*gallops gallops gallops*

My heart goes to Alesha to be in the final and the winner. She works hard and obviously has a lot of dance talent. Kelly is a little immature and I think she's a little too 'girl-y' for me but will still be in the finals. It's likely that Gethin might beat Matt in the semi-final (unless Matt sheds his nerves and perform the way he should - he's technically better than Gethin in both the ballroom AND latin - much like Louisa of last year).

Totally agree !

Der Chef

Stephanie Beecham I wonder why she wants Gethin I be her son in law as opposed to something more intimate

I am 41 and would love a relationship with Nicola Roberts from Girls Aloud (but I guess I never will ) and I could with the age difference honestly

Ohh Yeah

A fair summary.

I do agree that Kenny started with slightly less than Gethin, certainly music wise but then he is a pro sportsman so his coordination and stamina should be better if not superior to the others. I watched Blue Peter not long ago where he was training with the Scotland rugby team and while he did really well (for a non pro) he could not keep up with the team. Gethin's music training will mainly be in Classical music (phwoar!) but the ones who went to stage school will have trained in everything including music/singing so shouldn't think he had much of an advantage if any.

I agree ~ I got the impression it was more about "performance" experience than specific dance training.

but if gethin and matt were in the bottom two in the semi-final, wouldn't the judges choose matt as he consistently gets higher scores? I like them both but prefer Gethin - but I was thinking yesterday that he might get stopped going into the final if he ends up in the bottom two in the semi's...? endless, pointless speculation on my part!

I think they would choose Matt anyway because they (IMO) seem to prefer Matt to Gethin. I think Gethin's better personally and I agree with Erin, his ballroom is special and this from a ballroom specialist! To me he has the better posture and his footwork is alway immaculate. He hasn't made a single mistake apart fom not enough hips. Speculation only though about the judges thoughts.

I'd prefer to see Gethin in the Final and as things stand at the moment he is unlikely to be in the bottom two. It's more likely to be Matt with Letitia or Kelly.

Der Chef says

I will tell you one thing as sure as the sun comes up tomorrow there wont be two males celebs in the final this year. This new format is designed to make sure that aint gonna happen and put an end to the GBP wanton voting wickedness .

Unless Alesha and Kelly are bottom two the week before the semi final and that extremely highly unlikely

Ohh Yeah

Gethin's musicality would undoubtedly be an advantage. I remember in Series 2 Arlene constantly commented on the manner in which Aled always took a move right to the end of the music - and she put this down to his musicality. I would agree that of those left only John and Kenny are afflicted with the shyness and lack of acting skills that come from not having performed in front of an audience. If this is the way SCD is going, fair enough, provided the facts aren't kept from the viewers and those with any favourable, previous experience are not presented as beginners.

Ohh so we`re in for a Kelly and Alesha final plus one other because I dont see those in the bottom two together tbh.

Could get an exciting final 4 !

Well, I suppose it is all perception, but I really don't see any evidence of John or Kenny having any issues with shyness.

I don't think Kenny and John are shy. They've performed rugby and football at the highest level in front of thousands of people and millions if you count the viewing public. They're used to criticism as they must have heard it often enough in their careers, by the press as well as fans. I think they seem really confident and seem to be having a ball which comes across on SCD. Kenny's having so much fun that he doesn't want to leave. John's certainly not shy performing the latin. Confidence oozes from him which is great to see. John and Kenny seems to come back stronger in terms of confidence each week and Kenny gives it his all which we're still waiting for the girl dancers to give us. I admire them for taking the knocks they get from the judges just like I admire Gethin when he gets criticism.

Perhaps shyness was the wrong word - inability to act is a more accurate description. Expecting John or Kenny to put on a haughty persona, or (when the rhumba comes) a raunchy romantic performance is a big ask. I agree that in their comfort zone they don't have confidence issues though, and I'm with you over Gethin. He's the enigma and could shock everyone.

Anyone know what Gethin is doing this week-would think he'd be good with the paso doble

Kenny has been "retired" for several years..... although his body still looks pretty good to me

i agree, i don't think sportsmen have the performance ability in the same way as the actors / singers. But they more than make up for it with mental and physical stamina - it doesn't matter how they're knocked they come back fighting. That's where I don't think Gethin can't really be likened to a sportsman because he hasn't played at international level the way the others have, so doesn't have that sportsman's mentality. (I'm saying this as a big Gethin fan, I really want him to do well and get to the final, I just don't think he'll have the sportsman's mentality that Karen was talking about).

Gethin has one crucial advantage-he's a better dancer than Kenny

oh i agree! i just meant in terms of Karen's comments, and comparing Gethin to the other performers and sportsmen. I kind of think it means he falls between two stools, but in a bad way. He doesn't have the endurance / stamina of the sportsmen, and he doesn't have a background in acting or dancing.
But I want to believe that other people are right, and actually he crosses these two boundaries in a GOOD way, that will help him get to the final! He certainly seems to be getting consistently better every week.

Yay

Alesha is my favourite but i could quite easily see her and Kelly as the bottom 2 in the semi finals. Partly because people will think those two are safe regardless and Also because people seem to love an underdog which Letitia and Gethin both are.
I hope im wrong but i would not be suprised if there is a few shock exits and even Kenny could potentially make the final.

I'd say Gethin has a pretty good level of physical stamina. However, I don't know if he has the sportman's competitiveness. That was something I really liked with Matt last year - he really committed to the competition and really tried to push himself as it didn't come as naturally to him as to Mark.

In hours trained, Alesha and Kelly seem to be doing very well. I know Alesha has said she has bundles of energy. Kelly hasn't said this, and yet seems to be coping with a lot of training with no ill effects.

Speaking as a classical musician, the kind of understanding of music that Gethin will have had to muster to get to the level he did on two tough instruments (not that any instrument is easy to play well, but piano and violin are both pretty unforgiving in their own ways) will IMO at least equal what an all-rounder would expect to get in terms of music training from a drama school. Learning enough to be able to sing creditably on stage is not the same as learning an instrument (or in gethin's case two) to a reasonably high level.


^ I agreed with Arlene (for once )

I do hope Gethin does well!

I think these two have trained the most but then I don't think either of them are working at the mo so they have the time.