Chuck the calculator out of the window Wiskas and salivate at the possibility of this scenario.

This can only happen if neither Ricky or Ali top the leader board next week. But woud enjoy the judges expressions if somehow it did happen. Would all four of them have their heads in their hands Who would they send home ?

Wow. It really is like shooting fish in a barrel, so I'll bow out. Best of luck with the campaign.

If Colans want to convince themselves it's not worth voting, I'm not going to try to persuade them otherwise.

I'll just enjoy it.

Thank you

Any response to my last post OP?

Yes, I think so, it's on the bottom of page 3 unless you've posted since and I've missed it.

The top of the leader board can always be in the DO if the public vote is reverse of the judges'.

So if we have the order Ricky, Ali, Laila, Chris from the judges it is fairly easy to imagine that the public order may be opposite of that.

Ah yes, silly DS wasnt loading posts for me to see!

Well, although I understand your post was aiming at team Cola fans (why the capitals incidentally?) are you going to create Ricky and Ali posts in fairness considering this scenario can happen to all or do you not think Ricky and Ali fans should be noted of this? After all, the more people who are alerted of this, the more people may contact the BBC which I imagine is what you would appreciate?

Well I would be suprised if he wasnt popular with his own fans

And dont always assume Chris has the popular vote. Each of the other Quarter Finalists have had one dance off each and One Dance Off Does Not an Unpopular Contestant make...we have our very own Alesha Dixon as proof of that!

Yeah, actually re the next week scenarios, I'd pretty much written-off Laila as a certain DO chuck next week. But actually thinking about it, it's not entirely fantasy that next week could end something like this:

JUDGE'S BOARD
Ricky - 4
Ali - 3
Laila - 2
Chris - 1

PUBLIC VOTE
Chris - 4
Laila - 3
Ali - 2
Ricky - 1

Total for everbody is 5 ... Chris and Laila are first and second in public vote and that takes precedence, so DO is Ricky v Ali. Production wouldn't have to chew off their fingernails worrying about a public favourite being kicked in the semis if that happened.

No reason for the capitals ( I wasn't shouting if that's what you were thinking) I don't think Ricky or ali threads would be appropriate as I don't believe they are the publics favourites and therefore as the judges favourites the present system favours them so they are hardly likely to want to change it.

Do you really think the producers would be worried about a public fave being kicked off in the semis when the judges saved 3-times-dance-off Lisa Snowdon over supposed favourite Austin Healey?

Thats why they dumped Gethin out they knew he would beat Alesha in a public vote in the final IMHO

So, if Chris tops the public vote in the semi final to leave a dance off between Ali and Ricky, perhaps you could explain to me how the judges will arrange it such that Ricky and Ali contest the final

I think it would make your debate more balanced and reasonable if you made if fairer by including Ricky, Ali or even Laila. It absolutely would be appropriate if you stand by what you said previously that you would be protesting if the tables were turned and it was Ricky, Ali (or Laila?) in the position you suggest Chris would be in, otherwise it could be said that you wouldnt stand by what you said as you wouldnt give a stuff if Ali or Ricky (or Laila) were in that dangerous position.

Also as you cant count Ricky as a judges fave after Chris scored higher than him this week and he drew with Laila and they've also slated him in the comments over the past few weeks.

I don't believe they will allow a dance off between Ricky and Ali. all they have to do to ensure this is place Laila last on the leader board.

But Ricky and Ali are not in that dangerous position are they ( be honest). Laila is I think toast this week and I can't see a way she can be saved ( others may)

I think it is highly likely that Laila will be bottom of the leaderboard this week because, on average, she is the weakest dancer of those who remain.

However, if either a) she dances out of her skin such that she scores higher with the judges or b) the public vote for her in their droves then she will be safe. Plus Chris & Ola have samba this week and I can't see Chris getting to grips with that!

OK everyone are we just going to do nothing. I'm on the phone to the Beeb tomorrow just to highlight the imbalance now and the fact that we are being asked to ring to vote to save people when the judges have probably made up their minds about the danceoff for saturday last night

Let's ask for the dance off to be abandoned this weekend. Lowest cobined score goes home

Anyone going to do the same

I'd question whether Austin Healey was ever favourite. I suspect Tom, like Mark Ramprakash, was always the audience favourite. The crunch from a production POV comes at semi-final stage ... of course, in earlier rounds you will lose people who came higher on the public vote than the other DO contestant all the time - a helluva lot of weeks that will be the case. Austin went in the QFs iirc. And I'm sure you were right at that point he would have been more popular than Lisa. But the public still had Tom left.

The producer's nightmare is the person who wins the semi public vote not making the final. I don't think that's ever happened - and for a show that relies on audience participation for a large slice of its audience, it shouldn't ever happen. The personalities don't really come in to it. The show's been tailored now to make sure, in normal circumstances, that it has more dance credibility ... three couple finals - effectively, two judges picks and a crumb of one place no matter what for audience favourite. If you go to two couples final and the audience doesn't get its crumb, you're in serious trouble ratings wise not just for that year, but for future years. The concept is the judges have their say and 'you, the public' have your say. The moment that becomes only 'you, the public, might sometimes have a say', you're in big trouble in terms of keeping your show primetime 8million+ territory.

Actually, if we're talking average scores, Chris is the weakest. Having said that, Laila's very close to him.

I am being 100% honest, I think Ricky and Ali could very well be in that position. We havent seen them dance in the QF or the SF yet. Chris and Ola could give the performance of their lives and Ricky and Ali could have a bad night. I dont think that is likely....but it would be logical to say that you cannot predict what is going to happen over then next 2 weeks.

I refuse to presume I can gauge the public's fave which is bandied about on this forum due to a supposed leak of the votes and also from the fact Chris has never been in a dance off. Everyone assumed Natalie C was extremely popular with the public, particularly as she was saved from the DO when she gave that shockingly awful Samba performance. But look at what happened this week eh?

Im not sure of your purpose in this thread to be honest OP, which is why Im commenting on it a lot.

Are you merely not a big fan of the judges' scoring?

Do you just want it to be public vote only?

Do you not agree that Ali and Ricky are the best dancers left in the competition?

Are you a Cola fan and you want to whip up some extra support for them? If you are, I think you should realise that your post regarding how you would protest if other contestants were in Chris' position is a tad hypocritical.

And if Laila comes top with the public?

It must surely be possible for any one of the four left to get through to the final. The reason being, if it is not possible for someone to be saved from a dance off, then we have the same mess of a situation as we had last year with Tom. The whole situation with new tie votes system and an extra judge was brought in - at considerable cost - to ensure that the public COULD save someone, if they vote enough for them, obviously.

So, Cola might not win, but they can win - whatever the judges do. Same goes for Laila, Ali or Ricky if they top the public vote. Otherwise we have Votegate all over again. Don't we?