Has anybody checked the correlation between relative dance order position and ending up in the dance-off?

Any SCD Bloggers / fans with a bit of time to do the analysis ?

I've noticed that this year, whoever opened or closed the show hasn't been in the bottom 2 so far. 2nd/3rd/4th are death slots in the running order.

I don't think it makes any or much difference. Last year only two celebs were in the dance off after dancing 2nd. 1st and last slot do seem secure (though Ashley went last year after opening the show and arguably it could be said that Sophie closed her two sections before the final elimination) but then those performances are usually picked because they're stand out.

This year Caroline and Simon have both ended in the dance off after performing 2nd and Thom performed 4th. Nearly everyone else was an expected dance offee.

If the form follows last years week one placings, it will be Frankie & Kevin winning; with Jake & Jeanette, and Caroline & Pasha runners up. Pixie & Trent will be stuck in fourth place.

Completely unscientific though.

Has the last couple to dance ever ended up in a dance-off?

Looking at it, being on fourth seems to be the danger slot. This only really applies in the earlier stages. With only 8 couples left I suspect any disadvantage to an early slot is gone.

Lisa & Robin, semi final of series 10.

Anyone putting on a show will make sure they have someone interesting coming on first and last. Strictly basically does the same, while rotating the order of the couples from week to week of course. It's not surprising that the public vote for the couples who are good enough to open and close the show.

Logic dictates when you dance should not make any difference to whether you end up in the DDO. But then again, being crap generally doesn't make any difference either so

Three couples in series seven, too (Craig Kelly in Blackpool and both Rickys).

Thanks. That disproves my hypothesis about the producers saving the best to last influencing subsequent voting!

In one of the ITTs Kevin actually said that the 'best' couples are chosen to open the show, and to close it. It just makes for a better show.

I would imagine that the order in between then has to be arranged such that a dreadful couple doesn't immediately follow a brilliant one.

And you also need an alternation of Latin and Ballroom, and of sexes, if possible.

Slightly off topic, but I loathe the dance off, who wants to watch the two least popular dances again. Think every couple should have a dance off dance of their choice prepared for that eventuality, something they could practice, also make the results show more interesting.

I think Pixie is the only one who hasn't danced near the start, she's always dances near the end.

I think the dance-off is fair. But yes they should choose their up their sleeve dance-off dance. It will have decent music, suit their personality ad might even have been awarded good marks in its day.

Whilst this is a nice idea, I don't think, time wise it be easy to implement. The time they have now to learn and rehearse each dace as it is isn't that long and can be made even less due to a celeb's ability in dancing (finding it hard to grasp the dance) or their own job schedule vs Strictly schedule reducing the week. If they had to learn two dances a week (the new main show dance and also an B.T. dance) I'd worry about the quality of dancing on the main show (as both would need to be good, the main show one good enough to save them from the B.T., and the B.T. Dance good enough to impress the judges if the viewers don't take to the main show dance).

On music shows a personal sing off dance is easy to do because most of the singers will already know the song off by heart (maybe for years prior to entering the show when sung in bedrooms) and prob be (or should be) sung by decent enough singers to sell it right there on the spot under pressure (as reflective of what they would have to do if in the industry proper). On strictly it's different as celeb's dance ability is varied, so for some celebs it will be hard enough to learn one dance let alone two (if dancing is new to them, and esp in the early weeks when steps might still be hard for them to execute let alone remember on top). Also do they just do their own dance to stay in the show (freestyle with no Latin/ballroom content which could end up being as awful as some of the freestyle show dances that get concocted up and their meant to be showcase pieces so think of what a weekly one would look like) or another Latin/ ballroom dance, which then means trying to learn two dances in a week in disciplines that might not be natural and as easy as say singing a dance off song for a wannabe popster.

I find the dance off tedious myself, and I like your idea and think it would perhaps be interesting, but due to the type of contestants that we have on strictly and the training time vs job schedules vs celeb abilities I don't know how diluted in quality some of the main show performances may look if there are always two dances to learn a week (and we do went the couples to produce as good a routines as they can). Maybe this could work much later in the show (nearer the quarters/semi stage) with less celebs left and when they've mastered the skills over a longer period of time in order to cope with the challenge, but right from the start I think it would be too much too early for a bulk of the celebs.

I think you are on or around the money Dave.

I suspect it isn't so much some magical negative aura surrounding the slots themselves. I think it has more to do with the way a programme of this sort is presented so that the opening number gets the show off to a good start and the later numbers build to a crescendo.

So someone will be watching the rehearsals and will pick the weaker performances for the middle slots. My guess is that even if the same dances were put at the end it wouldn't make much difference to the voting. In other words they were always most likely to be in the dance off no matter where they were in the show.

I think it is fair too. But now I think about it from a making "must see telly" point of view, it is rather odd to show the audience their least favourite dances again.

Miriam R: Yes, I agree with a lot of what you say but it wouldn't be a new dance each week. At the start of that year's competition each couple would choose their dance style, music etc and that wouldn't change no matter how often they were in the dance off. It would be a dance they could practice a little each week. If they were in the dance off more than once you would see any improvement or not that they have made.

Personally, think that would give the couples an edge, they could choose a style and music they like and would make the dance off interesting.

IIRC Dancing On Ice had something siimilar toiwards the end. But they were all favourite past routines.