But Matt does have other commitments.
To say he doesn't is rather odd...he is on QoS every week.
Lillia was with Darren so missed the same as you were describing. But it didn't affect her on Saturday although by your reckoning she will have been exhausted too.
Maybe Emma and Darren should have been practising their Cha Cha rather than poncing about with christmas lights.

I am an Emma fan (see above) but their lack of rehearsal stuck out like a sore thumb this week.

Her cha cha really wasn't great! Not worthy of 30 at all! If you know what to look for footwork wise you'll understand!! Sinse I started to dance myself I always find myself watching their feet!

But watching SCD shows that who goes often isn't fair! It wasn't fair that Spoony or Ray went. It wasn't fair that Nicholas went over Jimmy Tarbuck way back in the first week when it was obvious that Jimmy wouldn't be able to handle a faster dance - he was puffing like a broken winded horse after the waltz! On the weeks they went neither Jan or Georgina were the worst of the bunch.
Peter went on Saturday and that was the right thing to happen - he seems a lovely, genuine guy who was putting the work in but out the ones left it was correct he go.
Now, though, the dancers left all have their pros and cons, good dances and bad dances so it is now more important than ever that the marking reflects what the judges actually see in front of them, not coloured by what they want to see or what they have seen in training. To some degree, that actual total score is academic, it is the position on the leader board which is important - and if it is thought that someone is a couple of places higher at the detriment of another couple who did a better dance, then expect the same again.

As a dancer and teacher I do know what to look for footworkwise. Footwork was not great with at least 3 other couples quite definitely, but didn't get mentioned. However, footwork is not the only basis on a show like this for the marks. Presentation, performance, timing, routine, choreography all contribute to the marks, which I think many people overlook. In these areas, as a couple they have been consistently good. Also, with the camera work on the programme, it is difficult to see much of the footwork anyway, good points may be missed as may bad moves.

I would like to see Emma progress further in the competition as I believe she has real potential. Now that the big CIN night is over, I expect they will have more time to commit to the dancing this week.
Last edited by bewest : 20-11-2006 at 11:12

I've got to say, it's not just Emma who has a lot of work commitments - it's just it's only her we hear about having a lack of time.

Look at Carol for example - she has to look after her kids and she had three very important charity functions last week she had to prepare and work at and I'm sure a lot of the other celebs are just as busy. (eg Peter had to keep on travelling to Copenhagen for his work commitments) Carol just didn't complain about it and put in extra hours late at night.

I'm not just emma-bashing, but I think she needs to start taking it more seriously and putting more hours in. She said the other week that she refused to rehearse on a sunday, if she can't make the week perhaps she needs to rethink her weekend. The more you put in, the more you get out.

What about the other contestants? Don't they have other commitments? This is an honest question as I assumed contestants like Matt, Carol and Mark still had to work in their respective fields as well as train for SCD?

Cool. You'll be in a better position than most then to answer this question: do you think their performance on Saturday deserved a 9?

Exactly the point I was making earlier - and to be absolutely fair, most of the other celebs have ongoing careers and committments and/or families - but Emma doesn't

She owes Darren more than she's given so far.

In answer to pretty's question, it is always difficult when a couple goes first, but I think 8 (bearing in mind Bruno marks high) would have been rather more consistent and in keeping with the other judges. A one point difference is never a problem, it is when there is a two point difference people tend to comment, although this does happen a lot the other way round, usually with Craig marking sometimes at least two points lower than the others. In the end, I did not have a problem with her getting the same score as Carol, although for different reasons. And I thought she was around the same level on the night, probably slightly better, than Claire. So the end positions were possibly about right, although you could argue some marks individually were too high. (I thought Claires were myself).

I think Emma ended up in the dangerous middle of the board syndrome, with people voting for those at the bottom to save them, and probably thinking the top 4 or so were safe. With fewer dancers each week, this is a dangerous thing to do, and will mean that weaker dancers stay at the expense of potentially better ones. I would say that POTENTIALLY (and I stress that) the best final, if they all reach the level they should, would be between Emma, Mark, Louisa or Matt (assuming he improves in latin) based purely on ability, and I think this would be a good semii-final line-up.

