I wonder what's caused that. She remained behind Natalie ever since Saturday night (at the same odds). Perhaps some inside information? It's also strange because I saw Sophie's odds drift slightly yesterday.
Sophie is now bookies favourite to win!
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Originally Posted by Judge Dread:
“Hoorah for that!
”
“Hoorah for that!
”
Yes she did well on Sat. The Charleston was perfect for her but what will her Latin be like? She looks a bit stiff. Watch this space.
Originally Posted by sofakat:
“I thought her Charleston was cute and suited her to a T. She looks gorgeous, but she is not comfortable in close hold with Brendan, has problems even touching him and is actually very stiff.
This is just not her thing. She is very shy. I can't imagine how she will handle a samba or a rumba
The latter will make her die of embarrassment. There is no way she can be 'sensuous' with Brendan.
Mind you, I couldn't either - but would have no problem with either Artem or Aljaz.”
“I thought her Charleston was cute and suited her to a T. She looks gorgeous, but she is not comfortable in close hold with Brendan, has problems even touching him and is actually very stiff.
This is just not her thing. She is very shy. I can't imagine how she will handle a samba or a rumba
The latter will make her die of embarrassment. There is no way she can be 'sensuous' with Brendan.
Mind you, I couldn't either - but would have no problem with either Artem or Aljaz.”
There was certainly something stiff on Saturday, but it wasn't Sophie.
As for popularity, see the strictly facebook (this dance will give her some leverage for at least the next latin, whereas Rachel and Abbey have to start all over again).
Will she be great at latin? Probably not, but who is? Natalie, Patrick and Susanna (though the last one was overmarked for her jive).
I can't wait to see her jive, assuming she stays in. I loved her waltz, and it was my tied favourite dance of week 1 with Abby, as I didn't enjoy Natalies cha cha at all. Looking forward to more from her. (And I don't think it's possible to get closer to Brendan if you consider where his head was in one of those lifts on Saturday!!)
It's too soon to be doubting her ability with regards to the Latin dances. Show of hands who thought her charleston wouldn't be her dance? I'm certainly one of those hands so atm anything is possible!
Way too soon to single her out at this stage. 3 more dances and then we'll be in a better position to judge!
Originally Posted by Stupid_Head:
“She's doing the samba this week, her being fav is over.”
“She's doing the samba this week, her being fav is over.”
I think you're right. She'll never get the back roll.
I would be happy to be proved wrong, but ...
Originally Posted by holly berry:
“Way too soon to single her out at this stage. 3 more dances and then we'll be in a better position to judge!”
“Way too soon to single her out at this stage. 3 more dances and then we'll be in a better position to judge!”
Too right. Early days - and what do bookies know about dance anyway!
Originally Posted by ellieb123:
“Not only that, she hasn't really mastered ballroom at all yet either. Her waltz wasn't that great- a lot of work to be done.”
“Not only that, she hasn't really mastered ballroom at all yet either. Her waltz wasn't that great- a lot of work to be done.”
I'm looking forward to watching her improve.
The difference between Natalie and Sophie is:
Natalie is already an amazing dancer with the ability to master anything she is given. Now I really like Natalie, but the fact that she is already really good doesn't make me a huge fan.
With Sophie we can and will continue to see her grow and improve. She might not get the hip rolls or back rolls for the samba but she will still be improving. It's the contestants that grow throughout the competition who we like more and sometimes who go on to win.
Natalie is already an amazing dancer with the ability to master anything she is given. Now I really like Natalie, but the fact that she is already really good doesn't make me a huge fan.
With Sophie we can and will continue to see her grow and improve. She might not get the hip rolls or back rolls for the samba but she will still be improving. It's the contestants that grow throughout the competition who we like more and sometimes who go on to win.
Originally Posted by Tissy:
“I'm looking forward to watching her improve.”
“I'm looking forward to watching her improve.”
Yep- I'm looking forward to seeing how she will grow. She's not there yet though, that's all I was saying. It's only week 2 after all.
There's been quite a few celebs who have done a good or great Charleston and been ordinary at a lot of the other dances.
Her whole persona suited this dance.
Her whole persona suited this dance.
Originally Posted by sofakat:
“I thought her Charleston was cute and suited her to a T. She looks gorgeous, but she is not comfortable in close hold with Brendan, has problems even touching him and is actually very stiff.
This is just not her thing. She is very shy. I can't imagine how she will handle a samba or a rumba
The latter will make her die of embarrassment. There is no way she can be 'sensuous' with Brendan.
Mind you, I couldn't either - but would have no problem with either Artem or Aljaz.”
“I thought her Charleston was cute and suited her to a T. She looks gorgeous, but she is not comfortable in close hold with Brendan, has problems even touching him and is actually very stiff.
This is just not her thing. She is very shy. I can't imagine how she will handle a samba or a rumba
The latter will make her die of embarrassment. There is no way she can be 'sensuous' with Brendan.
Mind you, I couldn't either - but would have no problem with either Artem or Aljaz.”
I'm not sure Sophie is shy... maybe more introverted? She has a kind of quiet self-assurance and seems like there's more going on under her still surface. Maybe just wishful thinking on my part though.
I think the lifts she did with Brendan during their Charleston will have cured her tentativeness towards physical contact with him and built trust between them. But I agree with you, I can see her struggling to get into the character of the Latin dances and think she could be a bit stiff.
Hopefully she can continue to surprise but it's premature to think she might win. She still has a lot to prove and the dreaded Brendan Showdance to overcome even if she does make the final.
