I had expected Aliona to have heard it was blocked, but the strength of this reaction makes me think that it may well have been news to her.

Well said. I'm so glad people are starting to realise this now, though of course there are going to people who accuse anyone who speaks out as being bitter. I really hope there is a shock winner this year, someone to rattle the producers even more than Jay's well-deserved triumph.

Totally agree that most of the viewers are nowhere as invested as us slightly obsessive lot on this thread.
But I didn't need to join a thread to work out that X Factor or The Apprentice are staged. It took me a few series admittedly!
I think the 'strings' are starting to show on SCD and you don't need to be on a thread to see them. I didn't notice them before last year on SCD but this year they are very visible.
Probably inevitable with all these kind of shows with the need to be fresh and keep up viewing figures. The Apprentice though is a very good example of a show which is so desperate for characters and drama to keep things exciting that it is virtually unwatchable now. I used to watch it believe it or not with my daughter because there were interesting things to discuss and learn from it. Now, it is farcical.

Yes, I think it must have been and if, as you say, she sees her future in the US, professionally it is very bad news not to have the exposure over there.

Can't agree with you on that one, Fatskia.

UK citizens fund the BBC. Therefore, it is a moral issue. If TPTB consider the way to get huge numbers of viewers is to blatantly show bias and employ bullying and manipulation in a show in the guise of 'entertainment', the public have the right to object very strongly indeed. The BBC is supposed to uphold ethical standards in broadcasting, and this is a very shabby way of showing that it's clear that they don't give a rat's rear end about that. Therefore they should be called to order.

I have to say that if Brucie were still involved with the show, the boorish and biased behaviour of the judges would have been called out long ago. Brucie has a very strong sense of fair play and would never have tolerated the kind of thing we saw last year and are seeing now.

I don't know if he has any financial interest in the show, but I wouldn't mind betting he has very strong views about the direction it's taken in the past few years.

Yes there was bad publicity from Jameliagate etc, and TPTB had to react to that, and it does conflict with the image the Show is supposed to have, but it is a business and for people to keep their jobs, they want to have control of things to ensure theirs and the Show's longevity continues.

Also - they did pair Jay and Aliona and they went on to win, with Aliona having her happiest Series ever, so I don't see it as that bad a deal.

Yes - I would like the show to be more of a learning to dance/popularity contest that was run fairly as a competition, but it is an entertainment Show with that format, and it's easier for TPTB to sleep at night if they feel they are able to get the sort of result they want. It's harder work to try to set things up so a suitable result happens with less control, and I'd prefer if they did it that way, but its working for them the way they are currently doing it.

Anyway back to Jay

He has tweeted another photo with his new hair covered by a hat.
A tweeter called Katy Perry has tweeted a photo of him in a restaurant at the table next to them. Jay with same hat, scarf and shorts, reading his script. She didn't speak to him but Jay tweeted that she should have come over and said hi.

I hadn't realised that all the Week 3 dances from last year are geo-blocked, which makes me wonder if their are performance rights issues with one, or maybe a couple, of them and they blocked the lot rather than being selective. Personally, I think Ali's gone a bit over the top, sorry. (Dons tin hat).

On the subject of Ore's jive, whilst Len's remark last week was unnecessary, in essence the PTB are just trying to make a viewer grabbing moment out of it - they know that last year Jay's jive brought a lot of viewers in to the programme who then stayed with it until the end of the series. They want that to happen again and, whilst they're about it, they'll try to create more competition in the series.

I think as each Strictly season goes by, the BBC are gradually turning Stictly into DWTS. They are bringing more and more people over that have been involved with DWTS, choreographers, production people etc. They bring the awful ideas that we have come to hate. Too many themes, too many props, too many pros ( why do we need the extras with no partners? ) favouritism to certain pros, more and more interference and manipulation. The stupid thing is DWTS's ratings are really bad now, because of how they have continually changed it, for the worse. This is what will happen to Strictly and they will kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

They aren't - just the jive.

The pairing of J and A was a fortuitous fluke and obviously their win against the wiles and wishes of the producers was a happy outcome for J, A and us. However, I don't think that condones or justifies the flagrant manipulation, voiced bias, hampering, over- and under-marking etc. that went on.

It would still be a successful programme without all the stuff we've complained about. It doesn't need to be micro-managed to the extent of favouring certain pros and slebs. I think eventually the machinations will become transparent to all but the thickest viewer and some folks will revolt. I happen to think the show is doomed, maybe not this year but soon.

Totally agree, Jayfan, I would say the majority of strictlys audience, do not realise all the manipulation that goes on,for sometime now, there has been elements of X factor in the show,especially with the judges,
I don't think most people know, a flick from a kick (me included) .but enjoy the intrregue and drama. I said before that Aliona is best out of it, not sure if the other pros. are happy with the way it's going. Perhaps we will lose some more next year.
Looking back on last year, and all that happened to j ,is when I first noticed, the way people were being manipulated, but we got the right result in the end.
THE BEST DANCER won. Hope that happens this year.

Thanks for the info, Jayfan!

https://pbs.twimg.com/media/CvOotpbXYAIqi17.jpg

http://65.media.tumblr.com/ceab50213...tmuo1_1280.jpg

Pleased to see that he's keeping his throat warm. 😍

Not according to Aliona - can we tell from here if they are geoblocked elsewhere?

https://twitter.com/AlionaVilani/sta...22771376861184

His knees obviously not - but then he ran around in shorts last winter.

They are! ALL of them - at least where I live.

ETA: Checked again - the only videos available from that week are the backstage + training stuff, best bits, the goodbye and one of the pro routines (plus the screen dance). All celeb routines and Hooray for Hollywood are unavailable.

I can't actually believe this - Aliona has blocked me on her Twitter account

Why on earth would she do that?

Is anybody able to send her a message? Very upset, here.

I've read that he's nearly always toasty but I think he must have been advised to keep the muscles in his throat warm to help prevent problems and to aid his singing. He's very obedient...

Just an idea. Maybe some of us that have strong feelings about what is happening/ happened last year ( me included ) should actually complain to the Beeb. That way they would know just how it's audiences feel. We do pay their wages, don't we? We have a right to say if we are not happy. Instead of just moaning, perhaps we should be more proactive and actually voice our concerns to them. The more people to complain the better.

Probably inadvertently

Is anybody able to send her a private message? Has made me disproportionately upset.

I've complained about various things over the years, to no avail. They acknowledge your emails (letters in the old days) and a couple of weeks later quote your words back to you and thank you for your concern. I've never had a reply from a person; it's all automated. We can't get through to human beings. They're unreachable and untouchable and it's so frustrating. They're happy to take our money though...

I would if I could, but I can't because she doesn't follow me and doesn't allow messages from people she doesn't follow. Sorry.

I hadn't even thought of that aspect, jayfan.


I don't know why she would do that.

She doesn't follow me, TT, so from reading spreeathen's post, I wouldn't be able to send a message. I would if I could.

How do you know if someone has blocked you?

You try to read their twitter feed and just get a blank page (apart from the banner) and a line saying "You are blocked from following @AlionaVilani and viewing @AlionaVilani's Tweets"

Kind of like getting hit on the head when you go to view the page and see that.