Originally Posted by yellowlabbie:
“and I wonder if any of Jay's fans were complaining about Natalie Gumede being a trained dancer?”
I had no problems with Natalie Gumede being a trained dancer. I had problems with Artem that year, though, which I suppose might have impacted upon my support for Natalie. When Artem first joined Strictly, his choreography was fresh and innovative. By the time he was paired with Natalie, it felt very tired, especially as quite a bit of it was just a rehash of his choreography for Kara. I didn't blame Natalie for Artem's choreography, but I think I would have been more enthusiastic about her if she had been paired with a pro who wasn't just phoning in his choreography. As it was, I don't think I was particularly enthusiastic about anyone that year.
As for some of the other trained dancers that got to the final:
- The problem with Denise van Outen was that she and James seemed to bring out the worst in each other, making them quite unlikable as a pairing. If Denise had been paired with a different pro, it might have made a difference.
- Jill Halfpenny was very sweet, and every week stated how happy she was to be doing Strictly and to have survived in the competition for another week. In contrast, Denise Lewis in the same series, was a top athlete and (understandably since it's part of what made her a top athlete) came across as very competitive in her first VT. I liked both Jill and Denise, but I can understand that there would have been viewers who preferred Jill's sweetness to Denise's competitiveness.
There have been a number of contestants over the years for whom their previous dancing experience has been forgiven, while other contestants get a lot of flak for it. Sometimes it's personality and partnership which determine how well a trained dancer is received, and not the fact of their training or their openness about it. It isn't fair, but I doubt things will change significantly with regard to this issue.
Originally Posted by yellowlabbie:
“James is entitled to give his opinion, I wish they would take the trained dancers out of it and let us see those who progress throughout the competition. It is now more trained dancers than non-trained, what is the point? How can we possibly compare Jay, Helen etc to Carol, Kirsty etc?”
James is certainly entitled to his opinion but on this matter, he doesn't actually have an opinion as it changes according to who he and/or Ola is paired with and how well they're doing in the competition.