He said no (he wasn't ready to go) Obviously being at the bottom he wasn't automatically expecting stay so maybe resigned himself to the fact that he was going. Especially after being knocked by the judges for his rumba.

Matt has to be competitive by nature. He wouldn't have succeeded in being a rugby player if he wasn't. I'm sure he cares a great deal whether he's voted off or not, even if he doesn't particularly show it.

He is level-headed and puts it all into perspective. It's a TV show which he is enjoying, he has put the effort in to it to improve but it's not make or break. It's been shown in the weekly round up of the training that he has been reading up on theory and technique in the evenings.

You are just putting a spin on it. He clearly isnt that interested in the show and the example I gave was evidence of that. It was clear.

Before the show I actually liked Matt and thought I would want him to win SCD. Especially after watching him on masterchef where he was genuinely good and cared about what he was doing. So I am not anti Matt for any reason other than I dont think he s very good and I dont like his attitude.

Fair point.

Ah thanks you have just reminded me how much i loved watching colin, although i also remember how dissillusioned I was with their muppet freestyle , but he was far better than matt and mark put together with sparkles on their head . Darren was alrite nothing spectacular really,

Alas the sadness now I realise I dont really care for Mark or Matt and therefore it comes down to their partners and I prefer Lillia. Mark is good but I have not enjoyed a dance of his since his micgate episode, maybe he was stressed about his personal life. But he has just not sparkled. And karen annoys me.

So if Colin and erin could come back as replacements for jimmy and flavia, i think that would work!

But he did actually say no, he wasn't ready to go. No spin involved. Those were the words that came out of his mouth.

Ok. But it was a very reluctant "no". You must see how it looked to non Matt fans.

Meanwhile, back on topic, IMHO:
1. Colin
2. Matt
3. Darren
4. Mark

I'd have had Mark at least equal to Matt and Darren if I didn't think his dancing has suffered slightly recently, presumably through non SCD worries/distractions.

I think that is a cheap shot. Marks ballroom last night was great and wouldn't have been possible if he was distracted. And his Jive was great, but criminally under marked. Also last week his samba was simply sensational. Not signs of a man under strain.

he must be feeling the pressure, but I dont think it is showing in his dancing.
Last edited by Mr Bickle : 10-12-2006 at 22:03

Yes I can see but I'm not going to expect that one isolated 5 second incident, automatically means he's not interested. I'll be surprised if anyone did.
Especially when he has been offended and protested when Arlene suggested he lacked drive, he has swotted up on dancing, he has taken on board constructive criticism and from the final four he has trained the second highest hours.

For me that shows a huge amount of interest and determination.

Yep. Fair enough, but I just dont know if he 'feels' it the way Mark does and Darren did. I may be doing him a dis service, but I dont think so. He is not someone who I want to win this. And I dont think he will. The public will see him the same way they saw Colin Jackson.

There seems a lot of agreement as to the order. So thought I would come at the answer from a slightly different angle.

Like everyone else I have Colin 1st. For me, he is ahead by a very long way. But not perfect, and even within the limits of SCD, he still had room for improvement.

To Colin, I would add a small dash of:

+ Mark's joie de vive in the latin.
+ Matt's learning curve. As shown by his dedication to finishing off a move, that he would normally find 'airy-fairy'.
+ Aled's connection with the audience
+ Darren's machismo

Now I have my perfect SCD male celebrity.
Last edited by gritty : 10-12-2006 at 22:19

Well if they don't see him the same way they saw Colin ( as brilliant as he was/is ) that could be good thing, he lost.
Between Matt and Mark it seems they are the most popular so for whatever reason the public sees something in both of them that they like. Their personalities, dance styles and relationships with their dance partners is so different yet either of them could be a winner ( I don't want to discount Emma but she seems to be this years Zoe Ball)

Well you're wrong.
It was nothing of the sort.

Good post, but I dont know why Matt gets so much credit for his improvement. He was so bad at the start because he didnt take it seriously. he has admitted that himself. By giving him credit and bonus points for it you are, in effect, penalising the likes of Mark for being good and taking it seriously from the start.

Whatever. You are kidding yourself

I think the dancing is keeping him going so to speak . It's a release , that is why the strain doesn't show in his dancing . He gave both routines everything last night and the same the previous week .The samba was a triumph , the foxtrot , combination of a complex routine and lack of confidence , probably having read all the negative posts on here about his bad posture and poor topline !
Just as Craig suggested , karen spent the week getting that right and maybe the jive was under rehearsed .
I think it is of huge importance to Mark to get through to the final , I think it matters to his family an d so it matters to him

Really, honestly when did he say he didn't take it seriously, I remember him saying he didn't get it. That he thought that being technically good was enough. So obvioulsly he was taking some of it seriously but he lacked performance.

Are honestly so shallow that you believe a throw away gesture on TV? If there is one thing that Matt Dawson is, it is competitive! Did you see Celebrity Masterchef?

he started off not at all good but he progressed and he triumphed and that wasn't about public votes at all! Pure and simple the judges>

Matt is an example of grace under pressure which is not what one would say of certain other competitors who spend all their time complaining. I have no time for people who go on about 'being devastated' - it's a TV show. It would be nice to win but if you've had a good time, learnt a lot and raised a lot of money - you done good. Not one of those female celebrities will be 'devastated' - there are too many much more important things in life. Won't start to list them but at least Matt has a sense of perspective!

Colin is by far the best of any male celeb. Real shame he didn't win. Always excellent.

Second I would put Mark. Not as talented as Colin but has a real spark and energy which is a pleasure to watch. And as a couple find him and Karen more entertaining and charismatic than Colin and Erin.

Thirdly Darren - good but not nearly as good as Mark let alone Colin. However him and Lilia did make a good couple and he had a charisma on the dancefloor. Did sometimes have the wow factor.

Lastly Matt - arguably as good as Darren but for me not half as entertaining. Lack of personality on the dancefloor and not the same chemistry with Lilia as Darren had.

I would have thought that that was obvious. A strong learning curve is evidence of just which celebrities are interested in the show and doing well in it.

wrong person
wrong series

I think that you are seriously underestimating how important 'improvement' is. On a list of the competitors, my gut feeling was Matt but his first week was so dire (far worse than Darren's last year when I picked him as winner immediately), that I lost confidence and moved my allegiance to Mark and Karen who were brilliant.

I still think Maren are brilliant and have been quite unfairly slated by judges by ulterior motives but I can see how attractive Matt's improvement is. And once you have started off good, you have nowhere to go. For example, Maren have already two brilliant, well-marked dances for the final - Paso and Salsa but if they can't perform them, what good is that?

Colin was technically excellent but he just didn't excite the audience.
Darren - my hero forever - his mouth may have pissed you off (which is what most posters here claim) but how can his feet and ribcage have done so?

Mark or Matt? Don't know which is better - what I do know is that with the judges voting consistently for Emma, she will be up against Matt (stats) and Matt is likely to win(stats again).

What I would like to see is a two male final and then I have to say that this year, I would be voting purely on the night's performance. How can the BBC not want that?
Last edited by Lovely Liz : 10-12-2006 at 23:00

With dancing I dont think that you can improve that much. I personally cannot dance. Matt can. He hasn't worked on it or discovered it. It is just that he wasn't interested at first and now he is. He is no great shakes as a dancer and is not as good as Mark IMO. His improvement, for me, is because his original performances were particularly poor.

Maybe future celebs could take it as a tip. Start poor then improve and you will get the "on a journey" vote. Matt is OK, dont get me wrong, but is nothing special and this learning curve lark should be dismissed.