I meant to mention Sunetra last week - such a lovely lady and she can dance 
Enjoyed the show very much 
It was sad to see Jennifer leave, she is such a lovely lady but with the best will in the world, you would not say that she is a dancer. 
I was surprised to see Simon in the dance off, he could do with relaxing a bit but not dance off material yet. 
I agree Jennifer is a lovely lady and I would say not the one who should have gone, she is not a natural dancer but she wasn’t the worst.
Simon is having a lot of negative publicity about his split with his most recent girlfriend and also rumours about him and Kristina etc. I don’t think he’s so popular at the moment.
I suppose it shows that it’s not really about the dancing in the early stages, it’s more about popularity.
There are about 3 potential winners already I think !!
Such a good show last night and so many good dancers - but - so upset with the judges as although Judy has been quite awful in the dancing, she really ‘did try’ last night and I was so happy to see that, only for her to get slaughtered by the judges ! Absolutely no credit or encouragement given to her - I was fuming to see and hear their childish critiques :twisted:
I’ve not watched it yet … got my own Strictly event in Southport this afternoon … I’m only dancing (with 500 others) … not competing 
Smashing ! 
Enjoyed last nights but I don’t think they are giving credit when the worst dancers try and when they improve. To me the show is about people improving and the ones who can clearly dance before the shows start don’t seem to try as hard.
Scot is my favourite so cute LOL and he is trying !
That was my point - give credit where its due …
Scott - yes very trying 
Myrtle hope you have a fantastic afternoon in Southport, so envious I wish I could dance !!
With Strictly I though the judges were extremely complimentary about Scott and Judy’s dances. Scott does try hard but he is not a natural dancer and he will never look good in the way someone with natural ability for dancing does. That is no reflection on Scott only a reflection on his dancing. It would be unfair to vote someone who has the wow factor in their dancing ability off in favour of someone who is cute, as it is after all a dancing competition.
Sadly it is sometimes the case that the better dancers are voted off in favour os someone who has gained popularity.
I love to see someone perform a wonderful dance so that they almost look as good as the professional dancer, that is what makes a winner to me.
I agree Anita. Scott and Judy are not at all good dancers so should come out early to give the good dancers a better chance. I don’t think I’ve known another year with as many good dancers as there are this year. There are five of them in the running IMO.
If Strictly isn’t careful it will lose its popularity … year after year they have been including competitors who have had dance training from a young age. It is unfair and must be very disheartening for the complete novices like Judy, Simon and others.
Maybe Strictly should enlighten us to as to what the exact qualifications to enter the competition are? It seems so unfair to me that people mock Simon and Judy when they are trying their best in a so-called ‘beginners’ contest, when in fact they are just being used as scapegoats.
Absolutely agree - Judy, I thought did very well last night, I was very surprised and happy to see progress, so the judges comments upset me. Give credit where its due and forget trained dancers …
I completely agree I am a relative newbie to strictly only watched 3 years but it is getting worse with the number of well trained dancers. Sometimes hard to tell the professional from the beginner which may make them happy but isn’t what I thought the contest should be about.
It depends on your perspective, I would much rather watch someone with ability than someone who has little.
Lots of children do dance classes when they are little and I would imagine it’s quite difficult to find someone in the entertainment industry who hasn’t had some, or done a bit of dancing. That is a world away from being a professional dancer like the professionals on Strictly. They don’t make their living from ballroom dancing which the professionals do, whether they did a bit of dancing as a youngster or not.
I have no problem with Judy and Scott, they are great but they don’t look so great on the dance floor, it would be silly for someone who is not a good dancer to win the competition because someone else did a bit of dancing when they were younger.
There is nothing in the rules to say that a celebrity must have no dance experience whatsoever and people like Scott and Judy know that some of the others have not only done some dancing but have more natural ability. They probably didn’t expect to be in for long.
It is not about who improves the most, it’s about which couple manages to dance as close to the ideal as possible according to the rules of ballroom dancing.
Yes - your post makes a lot of sense, I think though when a celeb such as Judy who is no way a dancer yet showed improvement, the critique should at least be kind and respectful. She and Scott will not win, they do not have ‘natural’ ability which you would need to win. Your point is a good one though regarding those that have had lessons, I guess the others will just love being part of it and know they will never win the competition. It certainly gives variety…
Funnily enough both Scott and Judy were happy with the judges comments last night and I though the judges were fair, the marks were pretty good too.
The judges do acknowledge their hard work and improvement I feel.
Craig has to say something as part of the show is that Craig is the ‘bad’ judge, it’s part and parcel of the show so that if something didn’t look great he is the one who comes out with the words like ‘dis-as-ter, darling’ …it’s part of the panto side of the show. I don’t think the dancers are upset by it, they get loads of support and encouragement from the other dancers and the presenters and the public.
They have improved a lot and I think they are both having a fantastic time
Yes I do know that Anita, been watching it since day one.
I don’t agree the comments were fair from any of the judges with regards to Judy, but we all see things differently 
As I thought it has been a bit of a farce with the voting and Thom going out, there is no way that he is worse than Judy or Scott but they are getting the sympathy vote. People feel that they should support the under dog who are not getting a fair deal in their eyes, I suppose that is fair enough if that is what the majority want.
As long as the good dancers stay in until the later stages I’m not really bothered about the order in which the weaker ones depart.
True, I get what you are saying AC, and it often works out along those lines with the much weaker ones staying in longer than the ones in the middle of the table.