Okay, I'll back you up on that point Cat; petite but perfectly formed, shall we say?

Never could understand cricket; but I struggled to se the point of baseball, even if I did understand the stupid game.

I understand cricket. My parents are mad on it! My whole extended family are actually. My cousin's wedding was on the same day as the 1st day of the 3rd Ashes test and we kept having to halt the reception procedings to find out the score!

I think it's one of those games you have to have grown up with, cricket, & I just can't get my head round the rules.

My lovely dad was a huge fan and I used to watch it with him when I was a wee nipper.

Now I watch it as I love it and it reminds me of him and how he loved it.

I still don't get the whole balls that are bowled thing (I cannot tell my googley from my yorker) but I get the rest.

And being totally girlie...cricket whites on men...yabba dabba do!

OT.

Is this an allusion to "Twinkle Toes Gough" & the similarity to Fred Flintstone?

Another case of a big man, taking up dancing; ballet to improve his 10 pin bowling, & proving to be very good at it.

I didn't grow up with it, I just got into it gradually. There is no need to know all the "rules" straight away. Just start by watching them batting and scoring runs, then fielding and taking wickets. It falls into place after a bit.

before i start raving i love cricket!! i'm gutted that its gone over to sky because it means i won't see any more cricket on TV because i don't have sky

but why does darren deserve the public vote more than colin? i've never got a decent answer to the question. i don't buy the opinion that colin is naturally more gifted at dancing than darren. neither of them did ballroom before this so they were at the same level at the start. admittedly darren physique isn't the best for dancing but he's hardly a porker. if improvement is the basis for picking darren then my argument how do u think colin got to be as good as he is? i can tell you it wasn't magic it was dedication to get better and improve to listen and learn and take onboard what the judges told him every week.

goughie is great and i love watching him dance but i think colin is the better dancer and should win

COME ON - DARREN TO WIN ALL THE WAY
please - it would be great!
although im getting the feeling it'll be colin and erin which would be totally deserving but i want darren and lilia to win!!!!!!

amyleah x

darren isn't the best in the competition, so why should he win?

Because I like him. IMO..I like him, as I said. So I will support him now..though like them all...so anyone who wins now is cool with me.

But I am leaning towards Darren..if that is okay with you.

My only gripe with that comment is that you're voting for darren because you like him not becuase he's the best dancer in that case no point in any of the couples dancing we might as well vote for who we like then

Sorry, but Bohochick stated her reasons for switching her allegience to Darren & Lilia in the initial post of this thread: all to do with improvement, since week one & he obvious enjoyment he gets from dancing.

A lot of FP's freely admit to voting for a certain couple on the basis of a chest, smile, bum, hips, what hey do in the day job, etc. Ideally this sort of thing shouldn't influence who we vote for, but it's better to be honest about them than to wrap them up as something else.

Ooh I'm possibly going to upset a lot of people on this forum, but it's not meant maliciously - honest!

I've got a bit fed with Darren reminding us how straight he is and going on about being metrosexual and making jokes about expressing his feminine side.

There's no doubt in our minds Darren: you're a bluff Yorkshireman, married with two kids, drink plenty of pints with your equally butch mates and you're a man's man who just happens to wear earrings.

Stop making excuses - you're doing just fine. Dancing is nothing to do with sexuality. Julian Clary challenged that old chestnut - it comes no easier to gay men than it does to straight. It's about style, elegance, grace, team work and an ability to shine.

Stop being apologetic to your cricket and pub mates and get on with it!

Thankyou Glen...that is exactly what I said.

I don't fancy Darren to be honest..too many cricketers I like already!

But I like his improvement factor...and Colin, whilst technically is brilliant leaves me cold, and Zoe sadly for her, has kind of lost my vote due to the judges...but that is not her fault. She wasn't in my top two to start with anyway. For the last two years I have voted for the best dancer imo...this year..I could do that...but they don't excite me watching them as much as seeing what Darren and Lillia can do...and I only realised this last night. I like them all..and this is the first year it has taken me so long to edge one over another.

In answer to you rich..in reverse to what you said, I guess you could say, why any of us bother voting if it is going to go to the best dancer...as in which case, Colin would win it for that.

Oh....


And I like Darren's enthusiasm.

Bohochick, weren't you on the Channel 4 cricket forum? I lurked there during the glorious Summer months [whilst falling in lurve with Brett Lee].

