I believe that Emma especially have a massive unfair advantage over the likes of Carol, Clare, Mark ect .

Emma has learnt thousands of dance routines and before you all leap in she did more that wiggle her bum and shake her arms.

They were quoted as saying the choreography for their tours and show were gruelling as Spice girls ect ect so I am sure the other novice dancers have no where near the advantage that Emma does.

What you guys think, does Emma and Loisa have an advantage?

An advantage - yes, definitely. But you could also say that Matt and Mark have an advantage as they're sportsmen, and so are used to training for hours, and using their bodies. And Claire has an advantage because she's an actress, and so can really perform the dance...

And the winner of Strictly Come Dancing - Amateur Division is Carol Smillie.

I was thinking 'and Carol has an advantage because...err...umm...maybe I'll come back to that one later...'

I just think Louisa and Emma have had professional dance training where as the others have not thats all.

Love it, gritty.....very well put

Yes but if you put Louisa and Emma in football competition then everyone would say Shmeichel had an advantage, I just think it is same theory.

Not this argument again please, this has already been done to death on so many other threads! I had hoped we had moved on , but obviously not!

Well you dont have to read it!!

This has been discussed on several other threads on this forum, and I do agree with you. I think Emma and Louisa DO have an advantage. They both went to stage school where they were taught to dance. Emma must have had many years of training with the Spice Girls. I'm just pleased that Mark and Matt are giving them some competition.

Like you don't read the many other threads where this has been discussed ad nauseum??

Does it really matter. There are so many threads on his forum it would take forever to read every one of them!!

I dont complain

The logic makes no sense at all - unless you have an all male competition.

Every girl from 5-25 in the country with two working legs and arms and an eye could do the Spice girls routines just as they could do the S Club ones that followed. The Spice girls obviously didn't have thousands of routines for three (???) albums worth of hits and obviously the routines are not ballroom and were built around what they could do. .

Most girls do dance at school.

Everyone at a a theatre or later at a drama school will probably learn some dance .

Not many cfemale elebs or people under 35 left by now. Where do you draw the line - anyone who does aerobics?

How do you know what anyone has done in their past life anyway - why single Emma and louisa out when for all we know all the others studied ballet......

If you want an all male competition where lumberers pretend to be light on their feet thats fine but thats what you will get if you vote for the people with no previous dancing experience. Even then its clear - from what we see and are told by his friends - that Mark has danced before wheras its equally clear that some males have not.

The more interesting question is whether they ought to allow people with more, but non-ballroom experience in. The problem with this year's contestants is that though the average standard is better there is no one consistently excellent and even the 10s have gone for sub- excellent routines. If you actually wanted to see really good dancing rather than something that looks like an amateur club, you would have someone with more attack, a lot more stamina, general fitness, suppleness, dramatic personality and timing on the show. If you really really want to see good dancing you would have Sporty Spice on not Baby. As it is Louisa and |Emma are the nearest things we have.

networkbabe, I really can understand your frustration. My answer was very tongue-in-cheek.





I posted once why I haven't picked up my phone and voted for Emma - not based on her theatre school experience but on all the training she would have received (paid for by her management company) to complete even the Spice Girl routines. These choreographers built on the strengths that each girl brought to the group.

If you look at her solo video of Maybe, the routine reminded me of Emma in her cha cha routine. For me to spend money on voting for Emma she must bring SO much more to the floor because of what I perceive to be her advantage.

I have no problem with Louisa, yes her theatre school dance training would give her an advantage, but I agree with your general argument.
Last edited by gritty : 25-11-2006 at 07:50

Now Now lets not have any bickering on this thread - that would make a change wouldn't it

Erm....I'd love to know which schools these are. Having worked in a few I can tell you there's not one I know of in the area around me that offers this (and that's 7 secondary schools and around 150 primary)...It's a pity but things like that just don't happen in schools as much as they used to. Many comprehensives don't even put on drama/musical productions any more. That's much more common in older schools that have a tradition of it (the far older grammer and private schools around me do, whereas the much newer comps don't)
Last edited by claire2281 : 25-11-2006 at 09:28

my elder daughters comp does and my youngers junior school also does ,I can assure you neither are private

Erin said, when questionned on ITT on failing to make the final, that there is never a level playing field. There cannot be : Jimmy vs Emma was her example. She said it was about doing their best and that is what Peter had done.

This argument is now getting very boring. Yes Emma and Louisa have had some form of dance training, Mark is a batsman and so has worked on footwork for years, Peter was a goalkeeper, where again footwork was massively important, Carol was a model so is well aware of posture etc, you can make an argument for just about any of them having an unfair advantage. When it comes down to it, it's a Saturday night entertainment show, they're all working really hard and it should just be judged on that, what they're doing now, rather then what they may have done before.

The Networkbabe!!

Did not agree with your posting about most people getting dancing lessons in school as in stage school it is a daily class (not just once a week) and how many of us have been to stage school? I do think Emma and Louisa have a huge advantage and you can tell, especially with Louisa, that she is professional level. She even has on her webpage that she is a professionally trained dancer!!! Emma has the advantage of the Spice Girls experience both dealing with the public, performing and dancing! To say she has no advantage is just ridiculous. Carol was a model and is doing amazingly well. Louisa is wonderful, absolutely magic on the floor with Vincent during the Tango but she is very far from an amateur

louisa has never had training in ballroom or latin american dancing she had dance lessons at school but thats it just because she is naturally gifted in this area does not make her a pro

I really dont see your argument so your saying because Schmeichel as a goalkeeper was aware of his footwork then it gives him the same advantage as Emma and Louisa?
I am not saying Emma and Louisa should not be in the competition but it should be kept in mind they have a huge advantage.

To be honest, considering Louisa and Emma have both had formal training, I expected them to be heaps better. For someone who's been to stage school, Louisa's arms are appalling.

They both certainly have an advantage, but to find 14 very different and interesting celebrities where none of them have had any sort of dance experience would be one master of a challenge!

That was my first thought when I saw this topic! The interesting thing about their "unfair advantage" is that it hasn't necessarily been much of an advantage at all. My opinion of Louisa has gone up quite a bit after her Tango, but her ballroom generally hasn't been too great. I don't rate Emma that highly either.

Most of the contestants have an advantage of some sort. Looking over a few series, it seems to me that one of the biggest advantages is being a sportsman (or woman)... used to competition, understanding when you have to improve your game etc.

The biggest disadvantage (apart from obviously, just being a rubbish dancer) is age. After that, most people have some sort of advantage, but I'm not convinced previous dance training is the best one.