There was maybe a few mistakes in Ricky's routine but the rest of the dance was quality and for that they deserved the marks.

The difference in some of the others is that when they make obvious errors and faux pas resulting in low marks is because their dance minus errors still fails to hit the higher marks on many other levels.

Fair enough Jan but I wasnt saying that was a reason for being overmarked but as reason for his lack of training hours which was your original point that it showed in his routine.

Having watched it again, he went wrong twice and to be honest, the mistakes werent that bad really. I dont think he was overmarked 8 and 9's were deserved I think because of the performance and characterisation of the routine.

I must have missed the car crash report, even though I did look for it on DS and on ITT. I dont have time to read papers and I cannot stand Twitter. I knew of it because a colleague of mine treated one of the other parties in the crash. He sounded like a really nice guy from what she said.

We can only see so much of the dance. Natalie made the mistake of trying to take the blame, which only goaded Len into listing the mistakes which he said he wasn't going to. Craig also seemed to find plenty of mistakes.

It was very difficult choreography and Ricky did dance a lot of it very well. The tear running down his cheek may have indicated how disappointed Ricky was in his performance, and Craig read that too.
It looked to me like Ricky was expecting worse marks even more than I was.

I have sympathy for him - he is the best dancer, but a bit prone to mistakes (maybe because the choreography is challenging). Even when he tries to be humble, its difficult, because many of the other dancers are so far behind him, it doesn't sound right to say everyone is raising their game, as if they are challenging him.

Actually because of the pelters he's been getting on here I also re-watched it along with Jade, Chris and Ali and I have to agree on second viewing it's not really as bad as I originally thought and Jade isn't as good as I thought. I think it was probably the expectations of another QS performance which makes it seem disappointing.

On reflection I would rank last night's performances thus:

Chris
Ali
Ricky
Jade.

agree with this

That's what annoys me so much about his critics on here. He comes across as a really nice and genuine guy but then people harp on about his insincerity and his faux-humility.

I really dont know what people expect? Him to stand there saying he's a million times better then everyone else and he knows it? Or for him to not speak at all?

I do think he is right, people are raising their game (Ali, Jade and Chris) and I just really feel for him because it doesnt matter if he came out there next week and got a perfect 40 for a dance because people will still find something to criticise him about. He's a great dancer, his partnership with Natalie is really progressing, he's obviously enjoying it, he comes across very genuine to me, he's very supportive of his fellow celebs, he's very complimentary of his professional partner and wants to do well in a difficult dance competition and is keen to improve every week as all of them want to do. But he's damned if he does and damned if he doesnt on here, all because he is good, wants to do well, and doesnt come across as arrogant although people suspect he has that in spades (although his post VW blog didnt help that cause).

He's one of the best out there and some people find that truth a little hard to swallow. Its quite sad, really.

You're quite clearly a fan and admirer of his, and see him in a favourable light. Other people are not, and see him in an entirely different way - me included. That doesn't make us wrong, or bad people, or delusional; your truth is not my truth. Just because I don't think he is wonderful doesn't mean that I find the truth hard to swallow; it just means I don't agree with you. If he is all the things you think he is, then he will no doubt be in the final and win the glitterball. If he is not, he won't be. Doesn't make other FMs sad, it just means we are people with a different point of view.

It's absurd to highlight focus on Ricky's over-marking & not Natalie's or Phil's. They're all overmarked in any case... And I didn't think Ali's waltz deserved a 40, even though I like her dancing.

If the voters weren't so perverse, the judges wouldn't resort to high-marking those they want to stay in the competition.

I agree, it happens every year on here - though it's usually about the female contestants.

Ricky is a good dancer, good-looking, confident, in a successful (if dire) TV show, & is no doubt well-paid - every year there's someone similar that posters take against - last year it was Lisa, year before it was Kelly...

From me it gets a big whatever.

You misunderstand me. I dont think his critics are sad. I just think it is sad that SOME of his critics cannot bring themselves to say a good word about him. And I dont think it makes them wrong, or bad. Please dont put words in my mouth. I am increasingly frustrated at some of the negative comments on here about him and dont think it is fair. I mean, last year, I couldnt warm to Lisa Snowdon but I still thought she was one of the best out there and gave her and Brenda their dues. I think SOME of his critics need to remember he does dance well. Im not asking them to support him and suddenly become massive fans, but I'd like people to appreciate his efforts and his dances because he's given some good performances (and I do know what Im talking about, I have danced B&L for years).

And 'my' truth is valid. He is one of the best out there (I didnt say THE best, ONE of the best) because he is consistently high up on that leaderboard, so that makes him one of the best dancers in the competition.

Where did I put words into your mouth?

Why should people support him if they don't feel a connection with him? This is an entertainment show about people learning dance routines and then performing them on TV. As so many other people have said, it is as much about personality and image as dancing skill, if not more so. If people comment about their perception of one of the contestants, it does not make that perception wrong just because other people do not share it. Your truth is valid to you; it is not necessarily valid to others. Doesn't make anyone wrong, just different. I haven't 'danced B&L for years'; doesn't mean I can't recognise a good dancer, I just don't think he is as wonderful as other people do. And just because someone has skill at learning a short dance routine it doesn't follow that they are a lovely person.

You are taking my comments completely out of context. I am not asking people to support him! I said that! I just wish people could appreciate the effort he is putting in and the same with a the other couples too.

Example: I dont particuarly 'get' Ricky and Erin, but I sti admire him for his commitment and tenacity.

Hun, it's not worth getting frustrated about - every year there's contestant/s that some posters can't say a good word about - last year it was Lisa, year before it was Kelly. Rachel came in for a kicking too.

