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Countdown - so much better these days!


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Old 06-03-2009, 21:01
davethorp
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I think today's contestant thought the same I got the feeling he lost interest after about two rounds.
Though today was a pretty low score for Kirk and no 9 letter words either
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Old 06-03-2009, 21:21
jojo01
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Really enjoying the new Countdown now. I like Jeff much more that I did at first and Rachel seems to be settling in a little more. It's great when Jeff gets longer words than the contestants too, it shows he's really taking an interest in the show, instead of just reading an autocue.

Kirk though. What a smug, self-satisfied berk! There's no doubting that his skills are phemonenal, but why pick a word of 7 letters that no one has heard of, versus a 7 letter word that everyone knows. The fact that he doesn't actually know what half the words mean suggests he's been studying a dictionary for months beforehand without actually trying to understand them.

I'm a bit of a saddo and score myself against the contestants. So if I get a 7 letter word and they only get a 6, I get the points If you know what I mean). Pleased to say that I beat both of them (inc smug Kirk) earlier this week. And I used words that everyone would have heard of
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Old 08-03-2009, 20:49
sonicshadow
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^Nothing wrong with a good vocabulary .
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Old 10-03-2009, 16:51
lonepiner¹
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He's a smug, bigheaded PAIN IN THE BACKSIDE (there's a 4 letter word for it but swearing is not allowed) I hope he loses to wipe that smug smile of his face.
It was hilarious on Thursday's show when Peter Bennett got the conundrum. The Jerkulator looked like he was going to cry at missing the chance for a 140.

I'm afraid he isn't going to lose at this stage of the proceedings though. Being brought back thanks to his mates like Charlie Reams, five years after messing up his first chance, and being referred to as a debutant (roll eyes) after his opening win, the way has been paved to give him a smooth route to the series title ....
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Old 10-03-2009, 17:07
nortonian2001
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It was hilarious on Thursday's show when Peter Bennett got the conundrum. The Jerkulator looked like he was going to cry at missing the chance for a 140.

I'm afraid he isn't going to lose at this stage of the proceedings though. Being brought back thanks to his mates like Charlie Reams, five years after messing up his first chance, and being referred to as a debutant (roll eyes) after his opening win, the way has been paved to give him a smooth route to the series title ....
Apparently they were all rather upset that Peter picked four large on the last numbers game too. They saw it as a tactic to reduce Kirk's score. I think the highest score in a 15 round game is 146.
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Old 10-03-2009, 22:30
jamesp31
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i think you are all just a little bit jealous, Kirk is a great contestant, I wish I could come up with 8s and 9s like he does, who cares if they are obscure words?! I hope he does well. And on the subject of Countdown, whilst Carol Vorderman was an institution on the show, it really has been invigorated with the new hosts, I'm just a little bit hooked at the moment!
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Old 10-03-2009, 23:02
decemberboy
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i think you are all just a little bit jealous, Kirk is a great contestant, I wish I could come up with 8s and 9s like he does, who cares if they are obscure words?! I hope he does well.
I think it's the very British tradition of not liking winners. They much prefer to cheer on a plucky loser.
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Old 11-03-2009, 10:16
nortonian2001
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i think you are all just a little bit jealous, Kirk is a great contestant, I wish I could come up with 8s and 9s like he does, who cares if they are obscure words?! I hope he does well. And on the subject of Countdown, whilst Carol Vorderman was an institution on the show, it really has been invigorated with the new hosts, I'm just a little bit hooked at the moment!
I'm not jealous in the slightest. I love watching the high scoring champions. I still remember Julian Fell who was particularly awesome in that he knew many of the definitions of the words he offered. Craig Beevers who was series champ a couple of years ago was amazing too. It's so rare to see a top Scrabble player on the show. Most of them, understandably, don't want to have to learn two dictionaries. Kirk mentioned on the show that he's been practising online and I understand he's clocked up a phenomenal number of games so I applaud his dedication and skill.

My problem is with accusations of unsporting conduct being directed at his opponent.

I think it's entirely in the spirit of the game that the underdog (ie the challenger) is given the advantage of selecting the numbers for two rounds to the champion's one. It's rather mean spirited to insinuate without any evidence that the challenger's choice is motivated by a desire to scupper one or more of the targets (eg highest number of maxes, highest score, highest aggregate score etc.) that Kirk has set himself, particularly given that such targets are only meaningful to a few dozen people at best.

The guy might just like picking four large numbers y'know.
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Old 11-03-2009, 17:13
jamesp31
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ok your not jealous then! I'm missing my countdown fix while the racing is on, long wait til Monday!
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Old 11-03-2009, 21:38
Crazyeyeskiller
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I'm not jealous in the slightest. I love watching the high scoring champions. I still remember Julian Fell who was particularly awesome in that he knew many of the definitions of the words he offered. Craig Beevers who was series champ a couple of years ago was amazing too. It's so rare to see a top Scrabble player on the show. Most of them, understandably, don't want to have to learn two dictionaries. Kirk mentioned on the show that he's been practising online and I understand he's clocked up a phenomenal number of games so I applaud his dedication and skill.

My problem is with accusations of unsporting conduct being directed at his opponent.

