Strictly Come Dancing / Chicken Dinner / 09 November 2007 /

The sixth elimination beckons on 'Strictly' and reality TV experts Chickendinner reckon the popularity vote is about run out for the GMTV presenter...

Now that Kate Garraway (3.45 to go on Betfair) appears to be getting slightly better - she resembles a wounded war veteran rather than a corpse - all the fun has gone out of watching her perform. Not bad enough to make everyone point and say "cringe!", yet not good enough to make salty tears pour down your face, she is a middle-of-the-road nothing, in the same vein as perhaps Roger Black (fifth, series two), or Claire Sweeney (fifth, series one).

On Viennese waltz and samba night last year, her partner Anton du Beke waltzed Jan Ravens out of the competition - hence this time, he has demanded they do an energetic samba, the most steamy of Latin workouts. A prophetic hunch suggests a deeply simian performance from the GMTV presenter Garraway - which could either revive her comedy image, or kill her (metaphorically speaking, of course).

Also in trouble are Logan (3.3) and Barnes (5.3). In previous shows, the sixth out has always been a dancing gent (Martin Offiah, series one; Roger Black, series two; Will Thorp, series three; Ray Fearon, series four). But by going for the Viennese waltz, Kenny has minced further into the sludge. While last year the waltz went down better with the judges (average scores being a huge 30.7, compared the the Samba's 28), the voters are much more heavily influenced by the erotic sensations generated by a sexy Latin samba. Barnes, cleverly, has opted for the sexier dance. As, incidentally, has Leititia Dean (12.5), which could prove to be one of the must-see television events of the year, as Sharon from Eastenders thunders about the dance floor interpreting 'sexual congress' via the medium of dance. Sparks will certainly fly.

Safe as always are Dixon (80.0), Brook (28.0) and Di Angelo (42), but Penny Lancaster (12) - the leggy blonde where Rod Stewart parks his zimmer frame - shouldn't get too comfortable. Now firmly in the shadow of Dixon and Brook, she might have induced such apathy among the voters that they just won't bother with her any more. She is neither remarkable nor rubbish, and is outshone for sex appeal by both of the front-runners. Plus, this stage of the show can often provide a minor upset. Last year Ray Fearon was the sixth out, despite scoring a brilliant 35 the previous week - spookily, the exact score that Lancaster achieved last weekend.

Doing the samba this week are: Dixon, Barnes, Garraway, Dean and Lancaster. Clip-clopping through the Viennese waltz: Jones, Brook, Logan, Di Angelo.

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