Cheers to the other chap for the cricket forum link, I'll try that one.
I noticed you already put up Cat's brilliant banner for D&L on the homepage!
Lilia looks divine in that pic.

So many things to say.......... as a devotee of the Russian Minx from the previous series [and apparantly I upset Julian Clary by posting in another forum and emailing to ITT that "it was an outrage that he made it to the Final over Aled & Lilia" last year - he mentioned it in the show! Eek!] I was somewhat apprehensive about her teaming up with Dazza this time round, but I needn't have worried, cos he's been fantastic, and thrown himself into it wonderfully!!!! They are a great *couple*.

It was interesting to hear Marcus Trescothic [England's vice captain] say they missed Dazza on the Pakistan tour. The exact quote being:
"We had no-one to play Darren's role of village idiot off the field." [I think he meant to keep them amused and entertained.] But that is an example of how people thought of Darren in the Cricket world beforehand, so it's surprising to see him adapt to Dance so successfully, as it's been unexpected - by everyone!

Re Cricket: I never came from a Cricketing family, and was a huge Tennis Fan in my youth, with the usual withdrawal symptoms after Wimbledon. I turned on the TV the Monday after the Championships were over, and was drawn in by seeing green grass and players wearing white..........that was 1981 Botham's Ashes, the 2nd greatest series ever after 2005's Ashes, so that was me done for! I was staying with an Aunt on holiday in Cyprus in 1991, listening to the radio commentary on BFBS of Eng v WI and rushed into the kitchen to blurt out that we'd won the Test! She thought I was mad!

Sorry to go OT, I'll return to Dance asap.

La Rhumba

Count me amongst your biggest supporters. I agree with everything you say; re: the "Lovely Lilia" & the "Great Goughie", plus I'll support Bohochick; as one of the non-partisan, enjoying the show, postersall the way.

Glen

Can I say I totally disagree with everything you've said!

Firstly, Lilia is obviously only about 5ft 2" [my height] but whilst I might look inelegant when dancing, Lilia is astounding in that she has never ever looked remotely inelegant in any dance, be it Ballroom or Latin - ever! Her body moves into perfect position with the most grace of any female dancer I've ever seen. Expected in the Latin, but in the Ballroom too is a continuing delight.

Zoe is about 6ft and Ian about 6ft 3", and let's face it, in Ballroom, looking elegant is their main strength, and why the judges never cease to extoll the virtues of their "beautiful line and grace". Though IMO, they are too tall for Latin to look equally elegant.

Re your comment about being "plump" - did you watch any of Strictly Dance Fever? Not only was one of the BEST dancers there tres plump [Claire from Scotland] but she got to the Final, coming 3rd overall, and with a better male partner may've gone on to win it.

Body shape is something I've got a bee in my bonnet about, as you can tell.

Hope you will join us on TMS 24/7, La Rhumba.

I'm a female, by the way. Just to let you know. And I have a different nickname on the cricket site. Oh, and I also am a big fan of Brett Lee.

Bless you Glen! I always enjoy reading your posts aswell! I appreciate the support!
I'm sure Dazza & Lilia appreciate our support too.

Fantastic! It's such a joy to talk about Dancing & Cricket - my two passions in life! [The 3rd being Brett Lee]

Thanks for the invite, I'll definitely take you up on it! Great that Brett's doing so well recently, and boo hiss to the nasty Kiwis for chucking fruit at him on the boundary!

Sorry to mistake you for a chap, Yay! More Ladies at the Cricket! I haven't got Sky either, and was up half the night listening to the ABC commentary online of Aus v WI, then TMS for Pak v Eng. I'm exhausted, and I haven't even bowled a ball!

You've done it again. Why do people go on about the bodily shape of the contestants?

The celebs aren't pro dancers & the pros have to work with what they're given. People are the way they are & they can't change it; genetics isn't as great as everyone thinks it is to be honest, &, short of major surgery, have to make the best of what they've got.

There is a huge height & build difference between Goughie & Lilia & neither of them fit into the, so called, perfect body shape, but they have proved to be capable of mastering both styles of dancing to an amazing degree; yes, others might be better suited to one or the other style, but they are the best all-rounders, this series.

