I agre entirely with you. She has to be one of the most uninteresting contestants I've seen - only just slightly behind Julian.

Not sure that's entirely true. Pasha did a pretty good job of convincing people that Kimberley could dance even though a lot of her Latin consisted of posing and being carried about. And once Artem had got over his pique, he came up with some suitable routines for Fern that weren't too cringy. (I did say some )

I am actually really happy that Pasha challenges Rachel. She, in her own words, is there to learn some different dances , actual dances! So I am glad he is giving her actual dance content rather than, say making her fly, sweep the floor or do some "urban moves" in 90% of every routine.

Never having been on tv in front of 10m viewers after having put blood, sweat and tears into something I've little aptitude for, and then not done very well at it, I don't know.

I didn't notice any tears from Rachel just shocked to be in the bottom two .
It was more of a shock last year for Kimberely because she did an excellent VW and got 2x8's and 2x9's .

As you say it didn't do Kimberely any harm only what it did was to spur more people like myself to vote for her the following week . I'm going to do the same for Rachel next week because she's a far better dancer then some still left.

Poor Rachel. Even her breakdown's are instantly forgettable, because I don't have any real recollection of this...

I think the main thing that was upsetting her was the feeling that she had let Pasha down rather than the idea that the public wasn't voting for her. She seemed quite composed when it was announced that she was in the bottom 2 and when she spoke to Claudia and only seemed to get upset after she had been saved. Also, if you watch the "Goodbye Julien" video on the Strictly website she apologises for letting him down and appears to get quite emotional again. Either way, I don't think her reaction was excessive.



I'm not Rachel's biggest fan and certainly won't be voting for her but I don't really understand the perception that she's not working hard enough or doesn't take the show seriously. Maybe I've missed something but I don't think Rachel's problem is a lack of training hours and effort but rather a lack of natural ability coupled with the fact she isn't a performer. She's hardly the first celebrity in Strictly history to work hard but still not get it right. I also think she's had to contend with some fairly uncompromising choreography from Pasha, the judges being rather scathingly critical of her compared to some of the other celebrities and the fact she has one of the more demanding work schedules of the celebrities this year (and doesn't bang on about it quite as much as Ashley does).

Even if she does want to have fun on Strictly (which doesn't necessarily equate to not trying) I don't really see the harm in it. Given that she seems to do quite a lot of TV work I doubt that she's desperate for the fee or the exposure. I thought it was quite sweet that she seemed to just want to do it because she's a big fan of the show.

It's forgettable because it didn't exist.

Yep. That was my point

You blinked and you missed it!! Must pay more attention.

Off you go and write your lines, missy - and no excuses that your paws can't manage the quill pen.

Got it?

You are too sardonic for me.

Then you must be a bloke......

Is that another sardonic remark?

If not, yes I am a bloke.

The latter, sweetheart!

I understand that he needs to challenge her but imo he should choreograph routines that she can handle. You can still challenge your celebrity by highlighting his/her strengths and hiding the weaknesses but he is not doing that. He is giving her more than she can handle. He's choreographing like he would with someone like chelsee, Kimberley when he should choreograph something that Rachel can handle.

I thought this was a Terry thread for a second

If it was a Terry thread the title would probably read more along the lines of "TEARS or TRIUMPH? Was RACHEL'S Dance Off a BREAKDOWN or BREAK THROUGH?"

Why

Exactly !!!

*standing ovation*

You've captured the spirit, the essence!

She was in tears after Bruno's deciding vote.

I agree that he should figure a way to make her look a bit less stiff but I prefer his way of working to what Kristina or Iveta are doing. Also - yes the QS was a difficult one but the previous routines were not. The waltz (which i thought was lovely) was not easy but they had 3 week to train, the Salsa and the Cha-Cha-Cha were not that complicated IMO.

But what Kristina and Iveta are doing is working imo. At the end of the day, you need to make your celebrity look good on that dancefloor : it's all about choreographing to the best of your celebrity abilities.

can you imagine Susanna's reaction if it had been her

Standing ovation? Does this mean Bruce is going to come over to my house and start screaming "LOOK AT THIS! IT'S ALL FOR YOU! LOOK WHAT YOU DID!" in my face? *locks door*