It makes me smile when people try to convince others that certain contestants are important to the show. As each go out they become immediately forgotten as far as the vast majority of viewers are concerned and the show marches on with the ratings unaffected.

All the fuss when Will Young left.

Err..

Who?

Firstly - that is a contentious statement and secondly, even if that is true, that is:-

a) primarily the responsibility of the person who choreographed the dance - Katya
b) the responsibility of the teacher to teach the steps - Katya
c) the responsibility of the student to execute those steps - Ed
d) doesn't really matter anyway as no dances on SCD are authentic.

Every dance needs a reference point to be judged on its authentic content. I'm going to assume that this course https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfDVnX4j3-w would be such.

Point d is exemplified by the ATs danced by Louise and Danny for which I will use this reference point https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nCKzyUfvNiM

Same here. I've watched so many of the series that I am getting a bit bored wth "perfect dancing" now.

Maybe Strictly could make Blackpool an "anything goes" free dance to give the middle of the series a lift and probably see such dancers as Ed eliminated fairly.

Strictly's ratings wount be effected. I think Ed will leave this weekend. But I would love a shock exit for Ore I find him so pompous and his 'crying' is so fake.

I don't think Ed is a run of the mill comedy act. It would be wrong to compare him with the likes of Russell Grant. I think he has generated an interest in the show amongst a wider section of the general public. Certainly, most of my friends who do not watch Strictly are very aware of his presence on the show and a fair percentage have at least seen some of his dancing. However my friends are quite interested in politics!

I suspect a lot of people just watch him on YouTube, rather than sit through the show, and certainly won't be voting. So I think general interest in the show amongst non Strictly fans, along with chatter on social media will fall, but it is likely the actual viewing and voting figures will follow the same trends as in previous years.

So I think the show will create less buzz in the media, but will probably retain its usual audience.

Viewing figures will go up.

No they won't .
There is NO way that dance purists are boycotting the show , despite all the moaning about Ed . They are watching .

Well lets get Ed booted out and see who is right

I know that I am not enjoying this series as much as others. Its embarrassing to see him survive despite being the worst. Its nearly Week 10 and we're going into December.

I know people who only start watching Strictly around November time, precisely to avoid comedy contestants and duffers.


Clearly from the strong opinions on so many different celebs, the producers have done a pretty good job of selecting a wide variety of dancers to suit a wide variety of tastes and entertainment requirements. No mean feat really.

I thought the salsas were being choreographed by outside helpers

I miss him. Would have liked to see how he developed

That may be so , but there will be just as many who watch only the early stages to watch entertaining characters and genuine learners taking a journey into dance .
So the 'new' watchers and 'drop outs' will cancel each other out and therefore I doubt the viewing figures will vary to any degree .

Viewing figures almost always go up over the course of the series. It's a function of increasing publicity and momentum, worsening weather, and the shows getting shorter meaning less commitment is required. The series started off at around 9/10 million per live show, at current trajectory it'll be at about 12 million by the end of this month.

I do like that true dance fans get the final weeks funny/duffer free , but I must admit I don't usually pay much attention in the last few weeks . That makes me dance-shallow I know , but I prefer pointing and laughing or watching the vast improvements of amateurs in the first half of the series .

I don't miss Will particularly, but I'm slightly annoyed that the viewing audience has been deprived of an extra dance for the entire series because of his decision.
I don't want to get into another dull discussion about the validity of Will's reasons - we simply don't know what they were. But the BBC had the choice to bring back someone who had been voted off, bring in a substitute or - a better solution, in my view - cancel the dance off for that week and combine both weeks' scores the following week.
Yes, they'd have been stuck with a results show and no proper result to show on it, but they'd have had to improvise with some extra songs and dances and an extended Len's Lens (or whatever). It's not the viewing public's fault that one of the people they hired decided, for whatever reason, that he couldn't continue.
Instead the BBC chose the easy - for them - option of giving the licence-fee payers fewer dances and more inter-dance waffle from the judges, Claudia et al.

true...and tbh I don't think viewing figures would be affected if ANY of the celebs left...be it Ed, JR..even danny.

Not embarrassing to me....he's fun.
As if we haven't seen this before with others...big deall!
Blimey, hollins won the show, never mind widdecombe and murray.

Um, actually I find joy in watching well danced performances? Sitting through a great dance that leaves me breathless and going wow at the end makes me very happy. Watching an ex-politician stomp around the floor for the laughter and finger pointing of some of the viewing public is not my idea of a fun time, but each to their own I suppose. It would be a boring world if we all liked the same thing I suppose.

Looking at the media coverage over the last two days it seems some of the contestants are rallying behind Ed. Ore did his part on the breakfast show today saying Ed wasn't a novelty act and Ed himself has stated he will not quit and the only way he will leave is if he is voted off. If he actually wins it has been compared to the shock that happened when Trump won the election in America. No one would expect it, a majority of people certainly don't want it, and yet there it is. It wouldn't surprise me if the BBC actually might like this shock win, it would certainly gain them a huge media buzz for the show, above and beyond what it already has.

This is just how I feel about this year's show. And previous shows with such people being on the programme. I do know they need to have a few no-hopers to balance it out and fill the places, but I do wish they would go earlier rather than later.

Ed does seem to appear at a convenient time during the show to top up on refreshments.

It wouldn't surprise me if viewing figures dip if/when judgie and Ed leave. They add zip and fun to the show for many people.

Yes, I think some people are forgetting that this is an entertainment show and to an extent variety as some dancers are more comedic than others. What constitutes entertaining will vary from person to person. Some like the technically excellents, some like the comical ones and some like the big improvers.

Once Greg has gone and we start getting close to eliminating better dancers, viewers will get frustrated with Ed's antics, entertaining though they are.
Many still view it as a dance contest, not just entertainment.

I agree I'd take the extended travel and pay cut NOT to have look at that smug face every morning or have the horrible feeling I'd sold my soul.

He's the new Michael Portillo - people hated him in office and out of it he's actually likeable.