danieldwilliam | On Strictly Come Dancing 2014

Not Jennifer Grey, Jennifer Gibney fails at the second time of asking and the Irish combo of Gibney and MacManus go out losing to an underwhelming Simon From Blue.

Mmmh, Frankie continues to dance well. As does Caroline “the Jacket” Flack and That’s Your Lott. That Kevin Clifton is a smart guy and I think his shot selection is excellent. When Frankie wins a lot of that will be down to Kevin’s ability as pro-dancer.

Jake seemed poorer this week than he has been. I think he’s still a finalist pick for me. Sunetra had a good week but I’m of the view that she’d caught a bit of a lucky break with a dance that suited both her and Brendan

At the other end of the leaderboard I wasn’t enjoying Not Jennifer Grey, Jennifer Gibney’s efforts. Not great dancing and not a huge amount of entertainment. On the other hand Unfortunately Named Tim did put on a very entertaining Charlston. Of the celebs who are struggling with the dancing I think he’s the only one with sufficient charisma and humour to be kept in for entertainment value. By the time the rest of the bottom tier of dancers have been cleared out by each other he’ll have had a good few weeks in the competition but eventually he’s going to come up against someone better than him in the dance off. Week Six or Seven I’d say.

Simon being in the bottom two was a surprise. He looked visibly upset by Craig’s harsh remarks. I’d expect a former boy band member to have more public support but looking at his twitter followers he doesn’t seem to be in the public affection like The Jacket or Mmmmh Frankie.

Last week I was worried that this year’s show was being too generous and too safe around the marking with too many Se-HE-Vens. Comparing the first three weeks of this season with last season it actually looks pretty comparable. 25% of marks this year are 7 compared to 30% last year. 5-6-7 gets 70% of the scores this year compared to 66% last year. There were a good deal more 8’s last year. Craig is only judge to use the full range of the paddles. He has 16 scores below a 5. Darcey is only other person to award marks below a five handing out two 4’s. Last year had a little more bottom weighting with all of the judges handing out at least one 4 and Bruno awarding one 3. I’ll go back and compare 2012 and 2011 over the next few days if I can find the data.

I’m enjoying the interplay between Tess and Claudia. The popcorn down the cleavage incident and Claudia’s reaction to it was the highlight of the show. I did think she was actually going to wet herself in an attempt to keep from bursting out laughing.

I’m still not convinced that Tess would be my first choice of MC but she’s doing a decent enough job. She seems to get on with Claudia which makes her more fun to watch and no one is groping either of them so they seem more relaxed. I expect as she gets a bit more settled she’ll find her own way of hosting the show with a bit of sparkle. At least we are spared the awful spectacle of a pre-senile old man forgetting the set ups to his own awful jokes.

Current Mood: Like A Latter Day Nate Silver
Current Location: On The End of Ola Jordan's Phone Line
Current Music: Hanging on the Telephone, by Blondie