I had no problem with Lisa, Kelly, Rachel or Ricky & am the same as you in that even if I actually disliked someone's character I can detach personal feeling about from their dancing ability.

I've come to the conclusion that there are a lot of unhappy people on here & they tend to focus all their negativity on particular people in TV shows, SCD being one.

He was over marked.
The judges love him and Ali...

Thankyou for understanding where I am coming from. Its hard not to get frustrated with some of the things said on here, as sometimes there is just no need for it.

Ive always loved coming onto forums and reading the different opinions on the dancing and I enjoy it. I dont get unhappy that people have differing views to my own. But what I get annoyed about is that people take it a bit too far sometimes. Im a purist, I cant help it. I watch it for the dancing (and the dresses) mainly and get excited about the better dancers out there and Ive said on another thread that there are 4 couples I am supporting this year. Im not just a Whittle Watcher but I do think some of the criticsms he has had on this forum are unjustified. Some of them are and I have agreed with them. But a lot of the comments sound like something Alesha would say (after last night's comment she made to Craig.)

He has at least five problems - for some unknown reason Phil, Ricky G and Chris are more attractive personalities to some viewers . Ricky W can't be a bloke, a cockney comic or somone demanding mothering. His second is that he is very good, but, as he isn't perfect and probably doesn't have the rehearsal time to be, people can pick holes in him whilst ignoring the lack of much ability at all in others. Third, he hasn't produced a really great show stopping series winning routine because he is confident but not brash and because the right music/dance/choreography combination hasn't come right for him. Fourth he has no story of becoming good which make his effort less visible. Fifth he has no back story at all which makes him unknown to viewers . Thats partly the BBC's fault and something similar goes on with Ali where the slightest doubt becomes a big story for lack of anything else but the love story which they alternate with. Interestingly, it doesn't seem to have happened the BBC performers on the show - Nathalie seems to have been branded as the improving trier, Ricky G as the comic who is under-appreciated by the judges and Phil is being allowed to continue his I'm a Celebrity campaign barely dancing at all.

Ricky W is this year's Lisa?
Er, no.
He is much more talented.
Maybe a bit overmarked occasionally but nothing like Lisa was.

Absolutely. Although you have to admit his QS was pretty awesome.

We can argue about back stories and personalities etc, but when you get down to it, none of this stuff is really very complicated. Usually one of the best technical dancers in Strictly manages to make some emotional connect with the general audience ... so the purists end up happy with the winner and the public end up happy with the same winner. If you get a year where one of the best technical dancers doesn't make that emotional connection with the public, someone else who does make a connection but doesn't dance so technically well is probably gonna win. And that's for the simple reason that in something like the arts, where you're in the realm of subjectivity, emotion is going to triumph over technique every time when push comes to shove. It's sometimes hard for purists to stomach, but complicated doesn't necessarily equal better.

Hugh Cornwell of The Stranglers always says Golden Brown was one of the simplest songs they ever wrote. It moved more people and sold more copies than any of their more technically skilled efforts.

I'm quite partial to Joyce. But I guarantee if I take a copy of Ulysses and a copy of The Da Vinci code around to 100 houses and return a month later that 95+ of them are going to say they prefer Dan Brown to James Joyce. I can bang on about Joyce's literary craft till the cows come home; I can tell them they're saying a literary dwarf is better than a giant. It's not gonna make a jot of difference. They're gonna say that one is a load of over-complicated pretentious b*llocks that moved them not an inch, while the other one is a simpler good read that made them want to keep turning the page. I'm not right and they're not wrong ... our sensibilities are just different.

If the best technical dancers in Strictly don't manage to make enough people want to turn that page and see them again next week, then they don't deserve to win. Usually one or more of their number manages it - this year I'm not so sure that's gonna happen.

Thank you for posting this - you have hit the nail exactly on the head.

Must admit I'm a bit fond of Joyce myself - and I liked The Da Vinci Code for reading on the tube. Horses for courses.

Dead right , I am from Dublin and cant stand Joyces pretenious claptrap!!

Spoken with true Molly Bloom frankness.

Not really qualified to comment re his dancing skills. All I know is he bores me rigid. I never feel engaged with his dancing. Not sure whether its him, the partnership or the choreography. But whatever it is he isn't my winner.

Lisa annoyed me or more accurately Brendan and the judges's attitude towards Lisa annoyed me - I didn't love her but in different circumstances she might have grown on me, Kelly's personality irritated a lot of people I wasn't one of them (she wasn't alone - I thought a lot of people were really unfairly down on Gaby and Matt DA and Dom more understandably irritated a lot of people), Rachel was a good dancer but uncharismatic which did occasionally make her dancing dull too. I really want to like Ricky W and I kinda do dancing wise but I just find the dancing a tad overly slick and souless - maybe it's a taste thing and I just don't like Natalie's style I find it a bit lacking in colour and shade I don't know. I prefer Jade and Ian and I hope Team Cola's game keeps upping and they become contenders.

I really like Ricky and am OUTRAGED that someone has seen fit to compare him with Lisa 'turkey- foil -hooves- gynaecalogical showdance' Snowdon!!

Ricky is an amazing dancer and seems like a nice bloke. I just can't understand all the personal criticism.

I far more enjoyed his dance last night than Ali's - despite the mistakes. It was a joy to watch. I felt bad for him, the disappointment was clear to see.

And the judges DID mark him down for his mistakes. 8's and 9's for a routine that was clearly going to get 10's if he hadn't made the mistakes. I loved it.