Looking at the betting figures, and looking at the many, many saturation Widdie stories it's becoming more and more apparent that the hype about Ann is very much manufactured.

For example, Ann is 7/1 against on Betfair; Matt is the runaway favourite.

So I've a strong suspicion that most of the "Can Ann Last?" type of threads on this forum are artificial, designed simply to hype the controversy about her. I don't get the feeling that there's much genuine heat about her - I think people are simply seeing her as the comedy act at the moment.

I also get the feeling, and I admit it's just gut instinct, that people are getting a bit bored of her, and that her high point (!) was the Flying Widdie thing a few weeks back.

Finally, it seems that these manufactured stories and artificially-created / resurrected threads are taking on an increasingly-desperate tone.

So:
- Do you agree that the publicity is wearing thin?
- Do you think that the tone of comments / stories is sounding more and more desperate?
- Is 7/1 a good price for Ann?

(And yes, I realise people think "Oh God not another Widdie thread, but this one is genuine, honest!)

I think many are now getting fed up with Ann, people I know who were voting for her are now thinking it's time she went. But I still think one of the big four will be pushed before people decide enough is enough.

Very difficult to say. You've got to keep in mind the great gulf between people who just watch the show, and people who invest time in watching ITT, reading boards like this, reading the newspaper coverage, etc. What seems to get boring to people who are very involved may be fine to the average viewer. I met someone last week who'd never watched it before, who had seen the news coverage and just turned on to see Ann, as if Ann was the only person on the show. But I don't know anyone who watches the show avidly who isn't sick of Ann. Who is more likely to vote?

Now that the Guardian says that more men vote for X Factor than women, I no longer trust any assumptions I had about how the vote works.

It will be very interesting to see, once Ann has done the rumba, what she holds out to viewers as a carrot in her 'Just wait till you see me do the...' line. I guess the AT. She'll do all she can to stay on. That's interesting to me - I don't think we've ever had on the show such a bad dancer who is so keen to win. I can believe popbitch that Matt and Scott are leading, but I think Ann will be in for a long time yet.

(Sorry, that's a very long-winded way of saying 'don't know'!)

There is a letter in today's Telegraph saying that the publicity is wearing thin and that she should retire gracefully - about the only thing she would do gracefully! It is from Lord Jacobs! Who he? Anyway, I never thought I would see the day when the Telegraph wrote something anti-Ann.

Also Julian Clary spoke up against her this morning - for the first time I clapped a comment on Breakfast!

I have a friend who is cheering on Wagner as an anti-Simon Cowelll thing. Ann Widdecombe has been added (talk about an unholy alliance!) to this - this time much less clear what the anti-thing is! My friend doesn't watch either show, but it's weird to me how Wagner-Widdecombe has become a "let's make fun of this show and vote for them" or "let's put it to the man" by people that don't watch.

I'm hoping that popbitch is right - the Widdie hype is fading and I agree with DJ that her peak was the Tango. They also have now not left her very many dances to ruin/use as forward advertising to cover her in less popular (ballroom) weeks. Jive and AT, I think, and I'll be loading the shotgun if the latter happens.

The way I think people are treating her is as the comedy interlude / opportunity to make a cuppa / etc.


Interesting - got a link for that? (I'm too lazy to do the search myself)


Yes, the "coming soon" trailers seem to be getting a bit more desperate.


Christ, don't say that, my alcohol bill's sky-high already...


I can believe Ladbrokes also. Bookies are not stupid.


Nope, it's informative - unlike the average contribution on these type of threads, please keep it coming.

It IS so much manufactured hype - and it turns onto something of a self-fulfilling prophecy which is NOT born out of the facts.

If you go to Google News and query on Strictly come Dancing - in the first page of results by far and away the largest number of articles is NOT about Ann but about Felicity Kendal leaving the show.

Ann in in second place, but the remainder of results are well spread.

In fact, if you browse to the 2nd page of results, the largest no of articles by far is on the Xmas special!!

An interesting experiment

JJ

- Yes.
- Yes.
- Pass. I know f-all about betting.

All the stories I've recently read rave about her, but in the comments section you can tell the worm has turned and most not supporting her, one of the latest DM articles being an example. How this applies to the voting public, I don't know.

Is this true? What does the Guardian base that on?

i think the bit about the Daily Heil is the most revealing- the comments on there were originally all supportive of her. If the type fo audience that she is aiming for, and thats Daily Fail readers lets face it, are now not voting then maybe we will have the right result this week!!

(Just like to say that I only look on-line when I need a laugh- the comments are generally hysterical!!)

I think perdiedumpling hit the nail on the head about the Wagner vote being different from the Widdie vote. If you look at the X factor board you will see the strength of the Wagner support and how much it's driven by people being fed up with talentless wannabies being dressed up for mass consumption by the cynical and greedy pop industry.

I think the Widdie thing is driven by something else. Perhaps something more disturbing. I hope I'm wrong though.

