Laila, we’re begging darlin’ please
Our belief that Lynda Bellingham would escape the bottom two last week bore fruit for those who laid her.
You can weigh up an elimination market based on what you know about the contestants and their pro partners, and taking a stab at figuring out their likely popularity, but of course what they actually produce on the night can alter things dramatically, as Ricky Groves and Chris Hollins showed last week. Having looked vulnerable pre-show, they both produced excellent routines allowing them to leap up the leaderboard and save themselves from the dance off.
Natalie Cassidy is sure to give it her all, be encouraged by the panel, and find empathy among women watching at home. Tufnell will probably produce a highly entertaining Latin number and, like Cassidy, his support would appear rock solid.
Jo Wood’s fan base on the other hand doesn’t look nearly as strong, and while Zoe Lucker could prove herself a decent dancer. the concern with her is she looks set to be overshadowed by Laila Rouass, and Anton Du Beke has more fans than James Jordan.
With Lilia being a top teacher and choreographer, Richard Dunwoody may be able to produce a half-decent ballroom and get away with an ok Latin. He still looks likeliest to be anchoring the leaderboard, and as we see time and again, last place can be a great place to grab enough votes to escape the dance off, as Joe Calzaghe managed last week.
A Wood Dunwoody dance off remains the logical shout but if Dunwoody does prop up the table and trades odd-on to be eliminated, he’ll represent a very tempting lay, especially if Lucker or Kelly find themselves in that dangerous position just above the bottom two.
With question marks over Whittle’s ballroom ability, there is value in the 5s offered by Ladbrokes that Rouass will top the leaderboard on Friday night. Anton excels at ballroom and training clips this week suggested Laila will dance the tango very well.
With all 8 contenders looking competent in ballroom we also cannot resist the 6-4 offered by Ladbrokes on the lowest judges score on Friday night being 17 or more. Calzaghe managed 16 last week and he was dire.
Rob Furber
A decent shout on Laila topping the leaderboard tonight.
Her training on ITT last night looked very promising and Ricky Whittle is definitely worth taking on.
Much like the mighty Ramprakash, it looks likely that he’ll shine in the latin and may well struggle with the ballroom.
Zoe’s the one for me though. Her Waltz training looks excellent to my untrained eye and at double the price of Laila, she’s surely worth a nibble.
Thanks, have backed the 17 or more points you recommend at Ladbrokes. Also Wood to go on Saturday – as she’s likely to be near the foot of both judges’ and viewers’ leaderboards, she must be nailed on to make the dance-off.