Originally Posted by Pink Knight:
“There's been quite a few celebs who have done a good or great Charleston and been ordinary at a lot of the other dances.
Her whole persona suited this dance.”
“There's been quite a few celebs who have done a good or great Charleston and been ordinary at a lot of the other dances.
Her whole persona suited this dance.”
True, but I think that's why she's finally become interesting. Was the Charleston just a case of perfect mesh of dance and contestant? Will her Latin be awkward or surprisingly good? Will she sufficiently improve her ballroom? In short, is she a contender? Suddenly people are asking questions and talking about her. She has our attention. Whereas with Natalie (my favourite so far) we sort of know.
When the line-up was announced I had Sophie in my head as somebody I might like. I'm quite drawn to an Icy, coolly detached persona. I think tracing back to when, as a teenager I went through a 1970's Bowery/CBGB's music scene phase and girl crushed on the young Debbie Harry (even though she's way before my time!) But Debbie Harry always seemed very knowing. Beneath the detached veneer, under the artifice there seemed to be an intelligence, a sense of irony. I haven't really detected anything beneath the surface in Sophie so far, but I'd like to. It may be there, it may just take time to come through. Or it might be there but will never be apparent on Strictly. Alternatively, it might not be there at all. We shall see.
In week One I lost interest in her. She's stunning to look at but was a bit meh. I also felt people were overstating her dancing elegance. Yes, she looks very elegant as a woman but as a dancer I found her ballroom a little awkward compared to, say Abbey's. Now she was elegant.
Sophie has won me back with her Charleston but I have no idea if it will last. I have to say I was pleasantly surprised by Brendan. His cool, jazzy, authentic Charleston choreography impressed me. I've always felt he's best suited to brassy, bolshy women. Iwasn't sure if he'd "get" Sophie or if they'd be in tune. This weeks samba will be the acid test, but so far so good.
Originally Posted by coppertop1:
“In fairness sometimes the best dancer does not win and she does have an empathetic personality which will win her votes.”
“In fairness sometimes the best dancer does not win and she does have an empathetic personality which will win her votes.”
That doesn't come across to me.
She leaves me cold, tbh. I find her quite aloof.
Originally Posted by Becky245:
“The difference between Natalie and Sophie is:
Natalie is already an amazing dancer with the ability to master anything she is given. Now I really like Natalie, but the fact that she is already really good doesn't make me a huge fan.
With Sophie we can and will continue to see her grow and improve. She might not get the hip rolls or back rolls for the samba but she will still be improving. It's the contestants that grow throughout the competition who we like more and sometimes who go on to win.”
“The difference between Natalie and Sophie is:
Natalie is already an amazing dancer with the ability to master anything she is given. Now I really like Natalie, but the fact that she is already really good doesn't make me a huge fan.
With Sophie we can and will continue to see her grow and improve. She might not get the hip rolls or back rolls for the samba but she will still be improving. It's the contestants that grow throughout the competition who we like more and sometimes who go on to win.”
I haven't noticed anything too amazing about Natalie's two dances. Sophie's Charleston was way better than anything so far and her first dance wasn't so far behind the best of the rest. I suspect many like myself expected Sophie to struggle and that was reflected in her initial price with the bookmakers.
Yes, it would be impossible to top the Charleston - it's odds on she will get 10's when she does it again - but no reason to think she will not perform the other dances well. Dancewise this competition is primarily decided on latin rather than ballroom because that's what takes the eye and with such fluid movement she has a big advantage over so many of the others. Add in that Natalie will still be seen as one of the most evil characters ever in Coronation Street and it is easy to see why Sophie is favourite. The betting is obviously a reflection that this is part dance part popularity contest.
After her CCC, Nat was fav. After her Waltz, Abbey was fav. Now after the Charelston, Sophie is fav. It's just typical up and down guessing. It's too early to have a solid favourite when not enough varing dances have been done yet. Though if we must have one (which we don't really just yet) then Natalie is the only contender for that tag, as she's done both dances at a good level.
Sophie, Abbey and Ashley have had one good dance each, at least, so until we can add a second good dance to one of them (that isn't just ok) and also be able to say they can do both Latin and Ballroom disciplines (to a commendable standard technique and performance wise) then giving a fav tag to any of them is silly. I've even read Dave is fav, on account of being a so called people's favourite (another silly typical genralised media term).
The fav tag will hold more weight come the quarter finals when we've not just seen more dances, but figured out what the public like (by who exits and who is left in).
Sophie, Abbey and Ashley have had one good dance each, at least, so until we can add a second good dance to one of them (that isn't just ok) and also be able to say they can do both Latin and Ballroom disciplines (to a commendable standard technique and performance wise) then giving a fav tag to any of them is silly. I've even read Dave is fav, on account of being a so called people's favourite (another silly typical genralised media term).
The fav tag will hold more weight come the quarter finals when we've not just seen more dances, but figured out what the public like (by who exits and who is left in).
Originally Posted by Pink Knight:
“There's been quite a few celebs who have done a good or great Charleston and been ordinary at a lot of the other dances.
Her whole persona suited this dance.”
“There's been quite a few celebs who have done a good or great Charleston and been ordinary at a lot of the other dances.
Her whole persona suited this dance.”
Same could be said for Chris - and he won. She's a lot better at everything else too.
Unless the Corrie audience change channels, which I doubt, I can see Sophie and Susanna getting more votes. The judges will probably try for Abbey and Natalie for the last 4 and final, and may save one. Question is if the producers, judges and voters will keep a male in till the SF or beyond regardless.
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