Series 6 - why did it all go wrong?

SCD5 seemed to have won a real place in people’s hearts, and had done exceptionally well in the ratings. Together with the success of a sell-out spin-off tour, expectations for SCD6 were riding high.

But the series seemed to get off to a slow start. Sixteen couples seemed at least two couples too many, with reduced chances to get to know the couples properly.

The turgid “boy week girl week boy week girl week” just seemed to delay the start of the real competition, and the casual viewer could just as well have put off tuning in until programme 5, and not missed out on very much at all.

The casting didn’t really gel – 3 ex Eastenders, two pop princesses, two models, a GMTV presenter and a couple of journeying sports stars was perhaps a little too formulaic. The early elimination of all Eastenders, a lack of sparkle from the singers, a GMTV presenter with some rhythm, and the battle of the sportsmen cancelled when one proved lacklustre and the other streaked out far ahead – it was not boding well. Among the pros, public favourites (and larger than life characters) Anton, Karen and Lilia were all out early; James Jordan seemed tamed, and Brendan Cole keen to announce his new-found good boy credentials.

Thank goodness for John and Kristina!

Weaker dancers outstaying their welcome with the judges, to the great glee of the public, even if stronger dancers pay the penalty, have always been a feature of Strictly. In fact the thrills and spills of the shock exits are largely responsible for high ratings, as well as the associated media coverage. The judges may well feign outrage, and fans of promising dancers tear their hair out, but producers, judges and dancers alike know that the bigger the surprise elimination, the bigger the next week’s ratings.

This was not a new phenomenon, so why did the situation in series 6 spiral out of control? In series 3 and 4, and even to an extent series 5, the same game had been played. Weaker dancer gets slated by the judges, and receives a high percentage of the sympathy vote. An undeserving celebrity gets forgotten and voted out early. The next week, the duffer improves enough to receive better marks and faint praise. A new underdog is found to occupy the sympathy voters. The duffer goes out, amidst platitudes about going out on a high, having performed their best dance to date.

When it came to their American Smooth, the judges could have marked John and Kristina higher, given deserved praise even, and prepared the way for a gentle exit. But even though they would have been justified, as it was a nice, if not exciting dance (and the judges must by this time have realised the psychology of the mass voting public), they choose not to. John lingered on a further 10 days, before quitting in a sea of acrimony. Why did it all go so wrong this time, when previous series had not succumbed to a storm in a teacup?

Social networking

Maybe the producers failed to realise the power of the social networking craze, not only in terms of fan groups growing up around a figure, but celebs and dancers being able to talk directly to their voters. When a celeb can vlog, blog, or now Tweet directly to the masses, carefully crafted storylines and producer manipulation are circumvented.

Greed

Did the producers push the story of the underdog too far? True, John had outlasted Phil, Gillian, Gary, Jessie, Don, Mark, Andrew and Heather, but with the exception of Don and perhaps Heather, none of them had set either the dance floor or the public imagination alight. Were the producers hanging out for a big story – the shock of the series – before letting John go? And that is what indeed happened the week after their American Smooth, when Cherie Lunghi and Lisa Snowden found themselves in the dance off.

But did the producers want still more from the people’s favourite? They already had the iconic image of John dragging Kristina across the floor during the Paso. But were they angling for further comedy gold with images of the Salsa (the Strictly luck of the draw had been unkind to John and Kristina by allocating them the Samba, Paso, Cha Cha and Salsa in such quick succession). Did someone yearn for the ultimate “money shot” – John in the Saturday Night Fever group dance, portly, short and 60 odd, dressed in identical white suit and dancing alongside rugby hunk Austen and matinee idol Tom, the comparison highlighted for everyone to chortle at? Was this the moment that John realised that his Strictly experience had gone from being a bit of a hoot to abject humiliation?

Celebrity

Kate Garroway had not appeared to enjoy her final weeks on Strictly, but despite the slating from the judges and the cruel jibes in the media she carried gamely on. She knew her role. It was only afterwards that she admitted how painful it had been to go from being known to her audience as someone who was good at doing something, to being known by the nation as someone who was very bad at something. But Kate was a fully paid up member of the celebrity club. Married to one of the most notorious figures associated with New Labour, selling spreads to the likes of OK magazine– she knew what modern celebrity involved.

But John was a different man entirely. There were no shots of his wife or family supporting him; no stories in red tops or weekly magazines. The intrusion into his private life must have been painful to say the least. As a witty, articulate, media savvy journalist, he could have out talked Arlene, Craig, James Jordan, every one of them. The war of the words was his to be won. But when ignorant, cruel members of the public began telephoning his wife to abuse her, surely that must have been the catalyst for throwing in the towel.

And so the recriminations began. Accusations of bullying. Vitriol. Rancour. The producers could have chosen to arrange for a three person final at this stage, but they stubbornly clung to a two hander. The public dug their heels in, scenting favouritism amongst the judges, and continually landed the perceived teachers’ pets in the dance off. The public may accept the judges shepherding one of their favourites into a three person final, but two favourites getting into a two person final. Unforgivable!

In the end, the voting fiasco of the semi final proved to be the saving of the series. Humiliating though the very public mea culpa may have been for the BBC, it saved the series from a final between Rachel and Lisa , which would probably have been the least watched in Strictly history. And the judges should be thankful that the public chose to overturn their preferred finishing order. Otherwise, “Experiments with baco foil” would be the abiding memory of the SCD6 champions!