I didn't watch all of last year, what does it mean he 'wimped out'?

It took me a long time to decide this year but I have finally decided it's Jodie and Ian.

I've had a favourite for a while - Cherie and James

But in terms of other couples I really like, there are a few this year who I would vote for - Jodie and Ian (I love these two, their partnership is fab!), Christine and Matthew and Tom and Camilla. I really like Heather too - she comes across so well in interviews.

He forgot his steps during his dance. Instead of continuing he ended it early and went and sat down on the stairs with his dance partner, where they were meant to end up at the end of the dance. Matt is a good dancer but I don't think he handled the competition aspect of the show very well and I think he lacked confidence more than people realise. However, it was pretty inexcusable to give up like that and he should have gone home that night but didn't. I hope he learnt a lesson from the situation.

He went back out and did his Samba 15 minutes later though, but unfortunately it started well but wasn't very good.

After tonight, I really think my favourite is Jodie

I agree so much with the OP... tough this year. Austin and Tom too smug, John too dire, so I'm driven to the ladies, but Jodie too posh and stilted, Cherie has peaked methinks, love Heather but she's doomed, Rachel is cute but flawed, Christine hasn't recovered well to the bad remarks... so by this week it's deffo Lisa for me (although I have to confess I didn't know who she was six weeks ago)

Forgot his steps and froze. Flavia improvised (very obviously, because the error was hideously obvious) and led him off the floor...

I don't have a favourite either yet, but I know who won't ever get my vote!

In no particular order...

Good chance -
Cherie & James
Christine & Matthew
Jodie & Ian
Rachel & Vincent,

Maybe
Tom & Camilla
Austin & Erin

Never -
John & Kristina
Lisa & Brendan
Heather & Brian

... and that takes into account that Kristina & Brian are two of my favourite pros.

I like Austin, Tom, Rachel, Lisa and Jodie. Not keen on the rest

Jodie is probably my favourte and Tom - my favourites never win though.

personally Lisa leaves me cold and is my least favourite - Jodie and Christine come over better - yes I know it is about the dancing but that is how I feel. Still love Tom and Austin though.

No favourite for me, finding it all a bit bland this year I'm afraid. Still it's saving me money

Thanks, yes, it's not that I dislike Austin; not at all. It's just that slight cocky edge I get off him sometimes is (currently at any rate!) preventing him from being my favourite. I see that it is part of the choreography and he is a funny guy. I guess it's just that it's happened twice now which I think has made me think he might be a bit smug. It's just even with previous good male dancers (some of whom indeed I didn't warm to as much as I have to Austin's dancing), I've never had that impression before, as I have a bit with Austin and Tom.

I tried to quote this as part of the above, but failed miserably!

So a second post it is.

I get the performance side of it. I suppose my problem, as I said in the above post, is that it didn't just happen in the jive but has happened again. There's a way of doing cheeky that doesn't rely on that kind of behaviour. Indeed, I'd much rather generally see cheekiness in the dancing itself between the partners. That is a more clever and subtle way of dancing and performing.

I guess generally it isn't to my taste and edges a little on the machismo side of things. Maybe I am terribly biased against rugby players! To whom I thus apologise.

Awwww hun, you don't have to justify yourself to us Austin fans, you can dislike or like anyone you like and you can dislike them for any number of reasons.

Like I said, I do get why you could dislike Austin and the things that you dislike about him are the things that I love about him, he's interesting, he's funny, he's cheeky, you never know what he's going to do next. He can be competitive and confident, not necessarily a bad thing, but it can rub people up the wrong way and that's just a sportsman's basic dna, I suppose, they don't enter if they're not going to at least try to win and Andrew is probably the exception to this and probably shows, through his lack of will to win, why he was never an Andy Murray when he played tennis.

No favourites at all this year .

Though I am liking Jodie very much , despite Ian, not becasue of him and I have even warmed to him slightly .

I am not a fan of Austin in any way at all , though I admire what he is doing . I didn't like him when he was playing rugby and I still don't . His public persona just turns me right off as Matt Di Angelo did last year .

I like Tom but not his enough to vote .

In fact I haven't voted at all this year . I find quite a few of the celbrities a bit smug

I'm with you here!

cant even begin to contemplate the money I spent last year on votes for my fav

Have always "picked" a celeb in week 1 and voted for them all the way through, based on if I thought they had potential, "j" word and what I thought chemistry with partner was like.

