Jumped the shark?

So, left floundering in the ratings by the X Factor, largely ignored by the media, and subject to constant criticism by even its most avid fans - what went wrong with SCD7?

The judging panel - or more succinctly, the way the judging panel was presented to the viewers. It was obvious after last year that something had to give in the judging panel, not so much as a result of the John Sergeant affair (I still maintain that it was part of the judges' brief to try and generate controversy and therefore public and media interest in the show in as many TV/radio/press interviews as possible, and that the producers were actually rubbing their hands with glee, with an all publicity is good publicity hat on, especially when Strictly hit the One o' Clock news...), but as a result of the semi final fiasco.

I can imagine the producers not being particularly impressed at quarter final stage, with two incredibly popular contestants, and two unpopular contestants, when one of the public favourites got voted out ahead of the least popular. When a carefully crafted semi final leaderboard threatened to put out the other public favourite, but actually resulted in the phone lines being frozen to avoid accusations of fraud, an embarrassing last minute backtrack, and public apologies from head honchos, the producers must finally have seen red.

I can imagine that the judges felt pretty secure, taking an all stand together position. After all, how many dancers also have enough "brand recognition" to be invited to judge the BBC's flagship autumn show? Well, the producers actually side stepped that rather neatly by signing up the one dancer that everyone in the UK has heard of, albeit a former ballet dancer, and taking it one step further by dispensing with the dancer bit altogether, and signing up a celebrity with a bit of dance knowledge under her belt as the other replacement judge. The message was clear - celebrities are ten a penny, and no judge on this show is safe.

But what could have been a good tactical move backfired spectacularly with the way that the decision was presented, leaving the BBC wide open to accusations of sexism and ageism. Surely by that stage the plans for So You Think You Can Dance were in an advanced stage (particularly as the auditions were held in October)? The BBC may not have wanted to reveal all about the show, but a little hint that actually Arlene Phillips was crucial in launching a new dance show to be screened in January, and therefore was being promoted rather than dumped, could have been a better way to play it. It might also have been kinder to Alesha to have presented her role as an experiment with a new style of judging, rather than as a permanent addition to the panel, to allow her to save some face if it all went wrong.

Strictly definitely needs some decent PR/media management for next year to avoid further fiascos. I hear Chris Hollins has a Very Serious Girlfriend who knows the odd thing about PR......

The selection of pros was another bone of contention. This series definitely missed some of the pros - big characters, good teachers and great choreographers - with Karen and Camilla leaving, and Matthew, Lilia and Darren all voted out early. At times, it has felt that Ola has been carrying the show on her own! I don't see why the BBC can't make more of an effort to recruit pros who are either British, or have been based in the UK for some time. Natalie, Katya, Aliona and Brian have all come in for a lot of bashing, and I am sure that it is because they all come from different cultures, and are simply not used to presenting themselves to a British audience. It seems actually rather cruel for the BBC to expect pros to travel thousands of miles to a strange country to work for four months, and as well as the dislocation and homesickness, to be subjected to a level of vitriol because they come across on screen as different.

Selection of celebs this year has also proved to be riddled with errors. Maybe it is time to introduce secret auditions to ascertain who has some dance talent, and make sure that a few of the people with ability who are signed up also come with a bit of personality. Last year, there were five celebs who would not have looked out of the place in the final - Cherie, Rachel, Lisa, Tom and Austin, all of whom had dance talent, and two of whom (Tom and Austin) got the public vote. Jodie or Christine would also not have looked out of the place as a wildcard in a three person final, and had bags of public support.

This year the real dance talent has been restricted to Ricky and Ali, neither of whom has lit a fire in the audience. The mid tablers (Chris, Natalie, Ricky and Tuffers) had all the personality, stage presence and journey stories, but ultimately were weaker dancers, and there was precious little in between to bridge the gap between dance and popularity. Laila was too random, and Zoe had a big "Shock early exit" arrow pointing directly at her from the get go. The only bridge couple were Jade and Ian - good dancers, improving technically and with a storyline to engage the public. And look what happens when the producers put all their eggs in one basket.

But the biggest blooper of all has got to be the fumblings that led to a two person final. Again. It is not as if a person dropping out is an entirely new scenario, and the rules this year stated that if a person dropped out due to injury, the latest couple to leave, or a previously high scoring couple, could be reinstated. So why didn't the producers introduce this option?

I realise that the day of injuries was a fraught day for the SCD team, with Bruce ill and Mariah Carey allegedly pulling out at short notice. But they must have had a contingency plan in place at the beginning of the series for "what do we do if anything happens to Bruce", (surely you have a contingency plan in place when your main presenter is an octogenarian?) and it should have been a simple case of following a pre ordained plan......

And as for a singer pulling out....well given the calibre of most of the guest singers this series, would anyone have really cared? And it is not as though SCD didn't have another singer close at hand, one who was currently touring, and rehearsing for a Children in Need appearance with the pro dancers, who could have stepped in at the last moment. Cue headlines of "Alesha saves the day" which might have been a bit of positive press for the poor girl.

So really these two issues shouldn't have been occupying too many brains, leaving the producers free to figure out how to deal with the obvious crisis, ie two injured dancers. After all, a presenter or musical guest down has an impact on that show only, whereas a dancer down impacts on the whole series.

And so to rate how this series ranks compared against all other series. For me, my al time favourite series is a tie between Series 2 and Series 5. Runner up is Series 4, then Series 6, Series 3, Series 1 (and I didn't even watch half of that series!), with Series 7 trailing in last place. Now that on a graph says that the brand is in serious trouble, and needs some major surgery for next year...

Don't get me wrong. It is still my favourite show, and the only one that I would never watch. And ITT and the wonderful Claudia has been on top of their game all series, without a doubt. But the sequins are losing their sparkle, despite the best efforts of the dancers, and poor decision making and a rather stale air about the format means that it has lost its innocence. The fact that I actually get more pleasure from analysing the mechanics than from losing myself in the shows, is rather telling.

But there is a faint glimmer there still, and after all, we do have have that one A-MAY-ZING show from this series. We will always have Blackpool!