Papers bid farewell to Sergeant

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Pictures of John Sergeant waving goodbye after his shock decision to leave Strictly Come Dancing feature on many front pages.

"It is farewell then," says the Daily Express, "your terrible tangos, woeful waltzes and preposterous pasa dobles have brightened up autumn weekends."

But there is anger too at the suspicion that he was forced out by the judges.

"Strictly scandalous" declares the Independent, which says audiences have been left feeling short-changed.

Electronic democracy

The Sun notes the more Sergeant's performances irritated the judges, the more viewers wanted to keep him in.

And the Guardian believes this tells us something interesting about experiments in electronic democracy.

In many cases, it says, viewers seem to get their kicks out of sticking two fingers up to authority.

"Sergeant certainly gave the country a great giggle," says the Daily Mirror, but the Daily Mail asks the question: "Did he leap or was he pushed?"

Retail fears

Sergeant's exploits have helped lift the mood of the papers alongside more grim economic news.

"Bloodbath on the High Street" is the front page headline in the Guardian, which says retailers are fearing their worst Christmas in years.

The Financial Times reports Chancellor Alistair Darling is to throw Britain's struggling small and medium-sized companies a credit lifeline.

It says the government will underwrite new loans to firms.

High Street favourite

The sale of High Street icon Woolworths for £1 has also dismayed many papers.

The Sun says it survived the Great Depression, two world wars and children stealing pic 'n' mix sweets.

The Guardian believes the plight of Woolworths underlines in dramatic fashion the scale of the crisis facing the retail industry.

"January sales kick off now" is how the Daily Express sums up the desperate attempts by stores to get shoppers spending in the run-up to Christmas.