Why would the judges care which pro wins? First & foremost it's the celebs they're judging, and production interference notwithstanding, one has to assume that each judge would like the celeb they believe to be the best dancer to win, regardless of who they're partnered with.

I can quite believe that the producers might have a preferred winner, but again that's about the celeb, not the pro. Unless the winning celeb and their pro wind up shacked up together, like Kara & Artem, It's the celeb that represents the Strictly brand in the media, not the pro. In my experience the world at large hardly knows one pro from another (except for Anton & Brendan), but they do remember celeb winners past & present. Granted pros do now have a higher media profile than they did at one time, but it still pales in comparison to the likes of Abbey Clancy, Caroline Flack et al.

What would either the judges or the producers have to gain from Kevin winning? Bloody mystifying.

I'm of the opinion it is the opposite, the judges are undermarking Louise every week. And over marking others.

Kevin is obviously the best professional choreographer in the show. His dances highlight his partners to the very maximum and he seems to teach his partners the basics from a very early stage that shows more and more as each competition progresses.

Call me naive but why would the judges and/or the BBC be pushing for anyone in particular to win? Genuine question.

I think the BBC would probably prefer to ensure that, to an extent, the winners/finalists represent the demographic sectors they're aiming at (whatever they may be).

Personally think the BBC are always about the celebrity and not the pro dancers at all - they get no gain from pushing for a pro dancer to win at all and the coverage of the show in the press is always about the celeb unless there is a romance going on.

Think this accusation of the bbc having this agenda for Kevin always comes up when posters see their favourites in danger or for just another excuse to bash a clifton

The pro is irrelevant. Unless they're blind they can see that there are four celebs that have the potential to win this year and that it will come down to popularity. They don't choose who ends up in the bottom two and they don't choose the winner.....and I think they'd be chuffed for any of them.

As for Kevin, if this forum is anything to go by, he can never win....the majority seem to have developed an irrational dislike for him and would rather vote for a three legged dog in a tutu .

I do not dislike Kevin, he is an excellent dancer and teacher, but he does tend to get celebs with some potential and the dances/music always appear to be likely to enhance his and his celeb the opportunity of getting a good result. Because of this it certainly gives the impression he is being treated more favorably than others on the show and I agree that the judges are less "judgmental" of his dances.

Last night they were more critical of Danny but he was top of the leader board, so I would have liked to know what Kevin and Louise did that reduced their marks. From the judges comments I thought they were on line for 4 10s.

Why indeed. The judges certainly pushed for Kellie to win last year. Len even said to Kellie "You should win this". They are doing it again this year.

At this point last year if you'd asked this board who was being pushed the hardest it absolutely would have been Peter. They ditched him two weeks later.

As stated in my previous post, I still think there is something missing with Louise's dances. Nothing wrong with the choreography or technique, but she seems to be in constant fear of letting go and really embracing the whole experience. She says all the right things and does as instructed, just comes across as emotionally constipated where dancing is concerned.

Her fear of making mistakes is holding her back.

This was said last year when he was paired with Kellie and he didn't win. All this indicates is that any perceived favouritism by the judges is irrelevant and in the end the public decide regardless.

I had the feeling that the judges gave Danny some negative comments and high marks, and Louise praise and less high marks on purpose to draw a lot of votes. The more the top of the board draws votes, the fewer the votes to spare for the middle-to-lesser dancers, which arguably increases the control the producers have over the exits from the competition.

I'm talking through my wotsit... but there was such an obvious discrepancy between comment and grade for both those two, it feels like there must have been some reason for it

Shall I open a can of worms and say, arguably, he should have left the week before?

I's been shown over and over again that negative comments draw votes. The fact that the judges didn't comment on the lifts or the salsa content of Ed's dance will have boosted his already high share of the vote.

Ok, thanks. That sounds fair but I do find some of the conspiracy theories on here are somewhat astonishing, however at least they're entertaining

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Omg... How could I forget Matthew Cutler...

Indeed, the BBC were pushing him ridiculously, even giving him and Janette prime slots on CiN.

In a way, I think that backfired on the beeb, as the lack of rehearsal time showed.

I agree - I really would love to see her dance with abandon.

I am NOT a Kevin fan but do agree he is a great choreographer - as is Joanne. I do hope though that next year he gets someone who isn't a good dancer. He seems to get a good partner every year - would love him to get an Alison Hammond or Anne Widdicombe and see what he could do to make them wonderful dancers.

Aw c'mon.
Even Kevin's most vociferous critics wouldn't wish Ann Widdecombe on him!