Mmmm, so THAT'S why he was bottom of the leaderboard and in danger last week. He's the judge's favourite.

You've made a good point there. Danny is mostly the highest on the LB, he is mostly the best dancer but funnily enough the judges saved him over Claudia in the DO where she was better.

I would say they just downplay Danny so as to create tension and belief the others are contenders, dance wise.

It's all about the framing "Oh you've had no dance training" "oh you've been on such a journey" etc etc. "Oh you've been in the final 4 times but never won"
So what.
Just mark the dancing for a change.

To be honest I haven't really take much notice of Danny throughout the series as I thought he was far too experienced. However, after Claudia left last week - she was the only one left that I quite liked, I thought right who out of these three would I like to see win and hes the one.

Sad to say I really have zero interest in the final. Every year I have someone who I support and, if they don't win, it doesn't really matter but as I say, I really cant get excited about any of them.

I don't think they downplay him at all. They praise and mark him high. They may crit him a little, praise the others too, to 'even it up a bit' though.

I think he's been overmarked AT LEAST as much as the others.

Awww, have a drink and enjoy the dancing, crit it to hell if you want.

But they constantly say that Danny is excellent

I think in the last half of the show they've all been over marked at one time or another. Have I imagined that they tend to voice his inadequacies more than the others? Or maybe they just criticise Louise less, although the leaderboard placements are usually right imo.

Yes, possibly, I edited my post to include that.

I might record it and then fast forward everything other than the dances. It should be done and dusted within 45 mins

Yeah, the bastard. Fancy telling the truth!!!!

Some intelligence on the part of the voting public would be even more welcome.

If England and Wales managed to vote for Brexit, how on earth will the Scots and Northern Irish manage to inject some sanity by even-handed voting?

What way will the vote swing when the Isle of Wight constitutency is declared?

As a friend of mine has arranged for a huge preChristmas party and dinner tomorrow night, Saturday, I have written to the BBC asking them to put back the whole show until Sunday 18th so that I would be free to watch it live.

My stage name is 'Fabiata Delusion'.

Danny has the most marks from the judges and I am sure if you asked all four in private who they wished to win it would be him.

He has had 2 40's, and Craig has given him 3 10's so far this year. No one else has had a 40 yet.

Going by the marking he is heavily favoured by the judges.

Me too!

I'm going to get a bottle of Proscetto, settle back and just enjoy the final, as I've been enjoying every week. So much effort and relentlessly hard work to learn dances and entertain, while DS snips and grumbles...relentlessly. It's a fix. It's the Cliftons again. It's a conspiracy...zzzzz

I've loved every week, loved ITT, loved the dances and costumes and make-up and often, even the music, and shall be sorry when it ends. I'd love Ore to win but would be happy if it was Danny or even Louise - they're all super-talented and super-hardworking

As with The X Factor and Dancing On Ice, Strictly will become more and more of a farce with the judges, it won't get better.

Well lets hope we get a decent judge to replace Len. Perhaps then a fresh eye might be more fair and consistent. That's why I would like to see someone who is completely new.

I'm not a massive fan of Len, but to be fair to him he is just playing a role on the show, all a new judge will do is reprise Len's role.

in the final the judges tend to give far too many 10's on the basis that at the end of the season the celebs are now good rather than marking the scores objectively.
The judges were poor last week but I think this week they'll overmark everyone.

Well, all judging is subjective so I think you're asking for the impossible - people judge on different criteria and expertise so it's never going to be rationalised on the whole. And whether the judging is fair or not is also subjective.

Regardless, history tells us the judges scores in the final are completely and utterly meaningless - there have been many times where the couple topping the leaderboard didn't go on to win.

It's hilarious that someone who's got to the final with the highest judges score (and indeed is only even in the final at all because of the judges because damn near nobody voted for him last week) is some sort of anti-judge renegade candidate now just because he's not with a Clifton. This forum is so warped...

I wonder how many times the judges comment that Ore has no dancing experience or that Kevin has been in the final FOUR times or that Louise has been on a journey or that its brother and sister against each other

In some ways I wish Kevin would win then he may get a duffer next year and an early exit so we wont have to suffer his high kicks at the start of every programme and his penchant for retro dances and personas
but then we will still have to then suffer the other Clifton favoritisim

What's all this we about? I am sure there are plenty who will agree with you but also plenty who disagree.

The producers are going to go with the stories, they would be fools not to, it jazzes it all up. What have they got to Jazz up Danny's story? Not much. And if there is favouritism, and this series I haven't seen it, that is hardly the fault of the Cliftons.

I'm sorry to say that the OP is crap. The judges are inconsistent every f///I g series and the suggestion that it's only this series is schizophrenic.

What are you like outside DS cha cha chavy because you are d-u-ll here.

It's a good job he's with Oti or the contrived victim status assigned to Danny would be putting me right off. He's had two 40s, in a row, before we've even got to the final - and been compared to a pro dancer countless times. Like what more do you want?

Tbh this feels less and less like a forum to discuss the show and more a place where folk congregate to invent all kinds of ways in which the Cliftons are being favoured and the forum pet's being hard done by. Was the same last year. It's become so bloody boring.