That may be so, but there was no doubt that Ore and Jo's foxtrot looked like a Foxtrot and Robert and Oksana's Samba looked very much like a Samba - not not really none of the dances.

Louise under marked - as usual.

Whether Danny's tango looked less like a tango than Ore's foxtrot is subjective, but considerably more of Danny's dance was in hold than Ore's, or Louise's for that matter.

you are joking...right??

I'd be first to admit i'm no expert on this but I think over the years most Tangos have been danced pretty consistently in hold but certainly with the dancers in close proximity to each other when out of it. Danny and Oti were well apart from each other for a couple of chunks of the dance (notably at the start and end).

It's the first time the amount of time spent out of hold in a Tango has made an impression on me, which is why I commented upon it... but as I said, it was lousy music for this particular dance, which is why it didn't have the usual Tango feel to it, in my view.

Sorry, you are right about Ore and Robert.

Oh course not. All you need is a pair of "Good heavens this is absolutely divine and faultless" glasses. Pop them on before your favourite celeb dances and watch them dance without mistake. Then you will be convinced that any score below 40 is an outrage and have hours of fun ranting about how everyone else is favoured and your chosen couple is hard done by.

They work for all celebs (although some may need stronger lenses) and after a couple of weeks you won't even realise you're wearing them.

Compared to both of the other ballroom dances last night, it had far and away the most time spent in hold. Even the segment you mention with the backing dancers had Danny & Oti in hold in the centre of the line with the other dancers holding on to them from either side.

I was going ask whether it's joke or sarcasm??

Shame that it still didn't look much like an actual Tango.

I'm not comparing it to anyone else's dances from last night but rather talking about Danny and Oti's dance in isolation - as this thread is about them.

It's merely an opinion. I just felt that it was not very tango-like.

My reference to the segment with the backing dancers is unrelated to my comments about the parts danced out of hold. In fact, I even referred to the fact that it was in hold, so I'm puzzled by your comment. I simply said that it was "very creative and in a different context would have looked great" but felt it was not really appropriate for this dance.

I think the issue is, yes, it wasn't the most recognisible Tango in the show's history but it has to be looked at in context - none of them really did except for Ore and Joanne. Possibly Judge Rinder and Oksana's would have done had it been danced correctly (a bit like Danny and Oti's Tango to be fair); Louise and Kevin simply did a showdance for the second week in a row and Claudia & AJ faded in and out of the Salsa.

So true.


He is the best dancer. People will have to live with that.


Madness. Yep, and silly bias.


So true. Bless her, she's no dancer and AJ is not much of a choreographer. Awful lifts and terrible ideas.


By miles. So obvious.


Fact. Odd how people can just ignore that.

Also, what is the point of blaming the dancers for the music - and the scoring? Ah yes, we are the anti Danny brigade and we'll just blame him for everything, and for being so good. How very dare he!

I don't vote so, sorry folks. Not a mad fan here, just a dancer who likes to watch dance but manages NOT to lose all common sense while doing so.

I'm confused.

Is there some reason why comments cannot be made about Danny's dances without a justification/comparison being made with one of the other performances of the night? That's not looking at it in context.

This is Danny and Oti's performance of a Tango I'm talking about - not anyone else's performance of something else entirely. Why can't it be assessed or commented upon on its own merits, rather than someone else's dance being brought into the equation?

As a performance and when criticising it on its own merits or lack thereof, of course it can. However, when you introduce the concept of overmarking to it, it's impossible (if one is being fair) to properly discuss this without also looking at the scores given to the others and this also necessitates looking at the performances of the others.

I actually think every dance should be looked in context. Take the marking - pick a couple, Ore and Joanne for example. Do I think they were overmarked last night? Yes. Sounds unfair. In context of everyone else do I think they were overmarked? No.

Styling is also key - why just pick up on Danny and Oti's issues with the choreography from last night alone? Is it fair or is it not? Did the theme of the show dictate the staging and choreographical choices of every dance? If yes then the criticism (whether of the couple or the theme or the music choices etc.) needs to be seen across the board in context. If no then the criticism should be directed at just that couple.

You ask why Danny and Oti can't be criticised without context being brought into it... I'd ponder why any couple should be criticised without it.

Basically, we were offered a choice of 3 American Smooths last night.
A foxtrot AS obscured by flowers and giant lollipops.
A QS AS with barndancing and judge table bothering after a lift/heavy assist.
A discotango.
Blame the overbearing themeing.

Doti fan here, but in honest response to the OP ....
Yes he was overmarked ..... Yes, again.

As its preferred I don't compare to others I'll scuttle off and start a new thread for EVERY couple who danced last night, saying the exact same thing

Whaaat??? I just saw it and I was replying and it's all gone.

But only one element of this discussion is about whether it is overmarked or not. I happen to feel that it was - and I added that as an afterthought - but that's not particularly the main thrust of what I am commenting upon.

Whether or not it was overmarked, my comments were more about how it looked and whether it was sufficiently Tango-like or not. For that reason, whether anyone else's dances looked like what they were supposed to be, doesn't enter into it because I have chosen to comment only on Danny and Oti's dance and not any of the others.

Notwithstanding the poor choice of music - and I doubt whether anyone else could have done much with it either - for me their dance lacked the feel and passionate emotion of a Tango.

That's just the way the cookie crumbles. Not his fault he can devote more time

No, I didn't. I'm asking why Danny and Oti's dance can't be assessed and commented upon on its own merits without comparison with anyone else's dance muddying the waters.

I'm only commenting on Danny and Oti because this thread is about them - and not everyone else.

Why is that a problem?

It's not a problem exactly, it's just that the title and the theme of the thread is overmarking. You've even mentioned it yourself. It's going to be the spectre at the feast of everyone's posts whether you want it to be or not.

Of course you can comment on the dance on its own merits but the topic on most people's mind in this thread will be overmarking and bias and they'll probably respond accordingly. Well, as you've seen - they have done .

There's no reason why it can't be but it'd be a very short thread - no it wasn't his best and it was hindered by the theme.

The over-marking has to be taken in context of the other dancers, who, for varying reasons were also over-marked.

If the judges look at a dance and score X and the next dance is worse there is no question over the lower score. However, if the third or subsequent dances are better, then of necessity they have to score higher, even if those dances do not merit the scores. It is the only way they have of saying C is better than A, as good as D but not better than E, and all are better than B.

People get so hung up on the judges scores, when the only thing that actually matters is position on the leader board.