Get this straight:-

SCD is NOT a Dancing Competition.
X Factor is NOT a Singing Competition.

They are BOTH Popularity Contests.

Once you accept that, all becomes clear.




I am absolutely laughing my socks off at how well John Sergeant is doing. Everyone is talking about the quality of the dancing - but is COMPLETELY missing the point.

This is a Saturday evening prime-time ENTERTAINMENT show. It is NOT a Dancing Competition.

John's progress is becoming the weekend highlight for millions of people and he will probably win.

Good.

Glad that's sorted out then.

Actually, it's a bleedin' farce.

D - U - L - L. :yawn:

Be prepared for a barrage of posts indicating that the show is called Strictly Come DANCING.

But I don't see the word COMPETITION anywhere in the title, and as far as I can see, John fulfilled the dancing component tonight with a rather delightful AS

I was watching Harry Hill..

Are you John Sergeant? If so, get off the bloody boards and go and practice.

If democratically elected to go and practice I will do so - gladly.

This is not a dictatorship.

If it's not a 'competition' in the minds of the celebs why do they keep banging on about 'stepping up their game' and 'taking it to the next level' and practising endlessly - and whining?

If you don't think it's really a competition you might want to go and tell them that.

Oh, and the judges too while you're at it...

And its not a refuge for the permanently bewildered. And you've made your point - there's no need to post it on another thread. Wink back at you.

OP, you sound so bitter! Do keep taking the tablets, they will make you feel better

Seeing as neither the celebs or the judges participate in the public vote, all that is somewhat irrelevant!

Perhaps the safest conclusion to draw is that the show is both a dance contest and a form of light entertainment, and for it to work you need celebrities that fulfil both.

Why should I feel bitter?

Reading the indignant posts on here is more fun than watching the show, (except when John is on screen of course).

OP sounds quite upbeat to me

Please can you explain, lucidly, why it cannot be both? When did the two things become mutually exclusive?

You see, the discerning viewer will probably find a dance competition entertaining, whereas there are some people to whom car crash TV is the ultimate in entertainment. Those people should go and watch the overpreponderance on offer and allow the rest of us to some quality entertainment.

Sounded to me very much like the false and hysterical laughter of someone who knows the joke has gone too far now and doesn't really know where to turn

Oh well - perhaps like John's dances - it's subjective

Your logic fails when you assume that the majority of viewers of this programme are "discerning".

The majority of viewers of this programme actually just want to have a laugh. And keeping John in is extending the laugh all the way to Christmas!

You must like dancing to watch the show OP.

Or perhaps those who are after a serious dance competiton should subscribe to a sports channel and leave the rest of us to enjoy some light entertainment?

Or, we can all get what we want by enjoying both the talented dancers and the celebrities that are good value.

I like watching the show to see my £200 at 150/1 get through every week.

Of course it's in part a dancing contest. The most popular contestant has never won just because they're most popular - they can also dance a bit too!

If there wasn't a dancing competition aspect to it then there'd be no judge's score and it would rely solely on public votes. You obviously cannot discount the popularity angle because it has indeed allowed people to go a lot farther (or not as far) than they should have done. That's why there are two different votes - it allows the show to cover both angles.

No one has yet to win by being utter crap but likeable and I don't currently see John bucking that trend. In 4 of 5 results the best dancer has won (Gough being the exception imo but he was hardly tragically bad).

Funny, I always thought that these things where people compete to be the numero uno, where they are judged and where he public were asked to call in for the best dance of the night was a competition.

WTF!!!

Correct....it's still a celebrealitytalentoperamime.

'OH YES IT IS.....'

Why would the public need to call in for the best dance when the experts have already given us this information?

Because the show is not merely a dance competition.