Cloudier was tied on 33 marks/6 points with Rob ... quite vulnerable. Although everyone is vunerable. Top couple 9 points, bottom couple 4 points. Shock! Boot! Potential high.

It's interesting to compare TTF (Santiago version) and Jwann with Oti and JA. TTFSV and Oti have The Ringers and while Oti seems to be pushing Danny, Louise just seems to be pootling along. I don't think she will have significantly more knowlege after it than before. It really does just come across as something the fill the winter nights. It was either this or flower arranging in the village hall. TTFSV actually seems to be coasting as much as an Anton.

Jwann and JA have the NDB's with potential and again, JA for all his inexperience seems to be bringing out the potential with Cloudier. Jwann and Ore, for all the bull in a china shopness seem a bit disconnected as an actual pairing and with either ringer or potential, Jwann's favoured method seems to be theme, costume, overdance.

(Also, when for 3 weeks running a celeb has stood in front of the Judges knowing he has made a Horlicks of it, expecting to be pulled up and stands there with at 'wut?' face though the effusive comments - although manages to rally for the over scoring - yer square peg storyline is shot to bits and will not squish into the round hole. At some point Jwann and Ore are going to have to get comments and scores that actually match what they've just done. This is not going to be pretty).

Much good sense spoken here (can't get the hang of multi-quoting).

Interesting that Danny was out first. A very good jive getting very good marks setting the bar high.

I really hate fast latin anyway, so it takes a lot for me to think "yup, good dance" but Laura looked to be really floundering. Ore managed better, but he looked awfully lumpy in his lifts to me. Like his energy and his ability, but I do wonder if Jo is over-estimating what she can get away with for him. His un-trainedness is starting to show.

I enjoyed Louise. Possibly because I was expecting something much, much blander.

On the subject of unappreciation, may I unappreciate the imminent outbreak of poppy warz.

Oh god, is Poppy Warz going to be tonight? I saw AJ post on twitter that him and Cloudier had been in Covent Garden collecting for the Poppy Appeal. It'll be next week, surely?

It's started already. We have a thread about Giovanni wearing one (not to be confused with last year, when the hot news was that Tristan hadn't)

I think Nat is bringing the best out of a complete non dancer. Because he is doing quite well I think people have forgotten he isn't a dancer.
Ed is improving and doing far better than the usual joke contestents. Another non dancer who is doing well.
Give me either of these two than super competitive Ore.

I hate the poppy police. If you want to wear one fine but if you don't that's OK by me. I always contribute generously but don't wear one because it won't fit on my coat and I don't like being told what to do.

The only person that got higher marks was Louise, and even on this board, which is very agin Louise (indeed, anything partnered with a Clifton) and very pro Danny she's pulling in comparable %s on the "Who Danced It Best This Week" poll on the front page to him. Everyone else got low 30s with the judges, which is what you'd expect the middling dancers to get at this point. If anything I think Cloudia was a mite underscored.

The only person I think is being consistantly overmarked (other than maybe Ore) (alright definitely Ore) is Ed. An 8 for that cha cha at Hallowe'en was, to be honest, the most ludicrous overmarking I've seen on this show since Len started giving Widdy 7s just for turning up. But it's a fun feelgood storyline so I'm fine with them doing it because we've all seen what happens when they give the crummy "comedy contestants" the marks they deserve compared to everyone else.

Which, of course, Greg isn't...............uh?

I love Greg - one of my heroes - but he didn't achieve what he has by not minding if he comes second.

It's the usual pattern, the BBC want to keep Ed in for the comedy element. I said last week that he will still be in for a couple of weeks.
The cynic in me says, that the BBC are, as usual waiting for "the PR media bounce" when the papers start questioning why he was still there this week, so more viewers watch the next show. But nothing's happened yet.
When they are ready, they'll mark him down so he ends up in the dance off, but not necessarily this week.

Then they'll let him go.

Now we will have to disagree about Loiuse being compatible, let alone actually having danced last night, most especially not an AT

I saw no dance. I saw a series of movements. There was music playing in the background.
They bore no relation to each other as did the movements to an AT.

But even if you thought Loiuse danced an A T and well she was wobbly and off balance so shouldn't have got better marks than Danni, as I say it's the others being marked to a different standard.

As for Ed, well yes he isn't anywhere the others but he is trying hard, improving and I am enjoying him still so some of the others can go before him in my case.

I see people complaining he stool still for part of the dance, I am not sure I want my contestants lie dead on the floor, he is no Olympic champion or gymn bunny let him have a breather now and again.

Re Cloudier not sure she deserved better scores but boy was she hampered by the music. Which was truly awful.

I think it's a fine line they tread - and overbalance on more than not!

Giving Ed a 7 or 8 to keep in line with the other scores - and stop the cries of poor Ed being picked on - but still having him bottom of the leaderboard is one thing, but overmarking a personal favourite to keep them out of danger (and Bruno is as bad, if not worse, than anyone for this) is another. Laura and Ore have definitely benefited from this, I reckon so far. I can see why Louise gets the marks she does because she is clean and competent and technically precise - it's just that final oomph that's missing for me.

Where they really fall down is having so many ties - top place getting 9 points and bottom getting 4 generally leads to carnage and makes the actual overmarking irrelevant. They go to all that trouble and then bunch everyone up anyway!

