Strictly Come Dancing '08

[carmelle]

I really liked Christine and Matthew's dance and felt that maybe they should have got better marks. I hope they don't leave.

[Lesley Bee]

^ I hope they don't leave either Matthew *sob*

[xGlowingAngelx]

I wouldn't be too bothered if Christine left, regardless of Matthew leaving, because I wouldn't find it very fair for her to be kept in at the expense of a stronger dancer (Like when Rachel was bottom 2) just because Matthew is popular. Don't get me wrong, I like Matthew and Christine is good, but I prefer Austin, Tom and Rachel myself. If it was a contest for the bubbliest personalities, I'd have Christine and Jodie in the final in a shot, but I wouldn't put them there for dance ability against Austin, Tom and Rachel.

The fact that all the remaining celebs seem rather popular for whatever reasons (Dancing, Personality etc) just shoes how unpredictable it all is. I think we could be in for a shock with the winner. I think either Austin or Tom will end up leaving semi-finals and then the other will face the final with Christine and Rachel. But I'm probably totally wrong.

I love this series, it's so unpredictable and there really is no clear front runner that is likely to be winner like Alesha last year.

[Lesley Bee]

^ I totally understand what you mean, its not really fair just to keep Christine in because of Matthew, that's just me and my MC fixation

The stongest dancers for me this week were Tom, Rachel and Lisa. I usually love Austin, but i didn't get his dance at all this week, i thought it was really average

I have a sneaking suspicion that Tom or Rachel will win

[xGlowingAngelx]

lmao. Awww, you're totally entitled to have a fixation. Mine's with Karen and she left ages ago

Austin's dance this week was a bit of a let down (Although saying that, I did personally think rachel was rather overmarked). I think Arlene has been spot on when she's been harping on about the limitations of his arms. I noticed it in the group dance aswell. They just seem very restrained. His footwork is amazing, so if he works on the arms, he could be amazing.

I actually think Tom'll win it. Rachel - although a strong dancer - doesn't seem to have a huge public backing. It seems the be the general opinion of the majority is that they just don't get excited over her, possibly because she doesn't have the biggest personality of them all. A great dancer, yes, but apart from that I find it hard to get excited over her. It was right when whoever said it the other week - there's nothing in the eyes. But there's no denying she's a great dancer and if she just comes out of her shell that bit more, she could be on the winning path easily.

Tom is probably the only one of all the contestants that has been consistantly good. Even his salsa (Which wasn't his strongest) was good.

And I have to say, although she may not have been the strongest contestant, I'm so gutted Jodie left. There's no denying she and Ian have to be the best pertnership this year purely for their ersonalities and their banter. Such a brilliant friendship. It was awful because once the last 3 were left, I was willing Austin to go through because he's the strongest dancer out of the 3, but I also didn't want to lose Jodie, Ian and their perosnalities. They seem to be the one couple this year that aremore about having fun, regardless, as opposed to stressing and worrying about being top of the leaderboard etc. (Not that there is anything wrong with that.)

[Anaya]

^^I miss Jodi lots too. Is it wrong that I wanted Lisa to be out instead?? I mean I thought Lisa's dance was really great, but I really can't seem to take to her and Brendan. Whereas Jodi and Ian are so great together, she's really come a long way and she should be proud of herself and her last dance. Her Jive was awesome.

Anyway, I also like Christine (like I did Jodi) but she's clearly not the best dancer. Her or Lisa to go next week. I want to see a Tom/Austin/Rachel final. That would be amazing, and they could all be in with a chance to win.

Austin started brilliantly in the competition, had a bit of a dip these last couple of weeks, but if he gets his mojo back (and works on those arms), he would be back to his brilliant best and could win as he has a lot of fans. As for Tom (I just love him), he's great at almost all the dances and has been very consistent, I think he really just needs to stop worrying about marks and go all out with a real show stopping performance, then he'll get the 10's he wants and even could win the competition. Rachel is a great dancer but lacks emotion and personality, like you said Amy ^^, and if she wants to beat the boys she really needs to show a bit more of her self and connect with the audience, not just be technically perfect. Also she did not deserve 40 for the Foxtrot. It was good, even great, but certainly not perfect IMO.

