I like the song but I think it sucked too much of the energy out of the routine. He needs something brighter.

I think if Tom is last, the best thing anyone who wants him in the final can do is to bung him 5 votes and whoever finishes 2nd one vote

It does occur to me though that IF Camilla chose the Jive it wouldn't be because she found the studio a bit cold and needed a warm-up If she didn't choose it I'd very much like to know who did and why...
Last edited by SideshowStu : 09-12-2008 at 19:32

Tom is skilled at both Latin & Ballroom and he's, undoubtedly, the voting public's favourite and has the momentum after last Saturday. Not a bad position to be in.

Austin going out last Saturday was a huge shock but the Salsa always had the potential to be a really difficult dance for him.

I don't feel that way about Tom because he's good in the ballroom and Latin. Has he ever really messed up a dance? Judges have been picky picky but that's the judges. The viewers seem to have it sussed that he's the most natural talent. Go Tom & Camilla!

Well I'm rooting for Tom, too, but I think the problem with having the dance off in a show with two dances is that it doesn't suit the good allrounder, but the contestant who can score very highly in one discipline. Last weekend Tom managed to keep pace with Lisa and Rachel, and I happen to think he's a better natural dancer than either of them, but they both seem to have the edge technically in the ballroom and the way the series has panned out I think they would always be able to get through on that alone in any dance off situation vs. Tom.

I agree - I am baffled by the choice. I guess they are justgoing all out for it. Which is brave (maybe a little stupid considering how close Camilla has come before). But maybe they want to show that Tom can do latin as we all know Lisa can't.

Still in a dance off Tom is toast. Which will not go down well at all.

I am not a Tom fan (which is a shame because I do like Camilla) however I think Cam has decided to go for broke. Someone else has said what I feel about Tom he is a good natural dancer but not as strong technically wise sometimes, and personally I feel (and the judges said this too) he hasnt always connected with Camilla on the dancefloor, so Cam decided that a ballroom was definately too dangerous against two 'strong' ballroom dancers. So she went for latin and then had to decide which one, some of Toms latin dances have been a little bit on the camp side so she has gone for probably the best choice with the prospect of improvement, its brave and could be the right choice or she is going to get the blame like Erin.

I cant understand Camilla's logic.
It would be a gamble to have had Tom do a waltz, but the main fault with his waltz was his posture (bum sticking out). He fixed that in the Foxtrot, so surely he could have done a really good waltz? The waltz is a relatively easy dance to minimise losing marks for, if your hold and posture are correct.

Although I think that Tom and Camilla are taking a risk on dancing the jive I applaud them much more than either of the girls because they have both gone for the safest option by doing dances they have both only danced recently and that scored very well with the judges, at least Tom should be able to show how much he has improved and will hopefully get a much higher score than he did originally but I agree that they might still come unstuck if they are in the dance off up against either girls ballroom dances. Does anyone know for definite whether there is a dance off this week?

well last year Camilla and Gethin has a latin (Paso) against two strong ballrooms and got knocked out by a 40 scoring waltz.

Tom IS toast. And if hes not then I will strip and run around the forum naked.

Lets hope some light is shed on it on ITT. I mean last night they ignored Tom & Camilla when talking about this weeks dances.

I'm scared for Tom His survival depends on whether Lisa gets more public votes than Rachel.

I think it's fair to assume the leaderboard will be Rachel, Lisa, Tom. Voting has gotta go Tom, Lisa, Rachel.

As much as I love Rachel, I want her in the dance off this week. She can knock Lisa out and we can go on with our merry Tom/Rachel final.

In 3 days Lisa will be toast.
In 10 days Rachel will join Irish pork.

I am tipping off Eternal Life about your plan to outstrip both Mark and Austin. But will she be secretly, subconsciously thrilled??

Fascinating that Tom and Camilla have chosen the jive - brave choice by Camilla she's definitely going for broke and IMO totally the public vote. My theory (for what is's worth) - Tom has never been in the dance off, both girls have, he obviously has had the public vote so far. Wow dances get the public vote (wasn't Rachel in the dance off after her foxtrot or waltz - sorry if that's incorrect). The judges aren't scoring him neccessarily as highly as the girls / aren't throwing 10's around willy nilly for him. I reckon Cam is totally going for the public vote - if she has any sense (again IMO) she will get some livlier bouncier music, ditch the boots and stick some Fred Astaire moves in somewhere (anywhere!) even if it doesn't totally technically go with a jive, try and woop up the audience and hope to god that he can pull of the AT without looking like Beaker from the muppets (actually I'm sure he can - tango face was much better than paso face). Maybe she hadn't counted on Brendan and Lisa doing an energetic ballroom. Hope the gamble pays off as I'd love Camilla to get a crack at the final.

There is no guarantee that Rachel will do a good AT. Last year Matt D' Angelo danced the AT with Flavia and came bottom of the AT scores.

http://ultimatestrictly.wordpress.co...sults/week-11/

Its harder for the man though. I think!

If Camilla's strategy is to amass a large public vote then she's bonkers. Tom finishing top of the public vote is almost a given (I guess).

Her priority should be to please the judges and maximise their position on the leaderboard. She needs to finish at least second to avoid the dance-off.

The odds are probably in Tom's favour since there are only three (I think) permutations (accepting that he'll top the public vote) in which he will end up in the dance off and face a possible exit.

I don't know Camilla personally but surely she must know how popular Tom is and therefore a nice care free dance is all thats needed to influence the judges in case of plan B the dance off.

I'm not sure what has gone through her mind or Tom's if it's his decision.

But IF they do go out at least they were brave. There is no honour in playing it safe.

There's no guarantee - BUT the dances most comparable to it are the rumba and the tango, both of which Rachel got 39 for (or was it 38? either way - HIGH scores). That's why people are so confident Rachel/Vincent's AT will be electric.

Yes, maybe they've chosen a dance that they know they will enjoy doing, come what may. Tom's certainly more natural in the Latin dances, as however excellent his Foxtrot was, I think it's harder for him to master the ballroom.

I too think Rachel and Vincent will score very highly for the AT. I think the choreography will be great and Rachel's technique should be excellent. However, I disagree that it will necessarily be 'electric'. While I was very impressed with Rachel's Tango, unlike Arlene I didn't find it very 'erotic', and I still think the one remaining question mark over Rachel is her ability to really perform a dramatic, showy dance from her soul. If she can do that, then, yes, the AT will probably be electric.

I thought the rumba was though. I wasn't as impressed with the tango but I thought the atmosphere of the rumba was breathtaking.

agrree. Not a Rachel fan but her Rumba I saw something good. Her tango I was like "Whats so special???"

Well, apart from the fact that, you know, Vincent does a bit of AT dancing on the side?


Errr... and your point is? You reckon leading in AT is the same as following?

I can tell you for a fact that leading AT well is a damn sight hard than following it.

At the heart, AT is all about lead-and-follow - far more so than other dances IMO. If Rachel had enough technique, she could almost forget about learning the routine, and simply follow.

So if something's poorly-led, there's only a limited amount a follower can do. But if it's poorly-followed, a good lead can do a lot to compensate.

Let's hope the judges score on improvement first & foremost as there is very little room to improve with a dance you have already scored highly with (as Rachel & Lisa are doing). Whereas a good dance done significantly better will shine more (fingers crossed).

Hoping Tom and Camilla's combined judges score puts them in second place (pray smiley)

Oh I agree, Rachel's Rumba was her best dance and was a very soulful performance - but it's a much gentler dance than the AT. The passion of the AT is fiery and more dramatic, and I haven't seen any real fire or drama in any of Rachel's dancing so far.