Strictly Come dancing 2023 #34

[Salted Caramel]

Every bloody year I wonder why we haven't had Tomasz Schafernaker yet!

 

[Pontiac_Bandit]

I've just re-watched a few bits of the final, and after Ellie and Vito had been announced as winners and were invited forward to speak, Layton gave Nikita a little kiss on the cheek in the background

 

[diamondthunder]

The judges scoring of Nigel this season will forever baffle me and as soon as he was out of the competition it became all "mistakes don't matter" .

I get them holding him to a higher standard than one of the never danced befores, but I think they took it a bit too far. The Quickstep scoring was especially ridiculous. That's the point they should have just accepted he wasn't quite as good as they were hoping for based on the Week 1 Paso, and lowered their expectations/marking criteria a little, instead of ending the Blackpool show on such a downer.

 

[kachoochoo]

such a shame clive myrie won't do it. mind you, it was a sun article so you never know he'd be great and I think loads of us have discovered another side to him after his italy travelogue

you just know kate bottley's gonna be asked soon, don't you? 🫠

 

[shugabug23]

I keep pausing my rewatching of the final because I’m so happy some people are still chatting here I’ve loved all the Strictly chats, thanks for the company when the dog doesn’t talk back!

 

[lablife54]

I’m adding the loss of Nigel and Katya to my list of Strictly grievances alongside Danny Mac being robbed, Darcey refusing to give Danny’s AS a 10 and the crappy theme for Danny’s tango.

My grievances prior to this point were very much Danny Mac related.

(I think Ellie had the win sewn up from somewhere around the halfway point but we’ll never know what might have been if Nigel had excelled at the Charleston and AT. In reality, he’d probably have made a minor mistake, been heavily criticised for it and scored 8s but WE’LL NEVER KNOW.)

My joint favourite Strictly dance of all time, with Rachel Stevens’ rumba. I had to go and re-watch it after Bobby’s samba as they had a very similar (but far inferior) handstand moment

 

[OtherMoon]

I keep pausing my rewatching of the final because I’m so happy some people are still chatting here I’ve loved all the Strictly chats, thanks for the company when the dog doesn’t talk back!

We still have the tour there will be plenty of chatter and videos for a while yet!

 

[Woolmercardington]

I've said it before, but I'm also of the opinion that Nigel could have won, or it would have at least been a very close call.

 

[shugabug23]

You’ll all be glad to know I’ve finished my rewatch for the first time but two other things I noticed…

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

And is it just me; but Neil, Gorka and Graz all get extra hearts for being the shoulders for the winners to sit on.

So I’ve just set a reminder to ring the doc in the morning to up my lexapro, starting tomorrow

 

[ChastityDingle]

I get them holding him to a higher standard than one of the never danced befores, but I think they took it a bit too far. The Quickstep scoring was especially ridiculous. That's the point they should have just accepted he wasn't quite as good as they were hoping for based on the Week 1 Paso, and lowered their expectations/marking criteria a little, instead of ending the Blackpool show on such a downer.

Also there's ways of giving feedback, and with Shirley in particular, there seemed to be an element of 'I'll take you down a peg or two' which was very unpleasant to see. And Nigel and Katya definitely did NOT need that. There was no ego there, imo.
I commented more than once about the fact that the judges never acknowledged Katya. It was as though Nigel danced on his own . And then I think it was the week before they had to withdraw, the judges finally gave her some credit.

I felt so sorry for them in Blackpool because it was clear that they thought it had gone well. And then, yet more criticism came their way. The man danced on top of a piano, FFS!

Then others got - 'oh mistakes dont matter'. So, which is it, judges, make up your minds! Anyway I think Nigel and Katya being there for longer would have made everything a lot more interesting, overall.

I love them!

 

[ButtonDownTheHutches]

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

That’ll be his ‘Air Raid Patrol’ training kicking in. You can’t unlearn such long-standing muscle memory.

 

[Here for gossip]

I don't know what it is about Nikita this year but he has come back hotter than ever, he isn't my usual type but he has caught my eye this year something sexy about him

 

[Sea]

Aaaaa

I know it didn't matter in the end because she won, but I think Vito (as much as I love him, and was still wanting them to win) really let Ellie down with the showdance. The point of it is to do something that really plays to the dancer's strengths (like Layton and Bobby, who both had simpler dances that really suited them), not to make the dance as hard as possible. Had Ellie had less lifts and slower moments in the dance, I think it would have been a lot better. You could see her throughout the dance thinking of what was coming next without really performing. She was just pushed too hard.

Totally agree, he was outdancing her,the choreography was too fast and furious. You could see each time a lift was happening, her face was prepping for it and the transactions weren't smooth. It was scary to watch instead of enjoyable. I preferred the slower moments in the choreography when they danced instead of acrobatics.

 

[soccergirl]

You’ll all be glad to know I’ve finished my rewatch for the first time but two other things I noticed…

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

And is it just me; but Neil, Gorka and Graz all get extra hearts for being the shoulders for the winners to sit on.

So I’ve just set a reminder to ring the doc in the morning to up my lexapro, starting tomorrow

I noticed that! Safety first at all times! It’s not fun unless everyone’s safe!
And yes, big up the boys who made the fun happen, rather than sulking backstage checking sales orders for their weedkiller!

 

[diamondthunder]

Also there's ways of giving feedback, and with Shirley in particular, there seemed to be an element of 'I'll take you down a peg or two' which was very unpleasant to see. And Nigel and Katya definitely did NOT need that. There was no ego there, imo.
I commented more than once about the fact that the judges never acknowledged Katya. It was as though Nigel danced on his own . And then I think it was the week before they had to withdraw, the judges finally gave her some credit.