I think the competition's up for grabs for either of the 3, it's who makes the required improvement that's going to clinch it. Should be interesting to watch.

[xGlowingAngelx]

Completely agree with Anaya.

RE: Tom's 10's. If I was him, I'd be glad I haven't got them yet. So far, ten 10's have been given out (7 for Rachel and 3 for Austin) and from the reaction particularly on the SCD forum, a lot of people don't think they should be given out yet. Certainly not at the rate they are being. Yes, the celebs can do a fantastic dance and they should be praised for it, but if they keep giving out such great scores (or perfect ones, in Rachel's case) we're not going to know what to look for next week. (BTW, Arlene confused me. She said Rachel's dance was "Almost perfect" and gave it a 10? How does that work? Wouldn't ALMOST perfect be a 9? Baffling. ). It's strange, because back when SCD first began, the series was lucky to see one ten being given out overall. Now they get thrown out like nobodies business. I just hope the judges haven't made it worse for themselves. If Rachel does a dance next week that isn't as good as this weeks and they score her lower, poor love will think she's getting worse! I think they need to calm it a bit with their 10's! lmao. At this rate, we'll be sat watching the final thinking "Ahhh yes 40/40...... We've had about 50 of them already, anyway." lol.

[Deborah]

I picked up on that too, Arlene saying almost perfect & then giving a 10! I thought 10 was only supposed to be for "perfect" dances

I had a feeling it would be Lisa & Jodi in the dance off.

I think Tom is the only one, so far that has been consistently good, since the beginning. If he keeps in that vein, then I think he will probably win.

Also whilst Rachel & Christine have been good the last few weeks, they have an advantage, in that they don't have to lead the dance, unlike Tom & Austin. I sometimes wonder if it would be better to have separate men & women's competition because of this.

[xGlowingAngelx]

Not in Arlene land. Oh no. Almost perfect is a 10.

I had a feeling they would too. At first I suspected it would we Jodie & Christine, but (mainly because of the Matthew fans) I couldn't see that. And there hasn't been much noise made over Lisa - good or bad - which I think was a give away. So I kind of guessed it would be between those 3.

Tom has been consistently good. If he didn't really grate on my nerves (Which he does) I'd be supporting him 100%. I will be totally behind him if he wins though, because I'll make sure I focus on their dancing and forget how much they annoy me. lmao. Although saying that, Tom was surprisingly quiet last night....

Funnily enough, that's something quiet a few have just started picking up on. It's been mentioned quite a few times by the judges in both their cases that they have really been leading their partners which I think deserves respect all on it's own. Like with that group dance where the focus was on just those 2 at the beginning. It's one of the reasons I do often feel female celebs have the advantage (In the ballroom). Whereas the male celebs have to learn to lead (Which I should imagine is tricky, when you're not the pro. lol). I always have so much more respect for the men in those cases.

Although I don't think it would be right having the seperate competitions. It does interest me in the final particularly. Because there's no easier option there. If it's a male/male final, you can compare how they lead, if it's a female/female one you watch how they pick it up, but when it's a male/female one, you end up looking at it from 2 different angles, so it depends on hether you prefer comparing the similarities or the differences, if that makes sense.

[carmelle]

Tom has always been a good dancer but I never really cared much about him in the show but his performance on Saturday night has made me reconsider. I now realise that he is a worthy contender to be in the final and probably always has been. His tango was brilliant. I think I can also see Rachel making it to the final.

I'm glad that Christine stayed in this week but I understand that there are better dancers than her and it's only fair that people vote for the better dancers. So if that mean's Christine (& Matthew ) have to leave ... then so be it.