Have always managed to get my fave to semi's or finals, but not backed a winner yet *sigh*

have only been vowed by a couple of dances this year, so have been spending my time rewatching series 4 and 5

I've never voted form week one, but long before now I would have started voting and I too must have spent a fortune voting for Alesha last year, whilst throwing an occasional vote to somebody else as well now and again.

Not picked up the phone yet this year (but been on YouTube a lot! ).

I don't and i can't see myself having one. I find them all quite dull
I don't think one particular person is good at all the dances and has a great personality.

Yer know wot, you don't have to apologise.

He's still injecting the showbiz which a few of the kupples are still missing.

But honestly, can I say, about series5 that it may have had better overall dancing (arguably), but it was completely and irretrievably ruined for me by the sourness, unpleasantness, overmarking, shouting, usually by Len, and I still can't bear to remember the semi final.

This year I'm enjoying far far more as the tone is better and the muppets have calmed down, on camera at least.

As a supporter of Kelly & Brendan and Gethin & Camuilla, I feel similarly about the final stages of SCD5.

You too....it wasn't a great year for us.

But I would have enjoyed it even with the same circumstances of Kelly leaving, and Gethin leaving had it not been the Len Factor in both. He completely ruined it for me I'm sorry to say. Yes, I enjoyed Alesha on the whole, yes I enjoyed the dancing overall but I couldn't get enthused as I was before because I felt ripped off and disenfranchised. Also the overmarking going on of everybody, including Gethin and Kelly btw was farcical. One thing that has improved this year definitely is the marking. Much more realistic.

The pain of the dance off is still with us, and it'll be another painful semi final for ALL supporters of ALL the kupples there. One really hopes they see sense this time and leave the semi to the public vote but I'm not optimistic.

I'm gonna get slated for this but can't help myself. I can't help feeling that some folks just can't let go of the fact of they didn't get the result they wanted in last year's semi and will pull out any excuse they can why it didn't happen and it might have happened with or without the dance-off. Although I'm with you folks about the over-marking and shouting (Len - you need to let someone you don't agree with speak on occasion mate). I didn't want Gaby to go out last year or Don to go at the stage he did this year but c'est la vie and that's down to the public vote - Len for all his faults was right about "if you don't phone you can't moan" comment. All you can do is try to change things by phoning and even that doesn't entitle you to get what you want as there might be others using their fingers to work against you - which may well have happened without the dance off last year. I think it's a bit sad that not getting the result you wanted some of you had your enjoyment of a good contest blighted and the more petty of you probably missed a great final too - I watched and loved every minute even if who was going to win was a foregone conclusion.

I also think that a lot of people fail to understand that Matt I don't think did 'give up' - he literally couldn't remember enough to carry on despite Flavia trying to lead him through enough so he could pick up again it wasn't a choice, it was a complete freeze. Petrified comes from to turn to stone and that's from I understand is what it feels like. I've never experienced it but I think it's telling that a lot of the people who were asked about it from a perfoming background from Bruno to Micheal Ball to Elaine Paige were incredibly sympathetic and Craig describes him being sacked by Danny La Rue because he froze and couldn't remember a punchline is his autobiography.

I agree with you hun, I also feel that the sour taste left in some mouths last year has carried on into this year. It usually takes a little while for the negativity to break out, but this year it's been here right from day one.

Gethin got what he wanted out of it, he's been able to move on and work in adult television which is a very hard transition for Blue Peter presenters to make.

I agree with you that Gethin has done wonderfully out of SCD, as have previous 'losers' like Aled or James. He's done superbly and I don't think any Gethin fan could argue that he would have done any better if he'd won last year. I hope Matt is doing equally well from it.

I don't really agree though that the negativity on DS this year, which is certainly stronger than any other year I remember, is mainly from bitter Gethin fans. I think it's more a combination of last year being so great - seeing Alesha last night really reminded me of that - and there not being many couples this year with that much real sparkle. Very likeable couples this year, definitely, but not much 'Wow' - in my opinion, obviously. (Austin is the only one for me.) The four weeks before 'now the competition starts in earnest' didn't help either. I really think that there keep being dances that aren't quite as good as the training footage makes you think they are going to be. I'm hoping that will change this week.