Did anyone else think it was a bad idea to put Austin beside Tom at the front of the group dance. I think Austin is great and working really hard but it just showed how much more Tom is naturally gifted than Austin..... if there was an x factor for dancing - Tom definitely has it!

I spend my life looking for dancers with that 'special something' so I hope I can know it when I see it!!

what do you guys think?

Agree! It really highlighted how much more flexible Tom is especially in the hip area

I agree. I suddenly realised last weekend that Tom is the better all round dancer. However, I still have a big problem with the faces he makes. Puts me off the dancing.

Yeah I spotted this too.

Yup, Tom was right on the money in the group dance last week - timing was perfect whereas Austin was slightly behind and Tom was clearly loving it.

And this is making the difference also.

Sadly, I have to agree that standing next to Austin, Tom was the better dancer. BUT he still annoys the hell out of me and therefore will never get my vote. He's in the same category as Emma Bunton and Zoe Ball to me, good but grating.

I thought it was a bit ridiculous of Len to say that both boys were amazing in the dance. Anyone could see that Tom danced Austin off the stage.

Austin goes through the motions, but Tom dances them better by far.

I agree - he has an ease and flexibility that allows him to show huge enjoyment when he's dancing - he is a real performer.

Tom and Christine for the final!!

For some reason the judges are scoring Austin higher than they should be doing for his Latin dances. I have lost confidence in their ability to score him fairly. Maybe, Tom was the stand out dancer from week 1 and this has all been an exercise in making the outcome being unpredictable. However, with Craig's 'smug' label and Tom's 'faces', his popularity may have suffered and Austin now looks to be more likely to win.

I agree - there's something about all three of them that, although I can see they are dancing well, they do nothing for me at all.

I thought Austin looked like he was following the moves of someone in front of him, just off camera. He's quite good but definitely not as natural a mover as Tom.

Tom definitely does latin routines better than Austin because he's more 'bendy'.

Austin does ballroom much better because of his excellent frame and footwork.

That said, Tom is NOT awful in his ballroom, just not as good as Austin, while Austin is NOT awful in his latin, just not as good as Tom.

Is it true that oftentimes it's the latin dances that won the day in the Strictly Final?

I think also Austin's a competitor, there was no incentive for him to try in a group dance, nothing was on the line, he was in pain, he'd only just had his dislocated finger put back, no wonder he didn't go for it.

Also I saw a picture on the BBC Austin thread of a still of the show dance and Austin's lines were much better than Tom's. I'll go see if I can find it.

I know it's a still and that they can be deceiving, but he looked much better. I'm off to find it.

I didn't see that.

I thought both boys were excellent in different ways but maybe I'm not ultra picky. After all, they both have different builds and I wouldn't expect Austin to dance like Tom and vice versa.

I watched SCD last week with a group of people who never watch it (well some of them claimed never to watch it but seemed to know an awful lot about the dancers and their previous dances!) and all of them said how much better Tom was than Austin.

Here we go, here's the still

http://i247.photobucket.com/albums/g...n/results6.png

Thanks to the girls on the BBC site.

Just on that still, Austin has way better lines.

Totally agree, IMO Tom is streets ahead of Austin, I don't understand why he's not the judges fav.
Seeing them dance side by side, REALLY showed up who was better. Austin looked seriously less talented.
I would really like Tom to beat him.

Does that mean you may consider voting for him newkid
The reason Tom isn't the judges fav is because they love Rachel

I watched the disco number again and I think the main reason why Tom did better is because he 'let himself go' a bit more than Austin. His hip gyrations (thus his being more 'bendy') when doing the pointy bit in the middle of the routine was almost on par with the pros. However, he struggled more doing the lifts. Which implies strongly that Austin will do much better in his AS than Tom, and I liked Tom's routine very much as it is.

That said, I do think Austin was not particularly 'letting himself go' as much because of his pain in his dislocated finger. Granted, he probably can't match Tom's snake hips, but based on other men in SCDs, he's still among the top (together with Colin, Mark, Matt and arguably Gethin in latin dances).

Sad we aren't going to see more group dances. Last year the Jitterbug and the Dirty Dancing numbers were very entertaining.

Tom WILL get his tens (yes, plural!) this Saturday. Mark my words. Sometimes it's better to peak later rather than earlier, cue in Mark Ramprakash in series 4.

Tom was brilliant in that dance .....his moves and timing were superb - enough to be mistaken for a pro I reckon. His facial expressions are a bit puttyish and perhaps if he hadn't been teamed with the Princess of Gurn (Karen is Queen) then perhaps he would have been encouraged to tone them down a bit. Gurning aside he gets my vote(s)

Isn't the gurning the problem though? I agree he's the most naturally talented dancer, he has the build and, careless footwork aside, he's the most consistent across Latin and Ballroom but then he pulls those faces, and for me, loses all credibility. I laughed to the point of tears during the TomCam paso. That can't be right for a winner, can it?

True about the paso, no doubt. But in a very similar dance Tango last Saturday he had super characterisation. His Sam Strachen persona worked well and he's no more pulling that bizarre Tomapasta face any more. And what a change that made his dance look! He's never going to master the posture, hold and footwork of Austin, I don't think, but he's king at latin, just as Austin's king at ballroom.

Can't be difficult to see I like them both and don't really mind either of them win at this moment.