Second place is just first looser

'Ere, cough - we've got a reputation to keep you know

I don't think it's about safety - up until this week we've had the likes of Anastacia and Naga floating around who were perfectly good sitting ducks - I think it's about making it look like a horse race. Ore did a couple of dances in a row that got a very good audience response so they jumped on it and made him Contender Number 1 and now they're finding it a bit sticky to ease off him after doing one middling and a couple of very poor dances (partly due to terrible choreo it has to be said. Bruno's boner for Laura meanwhile is inexplicable (other than that she is a pretty lady who is also a massive ham) but it's his alone. Her leaderboard position this week pretty much guarantees her Bottom 2.

He thing is, they have got a contest - just not with the people they expected . I mean really - you give a NDB sportsman to Natalie and don't expect this . If the contenders are Ed, Rob, Greg and Claudia along with Danny then so be it

I can honestly see that by Blackpool we'll be down to 3 female celebs, maximum. Maybe even just 2 (would that be a first?) Daisy survives this week and is back on the Latin. Laura survives this week and needs a Worzel Gummidge style new dancing leg. Poor lass looks fair crippled. Not seen that much strapping on a leg since Bill Turnbull. Not been the best series for the soopafan all things considered,

But the men can't keep avoiding it. Say a female goes this week - due to her leaderboard position I'll say Laura. That leaves Claudia, Daisy and Louise as the surviving women. Daisy back down there next week but I can see them pushing Claudia and Louise to the top two and relative safety, especially if they avoid ties. So which man will end up in the Dance Off; someone who'll probably survive over her (Danny or maybe Ore) or one of the rest? And if it's Daisy v Ore - who have been reasonably matched in recent weeks - will the judges save Daisy just to balance the male/female quota?

I think it's a presumption that they haven't expected it though. All of Ed, Rinder and Greg have been built up well by the show. Ed gets constant good performance slots and loads of publicity and the judges (and Katya) are playing it just right to have him be a Comedy Contestant everyone gets behind rather than one everyone has spats over. Greg has had pretty good storylining week on week (a sympathetic injury porn VT here, a "Craig criticises Natalie, Craig praises Natalie" one-two storyline there). Rinder has done comedy routines to build up his fanbase and is now "showing he can really dance" with a quickstep aimed directly at the show's older or Purity Of Dahnce voters.

Compare this with a "chaser" or "trier" like, say Sunetra or a Hairy Dave or Thom Evans for whom they had very little to say and who just kind of existed.

Claudia I'm mixed on - they've given her a pro who's pretty much anti-charismatic, which isn't helping, but she has had the Pimp Slot twice and the "y'know, for the kids?" songchoices feel like an earnest but misguided attempt at branding her to make her memorable.

Well I am no optician but I declare there is nothing wrong with your eyes. That is exactly what it was; a series of poses and lifts linked together by not very much.

One of the things that really bugs me about Strictly is that salsa is supposed to be a spot dance. The couple shouldn't really move more than a metre away from where they started. Try coming out of your slot or circle in a salsa club and see the scowls you get! Yet in Strictly they have them running all over the place around the studio like a couple of sugar loaded toddlers.

AT on the other hand is a progressive dance. In AT we move around the ballroom in the line of dance just as you would for a waltz or a foxtrot but in Strictly they pretty well stay in one place or maybe do a bit in one spot then move a few feet to another.

All these series in and TBTB still don't seem to have realised that they can't spend the first weeks seeming to generate support for the duffers - and then have it turned off like a tap when they also decided they've reached their designated week to go.

THIS x 100!

Why can't reasonable, intelligant people like you be put in charge of this programme?

For the record I seem to be in the minority here as I really like Ore, but even I wasn't sold on his dance this week. Hyping him up too much will do more harm than good. If he is a contender then let the public work that out for themselves.

Based on what? They haven't tried to get rid of any of them yet.

Nah, but the Memorial Panic is due any time now

At the minute I think they are more in the business of trying to keep, rather than trying to get rid.

Actually feel a bit sorry for Ore. For 3 weeks he's gone for judging expecting to be criticised and it's looking like it would have been better if he had been from a general popularity point of view.

But that's going to cause a voting rebellion. The public don't like teachers pets, they will try and push the girls to the top by under marking the boys correspondingly. Ie see my thing about Danni, he isn't marked fairly with regard to the others.
Then people will look at what's in front of their eyes, go eh!
And those they have tried to protect will be even more vulnerable.
What's wrong with a series with mainly men for the last few?
We have had females for the last couple of years at least let's have some males.

Can't see them saving Daisy over Ore, unless Daisy is on ballroom and Ore isn't. Mind you, with Len having the deciding vote perhaps I can (if Jo decides on some tricks; Aljaz usually plays it safe).

Think the chances are very high that we will have 3 males in the semi-final (Laura and Daisy is obvious), as I can see Claudia getting into a dance off with one of the faves (Ore, Danny or Louise) and no way that they would safe her in that case. Will probably be higher mathematics in the end, if Ed/Greg/Rinder score lowest with the judges and highest with the audience (tactical voting for the rest will come into play).

Looking back to last year, weren't we down to three men right about now - Peter, Jay and Jeremy?

Admittedly there is no clear Jay among the remaining women, but that's not to say one of them won't astound us all and win the thing.