just like to say that i think strictly come dancing is a one horse race this year. the winner will definitely be ricky whittle as he is way ahead of the other contestants this year which i think is a little bit unfair.

what do u think?

I wont be voting for him.

I would say not.

Austin Healey looked like the outright winner last year.

I think it's difficult to predict who will win. My original bet was Ali and Brian, but obviously they dont seem to be getting the public support.

When it gets to the final the public have the final say as they did with Tom and there is nothing to suggest Ricky Whittle is either the public favourite or not. Unfortunately last year the voting fiasco made the BBC admit that Tom was the public favourite before the final. Hopefully that won't happen this year.

Ricky may be topping the public vote or he may be in the public bottom three, part of the fun is not knowing which. It's certainly anything but a "one-horse race".

yeah my favourite couple is ali and brian.maybe the public dont vote for them because they believe that they are a couple which is a little bit unfair as people should be voting for her dancing

It's difficult to tell how the public vote for Ricky is going. Not enough indicators yet. However I wouldn't mind at all if he won.

I think he'll reach the final but once the public speak he'll be gone, 3rd place I think. I was voting for Zoe, i'm moving to Jade and Ian now

Reckon team Cola will win it!

The leaked phone results so far seem to be

1st - Chris and Ola with Phil and Katya second. So if it stays like that then Ricky won't win it.

Doubt it, reckon it'll be Chris or (I'm hoping) Jade. Would be happy with Chris though.

Do you? They do seem to be doing well with the voters don't they and the judges aren't against them. Who do you think will be in the final with them

Ricky W has the most natural ability - but the ones that start really well don't tend to end up winning. When I watched it the other week they had the no. 1 lambada dancers in the world and I thought they made everyone (including Ricky and the better ones) look like real novices, they were absolutely amazing.

I noticed Ricky was really low in the poles when I checked last week - does nobody like him just because he's good / Alesha has the hots for him, or what? Seems alright to me

Ricky W's support is unknown.

Could work either way. On DOI Ray had a similar ability lead and Jessica and Zoe behind him had tiny votes and ended up in the bottom two together. Ray was top 3. The majority of votes early on were going anti-Judge and to the hopeless cases. That fits SCD 09 voting perfectly. That changed into Ray being miles ahead by the end but his female opposition never got a decent vote and his final non -opposition in a non competitive final was Donal- the only blokish bloke left with a short journey story. You could have that again with say Phil against Ricky W - though a SF dance off might get someone more able through . Ricky would win against a Phil or - in the other variant - he wouldn't - and it would look silly.

Or it might turn into a real race if Ali or Jade survives and Ali gets it right or Jade improves an awful lot.

I don't see the judges letting anyone beat Ricky W in a dance off so, unless the SF hasn't got a dance off, I don't see how he doesn't get to the final. Winning would be pretty meaningless if he wasn't there anyway.




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I think Chris will win - and it isn't as if he can't dance- nice guy with a persoanlity and entertains

That is the package that the public seem to go for

Not enough now to be a good technician

I would love Ali and Brian to win and I really thought they were in with a chance until Saturday.

I think Ricky W will knock Ali out in a dance off in the later stages, he'll definitely make the final but won't win

Final four may well be:

Ricky W
Chris
Jade
And either Tuffers or Ali. It depends on whether Tuffer's supporters keep voting for him. If they do then I can see him sneaking in there.

Ok, Ricky W, Jade and Chris for the final, I think Ricky will get 3rd place. That leaves Jade and Chris to fight it out with a showdance.
I don't know why we're not judging this competition!!!!!

I don't think it's unfair that he's probably the strongest conteder of the lot. It's not his fault he is better at the dancing than the others. Even if he's had previous experience. I'm sure when he signed up for it he didn't know who he would be up against and whether they would have the ability to challenge him.

I also wouldn't say it's a one horse race. Usually, a one horse race is justified by a firm backing of supporters - something I get the feeling Ricky is lacking in comparison to others. He may be getting through each week so far, but without the voting figures, we have no idea what position he's finishing. Look at how unpopular he is on here and a few other forums. Having the dancing ability usually isn't enough if you haven't got the personality the public want t go with it. Like Rachel last series. Technically great, but not overly liked by the public.

I have a feeling one of the weaker dancers, but with a stronger personality, could creep up on Ricky at the last minute and trip him up. Kind of like Austin last series. Wasn't he a favourite until the quarter final week?

Unfortunatley, I think you may be wrong about Jade. She does not seem to have much support. She does not push herself foreward like Craig and Natalie cassidy do.
It will be sad if another talented dancer goes this week.

Why is it unfair exactly? He cant help having natural ability. However, its not a one horse race as I think Jade could really challenge him if she gains some control in her Latin.

Sorry fredster, but I think you may be wrong.

Seems to me there is a definite shift in favour of Jade and Ian.

I hope I'm correct.

He isn't a professional dancer, so how is it unfair? I'm not sure if he will win, but he certainly deserves to.

Definatly agree with there I think he is an amazing dancer and have to keep re watching that quickstep on Sat.

I also love Ali and think she is the best female dancer (although I agree Jade is very good).

Ricky had a couple of Salsa lessons but Ali has had dance training and I read that the BBC do not mind if Celebs have had previous dance training - so all is above board and perfectly fair for Ricky and Ali.

Totally agree with you there he so deserves to win.