It's shaping up that way isn't it, with Matt and Alisha seemingly flying away with it?
It would be a shame because there are so many good couples this year i thought it was shaping up to be one of the best SCD series.
I was a massive fan of Matt last year with Carol and initially this year He and Aliesha were my favourites but I've been put off them recently, maybe I should stop reading team cutlers thread, i'm being put off.
People seem to have taken an instant dislike to gabby because she is so competitive, if it were a male she woulda been loved, Kelly is really good IMO but again there is an insant dislike to her for no reason.
Only Matt from the guys is in with a shot, but he's some way behind those girls.
Hope the series doesn't start to go stale.
I'm supporting nobody at the moment, will vote week on week for whoever impresses me most.

it does seem to be a bit of a foregone conclusion really.

I guess you're basing this on the poll at the top of the forum..but at best 800-900 people vote on that....tens of thousands vote each week...maybe hundreds of thousands. We might like to think we represent the overall votes but as it's been proved many times we're way off the sentiment out there in tv land

I find myself wanting Alesha to make a mistake or two (not because I dislike her) just to sort of keep it from appearing to be Alesha Comes Dancing. I like her and she is good, but it gets old quick when she is the only one that has never had any criticism from the judges. Even Jill Halfpenny had lots of criticism - remember that diabolical Tango she did?

I don't think it's a forgone conclusion at all. We've had only 2 dances per couple and Kelly, Penny, Gabby, Matt and Gethin all have a very good chance of going the distance. Matt Dawson fared badly on the DS polls last year and look where he finished!

Give it time...early days yet and most wax and wane with different dances each week and other 'events' that colour peoples perceptions of the celebs or pros. I agree it would be good for a bit more criticism for some of the couples...the less criticism a couple gets from the judges, the more they'll get on here

Its a bit early, Alesha seems popular but its so early she could start to annoy people... I think personally that theres quite a few people that could win it, I don't really like Alesha and Matt (I don't dislike them either) but I guess it all depends on how well they do the further they get...

She might have a patch of acouple dances that she's not so good on and because she's near the top of the leader board people don't vote for her and she finds herself in the bottom two with someone who is dancing much better... You never know...

Absolutely. And Craig pointed out Alesha's flicks lying between two stools and I'm sure Arlene criticized her rumba (and gave her a 7) so she has been criticized by the judges anyway. Kelly has got consistently high marks and little criticism so a bit surprised people think Alesha is the judge's favourite.

Wouldn't it be very interesting and lively if Alesha and Kelly were in the bottom 2? What a judging dilemma - teacher's pet 1 or 2?
No offense to either - but both overmarked and have had no criticism even for mistakes made. All fluffy comments from judges.

I should think that as the weeks go on and the competition hots up even more quite a few of the celebrities will make mistakes and possibly get even more criticised.
There are quite a few dark horses amongst the contenders so we will just have to wait and see.

Mind you I liked Matt and Aleesha from the start.

I love Matt and Alesha and if they win I'll be happy. But I agree, I would like it to be a contest. However, I doubt that it is all over. Partly because I think (and I'm sure everyone will correct me if I'm wrong) a lot of people on here who are supporting M&A were fans of Matt before he was dancing with Alesha - I remember Matt and Carol having a high support on poles on this forum last year the week Carol went out. While I'm sure that Matt is liked by general SCD voters, he's not as well known as Brendon or Anton. Lots of posters on here know far more about the dancers than you'd know just from casually watching on a Saturday night. So I'm not sure that our poles reflect general voting (I doubt that Karen would have been in the bottom 2 first week, for example, if this board completely reflected the voting). And some posts criticising some of the others doesn't mean they are generally disliked.

Also it is 8 weeks to go. That's a long time. People's views of Kenny (on here) seem to have turned round on one good interview. People might get bored of any of them. And most of the celebs this year are working their socks off. I think it's wide open.

There was me thinking Kelly and Brendan had it in the bag despite the poll on here.

They are liked on merit. They're doing well. I like their partnership; they seem to balance eacother out!

We'll see what happens in the following weeks!

If as you suggest it's a foregone conclusion in favour of Alesha and Matthew, then great. I'm unashamedly biased and want them to win.

However, she's dancing first this week, it's her first ballroom dance and so I would be extremely surprised if the judges award her top marks for her AS given that there are a further 10 routines to judge and score.

Hence, highly unlikely to top the judges leader board this Saturday evening........ I'd be delighted if they do though

How do you know the order they are dancing in ?

Please

So far alesha has been criticized in both dances, the rumba about her funky hand (craig) and linking steps (Arlene) and in the jive that some of her kicks weren't as precise as they could have been. So saying she hasn't been critiqued in both her dances is complete tosh.

They even commented on the mistake in Kelly's dance (although didn't mark her down)

I think jive suited Alesha very well - they were overmarked but that's happened a lot over the last few years.

Alesha has the right attitude, looks like she's enjoying it and theirs is the best partnership. I personally think they are more deserving of their marks than Kelly and Brendan for example

But it's really early days, Gabby is good technically but just needs to feel it more, the boys might surprise us...

Its hardly a fully gone conclusion.
Alesha is probably the least well known of all the female celebs which surely will go against her in some ways as its just as much a popularity contest as dancing.

There is a discussion thread opened by LuckyKay18, in which tonights accompanying music and dances are listed. I've jumped to the (possibly incorrect) conclusion that this is also the order in which they will dance. There is also a link to a SCD5 website (via the BBC website) that has the same list.

Additionally, since Alesha/Matthew danced the penultimate dance last Saturday and haven't opened a show, it all seemed logical enough.

Laughable OP given

a) how long there is to go;

b) how little information we have on actual popularity;

c) some of the couples have yet to perform in both disciplines.

Look at Penny and how her 'star' fell following the 'lumpy' jive.

Not to mention the unsubstantiated assumptions on why certain contestants may be disliked.

BBC and logic dont mix very well .....

When asked about doing the best, Alesha immediately said "you haven't seen my ballroom yet", so I think it's fair to say she thinks that's tougher for her. Also, if Gabby and Kelly (via Brendon) hadn't made mistakes last week, they would have been given similar scores, so it's far too close to call.

Alesha does seem to be the person that everyone likes, but the very fact that she is that person could count against her in the coming weeks. In that respect, I was pleased it was Kelly and Penny on Jonathon Ross last night. Too much attention too soon can be bad.

Not sure if alesha and matt will start 1st; just posted the couples in alphabetical order and the danc they're dancing!

I think at the moment there are 5 couples who could win it.

Matt & Flavia and Alesha & Matthew are my faves though

When you said 'one horse race', which horse are you referring to?