Strictly Come Dancing / Alan Dudman / 05 November 2009 /

This weekend the contestants head for Blackpool Tower to strut their stuff in a real ballroom. But who will shine under the illuminations? Not Alan Dudman, if his last spin on the prom is anything to by. However, when it comes to betting, Strictly's a breeze for our man...

From the sublime to the ridiculous - that is the only way to describe Week Seven in Strictly.

The sublime gave us Ola Jordan's backless, figure squeezing crimson catsuit. My word that was hot, and I have now developed a rather unhealthy obsession with catsuits. Saturday also marked out Ricky W as a true champion with his near perfect 39 point Quickstep...and I was drooling over both.

Whittle's dance was amazing, it left me tingling in much the same way Sea The Stars did during his epic 2009 flat campaign, and aped my sheer joy at seeing West Ham striker Mike Small nod one in against Arsenal in the League Cup many moons ago. Whittle has finally gone to the price I have been saying for sometime - and to back him now at [1.82] in the winner market means we have squeezed all the juice out of that particular lemon.

The ridiculous from last weekend were the bottom two. Can anyone tell me why Zoe Lucker and Ali Bastian faced eachother in the dance-off to survive?

Lucker did go, and very gracious she was in defeat too. But it has given us - the punters -
a double-edged sword. Backing the better performers against the public vote. We don't quite
have another John Sargeant scenario, but with Craig Kelly in the competition, it is clear that from now on in we have a bit of ballroom lottery. Kelly is awful, and yet escaped the dance-off again. Kelly is fast becoming the best escape act since Papillon. Mind you - Papillon eventually got caught.

So on to Week Eight, and a rather special weekend as the show will be broadcast live from the
legendary Blackpool Tower - the home of ballroom dancing. And also the home of me sinking about 22 bottles of melon Bacardi Breezer from one particular messy weekend.

The trickiest market for this Saturday has got to be the 'bottom two' one. So far we have seen Jade, Zoe, Laila and Ali all make an appearance - and yet none have deserved too. This is where the public vote comes in and it may be worth having a couple of quid at each of the better dancers to go, although the layers seem to be giving nothing away with the prices.

The 'Week Eight Elimination' market meanwhile gives us Corrie star Craig Kelly at [1.89] as favourite to exit. But the way things are going - he might not even find himself in the dance-off. Craig reminded me of Harrison Ford last week. Unfortunately it was in Star Wars when Hans Solo was frozen by Boba Fett - and Solo had more moves in that ice cold chamber. Craig is a Blackpool lad, and back in his hometown looks a risky proposition to back as an exit- although I'm not sure I am brave enough to lay him.

Whittle is spectacular value once again as the weekend top scorer. Fresh from his brilliant ballroom - he is [2.02] to gain top marks. His excellent form means the 'highest total score' comes into play, and a score of 38+ is well within his grasp to land the odds at [2.10].

Week Eight Recommendations:

Back Ricky Whittle top score @ [2.02]
Back highest total score 38 and over @ [2.10]
Lay Natalie Cassidy in bottom two @ [3.30]
Back Laila [14.50] and Jade [15.00] in Week 8 Elimination

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