Strictly Come Dancing

I know people are complaining about contestants with previous dance experience, but I would watch the hell out of a season where it’s just the likes of Faye and Ashley doing amazing dances each week. I don’t want to see Susanna stomping around like your aunt at a wedding.

I want SPECTACULAR and I think Faye delivered that, week after week. We deserve a Strictly:The Professionals spin off.

(Random thoughts; I was glad to see Danny in the group dance, Charles was robbed and Joe just gives me the willies. And not in a good way.)

It was me who shared the Shirley/Corky vid. I still don’t like her though. 

There’s the possibility of some changes happening next year, as there’ll be a new producer, but I’m not holding my breath!

What about different venues? So maybe less techie but closer to people, in hospitals or army camps or such like? And please better singers if we have to have them. I would rather have guest dancers from different areas of dance. And maybe the odd extra judge? How about they pick out the following week’s dance from a hat at the end of the programme?

Obviously not all at once but this time they introduced the choice dance which was silly because not everyone got to do it. So they are looking for a few new ideas.

To me this felt like a bit of a perfect storm of all the series ongoing problems; over theming of dances along with props and flying in, the move away from the classic ballroom and latin dances and dancers who can teach them, the comedy VT's and the score inflation (Stacey and Joe got more 10's than Jay McGuiness, Mark Ramprakash, Zoe Ball, Colin Jackson and Tom Chambers but could anyone honestly say they were any better) allied with a weak cast and lots of other controversies - Seann/Katya, the Danny bullying accusations, Vick suggesting dodgy goings on with her exit and the second year in a row a female contestant with past experience was singled out for abuse by the press and social media.

However for the first time in a while ratings wobbled this year and with a new producer next year we might see changes.

I thought the opposite about Joe - it seemed a far classier move to 'announce' they're dating or whatever (which I assume that means) post the show rather than during. And good luck to them, they seem sweet and ahem, they were both single going into it....

The show can only be as good as the contestants and this year's crop wasn't vintage.

If Shirley and say Tess were ditched it could cause an outcry especially if they were for younger replacements. Shirley may know her stuff but doesn't have the TV experience that the other judges have and this shows. Anton should have been made Head Judge when Len retired, it kept the judging panel dynamic the same and he'd have been funny with Bruno and Craig.

Shirley might have been better being used as an expert on It Takes Two in hindsight.

Dropping Craig or Bruno or Darcy would be hard. Craig especially might speak out and Bruno everyone would feel sorry for. Darcy is hugely respected too so would be hard to justify replacing.

From the Dancers I think Anton needs to be given another role as in the group dances he looked out of place - one week the judges were in the routine and he was next to them and looked more their age than the other dancers.

I think sadly Kevin msy leave, Neil with the Seanngate thing might also go mutually plus he never had a pro partner, Johannes can move up. The rest I'd assume would be resigned.

With the girls after the Seann incident might Katya be in jeopardy, I hope not. Karen can be irritating but I think they'd want her to stay another year at least, Jeanette would only go if she wanted to start a family. Oti is doing the new BBC dancing show but I'd figure she'll be back. Luba can take a partner next year if one girl leaves or they have an extra male celeb and they the add another girl pro.

They "announced" it as the tabloids had photos of them all over each other on Saturday night.


....and again, its NOT a dance contest, its an entertainment show that has dancing as the central focus.

I enjoyed this series. It wasn't, it's true, a vintage series where there was a well-known celebrity who made you look at them in an entirely new light (Ed Balls, for example) or new potential heart throbs (Harry Judd, Danny Mac, et al) but there were some lovely dances (Joe's first dance, his jive, was a really pleasant surprise; pretty much everything Faye did, Charles' street dance and his Samba.) When Stacey did her Minion dance, she said she hoped children at home would like it and I thought, yeah, they'd love it. It is the sort of show where generations can all sit around watching and discussing it - and there aren't tonnes of those out there. The values of the show are largely very positive: whatever level you are, if you put in the time and work hard, you can improve, etc. One reason why I couldn't begrudge Stacey her win is that I think she is a really positive role model for young girls.

Interesting to hear who other people want to go and who to stay - and it shows you how individual these things are, as my choices would be very different. I think Anton should gracefully retire and not be on the judging panel or It Takes Two. I really admire the other pros who try to show their celebrities off in the best possible light whereas he turns them into jokes and makes it all about him (making very clear they have messed up and trying to be funny, etc.) - he is by far my least favourite pro and has been so for a long time. I don't mind Shirley - and her styling is so much better this year than last. I like Claudia and have a soft spot for Tess, despite her awkwardness. I really like Karen, Oti and Katya and would be sad for any of them to go.

I think the idea of dancing in more locations could be fun. There must be some other famous ballrooms and other cities in Britain that could do with a little tourist bump.

I don't think Strictly would have the budget to do a whole series of extended outside broadcasts along the lines being suggested. You could run a separate series that was Dancing in the Regions - but I don't think it would be a live event.

Blackpool only exists as an element in the current format because of the need for studio space for Children in Need.

Do we think Chris Evans was being serious when he announced himself as one of the 2019 celebrities? Perhaps he thought if he announced it first, then the BBC, despite him being a rival by that stage, would have no choice.

I know he's raised millions for Children in Need over the years, but he's never really been my cup of tea. At least I know who he is!

Has everyone seen the news that Chris Evans has announced that he has pretty much agreed to do the show next year??