http://www.newsoftheworld.co.uk/show...ticle53144.ece
Just came accross this on the NOTW website...what do you guys think...

Oh my
I think thats nonsense as a mixed race lady won it last year

Rehash of old "news"

Alesha???

Agreed, i think it's just the NOTW trying to make news where there isn't any, i think last week it was just unfortunate that Heather and Don appeared in the dance off, i don't think there was any racial malice in it

What a load of nonsense. As Erin said, it happened to be Heather and Don in the bottom two.

Spoony didn't seem very popular in 2006 and Ray performed poor in his Samba explaining his elimination.

complete and utter rubbish.

one word. Alesha.

And Ramps the year before

That's really feeble even by News Of The Screws standards.

The sad thing is that real racism is utterly trivialised by this frankly rather sinister and lurid sensationalism.

Every member of the one and only race - the human race - should be cringing at that.

I don't necessarily agree, you could say that Alesha is a more acceptable face of Black for many voters than Heather or Don could ever be.

Having said that Denise was also runner-up. ( even though arguements continue over whether she really was better than Jill and should have won the trophy.

I read it completely gobsmacked, i can't believe that even the NOTW would stoop to that. Strictly has nothing to do with being black or white, and unfortunately, as they put it "outscoring the white celebs" has nothing to do with it, the public love the underdog, so if they did outscore whoever was at the bottom, most of the time people will vote for whoever is at the bottom out of the sympathy vote.
I think it's pathetic that they have to trivialise Strictly like this to sell newspapers, it's an absolute sham of a story..

Sorry if that was a bit rambling or just didn't come accross well...it's late

Alesha Dixon? Mark Ramprakash? Colin Jackson? All did very well. Good dancers, likable personalities.

Much as I respect Don as an actor and Heather as a singer, their dancing hasn't blown me away and their personalities seem so restrained.

Yes Mark (swimmer - can't recall last name) is pants in the dance department, but attractive and such a sweety. John is adorable if the worst dancer there. They have the likability factor, and try so hard - especially Mark.

Simple as that. Good dancer and/or likable - you get votes. Average dancer/don't show your personality you don't.

Nowt to do with race.

The NoTW (and those phoneing in) are forgetting that it is a personality contest as much as a dance contest. Otherwise Kate Galloway would have gone the first week and poor little Chris from the first series would have been put out of his misery way before the semi-finals.

This is such funny shite. They couldn't come up with anything else to talk about. Then "race row" springs to mind.

Everything is made into a race issues nowadays. I saw people talking about a totally unrelated subject in another thread, and it still managed to come back to race. Funny that.

Not neccessarily.

Don was a star of a hit 70s sitcom whilst Small was in one of the most whitewashed dance groups of the 90s. Alesha was in Mis-Teeq. Need I say more...

Have to agree with you.

And what about Colin and Denise? Any more 'acceptable'?

What is 'acceptable face of Black' anyway?

I know and it's sad, i don't even think about the colour of any of the dancers pros oe celebs im just interested in their dancing.

i think it's silly ... Alesha won Colin came second (And i feel he could have won if it were not for Erin's terrible puppet dance) the NOTW are just trying to wind people up (imo)

Please tell me this hasn't made the front page?

I don't think that i am living in 70s, or that the voting necessrily has a racial bias, but i do think that for some people, it would be easier to vote for an Alesha or a Denise/Heather.

That said, of course personality has as much to do with it as the dancing, Gabby Logan for instance, as well as the sympathy vote.

The standards as to what's acceptable and what's not keep changing, as they see fit.

I don't know about the actual paper yet, but it's the main story on the front page of their website...

yes many people watch the show .. all of which i am sure have different ideas of what a 'acceptable face of Black' is.

I agree that personality is a factor (of course it is lol!). Don was a lot more passive than Alesha, for instance. You could say that this is down to age, but what about Cherie? She's old, but she is a very good dancer. Don isn't. And around 20% of the shows audience are in the 16-34 age bracket.

Its not about absolutes but about bias and bias matters if you get 4% of the vote instead of 5% with lots of people left. It doesn't matter so much if you get 51% rather than 61% in the final as you still win . Good black celebs have gone disproportionately early because regardless of personality they have ended up in the bottom two. Very good black candidates can still do well because the bias doesn't kill their chances.

Problem is it isn't the only way the voters vote doesn't reflect either the objectivity of the dancing or even the subjective personality of the dancers. The bias against good females who look as if they want to do well and in favour of males discovering their sensitive side is more marked and its even more random who gets hurt by being seen as too good to win or too much the teacher's pet..

hmm, i think that i might be a bit agist, cos i just don't get the Cherie thing, lol.
But i really enjoyed the Don/Lilia combo, what's that about?