show.

Artem seemed to be having domestic issues at the start of the series and then got injured, so he wasn't at his best maybe.

Holly did seem to get on better with Brendan, so maybe that pairing would have worked better, but I still wonder if Holly was that interested anyway.

I cant see Artem as someone who will banter with a celeb like Anton can.

What I would like to see is less 50+ contestants unless they have Pamela-like ability to dance. If we had more celebs with dance potential, the pros will have something to work with. None of them can make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.

4 contenders out of 14 isn't enough - they need about 7.

A lot of people thought Flavia was shy and serious - her partnership with Russell changed preconceptions of her which is why I think they should at least try and pair Artem with someone different.

I don't think Brendan would have done much better than Artem with Holly but it would at least have made for a more entertaining, fitting partnership.

I think they'll always have contestants with varying abilities - the show is about learning to dance at the end of the day and a lot of the viewers relate more to the contestants that are not naturals and don't start out so great and who go on the 'j' word

With my numbers, you would still have 7 who brought something other than dancing to the show. I think they should bring something though. Some of the older ones are very lively and funny and others have little life left in them. It can be entertaining to have complete duffers but usually when they are women as the male pro's can drag them round the floor and catch them as they topple over. Male duffers can be excruciatingly embarrasing to watch. I dont mind watching that once but two weeks would be too much.

Stoic? Dour, humourless and abrasive more like.

I think Artem does have a sense of humour - he showed that in his rumba with James. It just hasn't come across that much with his partners, in his first year he was intent on winning because he was given his dream partner in Kara and he wanted to do the same with Holly last year the only problem was she wasn't really in it to win it! That's why I and others have suggested the producers try a different approach with him and give him a different sort of partner that can bring the 'humour' out in him.

I agree up to a point - Anton has definitely got the "gift of the gab"; Artem is at a disadvantage because English isn't his first - or most fluent - language. Sometimes I don't think he really gets it when someone is having a bit of a joke or teasing, but it's not that he hasn't got a sense of humour, he just doesn't understand the weird and wonderful way our language is sometimes used!!

Not remotely the case judging from his performances on the Live Tour or with DttM, and in person he comes across as an extremely warm, friendly and caring person.

Like comic relief down in the bottomless pit of Shakespearean tragedy, a tremendously competitive person like Artem with an instinct to excel actually welcomes a rare break from the high bar of their own standards. Even the gifted Kara could not come up to Artem's expectations during practice. She was in tears. In the botafogo competition Artem did not win, he annihilated the opposition. Time after time he aimed so high he injured himself.

It was very good for Nancy to give him some relief and relaxation, and Artem cooperated apparently with relish.

And extremely funny.
I think some people don't understand his intense passion for dance, which can come across as grumpy with partners.

I accept that English isn't his first language, but it isn't the first language of many of the pros. I still think he's overly harsh. Pasha was very gentle with Chelsee, despite the fact that she was easily distracted. There's no need to be so pushy with a celeb.

More than a little patronising.

I don't think that Clartem's post was patronising, just offering a different perspective of his personality gained by having seen him live and heard him speak on the subject.