Once again the British public need to go to Specsavers

I don't always agree with the judges but tonight they had it spot on, especially Len.

Craig should have been off after the Welsh Dragon left but no...he mentioned the 'B' word and the soft spineless British public fell for it hook line and sinker, he has to go next week.

Ricky Groves was dancing the hardest dance for male celeb but all he done was pose and posture, at one point I thought he was doing another Paso Doble

Tuffers, for me there was not enough staccato for a Tango and I thought it was one dimensional

Chris Hollins nothing special in that Cha Cha Cha

In Ali and Zoe we had two realistic challengers to Ricky Whittle both done great dances tonight and both were understandably nervous in the danceoff but like Alesa I wanted to save both.

Leave the popularity contest to the Grime twins on that other program that is on of a Saturday

Absolutly disgusting

Did you actually vote??

Did you vote though? I voted for zoe and James.

Very well said all round.

Oh dear, don't you know that really it doesn't matter very much. As my granny used to say ' Worse things happen at sea'

Same here


Yes I know it doesn't matter very much but it is nice to express one's opinions about such matters.

thought Ali was very poor tonight - she looked frightened all through it.

I think it would be fairer and more accurate to say she looked in agony all through it as a result of her injury.

The judges are to blame for Zoë’s lack of public support, for some reason they champion her regardless of how well or badly she does.

Alisha gave a 9 for Zoë’s dance tonight and in our hearts we know it did not deserve that mark. If James had not done such a good job of moving her around quickly enough at times, it would have been even worse. Zoë’s Latin compared to her Ballroom is dismal, but the judges never mention that.

Please do not berate me for my views as I actually voted for Zoë and James as I knew with the judges not recognising the faults the viewing public would be hard on poor Zoë.

The problem with the judges is that they know who they want to keep (regardless of how well they do) and by making this so obvious they alienate the public.

Perhaps if they voted on pure content instead of favouritism it would be a more even playing field.

As for calling John and Edward the, 'Grime Twins' I am not sure that is necessary? Search your soul! They are two young lads just doing what is asked of them.

Why are you voting for Craig why? Please tell me so I can understand! He's not even funny bad, just plain awful! I'm so sad to see Zoe go and even more sad for Ali and Vrian who did a cracking job considering the foot problem! I just don't get it!

I have to admit that i don't like all the lets get Craig to Blackpool. Makes me cringe and i can't help but dislike him.

But people have the right to vote for who they like and if they like Craig then thats up to them.

I voted for Ali and Brian and Ricky and Erin (thought he was undermarked)

Chris, Phil and Ricky are all very likeable and i can understand why they are picking up the vote.

And I do have a little soft spot for John and Edward

Once I knew the worst ones (imo) were saved I walked away & made a cuppa while hubby watched, as I knew two good dancers would be up against each other.
I shan't be watching any more Strictly fare now until the cringe-maker is gone basically. I'll probably only watch the finals now (guessing he's gone of course & we don't have another Chris Parker scenario).
Do me a favour really as I'm too addicted to ITT & I gave up all soaps due to time wasting & that is just as bad - so maybe it'll help me kick the habit completely.

I think she was in a lot of pain....unfortunately (and probably a natural reaction to) smiling rather than show a grimace or swear contributed to facial expressions one wouldn't be looking for in a Paso.

I thought she was very brave to go through with it rather than not take part and go through to next week by default.

She did look frightened to me as well, and forgot she wasn't supposed to smile. Get angry woman! I do when I stub my toe

Kudos to her though for dancing without shoes in the DO.

Absolutely. That must have been a hinder also.

Very well put - i agree

You can't blame lesser dancers for staying in,the public voted for them,and this happens every year,but when it comes to the final the public do somehow get it right.
I was really sad to see Zoe and James go tonight,great partnership, and she was lovely, also very elegant,and they were far better than Ali and Brian in the dance off,her injury can't be used as an excuse, the judges made this quite clear to Tuffers when he had his op.

Ellie

It was obvious that Ali would get fewer votes tonight when Craig RH made excuses for her after her first dance, on account of her sore foot. The judges really ought to try to be a bit more objective. Other people are coping with illness or injury from time to time but if he doesn't rate them he wouldn't dream of making excuses or marking them according to how he thinks they would have performed if totally fit.

You probably have identified whats happening but its still what would happen if all the non achieving kids in a class voted for their favourite pupil. The swots would get no votes and the naughtiest one who got told off most might come top. It doesn't matter if Zoe gets a 9 or an 8 if she is clearly better than the people behind her - its just that some people resent the 9 more. It also seems impossible on the show to point out who is poor - there's nicer ways to say it, but the message would be the same as soon as the paddles went up and arguably mark inflation has already led to the hopeless getting marks better suited to the good.


The favourite thing is essentially the same issue. The judges of course will mark the best people higher and want them to stay. There is a clear distinction between who is good , who is trying but not much good and who is hopeless - it just seems that a lot of voters want to reverse all that . Its also the case that the top 5 dancers are probably on a different marking scale to anyone else related to their difficulty which does mean that their overall mark ought to be better everytime , even with errors.

I think the panel tries to second-guess the public vote to keep the better dancers in. But they fail.

It's no good giving Zoe big scores when they realise she's not very popular in order to keep her in because the public just thinks: Right then, no votes for her.

They do it year after year and it is counter-productive.

I disagree. I don't believe anyone could really think Ali and Zoe were realistic challengers to Ricky Whittle judging by tonight's performances. Ali had the look of a "rabbit caught in the headlights" throughout the first routine. Zoe was little more than average, with rather simple choreography.
Moving on to the public vote. If the judges want the public to take voting seriously, they have to stop playing games with the leader board. We watched the show this week at a party, among the guests were a couple who have been competition dancers for many years. They were as flabbergasted as us by the judges vote for Ali, a total of 35.. for that dance ! It was so blatantly biased that I jokingly said..I wouldn't be surprised if she ends up in the bottom two. The public hate favouritism, if she had been marked correctly there would have been a sympathy vote for her brave attempt while carrying an injury.
To a lesser extent, Alesha's mark of 9 for Zoe was also over the top. Then there was Craig's 4 for Ricky Groves..really ? Len overmarked at 8 to bring a little sanity to his overall score..but it shows how crazy the marking has become.
If the judges want the public to vote strictly on the performances of each dancer, on the night..they must do the same, and forget any preconceived bias, marking to keep a favourite in the competition etc.

Talking of sea

OHhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh I do like to be beside the seaside

I was delighted at tonight's result. Zoe's dancing was about as exciting as watching paint dry and I do love seeing James Jordan voted out earlier than he thinks he should be. He'll have a face like a slapped a*se on ITT on Monday. I'm really pleased for Craig he seems like such a lovely bloke who trying his best, no I didn't vote for him I was out during the voting time but if I had been he may have been one of them as would Chris, Ricky G, Natalie, Phil or Jade. To me Jade is the only one with ability and personality so any other votes are for entertainment factor.

The 9 from Alesha is what put Zoe ahead of Natalie this week, because all the other judges gave them the same mark.

Was Zoe clearly better than Natalie this week? I'm not convinced she was.

Still, you're right that an 8 would have had the same effect there.

I dont think mind Zoe is going to win this thing now