Plump? Sorry, doesn't apply to either of them; & Lilia would have made Goughie lose weight if needed (look at what she managed with Aled, last year).

They might not come across as being gthe most driven couple, but they are always a joy to watch. This is simply because they encapsulate several of the aims of the show, for me:

They have improved no end since the beginning of the series;

They can compete, without losing the fun element of the competition;

& they will have done wonders for making other, so called, real men see that there is nothing wrong with dancing.

Ooh lots of different points on this thread:

I like Darren. He's earnt a right (in my head) to be in that final and a fighting chance of lifting the trophy. Along with Zoe and Colin, they all could win and I'd not feel hard done by. I think that in this series, to be in the Final is the real achievement. He may arguably have slightly less skill/natural ability/looks yada yada than others... but he has improved, he's given consistently good performances, both entertaining and technically. They've picked good music, confounded expectations and met their challenges. The're attitude and personality have not ruffled many feathers and he's given enjoyment to many - as a package Darren has a right to win on a combination of all these.

Yes it is a dancing competition ostensibly BUT it's an entertainment show and so getting to the Final based on skill and then winning based on entertainment value (or a variable combination of both) is absolutely fair enough in my opinion.

Lillia is a fantastic competitor and seems a lovely person. Their partnership has been wonderful to see and also an inspiration to that section of the male population that might be hardest to pull onto a dancefloor.

As for cricket - I'm a fan! I'm of Indian origin so you could say it's in my genes, to be honest, not being into cricket is pretty difficult and culturally opposed!! My little brother is a huge fan (I don't know anything like enough about it, but that could take two lifetimes), and he almost got selected at the Yorkshire under-15 trials... he's a handy little leg-spinner and high-middle order batsman and he's played with Goughie, Vaughny and Lara (when they visited training once)... my little bro is my cricket mentor as you can tell

It's hard to pick a favourite from the team and I love so many of them - it's such a shame that there are no terrestrial rights at such an exciting time for the game. (I'm also an Indian team fan, but England has my heart).

Off topic but with some relevance. Those who saw him said that Sir Don Bradman had footwork like Fred Astaire when he was batting.

A prediction I make with regret. Strictly Come Dancing will become Strictly Come Cooking this weekend. The judges will vote Colin and Zoe in 1st or 2nd place (take your pick), Darren will be third unless he pulls something out of the bag which is so amazing that the judges just can't vote him too low, and James will come 4th. Then the public will vote. James will get the astronomical telephone vote he got last week and be an automatic survivor, Darren and one other will be in the last two, one of them will be out and we'll have a similar farce to last year - but at least the best dancer won back then. I am not so confident of this year's result.

If you want to shoot me down on this, do it after the result on Saturday - I would love to be proven wrong!

No shooting poppet, but I think that this could go so many ways (that's why it's delicious to discuss)...

1) Let's consider that Zoe and Ian fans, or just dance fans in general may have been shocked enough last week to really understand that they must vote to save her. At least she had a near-miss in time to save her in the semis (similar thing happened with Denise last year).

2) Factor in that more people may vote as we get to the final two weeks as it's all a lot more crucial.

3) Factor in that with each passing week, there's a legion of peeps who's favourite couple has left who are now deciding who to pick up the phone for? Will and Hanna were knocked out against J&C, so were Anton&Patsy and Bill&Karen. Now some may vote for James but many will be spread over the other three couples.

4) Darren is a very popular man. Lillia is a popular woman, and while this forum isn't necessarily representative, I've gotta say it'd be very tough for Darren to be in the bottom two.

5) I would've worried about Colin being in the bottom two next week, and really feel he should be in the top judges spot to give himself the best cahnce (of course Ian and Zoe will want this badly too, so let's see some corkers of dances) - however after last Saturday I think they've won a lot of fans and we have no idea how strong his fan-base is now.

6) James' fans may have been happy to vote for him while there was another similar standard couple in the comp (A&P), but perhaps not at the expense of the 'top 3' (just my opinion here guys, I love James and Camilla too)... I think James would feel bad knocking out one of the others and is probably thrilled to have made it to the semis. Also fans will not miss out on him as we see all the couple in the Final when they do their farewell dance.

7) And finally *phew* we haven't seen those dances yet. We could see one of those special dances that just inspires and thrills and entertains and get's us on our feet clapping and cheering... and dialling.

I cannot wait