http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...quarter-finals

Excellent article in the Guardian. The journalist manages to write very well about most of the issues we discuss here. I'm going to copy and paste the article.

"There is no accounting for the voting of BBC viewers
I love the tail-end of Strictly. The voting always goes arse over tit as people get extremely confused about who to vote for. Should you vote for your favourite just because they are your favourite? (This always strikes me as the most sensible and honest route.) Or should you think, “Well, my favourite was top of the leaderboard so I will save 15p and not bother voting”? (A fatal error.) Or should you think, “Oh no, I really like Anita and she’s bottom of the leaderboard. I don’t normally vote. But I will invest 15p in saving her even if it means that I accidentally condemn Georgia or Helen who I also really like!” (Which obviously happened this week.)

This mess-up is evidently how Coronation Street actress Georgia May Foote ended up being in the dance-off against Call the Midwife actress Helen George, despite Georgia being second on the leaderboard with 36 points. It’s the sort of moment that drives people batty because both Georgia and Helen would have been great in the final. But that is the madness of the vote. My prediction is that it will only get worse next week.

The moral of the tale: if you have a favourite, vote for them or face the consequences. The interesting thing is that there is little to choose between contestants now. The winner has to be Jay or Georgia, surely? On dancing. But then, it’s not just on dancing, is it? There’s also the popularity contest to win. And that is much more arbitrary.

It’s not always easy for a judge to explain their judging
Jamelia complained that it wasn’t clear why Peter Andre went through instead of her, going so far as to suggest a fix during an interview on ITV’s Loose Women (despite the fact that she had been in five dance-offs) – a charge the BBC has denied. Since then, producers have asked the Strictly judges to give an explanation as to why they’re putting through one couple and not another. The judges struggle with articulating this, though, as Len Goodman explained to Zoe Ball a couple of weeks ago on It Takes Two. Sometimes you don’t know why it’s one dancer over another. It’s just a feeling.

On Sunday, it was clearly Georgia who had the better dance. But the judges were still all falling over themselves to tell Helen she was brilliant and didn’t deserve to go. Craig explicitly blamed the public: “I just want to remind everyone that it wasn’t the judges who put you here.” We can expect more of this next week, especially if Katie Derham and Anton du Beke aren’t in the semi-final dance-off. (Are people voting for Anton for sentimental reasons?)

There are no Random Hired Dancers left in the London area because they are all on this show
I have railed before about the invasion of literalism on Strictly. Weather presenters are required to dance with umbrellas and cardboard clouds. Chefs must only do dances that reference tomatoes and bananas while brandishing a frying pan. Political reporters must tango in front of a swingometer. Fortunately we have passed beyond this stage now. Just.

Worse, though, the literalism has been replaced with Random Hired Dancers, including a man with a thatched cottage on his head (who portrayed Lumière the Candlestick from Beauty and the Beast) and a large Miserables-ish cast who were so numerous and hyperactive that they threatened to crash into Helen and Aljaz at any moment. The latter abomination recalled the horrific moment last year when a Random Hired Dancer dressed as a Greek goddess collided with Jake Wood during a plate-smashing routine as part of the ill-advised Round the World week.

Please, someone. Lose the crazy props, lose the crazy extra dancers. We came here to see the contestants we love dance. We don’t expect Vegas. It will be too late for the semi-finals and the finals as you will have already hired the crazy dancers and some poor craftsman somewhere is probably manufacturing a giant roulette wheel as I write. But do bear it in mind for next year. Thank you."

I particularly agree with the excess of props, extra dancers and themes.

What say you?

Thank you for posting this excellent article.
I think her analysis of the vote is spot on and she's absolutely right about the props and the backing dancers - they detract from the dances (in most cases).

Her analysis is so accurate and comprehensive, isn't it? I feel like tweeting the link for this article to the head of choreography. We can only hope he'll see sense one day.

Hope so - it's the same every year.

Not only would I lose the props and the extra dancers I would lose theme weeks as well.

Go back to proper dances w/o any faffing about, danced to appropriate music. What was so bad about that??

Yes please get rid of the props and the extra dancers. I felt sorry for Helen and Georgia on Saturday.

Also agree always vote for your favourite not doing so and trying to be tactical could result in them being in the dance off again as per Saturday.

Oh yes and skip all the faffing about at the beginning of dances. Sometimes you lose a quarter of the dance with it.

Oh no, cause Anita couldn't have got support any other way than sympathy?!

How condescending is that article?

Georgia has been kept safe by the judges putting her top of the leaderboard, I said weeks ago I don't believe her public support is that great.

NO. Georgia has been kept safe because of her dancing ability which has been reflected in her position on the leaderboard.

I didn't think it was condescending at all - it describes accurately a situation many of us find ourselves in, and where does it say that Anita only got "sympathy" votes?

She wasn't top of the leaderboard this weekend, her public support was tested and it's obviously not that strong.


The bit in brackets.

Yes she wasn't top this week but you suggested that she had previously "been kept safe by the judges putting her top of the leaderboard" rather than her being top of the leaderboard because of her dancing ability.

She only suggests that people voted for Anita because they "like" her (in fact she says that they voted for Helen and Georgia for the same reasons) which doesn't imply she only got sympathy votes (people could have "liked" her dance), the phrasing is ambiguous but I certainly didn't see it as condescending.

I feel that the odd theme week here and there makes an exciting change, but is overwhelming when we have them all the time. Maybe restrict it to one per series?

I meant her being top of the board, never tested her public perception. Being in the DO will give her supporters a wake-up call to vote a bit more.

People complain about the theme weeks but what's the most popular dance of the series? Jay's Jive - from a theme week

People complain about the props but what's the second most popular dance of the series? Georgia's Charleston - with props

Anita's Maleficent routine, Katie swooning off the sofa, Helen as Marilyn, Jeremy as Thriller, Peter with the giant mirror, Natalie's tomato tits...props and theming abound.

I would probably keep Halloween but lose Movies week and Musicals week - they add nothing imo.

I really enjoyed that article and it's nice to see our views reflected outside DS. I also agree with this: "We can expect more of this next week, especially if Katie Derham and Anton du Beke aren’t in the semi-final dance-off. (Are people voting for Anton for sentimental reasons?)" Not a fan, then?

I don't think we should get rid of theme weeks completely but maybe two a series should be enough, otherwise you lose that "something special" feeling.

I think of a hat as a part of the outfit that can be worked into the dance (like the cape in the Paso for example) but not as a prop per se. I may be wrong and I'm glad to be corrected. Not every dance has to have a theme/props outside of a theme week; to me the best example that the prop is redundant sometimes is Jamelia stepping on the guitar, she herself said it threw her off a bit. I find it slightly irritating that chefs have to dance in cafes or weather people have umbrellas as a prop. While Natalie and Ainsley tomato tits was joyful, Carol's umbrella dance less so. So yes, sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. As for extra dancers, only if absolutely needed. The multitude of them in Helen and Aljaz dance on Sat was incredibly distracting. I'm not even going to mention the stupid teapot in Georgia's dance, with Bruno having to stand up to be able to see what was going on.

To sum up, I think less is more sometimes. Don't get rid of it all but don't overload it, use it wisely