Strictly 2018

Well if we all voted we might just swing it for S
and K!I
I certainly will - 3 free votes on bbc website!

I like Stacey very much too but it is a dancing competition not a popularity contest. She is a very good dancer but so are Faye and Ashley. I think Joe is good too but didn't like his dance last night.

If there is an issue regarding dancers' previous experience - and there appears to be - then I start to wonder whether it's worth watching the programme at all.

I think Fay and Giovanni have a very good chance of winning the glitterball, although Stacey and Kevin are hot favourites .
Joe seems to be fading away ..... all celebs lose a lot of weight doing Strictly but he was painfully thin to start with!
Will Ashley and Pasha be in the dance off again I wonder?
Don’t rain on my parade is a ghastly song, and although the judges loved the routine, I didn’t.

Ashley and Pasha's routine was quick and clever but left me cold.
I agree about the song so that might have explained my lack of interest.
Sadly I think it's Charles for the chop tonight!

Bye bye Charles - good decision - he didn't actually do very much in that rumba.

It`s a pity, but the trouble is there`s not a great lot for a man to do in a rumba. I`d have preferred Charles to stay and Ashley to go, although I`ve nothing against Pasha, he`s lovely.

I'm pleased with the result.

Yes, it is a dancing competition. Think people expect the contestants to start on a level playing field. Ashley is a trained dancer and so good she should be dancing against professionals. Leave this competition to the non dancers who are doing incredibly well. Lauren, Joe and Stacey.

The problem is that if Ashley is in the dance off again next week she may dance so well that she wins especially if she is up against Lauren or Joe. I do like Pasha but I do not like Stacey.

Joe has a big following through his blog. He’s peaked now I think but will still pull in these vital votes.

I was sad for Charles to go, I like him and he has done well his last few dances but couldn't win against Ashley. If I'm honest I would have preferred Lauren to be in the dance off and go. I think Joe should have gone weeks ago, I think he is massively overmarked and has never been criticised like any of the other dancers. He knows he is going to get the teenage votes every week and doesn't even look worried on the results show. I think he will end up in the final with Stacey, Ashley and Fay but I don't think he deserves it, he's not in the same class as any of the girls

I think the judges judge on dancing, but the public vote is a popularity vote, which is why Ashley has been in the bottom two the last two weeks. The final winner isn’t chosen by the judges, so the most popular one will win.

You are right Alima - I don’t think those with dance training should be on the show as contestants either - but why don’t people feel the same about Faye as they do about Ashley? I read that Faye had 18 years of dance training?

People who go into the entertainment field, soaps, pop groups and acting in general, the majority of them have been to a "performing arts school/college". So they will have some dance experience, usually not ballroom or Latin though,

Athletes have the advantage of fitness, Joe has the advantage of millions of young Utube followers.

My vote will stay with Stacey, I think she is the most improved overall.

NotSpaghetti
No wonder she's good: 18 yrs of training

I think Ashley is brash whereas Faye is modest, so although both have dance experience (and I think Ashley has the most), Faye is more likable and gets more of the public vote. But I want Stacey to win (or Joe, but I don't think he will unless he gets given a fabulous dance and piece of music)

I think you are right Sparkle and GrannyG and in the end it’s the public vote that counts.
I think Stacey will be the popular choice.

If the popular vote in the final comes down to a choice between Ashley and Stacey, the latter will win hands down.

I agree, I hope a non dancer wins. Otherwise, what's the point? My money's on Stacey.

I don't think Ashley should win but I don't think she is at all brash. I find her charming......... it's just her dancing experience that bothers me.

The title is 'Strictly Come Dancing' and the winner should be the best dancer. I am not aware that it states anywhere the prize should go to most improved dancer. Dancers with previous training rarely win, but there are a few contestants who deny they have ever received dance training (Tom Chamberlain, the man who won last year and was previously performing dance routines on the West End stage; Denise van Outen who said she trained as a singer, not a dancer, and all those who passed through stage school apparently without ever having had a dance lesson.)
I am sorry Charles was voted out; he was developing and has far more potential than Joe Sugg, who has reached his limit. Stacey's dance was a mess; costume, choreography and her performance, most of which seemed to comprise being manhandled into a series of lifts and a few pas des waltzes.
The advantages the trained dancers do have is stamina which is increasingly apparent; energy isn't enough.
I have enjoyed this year's show so much because there have been some excellent dancers and that is what I love to watch: Ashley, Faye and Danny Jon-Jules, who should still be in the competition; Lauren should have gone weeks ago, and AJ knows it.

Joe McFadden won last year and it's quite a few years since Tom Chambers did.

I agree with most of your comments eazybee. The show wouldn’t be worth watching if all the contestants were the same standard from the beginning so they choose from across complete beginners, those showing potential and those with some experience to provide an entertaining programme. We have seen some amazing dances from the likes of Debbie McGee and this year from Faye and Ashley and although I love seeing complete novices embrace what they’re learning and improving over the weeks I’m afraid if the whole evening was comprised of one mediocre performance after another I for one wouldn’t bother watching. (p.s. I think Kevin’s choreography is rather good at ‘smoke and mirrors’.)

Tess always tells us to vote for our favourite. She does not say "the best dancer". It may be that the best dancer IS your favourite, in which case that's who to vote for.

It has never been a pure dance competition and popularity plays a big part, especially in the final, which is based wholly on the public vote.

Personally my favourite is Faye and I hope she wins. I have tried hard to like Stacey, given all the support on here for her, but I find her brash and really don't like the way she talks over everyone, including the judges. Joe is a sweetheart but not that good a dancer (apart from his quickstep which was excellent). Lauren is a very fit athlete and a tryer but not a natural dancer, which makes watching her not that great. Ashley is as good as the professionals and was from the start. It was a mistake to have her in Strictly I feel.

Who will win? We'll know on 15 December!

I too love strictly. I do agree that Danny is good and in the early days I would have tipped him to win, but now Kevin and Stacey have cum up a lot I think and I think they are in the running. I didn't see the musicals night last week due to a quiz I went to but I understand their performance didn't leave a dry eye in the house. I was also sos I missed out on A.J and Lauren with "A Wonderful Guy". apparently it was supposed to be really spectacular. I havenbt got I player or whatever they call it although I did see a clip of it someone must have posted on facebook. if Kevin and Stacey don't win. A.J is my next tip and maybe Danny and that's it. We'll have to see what happens - BIG COL