I think it's entirely in the spirit of the game that the underdog (ie the challenger) is given the advantage of selecting the numbers for two rounds to the champion's one. It's rather mean spirited to insinuate without any evidence that the challenger's choice is motivated by a desire to scupper one or more of the targets (eg highest number of maxes, highest score, highest aggregate score etc.) that Kirk has set himself, particularly given that such targets are only meaningful to a few dozen people at best.

The guy might just like picking four large numbers y'know.
agree with all this. It's so obvious he's like one of those annoying scrabble players who knows all the 2 and 3 letter words but aint got a clue what they mean. Also really no need to offer the more obscure 7 letter word everytime! He even does it on the numbers just to get his "turn" sometimes - so he'll just change one silly part of the sum or try his hardest to find a ridiculous way of doing it (think he was on 198 times table the other day). Has to be said it would be pretty hilarious if someone beat him and he does come across as very smug - that's just a fact , he surely must have the hide of a Rhino if he does not realise this. Entertaining though
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Old 11-03-2009, 23:20
methodyguy
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I think Kirk is Hott.

Regards

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Old 24-03-2009, 15:57
Esterhaus
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Rachel looks amazing this week. It's hard to concentrate on the letters with her stood there!
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Old 24-03-2009, 16:01
Potholderz
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Rachel looks amazing this week. It's hard to concentrate on the letters with her stood there!
Glad I'm not the only one who's noticed then. Yesterday, I got pretty annoyed about how little screen time she got until I realised it is meant to be a letters and numbers game - not teatime softcore.
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Old 24-03-2009, 21:11
Simon6776
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Rachel looks amazing this week. It's hard to concentrate on the letters with her stood there!
Yes, those little bum hugging outfits are certainly a pleasant distraction!
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Old 24-03-2009, 22:00
jimmy22
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Have to agree Rachel Riley looked stunning in those short dresses she had on, what a great set of pins she is certainly getting much better now. And the mention of losing viewers nah can't be true with a stunner like Rachel on the show make anyone tune in and not concetrate on the game
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Old 24-03-2009, 22:14
Simon6776
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She did a fantastic numbers game today as well. She may have done yesterday too, but I wasn't really concentrating.
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Old 24-03-2009, 23:25
Steve AWOL
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Guess Rachel' skimpier outfits might be in response to the news of record low viewing figures last week:

It will be interesting to see what she'll be wearing/ baring next week if the viewing figures continue to plunge

Have to admit that, whilst she' settled down and is proving to be a good number cruncher, the banter between her and Jeff still seems somewhat stilted. Hopefully things will improve in time though as I would miss my regular fix of Countdown.
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Old 25-03-2009, 08:28
Old Bloke
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Have to admit that, whilst she' settled down and is proving to be a good number cruncher, the banter between her and Jeff still seems somewhat stilted.
Yes, that's a strange thing. I'm getting to quite like Rachel, although I wish she had just a little more meat on 'er, but she has a nice personality, and is proving to be good at the numbers. It is taking longer to warm to Jeff, but he's getting there, and is quite witty, and self-deprecating. However, the one thing that is missing is the chemistry between them, which doesn't work well. Is it the age gap?
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Old 25-03-2009, 10:32
sharon51
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Guess Rachel' skimpier outfits might be in response to the news of record low viewing figures last week:


It will be interesting to see what she'll be wearing/ baring next week if the viewing figures continue to plunge

Have to admit that, whilst she' settled down and is proving to be a good number cruncher, the banter between her and Jeff still seems somewhat stilted. Hopefully things will improve in time though as I would miss my regular fix of Countdown.
Here we go again good old Sun "a far cry from the peaks of 4million when Carol and Richard presented"
Of course it is but so it is for a lot of shows when the presenters change.
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Old 25-03-2009, 10:47
mastermind
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However, the one thing that is missing is the chemistry between them, which doesn't work well. Is it the age gap?
I totally disagree, I think they work very well together, they don't have to be of a similar age surely, it's not like they are planning to get married or anything.

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Old 25-03-2009, 10:49
davethorp
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I totally disagree, I think they work very well together, they don't have to be of a similar age surely, it's not like they are planning to get married or anything.

Jeff can dream can't he?

So can I come to think of it
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Old 25-03-2009, 12:11
davads
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Can anyone who's applied for/been on Countdown tell me something about what the auditions involve, or how difficult it is to get on? I think about having a go every now and then.

Presumably you have to do a few numbers games or conundrums?
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Old 25-03-2009, 13:30
nelliek
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Don't think there was much chemistry between Richard and Carol in the early days either.
As for reduced viewing figures, they'd been declining for some years, probably due in part to the increased number of channels, and it will take a long while (if never) to recover to the heyday figures.
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Old 25-03-2009, 14:29
nortonian2001
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Can anyone who's applied for/been on Countdown tell me something about what the auditions involve, or how difficult it is to get on? I think about having a go every now and then.

Presumably you have to do a few numbers games or conundrums?
This link may be of use: http://www.thecountdownpage.com/experiences.htm
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Old 25-03-2009, 21:59
Oldbod
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Don't think there was much chemistry between Richard and Carol in the early days either.
As for reduced viewing figures, they'd been declining for some years, probably due in part to the increased number of channels, and it will take a long while (if never) to recover to the heyday figures.
Just what I would have said
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