I have been so bored with the winners over the last few years and so I am pleased to see some good dancers I actually like. Caroline Flack (nice enough lady) was a really dip in my interest. I just didn't get her appeal and thought her ballroom quite weak. Jay's win I found irritating, not because I didn't' like him or find him a reasonably good dancer, but more because I didn't get the adoration of him personally or as a dancer. This year I actively like Danny, Claudia, Ed and Judge Rinder and find the others ok.

I don't think the producers have been any more manipulative than they've been in the last few years although I do agree that their choice of music has become much more significant than in the COla years. For me the Gangnam style music choice was a step too far. Apart from that, they probably couldn't believe their luck when Ed signed up. However they took some risk partnering him with Katya who was untested. Karen would have been a safer choice. Sorry you don't get Katya. I think she is brilliant!

I think with Ed that I am missing that Michael Vaughan QS moment. I'm a bit disappointed since he does have a good sense of rhythm, but I don't think it will happen now.

I think it's a big of both. I remember reading the forum in the early series when it had separate colour settings to the rest of DS - it was pink (I think I'm a celeb was green) and when it changed to standard settings people said it wasn't as good. Then the Appreciation threads were moved to their separate attic, which again changed the feel.

I think this year is a perfect storm of competent, inoffensive hardworking celebs going acceptingly into their pigeon holes. There is nothing to dislike but there's nothing to get particularly excited about either. All the possible permutations of the next few weeks have been done before - and the first time was when the angst was at critical levels. Now it's just, yeah, fair enough.

Even the history re-writing ITT just gets shrugs (your jive was brilliant. We all loved it. You looked fabulous. Halloween was awesome. Blackpool was epic). The days of the forum going loopy because Claudia changed her lipstick colour as suggested or a panel being made up of DS forum members or even just having comments read out in the show have gone.

I'm not singling you out Maggie, but I'm so surprised to read that people say there are a lack of wow dances. For me, there have been many...I have been surprised how many there have been, there is usually 1 dance per week that fits the bill. I feel this has been a fantastic series of good dancing coming from more celebs than usual.

Boring winners for four years in a row for me - Louis Smith, Abbey Clancy, Caroline Flack and Jay McGuinness. Aside from Abbey I didn't dislike them but they were either predictable winners and/or dull personalities.

I think Ed's Vaughany moment was his Halloween cha cha cha.

I read your post on the Louise and Kevin App thread re-her AS. The reason this didn't work for me was that a crescendo in the routine was missing and she was not good on those assisted jumps. She has not wowed me with any of her dances though I've liked some. Remember Jennifer that most of us are not dancers and do not appreciate detail in the some way. Also some of the dances with impact have been telegraphed well in advance, e.g. Danny's charleston, such that when it arrives my expectation is met but not challenged. Which dances have you felt wowed by each week?

Yeah, I agree with all of your comments on previous winners. I think the cha cha was a sort of Vaughany moment although the dancing wasn't quite the same level.

However I do agree with Jennifer about the standard of dancing. I think it is very good this year. I also think the technical content is much improved on previous years with less posey and wafty stuff and more recognisable steps.

THINGY? THINGY? Are you MAD?

Agreed with this especially about the music choices - I'm no dance expert but even some of them have had my going - you what?

And it has an effect that no one can ignore any more. If you want a 'proper' samba don't overload it with Bollywood theming, if you want a 'proper' rhumba don't give the couple music that's been used for a paso.....twice, if you want a 'proper' VW rather than one long fleckle don't make them do it to music more suited to an American Smooth and have them do it at Blackpool where they need to make an impact - and don't have the judges kick up a fuss about the first two and handwave through the third raving about the fleckle and taking us for fools that we won't notice. This goes double when the unfair critisism of the celeb involved in the first (whoever's fault that was it wasn't his) might have been a contributing factor to him leaving and the second one ending up with the pro crying her eyes out on live tv as her chereography got savaged. Yes someone really does need to have a word with the music department as their antics have had a real negative effect this year and honestly I really pity poor Jo this week having to make a silk purse to stay in the competition out of a real sow's oar of a paso tune (which is a great song but not for a freaking paso) so they are not learning.

