I'd rather see Ed's routine than routines which are technically excellent but leave me cold.
He deserved praise for the lifts, one of which was amazing. To not point that out was a travesty.

He has gone from man in a suit completely out of his comfort zone to improving dancer who has embraced the spirit of the show and who is doing a fine job of trying to dance ridiculous routines to ridiculous music.

I actually wonder if Katya is desperate for them to be voted off hence giving him routines far above his ability.

Tonight was a fantastic effort by Ed which was rewarded by no feedback at all from the judges apart from Len who only commented on the entertainment value.

All the judges are obliged to be respectful and giving no feedback at all, not even Darcy, is a huge kick in the crutch and totally out of order.

I accept he is not a dancer but he has put in the effort. At least give the man credit for that.

Particularly as Len is the first one to complain and knock points off for lack of dance content (example if you don't go a required amount of Rhumba or Tango steps, etc.)

Ed's "Salsa" was hardly a "Salsa" at all and what tiny amount of Salsa steps he did were done appallingly.

Actually this situation is very unfair to the other couples who all have to perform noticeable dances. If anybody else tried to get away with a Salsa that wasn't a Salsa the judges would be down on them like a ton of bricks.

Well said!

C'mon don't be such a kill-joy. This is Len's last series of Strictly and this is one moment that he thoroughly enjoyed!.

I thought Gangnam was great - there should have been more of the horse-riding hand moves, but I've watched it again, and it was joyous.

If any of you armchair critics cared to watch properly, instead of dashing off to make your cuppa, you would see that Ed's timing is excellent and he is pretty light on his feet, and this week he mastered the lifts.

Who would have 'dashed off to make a cuppa' though with Ed on?? Surely that can wait for the dance-trained zombies, can't it?
There is a buzz in the crowd when Ed is on...and thats just in our living room

I agree totally.

katya doesn't want them voted off...she is going for broke in the Hope it pays off.....no safety net with Ed...he could have killed her twice this series

Sorry but I find JOY in brilliant dancing. Ed going though is being a kill-joy for me.

He seems to take over twitter each week. There's so much positive feeling towards him & Katya, getting about two or three times the love of any other couple.
Makes you feel all warm and fluffy inside.

I'm horrified if you think tonight was an improvement...!!!

He is improving in ballroom, but his Latin's getting worse (which is saying something considering it was dire to begin with!)

I agree and good on her. I did think the judges should have acknowledged the good dance bits especially the well executed lifts. I hope both Katya and the BBC have good insurance!

I loved his dance tonight. It was far more entertaining than Louise's dance.

I think the judges need to give him more credit to be honest and take him more seriously

those lifts he did tonight were pretty good for a non dancer and I don't think one of the judges actually mentioned them

Mr Balls is the Kill-Joy and he should walk if he stays tonight and he gets special treatment by 3 of the Judges. It is a disgrace that a Good Dancer will tonight and he will Stay. He should not still be in the Show. All imo.

Yes, fully aware, as I suspect most people are and have had great fun with the grand kids dancing Gangam style. But Ed and Katya were given it to dance a salsa to. A BIG difference.

I think the judges could have been more constructive tonight - they were so busy laughing their socks off at 'the best worst dance' that they forgot to make any reference to the amount of content Ed delivered. Yes, he's very entertaining and Katya's choreography is inspired, but give the man some credit for the very hard work he's putting in. So yes, judges, take him seriously because he takes the learning seriously.

Don't the pro dancers choose the music? That's what is said on another forum.

I did like Ed and found him entertaining and he seemed to be improving slowly. I didn't like his dance tonight at all though nor did I find it entertaining in the slightest.

He is annoying me now as I feel he is becoming arrogant. It also annoys me that in the results show he never ever thanks the viewers for voting. That to me is rude

Just like Craig marked down a Rumba for not having enough content a couple of weeks ago

I don't think he's improved in technical terms. I still need to watch Katya to actually know what he's doing within the dance itself. He can move in time and has rhythm, but so do lots of non technical dancers that like dancing in say clubs and at weddings. His actual Latin and Ballroom skill degree of dance is still poor, but yes, he can dance in general (without possessing any skilled precision, artistry etc).

I'm so glad others noticed this too! As much as it wasn't a technical salsa, it was miles ahead of some of his earlier work, and the lifts were terrific and his was in time. Terrible music choice (I doubt whether Louise or Ore would be given the Birdy song for a dance) so I thought the judges were wrong to give him no feedback on what was a clear improvement.

Regardless of whether he's improving or not, giving him "joke" routines and gimmicks is what's keeping him in. Have him come out every week and dance straight and he would have gone home about week 5 at best. The thrill for the public, I suspect, is in "what is Ed going to do next?!" rather than "I can't wait to see how Ed has improved technically in the 20 seconds of actual ballroom/latin dance he does each week".

I think his dancing is improving, albeit at a slower rate than others, but I totally agree that if he played it straight we'd simply have a rather poor dance to watch.

I didn't really enjoy the first half of their dance, but once it got going, and they had salsa armography, I liked it far better. And even though I don't like to see mega lifts in salsa, credit has to be given for how good his were.

Can any of the dancers on here tell us whether or not it would be possible to do a proper salsa to that music?

I sort of agree. I said on another thread Katya doesn't get credit for the choreography and am with everyone who said Ed gets none for the execution of that. She gives him some pretty tough moves and because he has improved over the weeks, he's doing those well and in time. Yes he's still a bit ploddy but not everyone has natural rhythm. They have a magnificent partnership, Katya is my favourite new pro, and the lack of praise for the actual dance must annoy them both.