I hope someone puts the dance to a different piece of music (that fits), as I really felt that let it down. I loved all the dance content though.

As someone who hasn't been Jay's biggest fan over the series, I have to say I didn't think his showdance was quite as disappointing as everyone made out. It wasn't "wow" at all, but everything was danced pretty impeccably.

Edit - I use "everyone" in an exaggerated sense, rather than a literal one

Hate showdances generally & all the ones tonight were dire in their own different ways. Aliona was in her full on WTF mode tonight last seen with Matt Baker in their AS.

Feel a bit sorry for Jay actually, he's completely besotted & she's going to just say 'thanks for the second glitterball chum' & vamoose.

Yes, it was - but as the judges pointed out, it wasn't a showdance in terms of any "wow" factor.

This is the one opportunity to have free rein without fear of marks being deducted for rule-breaking - because there are no rules.

This was "safe" - and frankly, it was disappointing as a result.

I think Aliona kept it safe because Jay is great at the technical stuff but makes too many mistakes if under pressure, and doing razzmatazz which is uncomfortable for him would have piled on the pressure. I think that's why she never tried to improve his performance with an acting coach either - she treated him like a delicate flower - perhaps because she knew he would fall apart if she didn't?

But we already knew he was capable of that. It was just more of the same with a random upside down start. Uninspiring really. But it was never going to make a difference to the outcome anyway.

I love Jay and his dancing, and I thought it wasn't the right feel for the occasion. He was so capable of doing a dance people would remember for ages. Not sure why they didn't really. Thought paso was great, though.

Very disappointing and underwhelming but personally I do think Aliona's choreography is lazy compared to others..and they won what can I say the boyband vote won it ,certainly not because they were the best

Jay is a fantastic dancer & Aliona choreographs amazing routines, but this was dull dull show dance. This isnt sour grapes because I believed Georgia & Kellie were both better on the night & made a stronger improvement overall. Oooooh there's obviously a bit of resentment there.

Do we, though? For a while now DS has been flooded with complaints about how terrible a dancer he is and how we've all been duped by a sort of Emporer's New Clothes groupthink. Or something. He's flaccid. No, he's stiff. He has no personality. Only menopausal housewives like his dancing. Yadda yadda, blah blah blah.

Tbh I never noticed Jay making many mistakes in his routines. He nailed most of his choreography throughout the season, with only a couple of obvious errors that I can think of right now. Didn't think she treated him like a delicate flower either, but just worked with a shy guy playing, to his strengths. He seemed to love the dramatic dances like the Paso and Tango. Thinking about it, I suspect the reason she didn't bring in an acting coach was because he had a fan base that liked his performances just fine. If she thought an acting coach was a barrier to them winning, she'd have asked for one.

Unless I'm forgetting something obvious, the segment with Ronan Keating was as close as we've come to an "acting coach" segment since Gavin.

To be fair, a few of the threads of that ilk came from Terry - who I'm not sure entirely believes the things he writes

I think you're exaggerating. I don't recall many if any saying he's a terrible dancer. Flooded? Come on. (Ignoring posts from Terry).

Can't say I'd noticed that. I think most people appreciated his execution but not everyone was moved by what he did. So in my eyes he was an undisputedly good dancer but didn't win everyone (myself included) over as a performer.

I still smile at the mention of Gavin (and Katya). One of the best partnerships ever.

That's more like it.

(Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year sweetie!)

I feel similarly; not a fan but that routine was classy and polished and,perhaps,better for not trying to be showy as he would have looked less convincing trying to play it loud.

I get what you mean and I did feel that it would kick in... then it didn't... but...

If you think of the analogy of a band releasing songs, the hit single is the obvious showdance. Kellie and Kevin did that. Instant and easy to get.

What Jay and Aliona did was more like the album track that perhaps needs a few listens but may actually be the best track.

Jay and Aliona's showdance was a different way of doing a showdance, and there is more than one way (yes Len!). It was also rather complex and intricate. Not instant but the risk was a sign of the creative effort.

Kellie stole the show with a truly superb showdance but Jay's was also superb. Just in a different way. I loved both of them.

The others... well Katie's was dramatic but clumsy and Georgia's was competent but nothing more.

Kellie was oomph. Jay was lyrical. Both were fantastic. It's just that Jay's was unconventional so was not what was we are used to. In my opinion, that is a good thing.

I absolutely loved it apart from the beginning. Really felt out of place to be honest but once they got into the meat of the routine it had some absolutely beautiful parts.
I agree re the ending though, it was a little abrupt and if they'd have added just a couple more bars from the Jive it would have rounded it off better.

Overall though I thought it demonstrated brilliantly the skills he possesses and the technique he's refined over his time on the show.


Show dances don't have to be "wow"-y though. That's something that's crept in and seems to involve it having to be performed at 100mph or have 100 lifts in it The first few series' all had showdances where the couples' demonstrated what they'd learnt and chucked in a few lifts as they'd not been allowed to do them before.


And your theorising fails miserably as I'm 45 and had never heard of Jay McGuinness until he stepped onto the SCD floor. The only member of The Wanted I knew anything about was Max George because he'd been a guest star on the final season of Glee and was Michelle Keegan's ex.


He's apparently an Oscar-winning level actor the way some people have been posting on these forums over the series'.




Oh there's been quite a few threads or posts within threads making the points Lightning mentions

Great post

To be able to do something much more impressive, he would have to be able to do something more impressive. Its difficult to see what. To attempt something more beautiful, you would, like Georgia, need to be able to act a story , and convey emotion. To do a showman dance, like Kellie, or a Jason or Denise VO , you need to be able to act the showman and do comedy. Even to do a Chris H -, you have to be able to act out a comedy. Jay can't act.

That leaves you doing what he's done all series - demonstrating that he is good at technique and positions, and as you can't just do that with one long dance, he ended up with a montage of himself - striking his best poses and doing his best steps. That, however, made his problem worse - as a montage doesn't lead to a coherent story, character, act, beginning, or end.

Nothing could ever top Matt Di Angelo and Flavia's "kitchen sink" showdance from 2008....she was throwing herself at him in all these silly lifts like her life depended on it.

Artem and Natalie did a show dance I really enjoyed, which was classy and classic. And had a beginning, middle and end. So it does not have to be wild with lots of throwing about to be done well.

What was missing last night was a bit more "umph" and an ending. They danced it well, but as the judges said, the beginning should have been more at the end.

I agree with you, I think it showed technique and style over jazz hands and gurning.