I felt so sorry for them in Blackpool because it was clear that they thought it had gone well. And then, yet more criticism came their way. The man danced on top of a piano, FFS!

Then others got - 'oh mistakes dont matter'. So, which is it, judges, make up your minds! Anyway I think Nigel and Katya being there for longer would have made everything a lot more interesting, overall.

I love them!
View attachment 2637017

Poor Katya's face there... I'm absolutely devastated for her that her first contender in 6 years' journey ended like that, on top of all the harsh critique and undermarking. And the third time she's had to withdraw from the competition as well! It didn't matter so much with Tony or Nicola as they were never lasting more than another week at best anyway, but Nigel could have won. The final was so much lesser without them.

I noticed last week she ducked out of the camera shot when Layton and Nikita got their 40 for their Charleston and she seemed to be teary/trying to compose herself and hiding behind the other pros pretty much the whole night. My heart just broke for her having to stand there and try to look cheerful all night.

Poor Nigel as well. The judges harping on every little mistake, obviously not helping his nerves and making him more likely to make them instead of giving feedback that would help him improve. Not a single 10, even for the no rules CC, in the same series as Shirley's ridiculous 10 for Eddie's. Then he has to withdraw with an obviously very painful injury on the day of the show after working so hard all week on yet another comeback dance. I do wonder if they were trying to help him by giving him a journey after he was the favourite to win after the first show, but if so it went a step too far at Blackpool imo. And what a ridiculous way to get injured as well, the producers shoving some stupid stunt into a routine just to justify the stupid backing dancers in Musicals Week, who rarely add anything to a dance - 90% of the time you either don't notice them or they're just in the damn way.

I think Nigel got a little overshadowed by some of the bigger personalities, but I realised how much I felt his absence from the show in that little interview with Amy when his and Adam's bit was probably the only memorable bit of chat with the past contestants. 'What have you taken away from Strictly?' 'Mostly food from the catering truck.'

 

[IdeletedbutI'mbackagain]

You’ll all be glad to know I’ve finished my rewatch for the first time but two other things I noticed…

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

And is it just me; but Neil, Gorka and Graz all get extra hearts for being the shoulders for the winners to sit on.

So I’ve just set a reminder to ring the doc in the morning to up my lexapro, starting tomorrow

Safety officer Kai has me

 

[LowCalCalzoneZone]

Poor Katya's face there... I'm absolutely devastated for her that her first contender in 6 years' journey ended like that, on top of all the harsh critique and undermarking. And the third time she's had to withdraw from the competition as well! It didn't matter so much with Tony or Nicola as they were never lasting more than another week at best anyway, but Nigel could have won. The final was so much lesser without them.

I noticed last week she ducked out of the camera shot when Layton and Nikita got their 40 for their Charleston and she seemed to be teary/trying to compose herself and hiding behind the other pros pretty much the whole night. My heart just broke for her having to stand there and try to look cheerful all night.

Poor Nigel as well. The judges harping on every little mistake, obviously not helping his nerves and making him more likely to make them instead of giving feedback that would help him improve. Not a single 10, even for the no rules CC, in the same series as Shirley's ridiculous 10 for Eddie's. Then he has to withdraw with an obviously very painful injury on the day of the show after working so hard all week on yet another comeback dance. I do wonder if they were trying to help him by giving him a journey after he was the favourite to win after the first show, but if so it went a step too far at Blackpool imo. And what a ridiculous way to get injured as well, the producers shoving some stupid stunt into a routine just to justify the stupid backing dancers in Musicals Week, who rarely add anything to a dance - 90% of the time you either don't notice them or they're just in the damn way.

I think Nigel got a little overshadowed by some of the bigger personalities, but I realised how much I felt his absence from the show in that little interview with Amy when his and Adam's bit was probably the only memorable bit of chat with the past contestants. 'What have you taken away from Strictly?' 'Mostly food from the catering truck.'

Yeah, I do think they were trying to give Nigel a storyline, with him having a 'breakthrough' during musicals week and then ultimately a more competitive final. But they just went about it in a really cackhanded, clumsy way and left it too late. Just shows they should stop trying to meddle and storyline bloody everything, and just give genuine scores and comments based on what they are actually seeing each week

It's what really put a downer on this series for me - just this lingering sense that however anyone danced, tptb already had a rough plan of how the evening was going to go - maybe not the exact scores and feedback, but that it was already decided who was going to have a good week and who wasn't

Not anything new with Strictly, but it just felt so much more obvious this year

 

[Restless Native]

You’ll all be glad to know I’ve finished my rewatch for the first time but two other things I noticed…

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

And is it just me; but Neil, Gorka and Graz all get extra hearts for being the shoulders for the winners to sit on.

So I’ve just set a reminder to ring the doc in the morning to up my lexapro, starting tomorrow

Neil gets a hard time but he does seem genuinely supportive of his fellow pros.

Gio on the other hand was nowhere to be seen

 

[daisybrown]

Neil gets a hard time but he does seem genuinely supportive of his fellow pros.

Gio on the other hand was nowhere to be seen

i saw Neil’s face when dancing next to Amy during the opening dance. He looked absolutely delighted.

 

[KeriRhys]

You’ll all be glad to know I’ve finished my rewatch for the first time but two other things I noticed…

Kai acting like the #SafetyFirst OAP guardian he’s had to become by making sure Vito would’ve been caught should he have taken a spill

And is it just me; but Neil, Gorka and Graz all get extra hearts for being the shoulders for the winners to sit on.

So I’ve just set a reminder to ring the doc in the morning to up my lexapro, starting tomorrow

#safetyfirst Kai has really made me giggle!

I also loved how they hoisted Vito up first, like "Ellie who?"