I could not agree with you more. To me it's really strange they're increasing the use of backing dancers when people are actually watching for the pro/celeb couples and other dancers take the focus away from the couple's performance.

The entertainment of watching a novice celeb dancer perform with their pro teacher along with the competition element is integral to the show's success and any genuine sense of competition is also being removed by excessive management from production.

There are dances where the use of certain props can look appropriate like the Charleston. But let Carol dance a lovely Foxtrot without insisting Pasha holds an umbrella over them the whole time (fair play to Pasha as to how he tried not to let that distract from Carol too much). Dress the men in tails and the ladies in beautiful gowns, costumes that enhance the spectacle, feeling and flavour of the dance rather than distract from it. The pros can be asked to choose chart tracks alongside more traditional music as long as it works for that dance.

even Cristopher didn't use props

Christopher Parker? No, well apart from his Paso cape, I still remember him running round the dancefloor with it flapping behind him He really embodied the spirit of Strictly.

As the series runs for so many weeks, there is surely time for something to suit everyone (well, nearly everyone, anyway).

I'm not keen on the OTT costumes, although I know plenty of people who love them, particularly on Halloween week. So maybe a compromise - OTT costuming on halloween week, and maybe musicals week, but not on any other week.

Likewise props - hats and canes are fine for the Charleston; a 'nightclub' setting for Argentine Tango, that sort of thing, but leave the serious dances alone. And PLEASE no more backup dancers - the celebs are not clever enough to cope with them.

Then when it gets to the showdance in the final, banish all rules, let them go as mad as they want, after all, that's when the viewers votes really count!

Have to say I agree with him but it's no longer the show it once was. It's having to cater for growing gnat audience who claim to be bored if it isn't in your face action. Add on top the explosion of social media and sheeple jumping on the latest bandwagon of fandom and it's nothing more than a popularity contest. More Big Brother than Come Dancing.

I thought you might agree ... athough I have to admit that, the more I watch the dance, the less I get annoyed by the teapot etc. which, I suppose, is a good thing


Matthew and Alesha are my most favourite couple ever on Strictly and I've watched all their dances many times, well deserved winners of Series 5, imo, yes, I remember discussing the Rebel Yell jive and I got the chance to tell Vincent how much I enjoyed it


I've never watched Big Brother but I think Strictly has always been a popularity contest, which is why Jay won last year ... his dancing was good but he was the most popular contestant from the start

Yes it has been about popularity but I've never felt that a contestant could walk on the floor, fart and then sit cross legged while the music played and still win. I did feel that it had reached that pitch last year. Social media is driving obsessive behaviour. Sadly both obsessive fandom and obsessive negativity against other contestants. A bit sad really.

Just pointing out that in some cases where the contestant is obviously never going to make a dancer, then the comedy route is the only way to engage with the audience!!

Funnily enough I was just watching the 'lobster' routine the other night on YouTube &, bad as it was, it made me laugh, as it did at the time, which I guess is why people voted for Scott, so in that respect it worked!!

Not sure why you picked on that one paricularly when you could have had Russell Grant being fired from a cannon, Jeremy's giant horse, Anne Widdecombe floating down from the ceiling etc which were far more cringeworthy but whatever!!
My comments on Jo were just a bit of praise for someone who took on a celeb, who on paper looked like a contender but in practice was utterly clueless, and actually managed to make SOMETHING of him!! If that was against thread rules I apologise, I hadn't realised!!

BIB
If you have forked out for a crane, it makes sense to make use of it. A few pyrotechnics, some dry ice mist and you're there.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-viobgagnok

And that, ladies and gentlemen is where we are headed. Welcome to America!

I could not agree with Vincent more and I miss him and Flavia so much from the show. I wish we could go back to the simpler days of Strictly but it will never happen, alas. We are being swept up in the Americanisation and vulgarisation of just about everything now.

Even the English language is irrevocably changed, and not for the good.

I loved the simplicity of just the pro, the dancer and the music. No plastic horses, no rockets, no stupid VTs that make you cringe. Even ITT has changed beyond recognition - everything rehearsed and pre-prepared. Gone are the days when the couples could go on ITT and be themselves and say what they really meant. I believe that is why Tristan left, he could not take the falseness any longer. Fair play to him.

I seem to remember Matt Di Angelo forgetting part of the routine and going to sit on the steps but, of course, he didn't win and, yes, there was a lot of obsessive fandom going on last year


hi NDD,

I agree with this, Jo did as much as she could with Scott and I liked him for having a go even though he had no rhythm, I loved Michael Vaughan's jive and watch it often, it never fails to make me smile


very good ..... and Len gave it an "11"

Lol!!!!!
That was brilliant, love it!!!!

