Strictly Come Dancing: Louis odds-on to cap 2012 with win
Published:Louis Smith has been cut to 5/6 to win this year’s Strictly Come Dancing after another solid performance in Saturday’s semi final.
The gymnast impressed the voting public with his Jive followed by a Foxtrot but the judges seemed less enamoured, awarding him a total of 69 points putting him second last behind Lisa Riley, who was voted off the show.
In all fairness to the 23-year-old, who won a silver and bronze in this summer’s Olympics, the low mark was largely down to his poorly received Jive, while his Foxtrot picked up a large 38 points that included two perfect tens.
He’s yet to be in the bottom two of the public vote and the wave of nostalgia for the summer of sport triggered by the Sports Personality of the Year awards last Sunday may also help the athlete claim the glitter ball trophy next weekend.
Another dancer who has yet to be in the bottom two is Tracey Beaker actress Dani Harmer.
She’s currently out at 7/1 to win the show and picked up 72 combined points for her two dances that also included a couple of perfect tens.
The one who’s hitting form at just the right time though is Girls Aloud singer Kimberley Walsh.
She was the highest scorer for a second week running, has shown gradual improvement throughout the course of the series and, for anyone to win something these days, going on a ‘journey’ is seemingly a prerequisite.
She is second favourite at 9/4 and, with Girls Aloud proving as popular as ever thanks to their new single and sell-out stadium shows next year, she looks a tempting bet.
Finally, Denise van Outen appears to have lost the public’s support after appearing in the bottom two for successive weeks. She’s out at 7/1 and a win looks beyond her after a couple of relatively poor performances in recent weeks.
All odds and markets accurate as of publication’s time and date
