http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/strictl...mn-october-23/

Its a read between the lines sort of blog... He has some positives to say on the Quickstep, mostly about his own choreography

Excellent review of the dances/dancers from Brendan. I agree with almost everything he said.

I'm not even an Ed supporter, but I definitely appreciated Brendan calling out the judges for not acknowledging the actual dancing Ed did. Every year they fall into this pattern with one or two celebs. Some of the so-called comedy contestants do improve technically, yet once the judges label them as "comic relief", they never get a positive comment regarding their actual dancing.

For me, Brendan's assessment of Claudia wasn't out of line. She isn't the strongest dancer, but she's very capable. AJ is making the rookie mistake of pushing her too hard. A more seasoned SCD pro would make her look better than she is, but AJ is making her look worse by giving her more than she can handle. That's what Brendan should have said.

I slightly disagreed with him about Louise's Paso. It was not a 10-worthy performance (although the technical dancing probably was worth a 10). Louise's dancing is always beautiful technically, but this time she really wasn't able to stay connected emotionally to the performance (as evidenced by the endearing but inappropriate smile that kept popping out).

Normally I can see stuff between the lines, but saying they looked great together, danced well and that he's a great partner and dancer doesn't really sound like dissing him to me

I know Brendan is a very honest guy....tell it like it is kind of guy but I was still surprised by his honesty . Love, love, love it . It is so refreshing . I really enjoyed reading his blog, thanks for the link op

Major props for Monkseal for finding a shot for his recap blog where Louise was not smiling. That must have been a toughy!

Yes t felt a bit like an audition piece to me too. Interesting though.

I agree with him to an extent about salsa. It is easy to learn and it probably doesn't belong in Strictly. I disagree that its rubbish (but I would say that as a salsa dancer of 20 years wouldn't I? ). But considering it is so simple I wonder why Brendan can't actually do it. He is the worst culprit for the Salsambcha

Oh , brilliant comments . He's very much on my wavelength . I'm so glad he's over his recent traumas , like that health scare and coping with Anasta .
I did mention in a thread that Oti's head positioning was very peculiar , but got told off as knowing nothing . Well , seems I know as much as Brendan on this one .
He's spot on re the scoring too , and I'm hugely delighted that he has spoken up for Ed and Katya . Their jive was more of a jive than Cloudier's (and I like her) . Craig giving him 4 was deeply disgusting , but Craig has it in for Ed from day 1 .
Anyway great reading in that link , thanks .

Regarding the head positioning, he was talking about Ore not Oti

I think it is fair to say Ed is improving and has every right to be there still but let's not pretend he is a better dancer than anyone left in the competition.

Oh I apologise for confusing you . I meant Ore .

Not really.

Really measured and fair article from Brendan imo. Wouldn't be averse at all to him being a judge at some point in the future.

I respect his opinion a lot - he manages to be frank without the arseholery of Jordan, but I can't envisage Brendan replacing Len, I don't think he has the sense of humour and ease for that role (I know Len has his cranky moments but overall he gets the tone right). I think they'll give the gig to Anton cos he's more 'light entertainment'. If anything, I'd say Brendan's more suited to Craig's role.

I must be Brendan's alter ego since his review reflects the way I thought about Blackpool to a T, That includes his unpopular opinion about Claudia.
Naturally, I think it's a brilliant review (brilliant people are those who agree with us, correct?)
Very edifying, too. Now I know: "Everyone should have a chicken". (Is Brendan taking a dig at Greg? If so, I am not surprised).

Agreed. But he also does not deserve to be so many points behind the others after the judge's scores. I think that is the point Brendan is making.

I actually suspect Craig is marking him so low in the hope that the addition of the votes from the public will not bridge the gap.

Has not worked so far

It doesn't matter how low Craig marks him - if he is at the bottom of the leaderboard Ed gets the same number of points from the judges whether the gap between him and the next person is 2 marks or 12 marks.

Since Brendan is spot on, I'll "pull the other one" on his behalf -

Still don't understand why Len only gave him a '9' for his jive

Craig & Darcey's failure to understand his and Oti's AT story unfairly lost him two points.

So, as Brendan said - "undermarked".


I think its a little more direct than that - as evidenced from the quote below:

"I'm not saying it was perfect – Craig mentioned that there was some gapping in hold, which I agree with. It needed a lot more shape coming up from the legs and working upwards, connection in the middle between the two dancers and stronger shaping on top. I was hoping that since Gorka is shorter than I am she would have been able to get into her knees more, which is where the shaping originates from, and that didn't happen as much as I would have liked".

All in all, I very much agree with his insights particularly about Ed's lack of positive comments about his dancing and Claudia not being that strong of a dancer. I have never understood those who seem to think she is a shoo-in for the Final, even the win.

Not a chance!

I pretty much agree with all of that review. Claudia and Ore were overmarked. I like them both but Claudia's jive was a bit of a mess and Ore's VW wasn't that impressive. I agree about the never ending fleckerl thing. Louise and Danny were the best of the night and JR is better in ballroom.

doesnt he just

James could learn a lot from reading Brendan's column

On the contrary if Craig had wanted to get rid of Ed with his scoring, he'd give him an 8. Wouldn't make any difference to the leaderboard and wouldn't make him look hard down by.

Great review from Brendan - so I am not going mad then being unimpressed with Claudia ( 4 x 9) and Ore (10s!). The judges' comments on Ed seem totally scripted and out for a laugh, rather than a proper critique.