If a 2 person final, then let the audience decide who should be there

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Bonnie96

22-11-2009

Originally Posted by Strictly_Irish:
“Really?

Chris' Jive, Rumba & Cha Cha were leaps and bounds ahead of Laila's.

I think Natalie & Chris are probably on par with the Latin alright.”

Code:

    CO      LA       NV     DANCE
    28      xx       29      AS
    xx      xx       xx      AT
    29      25       26      CH
    34      34       34      FT
    22      22       30      JV
    30      30       28      PD
    23      30       31      QS
    30      22       xx      RU
    25      xx       29      SL
    xx      28       26      SM
    26      30       24      TA
    29      33       27      VW
    xx      29       xx      WA

Chris and Laila 22 for Jive, Laila had a sprained ankle for the Rhumba 30 - 22, Chris 29 Laila 25 for ChaCha

Originally Posted by tabithakitten:
“You keep saying this. You obviously didn't like Tom last year but his average dance score over the series was 34.5 so he was obviously a pretty decent dancer. He was certainly a hell of a lot better than Laila whose current best score is lower than that and whose Latin is exceptionally suspect to say the least. He'd also scored more highly in four of his first seven dances than Zoe did in any of her seven.

Tom may not have been your choice (that's pretty clear) and I agree he was probably weaker than at least two others in the final four but not by much. Just because you didn't like him, to cite him as a bad winner is daft; particularly when you align him next to two of your favourites for this year - Laila and Zoe. It's all about personal preference.”

Well said TK.

Robert Romarin

22-11-2009

Originally Posted by Cornchips:
“yes if that is what the public want. Its not fair that in a two person final the judges should get their usual second bit of the cherry and basically decide on half of the two we want to watch. Thank heavens that the votes messed up last year or we would have had the dreadful Lisa and Rachel to watch in the final. How dull.

To be honest I think the judges say should end next week.”

Nonetheless the final last year was dull and anti-climactic....and suggesting Lisa (and possibly Rachel...not clear from your wording) was 'dreadful' is a considerable exaggeration....much as I didn't care for her and felt she was over-rated by the judges.

Anyway...I don't want the judges' say to end next week. That's OTT too. Clearly, however, there is a problem with the waste-of time DO which doesn't work and potentially prevents the couple securing the highest televote from progressing - a serious weakness in my view.

That written, if all continues to go to form I hope the voters help put RickyW and Ali in the final anyway....as, in contrast to last year, the top 2 are so far ahead of the rest

johnnyutah

22-11-2009

Tom was a poor winner, and an undeserving winner - he should have been knocked out in the semi final.
Laila has consistently been under-scored. Her scores compared to Natalie's have been nothing short of scandalous. Her paso in Blackpool was absolutely stunning - one of the dances of the series - but as usual she got low scores for it.
The inconsistency of the judges has become laughable and Alesha's marking in particular has been a disgrace. Ricky G did a great routine last week but it was as if the instruction had gone out to the judges that his overall mark must be kept low.
This is where Strictly is letting the public down - the scoring from the judges is convoluted, and they have a clear agenda to protect Ricky W and Ali as much as possible.
And the added farce of Strictly is, in a 3-couple final, as it was intended, the public favourite is guaranteed to win. But now, in a 2-couple final, the judges can ensure the public favourite is in the dance off, and will be booted off.
It's hardly surprising it is losing viewers when it is intent on fighting against what the public want.
Watch Hollins go out in the semi-final, just like Gethin, despite being the public favourite.

gig-ge-dy

22-11-2009

Originally Posted by johnnyutah:
“Tom was a poor winner, and an undeserving winner - he should have been knocked out in the semi final.
Laila has consistently been under-scored. Her scores compared to Natalie's have been nothing short of scandalous. Her paso in Blackpool was absolutely stunning - one of the dances of the series - but as usual she got low scores for it.
The inconsistency of the judges has become laughable and Alesha's marking in particular has been a disgrace. Ricky G did a great routine last week but it was as if the instruction had gone out to the judges that his overall mark must be kept low.
This is where Strictly is letting the public down - the scoring from the judges is convoluted, and they have a clear agenda to protect Ricky W and Ali as much as possible.
And the added farce of Strictly is, in a 3-couple final, as it was intended, the public favourite is guaranteed to win. But now, in a 2-couple final, the judges can ensure the public favourite is in the dance off, and will be booted off.
It's hardly surprising it is losing viewers when it is intent on fighting against what the public want.
Watch Hollins go out in the semi-final, just like Gethin, despite being the public favourite.”

I don't know that's it's losing viewers yet. In a climate where sustained 8million+ audiences are really hard to get, I'd say it's holding up pretty well. But the bolded part of your post is certainly something that could cause the show lasting damage if it happens. And why production seriously need to use whatever options they have in place to get back to a three couples final.

If we look at the show's audience demographic, dance purists for the most part will stick with the show every year, no matter who wins. They love dance and there's not so many dance shows to watch. Likewise the same is true for people who just love the whole Strictly experience.

The hardest part of the audience to get and the easiest part to lose is the general audience who are just looking for somewhere to park their Saturday night entertainment remote. They could live with a final of two judges' picks versus one public pick and see one of the judges' picks win. After getting their phone favourite all the way to the final, in fact, some of them may even change their mindset in the final vote and say 'OK, we got X to the final, now let's just vote for the best dancer'. What a large section of them won't live with, however, is finding out (and it'll come out if it happens) that the public favourite can be kept out of even making the final by the judges alone. No reality TV show with public phone vote involvement can sustain something like that happening and hope to keep its audience. Instead of an 8-10 million audience, you'll start to head to a 4-5 million audience if the impression gets left with the general entertainment 'floating' viewers that their phone vote is meaningless.

And that's dangerous for all viewing groups who like the show ... cos a show that starts heading to 4-5 million in Saturday night primetime is a show that's heading for the chop, and nobody being able to watch it. Sometimes the Strictly production team seem to sit on their hands and wing things. Hope they don't this time. They need to get a three couples final back and limit a big risk for the show.

Simone17

22-11-2009

Originally Posted by Apricot:
“I think it's a given that Chris is most popular with the public atm so, in a final against Ricky or Ali, would that still be the case?

Would the public vote for a personality vs a stronger dancer?

I know that happened in Darren vs. Colin days but haven't we moved on? (& I acknowledge arguments re. Rachel & Tom but surely we accept Tom was a little higher on the danceometer than Chris - much as I love Chris's SOH)”

You bet they would.

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