Strictly Come Dancing 2010

Yes Red Bee contact BBC scheduling, but only if they have notice. In the case of SCD off early it is up to the experienced Red Bee editors and directors to make descisons until they can liase with the BBC.

Hmm If that's the case, did I see / hear something about 'Uncle Brucie' not having a 'deaf aid/talkback', which wouldn't have helped?

How do they cope with him? Cue cards? Some member of the floor team having talkback themselves then cueing Bruce manually?

AIUI Bruce doesn't like earpieces and has never worked with them. He relies wholly on the floor manager for his cues and counts. Floor managers use widely understood hand signals for cues, counts and general instructions (things like 'wind up', 'cut', 'keep filling!') from the gallery. They stand next to the camera the presenter needs to work to, not only so they're in the presenter's sight for relaying such signals, but also as a cue to the presenter as to which camera is next. For some presenters it's harder to work with an earpiece than it is to rely on hand signals. I dare say that some presenters who have earpieces, actually rely more on the FM than they do on the talkback!

Yep - working without talkback isn't unusual on entertainment shows.

AIUI Terry Wogan didn't work with one on Wogan, Dale Winton doesn't use one that often (if at all), and I don't think Paul O'Grady does either.

Presenters who come up via News, Sport and Kids TV are more likely to be used to talkback, those who come up via a theatre/stage show route less likely to.

If you have a good floor manager you should be fine without talkback IF you don't need editorial guidance during a live sequence. In fact if you are used to working with an FM it can be a more secure way of working. You can lose talkback, but if you have a good FM who is always giving hand signals (which are standardised) you'll be OK.

I thought Saturday's was the best I have seen, ever ! I found myself laughing along all the way through! A great show, and another great results show. The Sunday show is far more watchable than ITV's The X Factor.
I also want to praise Ann Widdecombe for taking the show in the right vein. She knows she isn't, and never will be a dancer, so her almost nonchalant attitude is entertaining. Glad to see she isn't taking herself too seriously!

But can the same be said for the judges, or are they going all John Sergeant about it?

Well, they're massively overmarking her. Except Craig, who's only slightly overmarking her.

That's not an accurate reflection of what's happening.

She was given a 7 by Len - "for performance alone" in her tango at the weekend, but to be fair she flew in on wires, and it was a very amusing and entertaining performance. It wasn't her best number - she went a bit wrong on the night, but had performed well in the dress rehearsal. She gained an average of 4 or 5 points from each judge.

In previous weeks, although quite lumbering, she is actually managing to get the steps in. From a technical standpoint, they are marking her on the specific steps within each genre that she's performing, and from that perspective she's outmanoeuvred Paul Daniels and Peter Shilton - who both got the chop.

Craig has scored her a 1, and 3 and a further 3. And he called her a hippo - so if that's "slightly over-marking her" I shudder to think what he might have said.

And to top that, he said that Peter should have stayed and Anne should have been out - so we'll see how this plays out over the coming weeks.

I'm pretty shocked at Michelle Williams performance to date. She's like a dolly-peg being flung around the stage. I've never seen anyone so stiff in my life (insert joke here).

She'll end up in the bottom two again this week - maybe with Widde.

Scott Maslen, Pamela Stephenson and Matt Baker - absolutely extraordinary. Best performances at this stage in the show they have ever had.

By comparrison, Widde is a hippo - but she's very watchable, is making Anton du Beke seem palatable - which is no mean feat.

Well blow me down. Tina and Jared are out, and they were roughly middle of the judges' leader board. Felicity and her partner were also in the bottom 2, but survived. Ann and Anton were announced as safe very early on.

I was disgusted when I heard Ann and Anton were definitely through. Craig Revel-Horwood was shocked at the two couples in the bottom 2, whereas Ann and Anton were through. Of course, the audience booed his comments, but quite frankly, I endorse what he said.

Len Goodman's impression was that people are finding Ann amusing and vote to keep her in for entertainment value. I agree there too. My impression is that a lot of viewers know full well Ann Widdecombe can't dance, but are now beginning to find her inability to dance hilariously funny, and see the chance to have a thorough good laugh at her the highlight of the show. If so, it's hardly surprising they vote for her just to keep her in and have a good laugh again next week, at the expense of someone else who's better and forced to leave. Really though, this is getting beyond a joke now. I'd like to see Ann out next weekend to give the others a chance. The competition can only begin when she's out.

Remember two years ago when people kept saving John Sergeant week after week, and other better couples kept getting knocked out? In the end John left voluntarily after reports in the newspapers about him. Last year there was the man from Blackpool who wanted to stay in until the special edition of SCD from Blackpool Tower Ballroom. That week one of the judges said "Last week poor Zoe had to go out so I could endure this". Thankfuly that contestant was knocked out that week.

It's about time people started taking the competition seriously. This is a dance contest, not a comedy. People should vote for the best dancers, not someone who can't dance just to have a laugh at them again next week.

Funny you should say that since Forsyth's original vision of the show was more along the lines of the generation game rather than a serious dance show!

If you listened and read more carefully (HA!) you'd have heard the experts (both the judges on the show and the choreographers who do "It Takes 2") say - very clearly - that Ann manages to include a lot of the basic steps. She's clearly not the best of the bunch, but in no way as bad as John Sergeant; and the judges score her accordingly.

The public are unlikely to heed your nagging - they know what they like whether you agree or not - so there's little point in banging your drum. The competition is moving along really well with Ann, as it will without her. Some of the best dances in the whole show have come up so far and there's plenty of contenders for the trophy.

Tina this week fell short - compared to her normal standard, I thought.

For a man who watches Boogie Beebies, a show about having fun with dance and movement, I find your comments very out of character.

I'm probably wasting time typing this, as you never ever take on board anyone's opinion but your own. Call me Craig Revel Horwood if you like, but you're therefore a crashing bore.

No thanks.