I do agree that I and others look at things from a different viewpoint, and yes whilst I am taking in the overall spectacle of the dance, I am at the same time observing the groups that are danced and ascertaining whether they are recognisable, whether the timing is clear and readable, whether footwork is correct and quality of that footwork, posture, frame, poise etc...just in the same way as the judges do. You see these things in an instant and this for me, detirmines whether the dance - and dancer - is great or not.
Re Louise and Kevins AS, I'm not entirely sure what people wanted to see in a Foxtrot based American Smooth....as the name suggests, it should be flowing and smooth, For me K & L delivered it just about right, very polished and not over danced.

Thought Harry was also a very predictable winner.

Thingy is the biggest ringer of all time .Not only that but is dancing with a Clifton, insincere and too giddy .When he is not giddy he is a grump doesnt says Thank you .Other times he gushes Thank you too much and over does it .
He doesnt train enough some days and other days trains too much . He wears frumpy clothes and walks all wrong anyway .......................

I like the fact some of the pros have really been pushing their celebs this year in terms of dance content / choreography. It's good to see.

Have to agree with others regarding the song choices this year. It never seems to improve and once again we've had some real howlers. That's top of my list in terms of what the show could improve on.

Most definitely.

But genuine question to the non dancers out there....

SCD producers always pick random pop songs or other songs that have lyrics, the dances are then made to fit the song even though they are not strict tempo.
How would viewers react if the dancers danced just to music - or mostly no lyrics - and to music that they had not heard before? This would be proper dance music that we dance to in lessons and comps? Would this be less enjoyable to most viewers? Do they like to know the song to which the dancers dance ?
This will never happen but I just wondered....

It was always Harry's to lose - a young, good looking, obviously geuninely nice bloke who was a drummer ergo guaranteed a sense of rhythm and a fan base who'd vote for him (another member of McFly won IACGMOH the same year). The only real surprise is that he didn't start out at the top of the leaderboard - Jason Donovan held pole for a at least a couple of weeks and how much competition for him Chelsee proved to be and that she proved to be likeable. I wonder how many other people initially thought she'd be really annonying at first and where pleasantly surprised by her as the competition wore on - being geuninely disapointed for her when she stuffed up her show dance in the final.

There's a balance though a lot of memorable dances have been done to pop music - Ramps' Hot Hot Hot salsa and Goldeneye AT, Louis's Distrurbia tango spring immediately to mind but it's about having music that fits the dance and even I can tell that 'That's Life' isn't a VW song, 'Everybody Wants to Rule the World' isn't a paso song in either versions, and a song that's been used twice for a paso wouldn't fit a 'proper' rhumba and if you've got Sinatra for an AS or a foxtrot that you've got a great headstart on someone who got some rubbish pop song.

As a non-dancer (in Latin & ballroom sense) I like the fact that they dance to music I (mostly) recognise. I don't have a problem with celebs dancing to modern music, music with lyrics etc. Some of my favourite Strictly routines have been danced to very recognisable songs (e.g. Alesha's QS to Valerie, the pro jive to Rebel Yell etc). I'm not a purist so the fact that, say, the SCD version of AT bears no resemblance to what Sofakat dances every week doesn't bother me, so a Ramps AT to Goldeneye works for me because it fits the pattern of what we were conditioned to expect from a Strictly AT in the 'olden days' - moody dramatic music with plenty of accents and pauses to which the dancers can kick and intertwine legs and smoulder at each other over the sweaty Pampers (ooh, sorry, don't know what came over me there...SEV-UUUUUHN!)

The issue for me is when the song is fighting the type of dance, either because the time signature is wrong, or the tempo is way too fast or slow, or it has some other gimmick - e.g. Bollywood - that means that however well the couple dances from a technical or performance perspective, the routine will never reach its full "wow" potential because even at its best it's being danced well despite the music rather than being enhanced by it as it should be, or because there's such an overwhelming theme to be shoehorned in that you know in advance that you're going to lose the majority of even such "core" elements as the Strictly version has taught us we should be looking for.

Very occasionally it can work (and I appreciate this is deeply personal and subjective). For example I loved Ed's "salsa" - but mainly because Ed dancing salsa "straight" would not have had me reaching for my mental 10 paddles. As a piece of pure entertainment and a vehicle to marvel at Katya's choreographic skill at making something so watchable from her raw material, it was brilliant and it made me smile. But if they'd given, say, Danny that piece of music I would have felt cheated of the "straight" salsa he could have delivered to a more authentic song.

I like having recognisable music, most definitely. Particularly if it's a song you love, seeing a couple do a dance justice alongside it is a very satisfying experience!

