Thought I might have misread your post, and I suppose I agree with you really. As you say at least Darren and Lilia do still try to combine competing and being on SCD. I expect all of them are still really passionate about dancing, but I suppose as you get later on into your career you have to make choices to be financially secure for the future? If you reach your early thirties or older, it may be sensible to look for more lucrative work I suppose. I expect many of them miss the competition side though.

I think you're totally right there.

I just would've thought that still being involved in dance the way people like Jukka and Sirpa and Karen are would be the natural way to continue their career, and also the most obvious option, really.

It's really unfortunate that it has to become all about money in the end, but I guess it's whatever they gotta do to survive.

Even if it is further reality television shows that do nothing for the undeniable talent that they really do have!

Yes, Darren and Lilia do very well to compete as well as manage SCD and win comps like their recent victory where they were placed first in all 5 Latin American rounds.
However, I cant help but think that they would be EVEN better of they werent on SCD but then I wouldnt see them on TV so I am torn as to what would be best!

I do agree, Becca, that Ian, Camilla and particularly Brendan seem to have given up on competing to concentrate on the heady world of 'showbiz'. However, I dount any of these lot would beat Darren and Lilia now and it would be hard to dance with them on SCD and have been beaten by them (sorry im not putting this very eloquently). I remember in SCD2 Ian and Camilla competed against d&l and were placed second with d&l first.

Maybe Darren and Lilia arent competing in January as they also feel they wont have had enough training time (although they managed in November so Im confused )

If I was them I think I would much prefer to have been in the Cutlers or Karen shoes - having made the decision that they've achieved everything they aimed to and deciding to retire and then moving on to other things like Strictly... for the others they all seemed to be competing one moment and then got caught up with other stuff and just never got round to going back again. Whereas the first lot knew that the time was right and thought hard about their decision, I wonder if Camilla, Ian etc ever wish they hadn't stopped?

Ian or Camilla wouldn't be able to beat Darren and Lilia now, anyway. Maybe Ian could've done a few years back, but never with Camilla.

I'd rather see them dance competitively than be on television, seeing as though they've already been there, done that and won the trophies . . . as they still do loads of their cabaret shows, they'd still be highly accessible to their fans.

I agree, that it seems sudden to just one day stop competing without formally retiring.

I honestly do think though that if SCD ever stopped and they lost their 'fame', that they would turn back to competition.

Do you think it would be too late for a lot of them though?
Darren and Lilia are still in their 20's (just!) and still on the up (imo) whereas a lot of them are now nearing pro dancing retirement age and would struggle against the other competitors.
I was actually amazed when Darren and Lilia beat Paul and Olga as so many people had been saying that p&o would knock d&l off the top spot since they transferred allegiance to britain. I was chuffed when that proved to be wrong.

I think I agree with you Becca - if the likes of Darren and Lilia and James and Ola can still compete and place highly when doing SCD , imagine how well they would do with all that extra training time.

I think that if Darren or Lilia win SCD this year , they may not do it again.

I think it would be too late for many of them, yes. I very seriously doubt that Ian and Camilla could scrape a semi now, anyway. The competition is FAR too fierce.

I was pretty shocked when Darren and Lilia beat Paul and Olga also . . . the styles of both couples are absolute opposites of each other, so I understand how it can be close to call.

As far as I know, since teaming up together, Paul and Olga have only been beaten three times by Darren and Lilia, but the competition has always been pretty close.

I gather you are looking forward to the results show tonight, Becca!

Hell yes!

A bit of AC/DC and leopard print goes a long way!

most of the SCD couples wont make the latin final so make sure your see it all

I seriously doubt that any of them will, but then again I guess it all depends on who competes there! I guess the absence of Bryan and Carmen is inevitable, anyway!

So that means it's for Slavik or Michael this year! Michael's gonna want that win so bad as well! Gonna be a great one to watch!

Come on Michael and Joanna!!!! I love Slavik and Elena, but M&J deserve it after being so blatantly robbed last year!!!

I still feel a year behind . . . !

Michael should've had it last year and Slavik this time round . . . but go on, Michael can have it this time and Slavik next year!

Now, that IS a thought . . . this time next year, Slavik will be unstoppable !

Viva la Michael!! I agree with your master plan! Slavik will definitely be unstoppable soon, especially if Bryan and carmen EVER retire!

I think they will do next year and that's it.

They probably want to beat Donnie and Gaynor's record of British Open wins, and while they're at it they'll probably get themselves another world title. And then maybe move on.

I'm just praying that once they retire, they hold the next world championship in Blackpool!

That's gonna be the hottest competition ever . . . I have to be there to witness that! The end of an era and the beginning of a new one . . . so exciting!

I am going to this On the 25th

Yep, so am I

you are

lol at you two! Oh dear!

we are going together and it will be great

I know thats why i was laughing!

I know you know, not sure if anyone else understood though

I looked at this and thought I could maybe just go to one day or something, but didn't know who would be around on what day, so I sent an email to the organisers asking if there was a programme of competitors. The reply was that the competitors aren't announced until the day before the competition starts so you just have to take pot luck I guess. I imagine that people more 'in the know' would be able to make an educated guess on who would be competing in each round/on different days. I'm afraid I couldn't even speculate, but it's interesting to hear that a lot of the pros we know through SCD would be 'around' even if not actually dancing.

Darren and Lilia have officially pulled out and so the only dancers from Strictly who could be competing are James and Ola and Hanna and Andrew in the professional Latin (the latter I know are definitely going to be dancing). As neither couple got into the semi finals last year, they will be taking part in all of the rounds throughout the day. (the 25th). Going on past results, neither couple is expected to reach the semi's this year. Therefore they will probably just be dancing during the rounds in the day and not in the evening session. However, the Jordans broke into the semis at the Internationals and so there is a chance they could make it.

If you are referring to other pro dancers, most will be present at Bournemouth as it is such a big competition and you get to see all of the big names in the day sessions, even though most get to skip a couple of early rounds. I personally love the day sessions as you can get closer seats and the multiple rounds allow you to take in all of the dancers. I personally think it is well worth going, even though the competition does take a step up in the evening!

You will definitely see lots of Strictly stars, even if they are not dancing, based on the previous years I have been! Hope that helps a bit!
Last edited by Erinfan : 07-01-2007 at 12:12

I'm not even going and I'm still excited for it . . . haha, can't wait to find out who wins . . . it's gonna be so close!