Not long now, think the show should be an hour though, they are always rushing through it all, they spoil it.

And the introduction is a big waste as well.

Arlene: 'Strictly result was baffling'

Monday, November 2 2009, 14:26 GMT

By Daniel Kilkelly, Entertainment Reporter

Arlene Phillips has admitted that she was shocked by the latest Strictly Come Dancing result.

Saturday's show saw Zoe Lucker being eliminated from the competition after she faced off against Ali Bastian in the dance-off.

Axed judge Phillips has now suggested that viewers backed the wrong contestants on the night, claiming that neither star deserved to be in the bottom two.

She told The Sun: "It was an absolute shocker of an exit. How they ended up in the bottom two is baffling."

The choreographer also confessed that she is not a fan of former Coronation Street actor Craig Kelly, who was saved by voters after receiving just 24 points from the judges on Saturday.

Phillips asked: "Could the public be voting for personality rather than ability? Unlikely when Craig Kelly has the personality of a sand dune."

Strictly Come Dancing continues on Saturday at 6.25pm on BBC One.

Arlene and her alliterations, thats one thing I don't miss but she's spot on with her comments.

It's Sad to see Zoe leave.
You have to agree with Arlene.

Craig has won an award.


Sad to see Zoe leave, but I feel more sorry for Ali Bastian.

I'm PMSL at this it's not life or death. We're all entitled to our opinions as Craig says but the voters did put the two couples there so the judges need to accept it.

The Judges and the Public are voting with different aims.

The Judges are voting for dancing.

The Public aren't.

So it can never work as it should.
You could end up with a walker winning a dancing competition, that's how stupid it is when the public are involved.

Then the question can be asked why did they introduce the public vote in the first place, if all the judges are going to do is moan about it?. People can vote whoever they want with their own reasons and don't need to justify it. The judges of course are going to vote on dancing alone but most people consider it an entertainment show so are going of fun/popularity or personality value instead.

Spot On

I think the public vote was to give them the feeling of being involved in the show, but when the dancers are celebs then of course they are going to have a certain fan base, so that is what we are seeing.

The dancing doesn't come into it.
So you have the judges voting for one thing and the public voting for another, it just doesn't work.

Since the show is made for the public, they would have always introduced the public vote for us to decide who we want there and who we don't. Should they have made a rule of voting on dancing terms only?, it wouldn't be as effective if they did as a lot of people have different reasons of voting for the person they want.

I think it is important to vote for who you like - regardless of where they are on the leaderboard. It must not be taken for granted that they are safe.
The original idea seems to be for voting to reflect the dancing and the expert opinion of dance judges combined with a viewers `popular` vote. But it can never be a genuine combination of the two. For one thing many viewers have knowledge of dancing and will also vote on dancing ability as they see it. Others may may vote for celebrities they like, even if they are poor dancers.
I don`t think the voting system can ever be truly resolved, and it will never truly reflect a combination of dancing ability and entertainment value.
But never assume someone is "safe". If you tend to vote, then vote for who you want to keep.

Surely SCD is an entertainment programme?  Viewers vote for the couples that entertain them, or if they like a certain celebrity, rightly or wrongly this has always happened, and TBH I wasn't that keen on Zoe anyway, if we want a dancing programme only based on the judges, then it would mean having judges that can vote on the ballroom/latin dancing only, not on choreography and personality.

Claudia put it perfectly on It Takes Two today, people are entitled to vote for who they like, it's their money they're spending at the end of the day.

Yes Zoe was a good dancer, but she was never going to win it so it was just a matter of time before she got eliminated, whether it be now or in a few weeks.  Frankly I'm glad to see the back of the 'oh I'm so nervous, and have no confidence even though I'm bloody brilliant' carry on.

I just hope the judges don't start on Craig like the did with JS last year.  It's not his fault peeps are voting for him and the more the judges try and make an example out of him, the more the public will keep him in!

not to mention the money

Craig has been in the bottom two twice now.  I think making a big deal about Blackpool has saved him

I personally don't like Craig Kelly but I was really disgusted with the way Bruno spoke to him on Saturday. For Gods sake, he is not a professional dancer and is trying his hardest.We all know he's rubbish but I was actually mortified for him having to stand there and have those horrible things said to him. Brunos behaviour this series is really turning me off him big style. Too many egos on that judging panel 

I agree Fairfax.
Some of Bruno's comments this series have been quite brutal.