I do find it jarring though when the choices are clearly so far removed from the dance style that it makes no sense.

Very rare though, can they, or do they find something that is in strict tempo. This is the problem that I have. I don't mind whether it is a known song, something with lyrics or not, its just that rarely is anything in strict tempo. Yes, what they play, you can do the steps to it, but they are not the right timing or the right "feel".

For example, Valerie for QS is a classic example. Yes, you can QS to it and there are 8 beats to the bar, but it is too heavy for a QS, the beat is too heavy.

Things that can work are " Favourite Things" in VW, " Jesse" or " 3 times a lady" for Waltz...etc, all songs with lyrics but correct timing and emphasis on the right beat.

Chelsee was a revelation. Added real personality to the series, which otherwise might have been truly dull.

Now we have: -
Ed the earnest, partnered with clever choreography Katya
Beige Louise, partnered with Kevin the hat fist-bump.
Up front Ore, partnered with Jo the flexible.
Hot & Cold Robert, partnered with an often bewildered Oksana
Claudia the committed, partnered with AJ the selfie king
Dan the dancer, partnered with outrageous Oti.

I suppose it would bother me a lot more if I had the same background as you.

I understand what you mean.
I really used to enjoy Dancing On Ice for much the same reason. I don't really know anything much about the technicalities of skating, just liked what I saw, or not as the case may be.
To a dancer, the music has to be right.

This gif gives me life, I love it!


Hi Jennifer.

I don't think it's a case of the viewers/DS posters wanting music that is solely used in dance competitions mostly without lyrics but it's a question of the song at least being suitable for the dance.

I have nothing against using pop songs providing they are suitable for the dance. We have had some fantastic dances to pop tunes in the past and I am all for that but the song has to be at least a close enough rhythm . I understand the orchestra alters the tempo of most songs, either speeding up or slowing down. They can alter tempo but not rhythm which is the actual pattern of the beats and that is my problem with wrong choices, they are usually the wrong rhythm. The tempo can be sped up or slowed down but if you try to dance a Rumba to a song which has been used for a Paso (like someone mentioned further up the thread) it will be strange, even if the tempo has been slowed down to death.

If a couple manage to pull through the credit it's entirely theirs, the pro for being able to choreograph a dance to a crap choice and the celeb for performing and selling it, and I think this is probably the cause for most people overlooking the majority of bad song choices, because the couple make it work, so that will not stress out the fact the song was wrong in the first place. But this, of course, is just my opinion.

I blame the people who start threads with titles that don't reveal the topic. 😃

Seriously though I don't detect anything specific about this forum this year. However, the forums here generally are declining a bit in my opinion.

I agree, I more than most, understand what music could and should be used. I have mentioned this is another current thread, that the pop songs they use are not dance tracks. Yes you can dance some steps to them but they are not strict tempo and not suitable for ballroom or latin mostly.
I only asked whether it would ruin viewers enjoyment by using the music that we all dance to, as they are authentic latin and ballroom tracks. There are some really modern, amazing and funky latin sounds out there and its a great shame, as these all are authentic strict tempo timings.
It would be wondferful if just now and again they would insert some proper dance music - its not old fashioned as people think.

That's why I put so much emphasis on Strictly's internal rules in my previous post. For most people, I imagine their only experience of a QS - indeed, most if not all of the dances - is through the show, and so I'm judging today's dances against what watching most of the early series told me I should be looking for in a QS. Alesha's QS worked for me because it looked effortless, they were light on their feet, they emphasised accents in the music in what "felt" like just the right places which gave the impression the song worked for them, they were in time with it and not fighting it. (It also helped that she was dressed in a proper ballroom dress and they danced virtually all of it in hold with no breaks to dance round a market stall with a backing chorus of dancing teapots!)

I've no doubt that if I had your experience, I would be wincing just as much at a QS to Valerie as to a salsa to Jai Ho, but I'm not watching with that level of ballroom technical expertise behind me and that's not who the show is pitched at. But even I can tell the difference between a QS danced to a song like Valerie where there is very little effort required to tweak it to produce a good (by the standards of the show) QS, and one to eg "Teletubbies Say Eh-Oh" and it feels like for the last couple of series (and getting increasingly worse), the selections of dart-throwing song choice monkeys (™Monkseal) are so at odds with some of the dances that I fear it's only a matter of time before the Komedy Kontestant is QSing round Blackpool in a Tinky Windy costume.