2nd Strictly Come Dancing 2023 thread

I am grinning from ear to ear for his marks.

Oh Craig!! You have to, don't you!

Wonderful quickstep.Light and fast.

It was brilliant and that performance should boost his spirits for his second dance. He does seem to have come into this as semi-final as the underdog.

Loved Bobby's quickstep. I'm always a sucker for a man (boy?) in tails, and I thought he did brilliantly tonight.

Loved that, Bobby!

No messing around Bobby, really going for it! Brilliant!

I don't like the "choice" one either - generally mawkish or otherwise indulgent and inevitably overmarked.

Regarding the steps and being correct though, if Nikita (or the specialist choreographer) puts in the correct steps, Nikita can of course insist they are danced correctly but as you say, aggie Leyton is used to more freedoms and is used to being able to interpret things.

He is the one who needs to follow instructions and to execute the steps taught.

In one episode (when he did particularly well) he said "well yes, I did listen to him this week" or something similar. He obviously can be disciplined if he wants to be.

That’s a good point about Leyton and the choreography, if Nikita puts in the right steps it’s up to him to make sure Leyton dances them .
However Leyton is used to interpretation, so veers on his own path

I think the music makes a huge difference to whether the public find the dance likeable even if it's danced well, Joseann. I don't know if the contestants can choose that.

Layton is a wonderful show dancer but he doesn't stick to the technique of the dance he's doing. Once upon a time Shirley and the other judges would say they were looking for certain steps associated with whatever dance and would comment if one or more had not been included. Now, they are vague about this.

For this reason I have never thought Couple's Choice should be included because there are no rules for it so how can it be judged? Strictly should only be about Ballroom and Latin in my opinion.

Of course, Layton can only dance whatever has been choreographed for him.

Really looking forward to it this evening. Two dances each!!

As an opener here, I promised myself way back that I would not vote for Layton in the semi-final for all the reasons given, (although he is THE best dancer!!).

So, in order not to be in the dance off, Layton needs to follow the rules of the dance and not do his own version of it. (Unlikely!)
Also, the judges need to be consistent with their previous comments and haphazard voting, because if they suddenly change tack with that, it will make a mockery of the past weeks.

At what point do the contestants choose their dance for the dance off? What I mean is, if the judges dislike one dance, do the contestants automatically choose the other one? They'd be daft not to.

I think Bobby might be in danger.

Calli
I agree and that's why I want Ellie to win.

Layton has a huge talent and is an excellent dancer but he was already performing in shows so has a considerable advantage over the other three.

If you did not mean it eazybee that is good.
It’s easy on social media to write things without reading it back and before you know it you have pressed send.
We all do it.
Layton is hopefully used to people taking against his sexuality and thankfully he can rise above it.

I did think Ellie only did dancing as a girl. I don’t know if she even did dancing after joining Coronation Street at about 11 or 12?

Annabel did ballet from the age of 4 and has said she loves dance and if she hadn't started tennis at age 9 and later focused on that, she would have been a ballerina.

If we are going to equalise what adults did before puberty as the same as having a career where dancing is a significant part I think there's no hope for most women. Many young girls are taken to dance lessons still - but very few boys.

Layton is brilliant at show dancing but I think the winner has to be someone who has progressed to the best level in all styles of dancing.

You will find I wrote 'but Layton still revolts me'. Perhaps to clarify I should put, 'his performance revolts me,' which is my opinion. I did not that 'he is revolting.'

Subtle difference.

A bit of digging reveals a few more musicals for Nigel where he dances, something about X factor (?) and Chicago.

I too hope Ellie wins.

How do you know? lemsip

nigel had mood swings causing bad feelings with the crew

Strictly crew 'relieved following Nigel Harman's exit after his 'mood swings' and 'storming off stage' caused bad feelings behind the scenes'

I have always thought Layton was brilliant, and stated so on this thread. That young man is going to be a very big star on stage and screen. He's an amazing talent.
I hope Ellie wins as she's been amazing too and winning this hopefully will be a pathway to a brilliant career for her too.
Such a shame about Nigel though.

Nikita will have enjoyed the opportunity to choreograph for, and dance with, Layton. I think he has really experimented with a different style as a professional this series, as was shown in his duet with Vito.

I think Annabel is the only one without dance training but I have no idea re Bobby's background.

I also do not think Layton will win for the reasons mentioned but he is a fabulous dancer and he gets on well with Nikita.

shots

Sorry difficult to see, but he's in those moving shors.

https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202312/medium-176183-4bca4eaf067be8bd15404a8661fe25c7ee4fa798.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202312/medium-752384-dugald-bruce-lockhart-as-bill-richard-trinder-as-sam-alasdair-harvey-as-harry-in-mamma-mia-credit-brinkhoff-mgenburg-scaled.jpg https://www.gransnet.com/uploads/talk/202312/medium-27222-7b3e0d5dd1c167a4efc8b1f758d213334f06859d.jpg

rafichagran

I love Leyton and I hope he wins, I find him amazing. Let's remember others have had dance training as well.

Well said! This is the last thread on GN that we would want any arguments on, but Layton certainly isn't the only one with dance training. I asked stage performer DD yesterday and she said Nigel had definitely dance in Guys and Dolls on the West End stage, as well as in Mamma Mia.