I have seen Dancing with the Stars...but did not rate as good as ours.

Does anyone know how good any other countries are and are they better then ours.

I would think that every country would consider their own version of 'Strictly' as being the best.

DWTS hasn't been that popular in UK, but I know there's plenty in America who think Strictly is pedestrian and bland. "Horses for Courses" I think the saying goes.

Dancing with the Stars is too gimicky, but the dancing is so much better. Even the pros are much better than ours, especially the male pros. Compare Anton and Brendan, for example, to Val Chmerkovskiy and Derek Hough.
The dances are shorter on DWTS which is really annoying, and the rehearsal packages are so dramatic, but I do like the quality of dancing better on the american version.

I have only seen the US version Dancing With The Stars. I haven't watched it since it was dropped by Watch. Up until then I used to enjoy it and I have to say there were times when I thought it was a better show than ours, in some respects. They placed emphasis on entertainment and you didn't have to put up with Sir Bruce's patter and silly jokes.

The band on DWTS was fantastic and, in the Hough siblings (one of whom is now a judge), I thought they had the best two professional dancers and dance teachers across both series. Mark Ballas was high up there with them.

That said, copies are not usually as good as originals.

Couldn't agree more. Did you know the Houghs lived and trained in UK with Shirley Ballas, and Julianne was Mark Ballas's partner. They were all amazing competitors - shame they gave up so early.

I watched a couple eps of DWTS last year and it felt like an MTV production. Good dancing, but didnt rate it as an overall piece.

Imo there is something just pure and textured about our one that cant be beat

Indeed I did; they were trained by the best. They ooze talent...in bucketloads.

There is footage around of them when they were younger in training and in dance competitions. As I am sure you know the three of them formed there own group 2B1G and they appeared on Michael Barrymore's show, where he introduced them by saying that if talent is anything to go by, these kids are heading right to the top. That is also available online.

Mark Ballas and Derek Hough formed their own rock bank, and Julianne went on to be a country singer and a leading actress. They really are a talented trio.

Enough said

She's walking across the floor and striking poses...Nancy Dell'Olio, is that you?

I feel like most of the pros there end up with a James-Jordan attitude due to the blatant favoritism and pro caste system, where two or three always get the ringers. Also agree the dances are ridiculously short and there's a lot of smoke and mirrors and not much concern about proper dance steps. That said, I haven't watched since 2013 and don't miss it.

I will say their VT's used to be terrible and SCD's were good - then at some point, America started doing more actual training room footage and SCD decided to go the cutesy route like the US used to do. WHY AUNTIE BEEB WHY - IT'S TERRIBLE - MAKE IT STOP !!!!!

That feels like a horrible peek at the future of Strictly. If Anton ever leads one of his duffers around while wearing a pair of hot pants I think it will finally be 'the day that Strictly died'.

Tried watching Dancing With the Stars footage when I miss Strictly but I can't get into it. It just feels very...American. That's all I can describe it as. I suppose each version will be catered to its country of origin and I think Strictly is perfect for us. Apart from the VTs.

Have only ever watched DWTS this series and prefer strictly in a lot of ways but prefer the U.S. VTs and I did especially enjoy their team dances and partner switch up week, would like a switch up week here.

Have seen a fair few of the shows from around the world and for me the best two are the uk one and the USA one and of those two - to my dance tastes I prefer our one - would hate to see SCD go any more like it's USA counterpart - The houghs and mark are all great professionals trained here by shirley and at Italia Conte, - remember them competing here and Kevin used to get the better of them too.

If they ever introduce some of the dance styles that DWTS have here will kill off SCD imo

My Dad (a competitive dancer and judge himself ) always loved to watch DWTS as he liked the razzmatazz of the show stating as neither show was of a high ballroom latin standard (in his opinion) then he would go with the entertainment factor sadly this is our first year watching without him

Thats sad Bendy.I hope he lived a full and happy life. Once a dancer, always a dancer

The only bit of any other country's SCD I've ever seen was that clip of the woman getting nekkid in the Argentinian one.

The UK's Strictly is far superior to DWTS, although the money for the Pro dancers in the US is much more.

I haven't seen the other countries alternatives so cannot comment on those.

The French version is quite entertaining. More like the British show than the American one. The only problem is the winner is always quite obvious - usually some pop star who has lots of prior dance experience.

Prefer the format of the UK show, but much prefer the US VT's and the Professionals. Ours mostly don't compare in standard.

I think the professionals on both shows about equal with both shows having good ones and some who are clearly not trained enough in both styles sadly sometimes the viewers think the good pros clearly are not

[quote=marcusdb;80206347]The French version is quite entertaining. More like the British show than the American one. The only problem is the winner is always quite obvious - usually some pop star who has lots of prior dance experience.[/QUOTE]



Gosh, that's terrible, I hope it doesn't happen here.

Oh, wait a minute.................

I'm thinking of lovely Karina Smirnoff for example ( think she was ranked 1st or 2nd in the world when she competed), Maks, Val, Derek and the Houghs for example,
I remember seeing all of these dancing in top level comps in their day

I have to say that I am not a ballroom purist at all, but every time I watch dances from DWTS I feel meh. Rarely I do actually engage with them, though a couple of times it has happened. I Also think the winners on DWTS are often very obvious from the beginning, as I believe the gap between their top pros and the rest is obvious and bigger than in the Uk, with the best pros being miles and miles ahead on both quality and popularity.
I really don't like how they crowd the small dancefkoor with back up dancers, it's all about the show and less about the dance.

Yes, I see what you mean by "enough said".

Perhaps this pro-dance from a few years ago will help redress the balance; from the ridiculous (above) to the sublime?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pgEZ_RXJiP8

Never tire of seeing this.