DWTS is what it is. I used to like watching it when Watch showed it as it filled the gap between Strictly quite nicely, but is a pale immitation IMO. Garish and tacky. There was one memorable week where they did a country and western themed might where everyone had to dance around bales of hay, which was interesting. Lol More recently there was a Disney week where CGI cartoon characters appeared on stage with the couples, erm that was intersting as well.

I think some of their celebrities are questionable. Lots of Real Housewives, and other reality TV fodder. The kind of people the Beeb would never have on Strictly. In the past they did get big names, but they don't seem to to anymore. I don't DWTS is as big in the US as Strictly is here.

Hrmm ... bales of hay and CGI cartoon characters ... MInd you the beeb had the dancing teapot ... Let's hope SCD never touches TOWIE (again) or Geordie Shore <vomits>

Most of the choreography on Dancing With The Stars is *terrible*, and that's even with the routines lasting for all of about 40 seconds and not having to look like any genre of dance, let alone ballroom/latin. Some of the ballroom pros attempts at "contemporary" in particular are hysterical, and make Anton's Latin look like Natalie's Ballroom.

Yeah right! That's why the rejects from DWTS (Gleb, Oksana, Tristan) becomes an instant hit on SCD.. while the most popular SCD pro (Artem) turns out a dud on DWTS when compared to the other top pros..

I don't think Gleb would have been such as amazing hit if he didn't happen to look like Gleb
I loved Tristan but he was hardly an overwhelming hit either.

The jury is still out on Oksana !

Gleb's choreography was Marmite on strictly people either loved it or hated it and I don't think he was that big a success yes media liked him as he was eye candy but I haven't seen much upset by him leaving

I like Tristan since he was dwts but was he a big success on SCD ? People seem to like him more on ITT than strictly

Oksana hasn't even been on strictly yet so don't know how she is an instant hit

As for Artem he was doing really well with Lea they were very popular in the voting until vts started to turn quite negative, they got dances that didn't suit her, she wasn't popular on social media which is extremely important for dwts and there was a disagreement over pro selection for the trio tbh that season no-one was going to win except Alfonso. Artem was dropped for a season as Val didn't have a partner and 2 duds. Dwts unlike strictly has a strict hierarchy of pros especially on the male side which makes it harder to make an impression as you are unlikely to get a contender as a newbies again unlike strictly in fact Artem was extremely lucky to get Lea as a first celeb.

I think Artem is great and a lot better than the majority of the dwts pros but I know people who didn't like him on strictly, he was lucky that he got Kara straight away which gave him a chance to shine straight then he had amazing contenders with Holly and Natalie as well

I like dwts but agree with Monkseal's assessment on it dwts is getting worst and moving away from what made it successful in the first place with gimmicky short dances that look nothing like the dance it supposed to be with so many props, other dancers and themes every week. i still watch the dances only because occasionally you find some diamonds in the dirt

I love DWTS, I do but hate to admit it has jumped the shark numerous times:

Ninja turtle jive which Monkseal linked to
Super Mario bros freestyle
Duck dynasty beard (although the actual routine was fab)
Double amputee doing circus rope swinging (she did not need the gimmick, she could dance beautifully)
Deaf dancer being blindfolded (he did not need the gimmick, he could dance beautifully)
As well as martial arts choreo twice (Mark looking at you), every prop going including many lethal ones (bandanas, boas) and elaborate sets which have also gone wrong on occasion.

Artem has had a really rough time on there with partners and has had to dumb down

Pearls:
Tango Maks Meryl
AT Bindi Derek
Paso Ryker Alison
Rumba Foxtrot Paso Rumer Val
AT Mark Candace
Jive Mark Paige

^from later seasons when style started overriding content, nonetheless there have been some beautiful routines

He's not the most popular with everybody. He was my least favourite pro on SCD.

With respect, I think Monkseal knows more about what constitutes a good standard lf dancing than you do

I think you're over estimating Gleb's popularity. He was marmite of the highest order. Personally I couldn't stand his dancing and thought his choreography was trash. Still haven't got over that ridiculous spider crawl and the amount of times he threw his crotch into poor Anita's face.

What strange logic from someone championing the choreography on DWTS!
Oksana - yet to dance here, never had a celeb there, so who knows if she'll be a hit.
Gleb - certainly a hit in some departments on Strictly, never had an opportunity really on DWTS. (Is he a 'reject from DWTS'? Or DWTS Australia? Or Russia? Or, now, Strictly? )
Tristan - popular for his personality on both shows, not especially celebrated for his choreography on either.
Artem - yet to have a serious contender (whatever you say about Lea), but looks like he's back on again this season, so maybe he'll get a chance (but expect him to be at the back of the queue for a decent celeb, as per usual).

I suspect he wasn't lying when he said leaving Strictly was for 'family reasons', ie his family told him to go for the big money deal!!

I thoroughly enjoyed his year on Strictly & thought he came in for a ridiculous amount of mindless criticism from certain areas of this forum at the time of Anita's exit!!
Best of luck to him in the USA!!

