The final scores were Ali 47, Chris 41, Ricky 40, I think. I don't think they'd have deducted 6 points or more, do you?

So honestly, is this thread about anything other than demonstrating for your favourite and against someone else's?

oi watch it !

want a race ? do you, do you ? come on !!!! lol

Yes, but arguably if she was clealy overmarked due to favouritism in the VW, it is a credible argument that she was overmarked in the Charleston. 5 overmarked sets of scores could quite easily have changed the leaderboard by 6.

Of course Ali was overmarked in the Charleston - by Alesha, by one mark.

Haven't read the whole of this thread, but Karen also said that she thought Chris's Charleston was undermarked. Maybe they didn't want Chris at the top of the leaderboard and risk an Ali/Ricky dance off??

I just watched it again ,. As soon as the dance is over , before anything else ,Brian walkes straight over to Ricky and Natalie and gives Ricky a warm hug , obviously I cant hear , but the whole body language looks like and apology and is warm and Ricky is too .
Also Natalie repeats what Len said about floor something and its sound very much like she is reapting it for someone who didnt hear perhaps

I'm not trying to get Ali "off the hook" - I was genuinely wondering. If, as Flavia said, floorcraft is part of the skill of the routine and Ali and Brian are being marked as a couple then the ten is difficult to fathom. I was simply thinking up a possible reason; I'd like to hear the judges' explanation but I doubt I'd be any clearer.

Anyhow, it makes little odds in the long run. On balance, I think Ali deserved to top the leaderboard on Saturday night so whether she did it by 6 points or 1 point or 15 points is relatively immaterial. I also think all the right couples went straight through and the correct two were in the dance off - job's a good 'un.

I'm beginning to come round to that way of thinking....

If you operate on the assumption that Chris tops the public vote, even if you swap the top two around, there's still no way it's a Ricky vs Ali dance-off. For that to be the case Natalie has to beat Laila in the vote. She didn't.

Amazes me sometimes, how you can watch the same programme as someone else and see something completely different, so I went and watched the VW again. Brian clearly bumps into Ricky & Natalie, when the dance is over they all had a hug and it looked like a bit of a laugh, at the time I thought Natalie's 'yeah good floor craft' was her having a laugh at Brian's expense, (and I haven't changed my opinion) it all seemed pretty good natured and everyone seems to get along very well.

Ah but, for the conspiracy theorists, it's very possible that the judges might have expected Natalie to beat Laila in the public vote. She certainly did the week before. In which case, the judges could be forgiven for thinking that she might do so again and mark Ali top, knowing that was the best way to avoid their nightmare scenario no matter what the public did.

I'm not saying this is what happened. I've already said I thought Ali deserved to be top on Saturday but I like to examine all the possiblities for machinations. It intrigues me.

Exactly how I saw it as well.

Thats what I saw too , a hug , a bit of banter and a laugh
People see what they want to see unfortunatly and others then go along with it

As has already been said Brain clearly went straight over to Ricky to apologise and they had a hug. Then backstage when Ricky was teasing him about it, Brian lent over and shook his hand.

I really don’t see how that can possibly described as appalling or ungentlemanly. There was clearly no bad feeling there afterward, just teasing banter which is fairly typical of any series.

It’s not like Brian purposefully sent himself and Ali crashing into Ricky and Natalie in order to sabotage them, that would’ve been appalling, but imo it was clearly an accident. Perhaps Brian should’ve been able to avoid the collision but even pros can make mistakes.

As for Natalie I thought she directed the ‘good floor craft’ comment at Brian, I didn’t think she meant it as anything other than teasing him though.

I'm sure you're right - I cannot see Brian colliding deliberately - but it does make a mockery of Alesha's 10.

My thoughts exactly on the night. I was very surprised to see the ten I have to say.

Yep, I'd agree. I’ve disagreed with some of Alesha’s scoring throughout the series, Saturday was another example.

Given the near miss in the VW with Anton and Laila and the collision with Ricky and Natalie they should not have gotten a 10 for that, I was very, very surprised at that score.

I enjoyed their Charleston but to my untrained eyes it looked like the third best on the night, I thought she started great but got slightly messy from about half way through.

They’re my favourite couple and I still want them to win, but I’d agree that they were over scored on Saturday.

Wasn`t it Len who gave the 10 for their VW ?

Ignazio, your Freudian slip's showing. Alesha's 10 had nothing to do with Brian's bad driving, as it was for the other dance.

Apols for quoting my own post here and copying in another from another thread but I'm not sure how to cross-thread post!

Debbie H - just trying to explain why I thought as I did:




I was making the comment in a dancing sense, best explained by Erinfan on the Karen Hardy thread this morning:

"You NEVER cross the floor in a Vienesse Waltz. You stay in a continuous circle with the only break being going into the centre for the fleckerl. Crossing the whole way across is just asking for collisions and it's bad dancing etiquette. It's a small floor, so difficult to do a group VW, however Brian should have been aware of this and perhaps slowed down. Especially when he saw a cluster ahead. If he couldn't slow or overtake to avoid bumping into a couple, he should have steered Ali into the middle with a fleckerl.

It's not picking on him - hes utterly fabulous - but he was wrong on Saturday night during the VW. I think he was trying to show off a bit and went around too quickly and narrowly, but then failed to follow the line of the dance and got in the way of other couples. "

That is why I thought his (dancing) behaviour was ungentlemanly and appalling - good floorcraft is a very basic part of dancing when lots of couples are on the floor and as a more experienced pro I felt he should have been able to avoid it.

The point I was making was not that they "kissed and made up afterwards" - that's not what I meant by my comment on his behaviour - I was referring to what happened on the dance floor. I felt he could have and should have avoided it.

Not personal - but I thought it poor dancing etiquette.

I agree completely with TQ - I also thought that when Ricky apologised (wrongly as it wasn't his fault but he obviously thought it was) Brian should have spoke up. Especially since he almost barged into Anton and Laila, thank goodness Anton is so amazing that he immediately lowered their elbows to avoid it.

Also Alesha didn't give Ali a 10 for the VW, it was a joint judges decision.

Sorry - it was a joint decision by all judges.

Ah, I see. I get your point now, sorry for misunderstanding and thanks for clarifying.

I think Natalie assumes that she will win........

I doubt she assumes it. But what is wrong with thinking you have a very good chance? She has the most naturally talented dancer this year, who happens to be a looker that will appeal to the girly teens, and who is overall a nice guy (with appalling spelling and grammar ). She'd be a fool not to think she had a fantastic chance. Pros in previous years have all known when they had a winner - Karen knew the year with Ramps.