I know I have grade 8 flute but I have to say I'm rubbish at the oral part of the exam. Much better at playing. I scraped through the orals. I'm also not that great a dancer so while I agree it can give a slight advantage not convinced it's any more than Kenny's strengths in coordination and stamina.

Stage school children spend their whole secondary school years there don't they? When you add that up in hours training to act/sing/dance/perform/play an instrument it's alot compared to my 1-2 hours a week lesson depending on whether I had the time after school work.

I've got grade 8 flute and piano - i can feel music, but can't dance to save my life!

Me too lol. I keep telling myself I can dance but friends refute this

I commented early in the thread about his school background , as I said I can get it confirmed by a friend , but based on my knowledge of Welsh Medium schools , competing in Eisteddfodau is very important and it is likely he will have had performing experience in a a variety of ways .
Also Blue Peter is not exactly a sit on the couch and chat sort of show .

I think Karen is right about the pros and needing to keep finding god routines ..This is hard work and very stressful . She said last year she felt it was down to her and it would be her fault if Mark didn't make the final .

The only female pro to have got this far before is Camilla , maybe they will have plenty of fresh ideas , which teh men may not have .Just a thought.
Brendan has a bit of a theme to some of his dances this year , which has been picked up on the BBC site too, we saw it in eth Tango , paso and VW .
Darren is playing safe !

Rambling a bit , sorry !

But you can feel the beat Kenny can't poor chap.

I`v noticed this as well......He seems to playing on their love hate relationship......I have really enjoyed the drama and edgyness to their routines but Brendan needs to challenge himself when choreographing their dances otherwise it could get a bit repetitive.

One of the things I like about their jive was that it was cheeky and playful. Brendan has never had a partner (and this includes Natasha) who he's been able to enjoy this dance with before.

Interesting comments re Gethin- just to add to all the chat about his background- on Blue Peter has role has involved dancing and only a couple of weeks ago he was on stage somewhere for the show in a ballet role- so he had to learn a routine and perform etc- he has the performance and music background.

If he continues to improve why shouldn't he make the final? A lot of it will now depend on who has what dances left as some, such as the jive, are nearly always marked lower than others.

Karen has provoked a lot of conversation today!

Nope, not necessarily more than Kenny - but in terms of being able to hear the beat (I realise moving to it is not always so natural) and perform, it is a huge bonus IMO.

I don't think he necessarily has MORE advantage than others, but it is AND advantage.

Also piano and violin are the kind of instruments that require a LOT of hard work to even get semi decent - that kind of determination and stickability is a great skill to have learned. Not that IMO any instrument is intrinsically more or less difficult than another, but some are tougher especially in the early days. And you can;t play the violin in tune if your aurals aren't reasonably good!

(I play violin, viola, flute, piano, and sing amongst other things, to varying levels)

edit: just thinking about this - I don't remember WHO it was but I remember someone being asked last year if sportsmen had the advantage on SCD, and I agreed with the answer totally - sportsmen have AN advantage - others have different advantages. Things like music, drama, fitness, dance experience, gymnastics, natural talent, personality... all these things and others are brought to the dancefloor and all of them to varying degress and in various ways will contribute to how someone fairs on it.

I'm hoping for an Alesha and Gethin final--they both seem like lovely people who are very committed to SCD.

Kelly really irritates me. I watched Strictly in the expectation of quite liking her because I thought it would be amusing watching everyone falling all over her, but her giggle and over-confidence gets to me. That week when they did the illegal lifts and she referred to herself and Brendan as 'mavericks' was just so annoying! I think she's a bit full of herself.. Alesha on the other hand is a lot more humble and there's a LOT more sincerity to her, not just in interviews and such, but also in the dance and it really shows in the emotional dances she's performed so far i.e. Foxtrot and Waltz.