I am curious as to what peoples opinions are on how much % of the vote is from people who visit this DS forum

I personally would be surprised if its more than 2% of the overall vote as for example last week Jade & Ian were number 1 on the DS poll in here but still must have finished bottom with the public vote to be so low as they were in the final standings

Anyone ever given this some thought?

Probably somewhere along the lines of 0.0001%?

I'm with you on this one. That's why I take the polls on here with a massive pinch of salt.

Actually- about HALF of that.

Say, 300 posters - which is probably on the high side - and 7 million viewers

0.000045

JJ the obsessive (lol)

Nothing, even the BBC SCD Boards probably don't make up for a lot of the public vote.

.

So what you are all saying that no one in here could really influence the outcome of the public vote one way or another

Is in here is just a bit of fun?

This is what i always thought but some on here seem to think that if you don't have the backing of the DS forum you will not get far in this completion

Tom didn't have very much support on here last year and he won.

You beat me to it.

There was a poster last year who claimed to have inside info from a source and, according to her, Tom was top of the public vote for most weeks apart from the John Sergeant furore. Christine was very popular too.

You'd never have guessed that Tom was so popular if you roamed the DS forum last year - he was not a fave to put it mildly

We are the discerning minority, floundering in a sea of idiots who think that 10s should be handed out just for standing up, and that Craig should be allowed to stay in the competition until Blackpool week just because he wants to.

Eh?

Oh.

I had a look at the yahoo poll a day or so back - Ali is leading by a country mile, followed by Tuffers then Ricky W. The rest of the field are pretty much nowhere.

We like to think that we are important, but we are a pretty tiny % of the total viewing audience

If you went by the yahoo poll, Richard Dunwoody would still be there.

Yes - I realise that!

It's just some sort of indication of how other interest groups might be viewing the contest, that's all.

You're absolutely right! ... but the poster asked about the VOTING audience. Do you think it gets 7 million votes? I figured the voting audience would be smaller so I posted on the side of generosity.

With only 15 minutes to register a vote I wonder how many people ARE managing to vote this year. Was it fairer when there was a longer time to vote so that more people would have the chance to get through?

Aha - indeed!!

I wish the BBC DID release just how many votes are cast!! Their official position is:

Q: Why are the voting figures not published?

We invite you to vote for the dancers that you liked best, based on their performance in each show and during the series. Releasing voting figures could affect the way that people vote, and also have an impact on the participants. We therefore do not disclose the exact voting figures.

Although the BBC is subject to the Freedom of Information Act, information which is closely connected to our programme-making is not covered by the Act. The Information Commissioner, who regulates the Act, has confirmed that information about Strictly Come Dancing voting is not covered. We are therefore not required to disclose the voting figures under the Act.

No Sh...t, Sherlock!!!!


JJ

I can quite see why they wouldn't choose to release voting figures for the current season, but why on earth not for previous series? They may be under no obligation to do so, but what have they got to lose by releasing them retrospectively?

Do they not have to release voting percentages to prove there is no cheating going on. How else do we know that the correct people are in the bottom two and that the judges and the BBC don't select the bottom two to create ratings - not beyond the Beeb to manipulate these things

i know i know conspiracy theories lol

You'd think after the phone-in scandals they'd release the figures just for the sake of transparency, wouldn't you? And what fun it would be to have the figures from all previous series to pore over!

I don't understand how "releasing the figures" would provide transparency. If you're determined to take it to the level of conspiracy theory you can always claim they're as made up as the current results are.

I do think the DS poll results can be extrapolated somewhat out to the general population, but years of following them tells me that you have to cut down the level of support for female, ethnic minority and "talent" contestants, and increase them for male, white, and "sympathy/personality" contestants before they come close to the results, and even then they don't always match up.

I think so, I don't understand the format at all. I don't get why they think combining the main show and the results and having 15 minutes to vote could ever be a good idea.

You have to also factor in the judges who have an enormous influence in the result by who they eliminate in the dance off particularly in the later stages.

I did mean the results in terms of who winds up in the bottom 2, but yes the judges (who are basically DS voters to double strength) do have their influence as well.

I genuinely don't understand how people need more than 15 minutes to make a phone call. Are you trying to dial the numbers with your face?

I never mentioned conspiracy - nor did I have it in mind. I meant transparency in the context of openness about which contestants the viewers' votes had gone to - no more than that.

I just don't understand why the figures have to be kept under wraps. Makes no sense to me. Does it make any to you? Doubtless I could be missing something