How crass to suggest Gleb and Elena are being greedy financially.

Gleb is clearly devoted to Olivia and Elena and around 35 grand for a few months work in London was never going to be enough for them all to relocate here, or to justify such a long period away from them on the other side of the world for the second year in a row. Not easy to juggle being a parent and all the travelling necessary for a pro dancer.

Pleased to hear Gleb's back on DWTS, hope it goes well for him.

Legal phrase that, "with respect"

He's getting a bit of a pasting on Instagram this morning. First time I've ever seen negative comments on Gleb's page! I hope this works out for him, but can't help but think this is a mistake. A big one. There is a pecking order amongst the DWTS that doesn't exist on Strictly. He'll be right at the bottom of the list when it comes to allocating celebrities. Expecting a duffer or token older lady.

I understand why he's done it, who wouldn't want the better weather and pay, but if your happy to play second fiddle to Derek Hough and the Chermonovskys or whatever their called...

Look at what happened to Emma Slater. Chose DWTS over Strictly (at the very last minute)" and despite being popular with viewers, gets duffers, then relegated to the troupe then dumped altogether. I think she would have been a hit on Strictly and still part of the line up now.

You're right about the pecking order, but Max and Derek are gone from the show (for now) so it's really down to Mark and Val getting the pick of the celebs.

I suppose Gleb's fate on DWTS depends on how much they really wanted him as opposed to how much he wanted them (which was a lot, I'm guessing). He might end up in the troupe or he might be earmarked to be a new 'top' pro. It'll be interesting to see what he gets . Either way, I do think DWTS is a better fit for him and his family, even if it's only because they can be together (and afford to live!). The risky part will be if he ends up just being another single-season-boot. Risk and reward!

I like Gleb and wish him well, but I can't help feeling that he was just using Strictly all along, and it leaves a slightly sour taste, given the welcome he received here .

I can't help but feel he was going to be a hit on DWTS, it would have happened the first time. He did a series with a celebrity, then was shunted to the troupe. I believe that happens fairly often if your face doesn't fit, and they have a far higher turnover of pro's than we do.

backstageone suggested that Gleb showed 'indecisiveness' when asked to return to Strictly and that was why he was let go, nothing to do with family commitments, I assume the indecssiveness was him saying 'yes I'll come back but only if DWTS don't want me'. Understandably that would have pissed them off, it's makes them feel second fiddle.

As it is, I feel that Strictly is a far, far superior show with a much higher standard of dancing. You only have to look at Youtbe comments under our pro dances, lots of Americans saying that they wished DWTS had dancing of that standard.

Well, they do have a general policy of rotating pros and they don't firm up the pro line up until all their celebs are signed and sealed, so they can have more freedom to make good match-ups. They also have a history of bringing pros back which SCD never does. Gleb had a bit of a duffer and then got relegated, but now they've invited him back, so they must see something they want.

I can't help feeling that doing the Russian and British shows was part of an elaborate long-game to get back where he always wanted to be. Hope it doesn't bite him in the bum.

By the way, I do much prefer Strictly - DWTS is almost unwatchable these days (and I used to love it) - but the two shows offer different opportunities for the pros. Different strokes an' all that.

I also used to enjoy DWTS. It was pretty much identical to Strictly at the start, with a few dances that are popular in the US like the mambo thrown in, then something changed and they started doing line dancing, hip hop, contemporary and God knows what else. They started doing partner swap weeks (why?!) and fusions, and having a celeb dance with two pro's even more at the same time and have them marked for it.

I suppose they don't have that strong heritage of televised ballroom dancing that we have in the UK, but still. It's a bit lame.

I do hope it doesn't go tits up for him. Tristan was let go despite being very popular, ditto Emma Slater.

Elena sounds so excited for Olivia starting school in the US on social media and see Kristina tweeted a lovely message. Awww so glad they can be together as a family, good luck to them.

There are 2 female pro spots open and with Karina being out, Emma might be back this season.

I love BOTH SCD & DWTS.. but DWTS is a far superior show in terms of dancing & entertainment. They keep on adding fun stuffs to their show to make it more exciting.. like trio dance, switchup, america's choice, dance duels etc.. & with SCD, it's the same since the beginning.. with little to no change with makes things a bit repetitive..

Americans don't like repetitiveness.. that's why i feel if DWTS was just a traditional ballroom show like SCD.. it wouldn't have lasted this long with 2 seasons per year & still among the top-10 most watched shows..

So i like SCD for more traditional ballroom dances.. & DWTS for more fun, flashier & entertaining dances..

Who mentioned greed? More like good sense to me!!

BIB - Some people might think this fun, and I haven't seen DWTS, but from your description it sounds like my worst nightmare!

You're not wrong, SR .

To be fair, some of the show's ... erm...innovations...are quite fun, or they would be if they knew when to stop. I quite like the switch-up, for example. But then they have the public vote for who should be with who via twitter (Fanwarz!); on top of that they make the switcheroo dances weird and not so wonderful 'new' genres like Burlesque; add in troupe dancers, props, bump-and-grind music and slutty costumes and the result is vomitous