Time to Side With Luke
The BBC likes to tell viewers the couples in SYTYCD are chosen at random. But there did not appear to be anything random about the pairings revealed last Saturday.
Rithy & Shane, Danielle & Luke and Bethany & Israel look the three star couples, and we’d be surprised to see any of these dancers go out of the competition in the next few weeks.
In reference to our pre-series post (April 15), it was a shame to see Ryan go out in week 1 but the rest of the ante-post portfolio is looking good.
There are two other dancers to get on side at this stage – Luke Jackson and Rithi Pereira. Luke looks like a very solid all-rounder and could form a potentially brilliant partnership with Danielle. They were criticised for lacking chemistry in their samba last week but in technical terms we thought it was a great effort and we predict this particular duo to soon be sparkling when given other dance genres.
The 20-1 e/w available on Luke with Coral in Outright betting should be snapped up post-haste.
Rithi is going to be a judges’ favourite and you sense this sentiment rubbing off on viewers. Rithi is a best-priced 9-1 with Skybet in Outright betting which is a bit skinny, so we suggest backing her at 7-2 to be Top Female instead, available with Coral and William Hill.
In that particular heat, it’s hard to see beyond Rithi, Katie Love (best-priced 7-2), Danielle Cato (5-1) and Bethany Rose Harrison (11-2). With some shrewd staking you can back all four and lock yourself in a guaranteed profit.
On purely value grounds Luke is also worth backing to be Top Male at 10-1. Matt Flint (11-4) and Shane Collard (9-2) look his biggest rivals for this particular crown but we also respect the chances of Israel (9-2) and Charlie (6-1). Israel and Charlie are much like Rithi in the sense that, granted a decent run in the show, you can see either of them becoming firm viewer favourites.
This is a show in which a perceived major contender can make a shock appearance in the bottom 2 due to the format. If last year is anything to go by, this can lead to big over-reactions by the market in pushing said dancer out. With 18 dancers left, we see this as a 9-horse race already (the 9 mentioned in this post), and the best way to proceed from here on in is to pick off the value on the said 9 as and when it comes along.
Rob Furber