As for the bookies... I'm not sure how they set their odds on 'stuff', but is it that the odds are modified according to the bets that are placed? So in other words, the odds drift as people place their bets. The more people bet for a certain result, the less the odds get.

I could be that the odds on Widdie are low(ish), as not many people are betting for her to win (or less people are betting on her than the other competitors). You have to be careful on how to analyse these data as it could be that the people who are voting for Widdie do not bet, therefore bookies odds do not tell us anything about votes.

I need coffee.

yep. I think the widdenator hype has reached tiping point. Now there are fewer contestants I would suspect people are now much more set on their favourites and who they will vote for - and I think more people vote towards the latter stages.

I think the fact that they're now having to prop up Ann by associating her with X Factor hype suggests that they're struggling to keep the bandwagon rolling on its own merits. I think she'll finish more or less where I imagine she was always intended to : 3rd to 6th.

If they manage that, then the BBC really have done a very good job of stage-managing her entire stay.

DavidJames and rita1 - it was this (long) article:

http://www.guardian.co.uk/tv-and-rad...ality-tv-works

Of course X Factor and SCD may not get the same voting pattern. I think people voting in X Factor feel they are giving people a career (or sticking it to Simon Cowell). Strictly is a much lighter show for people who already have a career, and who aren't going to dance afterwards anyway, and there isn't an equivalent to the sense that Cowell has 'destroyed' the music charts. People might take the vote in SCD more lightly, which might help Ann.

By this stage of the competition, all the publicity is starting to wear thin. We know as much as we're going to know about the competitors in terms of personaility and dancing ability.

In the early days, footage of Matt being berated by Aliona was interesting, as she looks such a sweet thing normally. Now, it's just part of the wallpaper - the brain barely registers it.

Likewise Ann not being able to dance and refusing to do what Anton asked, Gav being shy and Katya having to work hard to get him to show any feelings etc.

The only thing of interest we don't know is how the phone vote is going and how the current non-voters might infuence things in the latter stages. All we can do is count them all out each week knowing that unlike the Falklands, we won't be counting them all back in again.

Only the weak-minded will be influenced by current "publicity". The dice are already cast. Obviously, a revalation that A.N. Other has been convicted for eating babies in some distant country would upset the balance, but basically, the deal is already done. We just don't know what it is.

The "publicity" / hype is probbaly more aimed at increasing circulation figures.

Excellent, thanks for that - I had a quick look myself but couldn't find it.

From that article:


The actual company item is here, but to be honest it's not any more informative.



Yes - that's the massive caveat to that research, it's specifically for X-Factor.

It's not unreasonable to suppose that SCD and X-Factor appeal to different audiences to a degree.

"Men are more likely to vote" could mean "men who watch are more likely to vote than women who watch" as much as it might mean "more men vote than women".

Yes - plus there may be no allowance or weighting for multiple voting. Women may be more likely to vote twice or more.

I can only endorse this thread 100%.
My thoughts exactly.

Strictly audiences seem to adjust their voting according the stages of the competition. Craig Kelly was voted through to Blackpool because that was his thing - then he went out.
Natalie Cassidy was popular but was voted out after she did two not so good dances. Both times it seemed the voters decided that they should have a good run but also that they should leave at the point that their lack of ability became too apparent. Then the contenders for winning should have their chance. Is Ann in the same category or are there other issues in play? I'm not sure.

The Mirror has a poll on its Strictly pages - Matt is way ahead on 32%, followed by Kara, Scott, Gavin, then Ann and Pamela are tied on 7%, then Patsy on 6%. Mirror readers may not necessarily like Tory Ann but not sure if that applies online.
http://www.mirror.co.uk/celebs/tv/st...-come-dancing/

Gill P noted on another thread that Julian Clary was asked about Ann with the lead-in about everybody loving her (sorry, can't remember the words exactly). Last night on ITT when the friends and family were on, the only person asked directly whether their friend/family member should/could go to the final was Ann's niece. The BBC are certainly spinning everything around Ann, but I'm not sure everyone is biting.

My gut feeling is that Ann will put paid to one of the likely winners and then a week of hysteria and backlash will see the back of her. From a personal point of view, I would prefer it if it could happen on Saturday. The sooner the better for me. I do think someone will be sacrificed first though.

It does look like Matt is the overall favourite.

Which is surprising considering the vast amount of WiddieHype.

So I guess that's another piece of evidence to confirm that this hype is largely manufactured.

Also, with Sargeant there were a few leaked stories that he was getting literally over 50% of the vote. I've not seen any such stories leaked with regards to Ann.

But then what hype could you write about Matt? He's dead good? He's got a stable family life? A few attempts to suggest a secret romance with Aliona were floated early on but never went anywhere. He's been the obvious winner since day 1(arguably since the cast list reveal), but he doesn't really make good tabloid copy in the way that Ann or Kara do.

I didn't see BBC Breakfast but good on Julian, I probably would have applauded too

Anne definitely won't retire, gracefully or otherwise. She was on BBC local radio this morning saying she wanted to get to the final so that she could fly again.

Yuck.