I'm sorry, kudos to Jake, his Salsa was pretty good, especially for week two (I still think 9s is a bit steep- I mean, it's no Sophie Ellis Bexter Charleston, but still...)

But whilst he's getting the praise and "blowing the competition away", Pixie and Trent came out and did a most amazing Waltz, got 9s, matched Jake's score for week 2, (Again, still no SEB Charleston, but lovely!) and yet she's been swept under the carpet as an also ran!

Why? If anything her Waltz was better than Jake's Salsa! Is it because everyone expected it from Pixie before the show started, or because Salsa is more of a showy dance than the Waltz so gets more attention? I don't get it! If you praise one, praise the other! Pixie deserves an awful lot of praise for her performance, but seems to be getting very little In comparison!

I think Jake has the 'shock' factor on his side. Everyone expected Pixie to be as good as she is, I don't think anyone expected sleazy Max Branning to shake his tush so well.

Gets the audience going,everyone gets carried away.

I completely agree, OP. While Jake's dance was the most entertaining of the night by some stretch, Pixie's was technically slightly better, and came together as an overall performance better than Jake's did. I loved both though, so I'm pretty happy with their marks.

I like Pixie and Trent's partnership and she's obviously a real contender but I thought her marks were over generous tonight, whereas I thought Jake and Janette deserved theirs for a difficult salsa (and salsa seems to be a dance that lots of the celebs really struggle with). This isn't meant to be a dig at Pixie, but I think she deserves to do well and sometimes OTT marking doesn't help.

I don't know why, but I'm distinctly underwhelmed by Pixie. I though her Waltz was a showcase of style over content and not worth 9s at all. She looked beautiful and can move elegantly, but it was not a great Waltz.

I'd seen the clips of Pixie rehearsing and was expecting more and so was a bit disappointed. It was good though.

Wrong I know, but I was expecting more from Pixie and found her routine a bit safe and boring. Jake however blew me away with the lifts... week 2 ..lifts like that amazing. Next week though he will have a lot to live up to won't he, so maybe his and Pixie's scores will be reversed.
It's early days yet and the dancers are still setting out their stalls

Pixie and Jake's dances were the best of the night for me.

I think a lot of people just get more pleasure when a contestant who isn't from the plastic, pretty bot (male or female) contingent does well. There's much more of a sense of, "Ooh, that could be me!"

I like Pixie - she seems like a nice girl and she's going to have a lovely top line and will dance well throughout. But she does belong to that homogenised, pretty, trained-to-the-teeth, youth-appeal slot in the line-up this year. It's not a pleasant surprise for her to do well: it's an expectation.

Jake may well be an actor with stage school training. But he's older. He's not youth-appeal pretty. And he just LOOKS as though he's going to be a stiff old dad dancer. That he isn't - that's what attracts people. He's done two audience-pleasing routines in the first two weeks. He's surprised people. Good momentum!

i agree they were great, but i forgot them almost the moment they finished... pixie seems so anodyne and with the largely unknown (to strictly) mr tumnus the faun as her partner they just seem like an imaginary couple, they pop out of narnia to perform then back through the wardrobe and its like it was all a dream.

I liked Pixie's Waltz. Sometimes less is more and I thought it was a lovely, more simplistic routine which Pixie danced well. Pixie lost her poise at times, so she can watch this. Frame was kept quite well too. Lots of room for improvement and I would like to see Trent keep Pixie more connected to the floor, keep lower in general, lower through the knees faster at the end of beat 3 to produce a more powerful movement across the floor. Very good though for 2nd week. Of the 2 dances, I prefer this waltz to her jive.

Yes this is how I feel. Add to that the 'I'm so busy & popular & in demand you know' VT & that this week Trent looked like something out of Boardwalk Empire & not in a good way & they make me want to slap them both. Been completely underwhelmed by her, but then I never have gone for the 'what little old me' type give me full on Gabby or Susanna any day.

Exactly what about her?!?! She is a bit meh not much there

I have a feeling she won't get the fan votes and I'm fine with that

^^^^ this.

Give them a pair of antennae and they'd look like aliens from a sixties sci-fi.

Agree .......... she continues to underwhelm me ........ and all that VT about Oh I'm so busy..... I can hardly find the time to do Strictly............ well, here's a thought then Pixie, just dont bother.

Me too.... so agree with all of this Buddy....

I knew that Pixie would be good before the show even started. She went to stage school and comes from a performing background, that she did such a good waltz is no surprise to me.

Jake on the other hand is a revelation, no one expected him to be as good as he is. That's why everyone is talking about him.

She will suffer from the Emma Bunton/Denise VO/Jason Donovan syndrome. We already know they're good, it seems unfair somehow, there's no 'journey'.

Shock early exit lies ahead.

Most of the criticism here seems to be about Pixie's personality, rather than her dance, which is somewhat unfair, given her dance was lovely (if a little bit sedate!) I understand what you're saying about it being forgettable, but with the exception of Matt Di Angelo's (simply for the score it got) and maybe Austin Healey's (Again for scores, 9s in week 1!!) I can't remember ANY Waltz from previous seasons on its own merits. (If I sat and thought about it I know some more would come to mind but you get my point)

No doubt if Pixie went on to win, the one dance everyone talked about (ala Tom Chambers' Freestyle, Jill's Jive, Mark's Salsa etc) wouldn't be her Waltz, but I'm wondering if she had Salsa and Jake Waltz this week, whether she'd still be getting this criticism!

I agree, I thought her dance was lovely overall. I have made comments in an earlier post on this thread. The waltz is a soft floaty dance, that should have rotation and rise and fall ( I prefer to call it fall and rise) I thought for week 2, she did a good job,

I think the actual dancing in Jake's routine was still a bit jerky and dad-like. The lifts etc were impressive and he led with confidence, but Pixie's dancing was much better.

Sadly, Pixie seems to have very little in terms of personality (same goes for Thom). Which is also important to win SCD (especially for female celebs). Will obviously make the final, but without a sudden Abbey journey, is destined to become fourth there.

I was surprised they marked her so high, I found her waltz quite dull. Technically she may be very good but there is no 'spark' in her.

Jake's salsa was exciting and it literally made me gasp and go 'oh my god'. I thought his deserved the 9s more so than Pixies.

There's nothing there for people to get hold of. Two weeks in a row now her VTs have been doing fairly piffling showbiz stuff (going to London Fashion Week, doing chat shows) rather than training, and not seeming particularly bothered about it. People can say all they want about previous "ringer" contestants breezing through the competition never at any risk, but at least I saw Denise, Natalie, Jason, Jill, Tom, Ricky, Kara etc etc putting the man-hours in, working up a sweat and wanting to excel or exceed themselves (Natalie...possibly a little too much actually). The only time Pixie's even felt like a contestant rather than a guest performer promo'ing her new album is when she was on It Takes Two getting her mum to send her grainy Youtube footage of herself doing the jive.