[quote=bewest

I would like to see Emma progress further in the competition as I believe she has real potential. Now that the big CIN night is over, I expect they will have more time to commit to the dancing this week.[/QUOTE]

I absolutely agree that we want the best dancers going forward but I am a bit sick of hearing Emma touted as 'having potential' - we are down now to just six couples, some of whom started from a pretty low base, Matt Dawson springs to mind. He has listened to the judges, put in the hours with Lilia and is trying very hard to reach whatever his potential is.

Emma had a head start - years of stage school. That may not make her a trained dancer but she does now her way around a stage and about timing, presentation etc. So she should be achieving her potential for this stage of the competition. Instead she seems to be coasting along.

Yes Darren did look very worried and well he might - he really wants to win, he got a good pick from the celebrities doing SCD this year and yet they are in the bottom. I am not going to posit why people didn't vote for them on Saturday and voting does go up and down, but the fact remains that the public weren't voting for them last Sat.

I would like Mark, Matt and Carol in the final But certainly Louisa over Emma at the moment.

I don't know! I thought perhaps, the voters were revolting at the unfairness of Bruno's 9, almost thesame way they revolted against Zoe last series

Thanks for answering my question
Last edited by pretty : 20-11-2006 at 11:46

I agree pretty - not just against Bruno's 9 but against perceived previous favouritism before it.

I agree, Pippa ~ some weeks Emma has been better than others, but I really thought the cha cha was lacklustre & involved a lot of posing & not much dancing. Three of the judges made similar points. Bruno made a total fool of himself and undermined any shred of credibility he had left (much the same as when he gave Lousia a 10 for a competant jive which was really worth an 8 or 9 only)

Oh, thanks for that ~ I knew there was something that was niggling about their latin, and it is the samey-ness. Saturdays dance merges right into the week previously for me......

I think even Emma fans should be glad she was in the bottom 2. Hopefully it will give her the kick up the bum she needs.

A comment Arlene made to Louisa reminded me of Emma - something about Louisa doesn't just get from one pose to another. I think that is largely what Emma does. She always looks fantastic but it does seem that all her routines have relied on her getting into pose and the steps inbetween are just filler. All style and no substance, which is just isn't good enough when you consider how well Matt, Claire, Mark, Carol and Louisa are coming on. They've started off from the perspective of being beginners that have built up - Emma started with the assumption that she could do it and should concentrate on putting on a show. Now they are getting confident to put on a performance (worth saying again - wasn't Matt fantastic), its showing up the fact that Emma's not looking comfortable with the basic steps.

I really hope she's going to take it on board. She needs to stop posing for a week and get the actual dancing bit right. Then I reckon she will be as good as the judges keep saying. She didn't go so she's got a chance to pull it back.

Ah, but the reason for her going on SCD this year is to raise her public profile again, after a few lean years, and that she already has done, so will be offered *jobs* like switching on the Christmas Lights in Covent Garden. I'm sure the CIN single was tied-in with her contract to appear on SCD too, as the BBC likes to do everything with it's *own* people.

Emma says backstage every week that she "loves dancing so much with Darren, and this show" in a gushing way, yet, unlike Peter, she didn't even want to rehearse on a Sunday, and only fits training in around her *other* committments, which have only come as a result of the show!

I agree with other posters who say her arm and hip movements are totally reminiscent of the way she danced with the Spice Girls [and even a Bollywood Film audition I saw on TV], it's hard to see any major influence of Darren's teaching on her style. There's no doubt she can dance and looks attractive on the floor, but then she's an ex-popstar/singer, so that's the least you'd expect from her.

No, the time has come when she needs to start delivering totally, and make the committment to Darren with the training to prove she does really "love it all".

I am sure that it has been said before, but Lilia managed to get an amazing performance out of Matt and although they proberly had more time than Emma with CIN, better planning by them could have provided a better performance.

They knew that CIN was coming up and that it would be a bad week. I feel that Emma is just not committed enough to SCD, she talks the talk but does not seem committed enough to put in a few extra hours (which could have been last week or the week before).