Adding that to my list of favourite ever vids. Anton still spinning on the floor after Anne had fallen through Fair play to her, she was a good sport.


Completely agree with you.

BIB I see Tristan as a big loss to the show, a great teacher and genuine guy. He did seem uncomfortable playing along with the scripted VTs and storylines and all the celebrity Strictly now brings for the pros. However it does seem likely he'd have moved on anyway if he's settling his family in Australia.

One of your own productions? Frickin' hilarious. Not sure what part I enjoyed most but Anton's perpetual spins, Ann's black eye and the man losing his trousers made me cackle with delight.

Isn't that alot to do with the fact that X Factor is now so dire alot of people who chose it over Strictly in past years now don't watch?

Just as Call the Midwife eventually killed off Dancing on Ice.

I totally agree with Vincent. Let's get back to the actual dancing between a Pro+Celeb next series.

Not really - X Factor and Strictly's ratings aren't linked. If you look at the overall pattern of ratings for both shows since they launched, it's not the case that if the ratings for one go up the other goes down. If anything it's generally been the opposite, with this year being an exception. Countryfile/Call The Midwife vs Dancing On Ice was a case of two(/three) genuinely popular shows competing head to head, with massive overlaps meaning you couldn't watch both. There's no such clash with Strictly and X Factor - you could easily watch both of an evening, especially with PVR letting you skip through the first 15 minutes or so of X Factor to the first actual performance.

Yeah I remember and ok he wasn't the best but I thought he should have been marked a bit higher and he tried best and that wasn't given any credit neither was the entertainment he gave

Love him.
No lies were told and don't even get me started on the introduction of stupid scripted Vts in 2011 ...making these celebrities miss precious rehearsal time to film some scripted nonsense !!!!!! How can I forget Patrick getting injured while filming a skit with Anya for their Vt ?
Well at dancing with the stars, they still show training at least so that may be unrelated.

I don't know why they're so hell bent on copying dancing with the stars, when that show is going down the drain especially ratings wise.

Agree with you, I admired him for putting himself out there every week (very exposed with no props and theming to hide behind) in order to entertain the audience

BIB Really? I think boredom killed off Dancing on Ice. Because the same 2 people organised everyone's choreography every year, the routines became very same-old-same-old. Plus - and I apologise in advance to all those who adored J&C - when some of the contestants began to look better on the ice than J&C, it was definitely time for the latter to hang up their skates!

As for Call the Midwife - I know it is popular, although I've yet to meet anyone who watches it!

exactly wonder why they didn't just replace Jayne& Chris& Keep the show though, personally idve liked series 9 to be a new 1 and then series 10 to be the final allstars but that's just me I guess

especially in the final I think the fact he was marked in the bottom half (between 1-4) I think he should have had a bit more and it be made a bit closer to call, Imagine if he has actually won the show?

BiB: that would have been my choice as well. Like scd, it was a bit of harmless (from a viewers point of view that is!) Sunday evening entertainment that viewers could enjoy with their young kids right through to their great-great-grandparents without fear of embarrassment. . There's not too many shows like that.

Am really pleased that Strictly won a BAFTA - well deserved.

But might the producers think they've got it right now - and keep on the 'Americanisation' path?

Hope not - hope they stick more to the dancing and have a few less silly props and daft VTs.

And please, can the Pros dance a few more 'proper' ballroom or Latin dances - like they used to?

Vincent though indicates the problem with the genuine competitions of early years. Then we had journeys and development , and progressively better dancers , and two or three potential winners getting to a final shoot out. The only problem was that some years the voting was so sexist that better females didn't even reach the final. Rachel was one to suffer from that - when probably one of the best two dancers ever on the show and she couldn't win. Talent and beautiful choregraphy were great, but often didn't win.

The show has since been through various perms to try and live with the way the public votes. it tried and failed to deal with the joke candidates, and even tried not bothering with the competition, and riding with humour. Its since de--emphasised technique, tried to avoid the anti-judge vote mounting, and gone for stunts, extras, shorter dancers, less technique, and sfx. Its had to pack the show with good females some years to get a female winner, and its had years where a male has just coasted to a win over a split opposition. Its had few years when there was a cloe battle with a winner winning on merit, and more over-experienced celeb dancers with short journeys.

Its recently fallen into having a gaggle of top performers- because, otherwise, a few best ones can't be guaranteed to survive to the final . Thats ended up with none being objectively much better than the others, and its random who survives to the final and wins. It produces decent entertainment , but its silly now to actually like anyone much because they can go any week after half way, and few reach their potential. its working rating wise, but it was far more watchable, exciting, skillful and interesting, when Vincent was out there with Louisa and Rachel.