As a yank living in Britain I have to admit that SCD is a much better programme than its American version. The american version just doesn't have the same flair as the original.

Im American (but not a Yank!) and I like SCD better too.

I prefer SCD just wish their camera work was as good as DWTS !

I don't see it as a competition, I like both.

I think it wouldn't work if we had the format of DWTS (both are glitzy and glamorous but ours is more...old-school, if you get what I mean) but then again, neither would the format of SCD over there.

I do wish our camerawork was more like that on DWTS though. And maybe a bit more of the fun they seem to have over there - it's all very competitive over here, and while it is over there too, I don't always see the fun side in SCD while I do in DWTS.

I prefer the DWTS judges,they seem to be so much nicer... .
It's so nice to see them judging without cutting comments!

There's just something missing in DWTS....

Tame judges would take the fear and dramatic tension out of the event. Celebrities for all their fame and wealth are walking into the lions' den, that's why they try so hard to improve. But I thought Len and Bruno go out to LA to judge DWTS for network ABC?

What differences of format are there between the two shows? Or is it more a difference of tone and vibrancy?

I'm such a rabid fan of SCD that I thought I'd hate DWTS.... Turns out, I ended up truly loving it

And I have to be honest, I like the DWTS band better and the camera work better.

xx

Len and Bruno do go out to LA,they are IMHO much kinder with their comments.There are only 3 judges,but I'm sorry, I don't know the name of the female Judge.

Len and Bruno are generally tame on SCD, the cutting comments tend to come from Craig and Arlene. I think they're more generous with their marking on DWTS but comments-wise, I don't think there's a huge difference. E.g. Len this week to Helio: "I've seen more romance at the dentist"

I find that DWTS somehow lacks something? I also think that they are marked a little highly.

Very similar to telling Georgina last year "I've seen more romance at an autopsy."

Like you I think the comments are pretty similar, but the marking is far more generous.

I wonder what Jill Halfpenny or Ramps would score in DWTS?

Carrie Ann, I reckon...

Love SCD, hate the camerawork, sometimes style of singing (esp from one female singer).

Neutral to DWTS, like their camera-work better and generally good style of singing. Dislike intensely their scoring!

[quote=TonyBlair;18758722

Stars - $ 125,000 for first two weeks
then -- $ 20,000 / week until vote off

Pro Dancers……………$5,000 per week
____________________________________________

Makes our stars look like paupers.[/QUOTE]

Len and Bruno wisely give out higher marks stateside because they realise the audience carry guns in their pockets.

Like the celebrities, the judges also want to come back (alive) next week.

The third judge is Carrie Ann Inaba.
Not quite Arlene?

The money figures were fascinating. Thats waht you would expect the UK people to be getting.

Explains why Mel B is doing it even with the SG tour coming up - you would have to sell a lot of CDs to make that much.

What works in the US is interesting. Bruno has US equivalents, Len is particularly English - Arlene might look a bit bland though and they might not like Craig. They actually use the same announcer too which tells you that style travels now the US is more recetive to it - - he's obviously not flying back and forth for nothing too.

You can also see why Cat Dealey works in the US too - she's far better than their bland comperes.

I think the announced bits are pre-recorded. On one of the shows this series, instead of "will the judges please reveal their scores" we heard "dancing the quickstep" - someone had clearly pressed the wrong button!

I think the titles say it all. Ours is Strictly, I don't think they like too much criticism of their "stars".

DWTS has three things that I like. The host is not a professional comedian, the costumes are better (well, if Hollywood can't do good costumes, who can?) and I am hugely impressed with Julianne Hough the winning professional in series 4. She has a dazzling technique, obviously takes her dancing very seriously, and has an intensely dramatic style that makes all the others look as if they are just messing about. I wish she could come here as a guest professional.

Our pros are way better, they could teach the American ones a thing or two, even that doughnut Brendan.

I disagree about the costumes especially the ballroom dresses. The DWTS female pro frequently wear ballroom dresses that are both tarty and tacky (anyone remember Kym's see-through dress for the foxtrot). The SCD female pro's never look tarty or tacky. Even when Ola has a bare midriff, which I don't like, she never looks tarty or tacky.

DWTS v SCD? For me - THIS series anyway - DWTS wins hands down. It just comes across as so much more professional, and I love their pros - Mark, Julianne & Derek especially are so young and vibrant, compared to (say) Camilla, Erin & Anton............

The music, and definitely the presentation, is also far superior. Two of the judges are the same, of course, but maybe the reason they come over better is that they are actually allowed to speak without the presenter butting in every time they try and talk?

The man they use is on the Terry wogan show some mornings and was indeed still on air about two Monday's ago, and it was commeneted on that Len and Bruno had gone to LA, so I assume he does voice overs from over here.

DWTS is loads better this season, I'm really not getting into SCD - the mix of celebs isn't right.

I think DWTS has a much better host, Tess and Bruce are so cringeworthy it can almost ruin the show at times.
DWTS has better pro's - I think some of the SCD pro's are looking a bit past it now. No pro couple seems amazing like Mark Ballas and Julianne or Alec and Edyta do in DWTS.

Where SCD wins is the judges are less precious with the celebs votes, they can give 3 and 4's where the on DWTS it seems they have to be a bit too kind and also the marking is too high in general so that detracts a bit from the American show.

Hello sophisticate. So glad that you can see that SCD is far superior to DWTS. At the risk of sounding like a smarmy Brit. The list of things that annoy me about DWTS are

1)Scoring: The scoring on DWTS is a joke. Altho I'm always having a go at Len for overmarking. Giving out as many as 3 perfect scores in the same programme just devalues the 10
Altho I suspect this is more to do with the American ethos of success and probably the network instructing the judges to give out those ridiculous marks.


2) Judges: Following on from the scoring. The judges are usually so saccharine that I long for the insults of Arlene and Craig. Carrie Ann Inaba who apparently is meant to be much feared is a complete pussycat.

3) American Smooth: The prevalence of the American Smooth in the Ballroom dances allows couples to get away with putting very little content into their dances, being indisciplined and incorporating all manner of gimmicks. I notice that Len Goodman has been waging a "quiet " war against this to no avail. Indeed Tony Dovolani shrugged him off and said Len clearly doesn't know the difference between Ballroom and the International Standard. Even in Latin which is generally more free and allows some room for personal interpretation there is still a lack of content.

4) Pros: The pros themselves leave much to be desired in my view. Ian, Camilla, Lillia, Darren could take all the DWTS pros to school when it comes to chereography. I don't know what the DWTS pros are like in their professional dances but some of their chereography with their celebrity partners sometimes verges on comical (Tony Dovolani lifted the disco scene from Saturday Night Fever almost lock stock and barrel for the series 2 freestyle final with his partner Staci Keibler). And I'm convinced Maksim Chmerkovsky (hope I spelt that right) must work part time as a stripper as he takes his kit off at any given opportunity