I think Karen was completely right to remind the viewers that they need to remember what sort of final they want. I'm really fed up of people saying it's not just about the dancing. I know other factors come into play but surely dancing has to play the greater part. For God's sake the clue is in the title!

Maybe Craig doesn't know what a heel lead is, if he didn't think he did any, whereas Kelly did none but got a 9.

can someone put it on youtube as I missed it

thanks so much

winnielong

Just happened to put it on youtube

http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=51zvP3QunNI

Thanks Tissy- will have a look on youtube- she always has lovely clothes

Sounds like a good update too on saturday night

Thank you loonetoon.

this is absolutely spot on.

I obviously haven't followed this closely enough as I was commenting on what Craig was scoring on. If he said Kenny didn't do heel leads when he did then he needs to make an apology to him just as he did to John Barnes. Oh dear, that's my most credible judge gone!
Aplogies for my mistake.

Thanks for the link. I thought she was very objective.

Actually I`m wrong too, sorry. Craig said `you werent actually doing many heel leads at all` Then Len corrects him by saying he was.

Heel leads or not, I just get cross when the judges criticise someones error then ignore it in another routine.

Same happened last year or maybe year before when it came to the `gapping`.

thanks loonetune

winnielong

Nice to see someone else saw what I saw in Kelly's VW was shouted down on another thread when I posted her mark was crazy seeing she tip toed through her routine

I know nothing about dancing but I have to say I thought Kelly was dragged around by Brendan in parts of her VW. He was great but it just looked like she was being dragged. I know men are meant to lead and it still looked good but I did wonder about it and then dismissed that wonder because I know nothing abut dancing.

I thought she was a bit skippy but as the judges all praised it to the skies, I just thought I was wrong!

still enjoyed it but it does annoy me when they slag off someone else and give them crap marks for doing the same thing as one of the faves (they were particularly guilty of doing this to Emma last year)

I thought Karen talked a lot of sense watching that clip and agree so much with her comments on who the public are voting for - IF kate made that final would not and could not watch

I have been pulled up on another thread for saying just this .At times I felt it was anything but smooth and looked more like a polka .

Even Len is inconsistant .

Craig ( nor Arlene, nor Bruno ) is not a ballroom or Latin specialist and seems to see himself as there to comment on other areas such as performance . He is prepared to ignore technique and give marks for performance . I don't object to that as long as at least one or even two are looking at the more technical side . This is what gave rise to Mark and Karen having a 5 from Craig and 7 from Len for the rumba , which when viewed again is actually a very good rumba , but Craig didn't like it .ther have been lots of examples of that happening .

I must say it makes me laugh that we poor mortals are told off for voting for the wrong person, yet the judges can't even get their comments and marking right.

I agree that they are all inconsistent at times. Craig does, however, nearly always score lower than the other judges. I find it difficult to accept that John's salsa was worth a '10' when for me he looked ungainly. Surely, a dance should be near enough to perfect for such a score. I did wonder if he was compensating for Craig's '8' as both Arlene and Bruno gave '9's. For me the dance wasn't worth more than an '8' but I accept that I don't know much about that particular dance and it was being commended for it's authenticity. However, dancing has to be pleasing on the eye and going back to the ever-controversial Kelly, her dance was. I'll bow to those with superior knowledge on heel leads but I don't accept that it was skippy or that Brendan dragged her round the floor.

I agree with most of your post .I think John was overmarked . And dancing does need to be pleasing in the eye .
Brendan certainly didn't drag her around the floor , but it wasn't smooth as Gethin's and Kenny's was , and the pivots were shakey and he did have to pull her into them .But then he is leading .

I'm criticial of all the judges - and in a minority in believing Arlene to the best of them over the last series or so - but as a group I'm going to defend them here.

For all the inconsistency, the comments not matching the scores, the confused messages over which judge is focussing on which aspect of the dance...for all that, they do usually get the couples in pretty much the right order. And with the current scoring system I don't think that's anything like as easy as some people make out.

It would be preferable if the judges a) were amore self-consistent and b) gave sensible and appropriate comments rather than rehearsed sound-bites and c) made it clearer what they're each looking for...but it's an entertainment show not a deadly serious competition. The voters will usually screw things up in any event.

I think it's pointless getting bogged down in technicalities anyway. TV viewers don't even get a particularly good view of the footwork. I know what I like and I'm not unduly influenced by the judges or anyone else. There's something quite ugly to me about Letitia's dancing, for example, and no amount of praise or hype will change that.

Did you feel the same about her dancing last week ?

Off to watch the Karen commentary.

All through Kelly's dance I saw the lack of heel leads and was thinking 'poor thing, they're gonna slay her for that'......and then nothing happened and she got 9s

Kenny....at least he did them...there has to be some nod to the technique in each celebs performance.

Kelly also does this slight flapping thing with her left arm when in hold which is really odd and bobbles her head about.....neither get mentioned but these things are as worthy of a mention as 'Stiff Neck' 'Bowling Hands' 'Gorilla Hands' 'Drooping Fingers' or 'The Claw'

Having said that I don't mind Kelly and she's giving Brendan as good as she gets. I think she'll be in the final...the judges won't choose anyone over her in a 'bottom 2' scenario...not even Alesha IMO

Indeed...there's something in the way she moves.

Any dancers out there? I thought Kelly's v.waltz was very light (bordering on skippy). Am I right in thinking that this was because of the lack of heel leads. Am I correct in thinking the heel leads are what allow the v-waltz to dance around the room in a smooth romantic way and not become polka-ish.

Really interested as after my Medal Test (due very soon) we are going to include the v.waltz in our lessons.

If it was a situation between Kelly & Alesha ...Lens casting vote would be the thing and I can't see Len voting Brendan through in that situation