Oh I don't find them particularly dull at all. I just think my reaction to their dancing would be more a polite clap of appreciation rather than a 'woo-hoo! That was fab!'

They managed to save the final last year but the inadvertent cock up which allowed Tom in. Wonder if they can manage it this year too.

I welcome an Ali versus Ricky dance-off.

Not because I vehemently dislike either of them, but because I've become more attached to the other two celebrities. They are more engaging.

An added bonus of the above scenario is that it would cheese off the judges.

Why would it cheese them off? I'm sure they will act outraged but they have got 1 current bbc employee; 2 people doing the tour and Laila is a soon to be employee (is that correct?). I would have thought Ricky would be the sacrificial lamb, as he is neither on a bbc show or doing the tour so his departure allows them to act outraged which in turn gets more people voting and more publicity. The judges have also been more harsh in their comments towards Ricky recently so I think they are foreseeing this happening.

It's a shame if Ricky is booted off tonight as I enjoy his dancing the most, but I doubt the judges are going to lose any sleep over it.

I do agree with you and I strongly believe he was supposed to go out last week. Does anyone know which of this year's contestants have signed up to do this year's tour?

EDIT I've just checked and from this series the celebs are:

Ali
Chris
Natalie
Zoe
Ricky G

Seeing Natalie's name there has totally convinced me that they tried to stitch up Ricky last week.

For those interested the contestants from the previous series:

Kelly Brock
Mark Rampakash
Austin Healey

Look at this another way. By the judges being more critical of Ricky and him being in the DO, he is likely to attract more votes. Being in the DO is a good way of rallying support. I hasten to add that I don't want to see him up against Ali as they are both worthy semi-finalists.

......how about some exciting, tantalising, good quality dancing? Ali and Ricky in the finale would meet that criteria.

But that's not guaranteed to happen. An Ali vs Ricky dance off is good for their ratings. I'm just surprised after all these years of reality shows where most are scripted or engineered in some way for the result they want, that people still believe the reactions of the judges are in any way organic.

Mind you - I was surprised to learn recently at how inorganic the process behind come dine with me (my fave show!) is so I guess I can't really talk!

NO! I like Chris but I don't think he deserves to go through at the expense of Ricky or Ali and Laila is easily my least fave of those left.

I don't think anyone would argue with you as regards the good quality dancing - it's the exciting and tantalising where opinions seem to vastly differ.

Sadly that is not what a lot of people want to watch. Gurning and poor technique seems to be more important that good quality dancing this year.

If eithe Ali or Ricky go it will be the finish of the show for me. After Jade left I was disappointed but thought at least there are still good dancers in the show, but if Ali or Brian don't get through then I just really won't care at all about the show .

But some contestants have rather larger faults than others ... Laila and Chris's average scores are still in the twenties ... Ricky has never had a score in the twenties .. and Ali only has once and that was a 29.

I wish they would have a week whereby they had to take on one another's routine .. Chris can attempt one of Ricky's previous dances and Laila one of Ali's (and vice versa) .. there is no question that Laila and Chris would not be able to come anywhere near the other two's standards.
Ricky may make mistakes .. but on highly complicated routines .. he would sail through any routine that has so far been performed by Chris .. but the trouble is, Ricky would've been out long ago if he had performed such simple routines .. because he doesn't pull faces, he's not short and he doesn't have a million and one catchphrases.

I was only thinking the other day, I wonder if Chris do the "easy" lift which sparked off Len's tantrum.

What are the dances this week? Sorry haven't watched any of itt this week

I've been waiting for this thread from the OP ever since the outraged 'the SF is fixed so Chris can't avoid the DO' thread.

If Ali or Ricky go out tonight it would ruin the show for me because they are officially the best dancers remaining and I love them both. Laila is too inconsistent and as much as I think chris is a sweetheart he isn't good enough.

Aaaah go on, admit it , wouldn't it be just a little bit ROTFL to see their expressions , gnashing of teeth and tearing asunder of hair ?

No because, I imagine .. going on past experience .. they will be expecting it

Anyone know how we can engineer this outcome then:

Chris 1 in judges 4 with public = 5
Leila 2 in judges 3 with public = 5
Ali 3 with judges 2 with public = 5
Ricky 4 with judges 1 with public = 5

Ricky vs Ali in dance off

Should Chris fans vote for Laila to give her more votes than Ali?

I would love Ricky or Ali to go tonight as this would mean the judges couldn't manipulate the process next week to ensure a Ricky vs Ali final (which they could secure irrespective of the public voting).

Not at all, I don't particularly have the urge to spite the judges as I am not a child. I actually don't mind the judges and more often than not, the person they send home is often the right one - obviously not always though. I personally think the introduction of a 5th judge and the removal of Len's casting vote is the way forward.

It's simple for me, I like the dancing, I want the dancer who is consistent and technically the best to win, I enjoy the 'personality' contestants up to a point but prefer the better dancers which -for me and also by their scores- are ricky and Ali.

Now, now I'm not a child either, just big enough and ugly enough not be uptight about having a snigger at the judges LOL.

You are entitled to your opinion - but why don't you trust the viewing public to decide. They equate to hundreds of thousands of people dance experts and none - why should 4 petty judges with over inflated egos get to override their views!

Now insulting me just because I don't agree with you is really mature isn't it?

I'm not uptight, I just don't have this urge to annoy the judges, that doesn't hold any entertainment value for me to be petty. I didn't particularly like seeing their dilemma over Ali Vs Zoe either but it didn't give me a sleepless night. I watch the show, I vote for my fave, I get a little sad if one if my faves leave (like I did with Gethin) but then I just look forward to the next week's show. No hystrionics, no drama, , no ridiculous conspiracy theories, no petty vendettas...just merely enjoying my favourite dance show and hoping my favourite wins. If they don't, it ain't the end of the world.

I do trust the public to decide, see my previous post. It's not the be all and end all for me. The viewing public put the bottom two in the DO normally and I'm happy for the judges to choose out of the two. If you don't want your fave to be in the DO... It's simple, vote. Obviously with the 3 person SF coming, I'm not sure what's going to happen but I'm just focusing on what will hopefully be a great show tonight and vote for my favourite without any bloody histrionics.

You say vote - but next week if the judges put Ali top and Ricky second (very likely) then Chris will go out unless by some miracle Ricky beats Ali in the public vote.

So basically to see your favourite act win if you are a Chris fan you need to vote almost as much for Ricky so he beats Ali as you do for Chris!

Problem is few Chris fans will appreicate that as the voting system is not really explained clearly to them! Its also the same reason why the BBC never publish the SCD voting results - unlike ITV (which we don't pay for of course).

That would be a bore. Ricky would go, obviously.

I expect the judges to rip him apart tonight. They've gotten over him somehow.

If they are top it will because they did the best dances. I am not sure what is unfair about that Even Ali and Ricky on a bad day are better than Chris and Laila. That is why they are the top 2.