Claudia danced well but already I find it hard to remember. She is lovely but her dancing and routines for me are beige and there is zero connection with AJ in what should have been a truly romantic dance.

I think you mean What-was-she-thinking woman's crumpet. Don't you .

I agree with this post; Saved me the typing

I'm inclined to agree here.

I think its different because, when the judges give someone 10s, they're virtually guaranteed to avoid the dance-off, so in that sense they can protect their favourites to a certain extent. Louise & Kevin will probably make the final just on that, but if the public don't like them then it will be in vain and potentially cost another more popular couple their place.

Brains are sexy - some people even eat them on toast. Not me, mind - I'm a veggie.

Still interesting!

Me too!
I'm team Doti all the way but thought this was Louise's best dance from a performance perspective, and thoroughly enjoyed it. That's all down to hers (and Kevin's) hard work irrespective of music/styling etc. I also think the judges marked them fairly tonight, in relation to the other couples. IMO of course, it's all subjective after all.
PS I didn't mind Kevin with Frankie either

No, they're not. The arithmetic is done on placing not on scores. So somebody who gets first place in the marking with 10s is no better placed than someone who gets first place in the marking on 8s, a first place with a gap of two points to second is no better placed than one with 10 pts to second, and nobody is safe ever because if there is a tie the decision is made on the public vote. The same logic that keeps Ed out of the bottom two (lowest mark, highest public vote) could put the first placed dancer in the bottom two (highest score, lowest public vote). There have certainly been a number of times in DWTS which uses the same scoring system but has no dance-off where dancers have scored tens and been eliminated in rounds earlier than the semis where's you'd have to expect it.

The voters always have all the power necessary to completely overrule the judges. It simply isn't the case that the judges gain anything by favouring dancers with inflated marks.

Dancing With The Stars has a very different way of working out eliminations wherein the public vote has much more power.

I think in some ways the couples on Strictly make their own luck. If you've got the most entertaining routines then you get the best places in the running order, then you get marks to match, the papers give you headlines, then there's a lot of talk about it during the week, and everyone anticipates the next dance.

Louise is still too nice, really, and the Strictly producers are playing on that so don't think it isn't all part of the game! Her dancing is very precise and exactly the sort of dancing the pleases the judges more than the public. It's not surprising that threads like this get started.

I agree with the quote above 100%.
Don't agree with the OP at all.
Disclaimer: I did not like Kevin in previous seasons. This year, I am turning into his fan - thanks to Louise who brought some much needed restraint and elegance into his routines. Len is right: Kevin does not overdance Louise, and it is the right thing to do. I think Louise is an excellent dancer. I still find her a little heavy in the lifts (it is noticeable in tonight's routine), but she is fabulous otherwise. Their AS is pure old Hollywood. I watched it on YouTube, so I don't know their score yet; but on my leaderboard they would be at the very top, after Danny and Oti.

I think they're desperate for a female in the final and Louise is the chosen one so they're propping her up.

I agree with most of what you say, but it has been said on here that it's the producers who pick the music, so there's only so much luck-making you can do when you're stuck with a stinker of a song.

I do not have a favourite this year, so in denigrating a particular couple I am not somehow "boosting" the couple I am pulling for.

Louise seems a pleasant person and a good dancer. But she's boring, personality-wise. I never feel a connection with her (surprisingly, because when she was announced for the series I thought I'd really take to her) and her performances leave me cold - even though her dancing is good, especially the last two weeks. She's calmed Kevin down this year though so for that I am grateful.

The favouritism shown by the program - judges and producers - is all for Kevin. He's never had a partner who isn't a contender - which seems to contradict most people's idea of fairness, and what's been mostly standard for the program. He's overdue a duffer.

I fully recognize the talent of the Cliftons and their contributions to British ballroom dance. But IMO there are too many of them on Strictly and I don't like what I see of their personalities, particularly Joanne's. I feel as if both Cliftons and their partners are often given higher marks and more praise than others. Obviously if you like them you won't agree, but that's how I feel.

I'll also add a note about the trip to Paris. I work in TV and am very familiar with what's involved in a shoot like the ones for the VTs; it's how I make my living. A lot of work's involved, so it's not as if it's a total holiday, but a trip away with new sights and food and hotel rooms is still an enormous perk, especially when you're sent to a place like Paris. When I saw that VT I didn't immediately cry "Favouritism!! They got a free trip to Paris!!" like some did, but I did think it was unnecessary and expensive. To say it wouldn't have been a treat for them simply doesn't hold water with me. Of course it's a treat!

No hotels they went day return on Eurostar

Still a treat.

Hardly a treat travelling for hours for a few minutes of measly footage in a cold Paris. A treat would be shooting a vt that took just a couple of hours out of the day and then being able to get back to rehearsals.

We'll have to agree to disagree. I am always happy to get a treat like this when I have a shoot.

Frankly, I think Anton's sunning himself on his trip with Leslie was far more of a treat, for him at least. A necessary one, though.

It seemed a waste of time for Kevin and Louise to go to Paris, dance for a bunch of locals who had no idea what was happening just so they could stick a mini Eiffel Tower on the dancefloor!

Now that I do agree with!

i actually think ore is the teachers'pet and kevin their fav professional

yes the clifton show lol

he's been their favourite for a couple of years' now., espec len

Freud would have said f@!# it and gone home