Brendan Cole  will be talking about his up and coming tour on Alan Tichmarsh show today at 3pm.ITV I think

For me, it has always been about the dancing.  I don't have any idea who most of these celebs are anyway.  Out of the 16 celebrities this series, I knew of 1/4 of them. So I'm not voting based on their personalities (or lack thereof).

I don't even vote for the most tecnically correct dancer.  I vote for the dancer that makes me feel some emotion.  I had no idea who Alesha Dixon was in the series that she was in, but I thought she was a fantastic dancer.  It was the first time that I actually liked the Vienesse Waltz because she just made it looked beautiful.

What the judges need to realise that instead of belittling and bullying the rubbish dancers, they just need to make a comment on how they can improve.  That will stop the public feeling sympathy and putting through the John Sargeants and Christopher Parkers.

Craig Revel Horwood wants to see X Factor judge Louis Walsh on Strictly Come Dancing

By Ann Gripper, Mirror.co.uk 3/11/2009

I have to agree with you there.

I think they are just trying to score points and get a cheap laugh with their comments.
Craig and Bruno are after laughs.

It must be awful having to stand and listen to that after working all week on the dance.
I hate to think what the dancers really think.

BLACKPOOL NEWS:

Rod Stewart sings: his wife Penny Lancaster returns to Strictly, dancing a Cha Cha with her partner Matt Cutler  I cant wait ........  Mr Cutler

edited to update 

Penny's Cha Cha (which she'll perform while Rod sings his hit "Same Old Song") is her first return to Strictly since competing in series 5 in 2007

I'm sorry but what is Jools Oliver famous for? Is this another case of famous by association.

Blackpool tickets were a lottery  

Jools Holland. Now we're foxtrotting 

For having a stupid name, giving her kids equally daft ones and being married to a bloke whose tongue is too big for his mouth.
Oooh, celebridee..

 Excellent!!

Ali and Brian.

They need to get rid of that Dr. Jeff on ITT...what a waste of valuable time

Can't understand what he is on for.
The average of anything is an absolute pointless figure, don't they realise that.
You can end up with an average figure which in fact noone had so what's the point.
Fancy paying someone to come out with worthless sums.

And bless him, but he's not even easy on the eyes

I quite like him, well the facts and figures he comes up with.  I find the numbers interesting.

He reminds of The Doctor who used to post all the statistics about Live Feed and how much airtime the BB housemates were given in the HL shows based on what happened during live feed.

Yes, I know.  I am quite odd.

Strictly Come Dancing Guest's

Today 11:08

Strictly Come Dancing - Rod Stewart and Penny Lancaster to guest in Blackpool

Rod Stewart has been revealed as the musical guest for this Saturday's Strictly Come Dancing, which comes live from Blackpool Tower Ballroom, the home of ballroom dancing.

Rod will be performing the hit 'Same Old Song' - and will be joined by his wife, and former Strictly contestant, Penny Lancaster, making it a real family affair! 

Penny will be teaming up with Strictly professional dancer, Matthew Cutler, to perform a Cha Cha Cha during Rod's performance. This will be the first time that Penny has returned to the show since competing in series five in 2007. Penny didn’t get to perform the Cha Cha Cha when she was on the show so it's a dance she has waited a long time to do.

Rod and Penny will be flying up to Blackpool in their own private jet, while the rest of the Strictly crew will be travelling up by coach. Strictly professional dancer, Ian Waite, partnered Penny when she was on Strictly so he may try to cadge a lift for him and Jade!

I found it interesting to hear and see how emotional Brian was on Saturday after the dance-off. It was rather sweet and tender to hear of the bonding with James and how they have been supportive away from the dance floor.

He was very emotional, Brisket.  All the couples seem to have formed a bond with a lot of the other dancers this series.  It's nice to see, but I have to wonder if has caused some of the competitive edge to fall to the wayside.

Brian Fortuna with James Jordan following Dance-off.

All of Saturday's dances confirmed apart from Craig Kelly's judging from the list I think he'll probably have Cha Cha Cha.

PMSL reading Suzi's cliche thread makes me think of the infamous '' I want raw sex'' comment Arlene made to Matt Dawson in series 4.


Theres been some very funny but personal spats on SCD. I didn't see series 2 but I heard that Craig and Julian Clary had lots of sniping sessions, seen lots of quotes etc on the net of them and they made me chuckle.

I didn't see series 2 either.
But if Julian and Craig R-H were bitching at each other it was probably great fun.
Both gay, both can do the quick spontaneous remark, fast repartee with a cutting edge (yet with a kind heart.) Wish I'd seen it.