Yes - we do. The papers reported he was 60% ahead of everyone else in last week's vote!

I expect this was tonight's outcome:

Ricky
4 judges plus 1 public = 5

Ali
3 judges plus 3 public = 6

Chris
2 judges plus 4 public = 6

Laila
1 judges plus 2 public = 3

Ricky vs Laila

It's a reasonable guess, given the audience reaction and the fact they've never been in the dance off.

Surely...
4+1=5
3+4=7
2+3=5
1+2=3

gives us a ricky and laila DO.

I dunno, I take the papers with a pinch of salt.

There is someone who posts regularly on this forum who pms me each week to say Chris is getting the most public votes and they have inside information.

Thanks for the advice. Having only watched the series for 7 years, I didn't understand that concept.

Yes - sorry I correct my post. Chris could have come 2nd and avoided the dance off - but we all watch the show and we can all see the studio reaction (as well as the press reports on voting).

Clearly you don't if you expect the best dancer to win.

D'you know what, listening to the judges comments tonight I don't think they're actually that concerned either way - they'll do their job and mark and then let the public do their bit and then they'll decide from there - they were generous in their praise of Chris tonight.

If Chris tops the public vote then it will be Ali v Ricky in the DO. The judges got the order right tonight even though they marked some rather underwhelming (all of them imo) ballroom dances too high. Chris was only a few marks below Ali (39 as opposed to42) so I don't think you can really accuse the judges of voting in any other way than as they saw the dances. They also gave Chris credit for selling his samba despite it being low on dance content. Let's wait and see what happens next week.

My sentiments exactly.

If the BBC have any brains that is what they will do.

A final 3 is more interesting than a final 2. Chris going would be bad for both their viewing figures and their phone vote income!

Still, the studio isn't necessarily reflective of the public.

You're quite likely right, but i'm not taking it as certain he'll be top.

The issue is not whether there is judges collusion - I don't believe that either.

The point is we are at the semi final stage - and after 12 weeks we should let the public decide as they do on X factor after we reach the final 5.

How can it be right to have a judges vote, then a public vote followed by a judges vote which overtturns the public vote (meaning the public who voted wasted their money!).

Maybe if the Beeb trusted the viewers more they might match X factors ratings!

Where did I say I expected the best dancer to win?

Indeed and the way to be sure Ali and Ricky wouldn't be in the dance off if you knew she was most popular was to make her top the leaderboard.

Yeah, I think they're going with the flow - they know which way the wind is blowing (Due Cola) and they don't want to sail against it.

Or, putting it another way, they're giving in gracefully to the inevitable.

The public know they are voting to determine a bottom two for a judges dance off. They is the rules. If the public don't agree with the rules there is a simple solution. Don't bother to vote.

Strictly is exactly the same as Dancing on Ice which has a skate off all the way until the semi final. The only reason why the X Factor abandons it is because Scowell is only interested in having the most popular contestant win, not the best singer because he wants to make money by selling records based on popularity. Strictly is as much about skill as it is popularity - that's why there are judges. If it was just about popularity the BBC might just as well make them eat kanagaroo testicles and get us to vote for the most popular (oh, sorry - someone has already done that )

Which assumes that the judges will put her top of the leaderboard just because she is more popular with the public. They won't do that if she doesn't dance as well as Ricky. The top of the leaderboard position has been occupied this series by Ricky, Ali, Jade and Zoe depending on how they danced on the night which is as it should be.

surely the audience reaction tonight could convince the bbc to have a 3 person final ?

They have to think of the amount of viewers & votes that chris & ola bring in surely having them go out would dramatically reduce both viewing figures (close to xmas people may lose interest and go out instead of watching a 3 person final) and votes (all that revenue bbc think about it )

Would love a 3 person final and i am hoping (against hope) that the bbc "dramatically" announce this.

There could be a riot if cola dont get in the final if tonights audience is anything to go by...

The public don't decide anything on X factor. Simon decides what looks and sounds good, the order it appears in and what spin the VTs and judges put on it.

The public don't vote for a winner before the final. They vote to improve the chances that someone will stay in. If they didn't vote Chris would have no chance at all. The judges mark what they see.

Its actually worked out to give everyone a challenge.

Chris has to stop being the worst dancer to get straight through but can still get through however hopeless he is if the others fail their challenge.

Ali faces a dance off with Ricky if she can't beat him and will need a better dance than him to survive a dance off.

Ricky needs to do better than Ali and bank a dance to save himself in any dance off with her and he needs to get more popular support than her to avoid the dance off.

Its actually bised towards the worst dancer making the final and could produce one where Chris with minimal abiliy faces Ricky who seems to have minimal votes.That would be plain silly as Ali v Ricky would be closer on all grounds and even Chris V Ali might be more open on votes.

[quote=ianswaiting;37112011]The public know they are voting to determine a bottom two for a judges dance off. They is the rules. If the public don't agree with the rules there is a simple solution. Don't bother to vote.

QUOTE]

How many viewers really realise that even if Chris tops the public vote next week he is almost certain to be in the dance off and thus go home.

A lot of people posting on here don't..

Next week Tess should say:

if you want to save Chris vote for him but vote for Ricky as well as if Ricky comes bottom in the public vote having been second in the judges vote Chris will go home in the dance off and you don't want that.

Simple isn't it.

Unfortunately, "3 person final" seems to have become code to "ensure Chris goes through".


Oh? How many viewers and votes do Chris and Ola bring in?

I am looking for a specific, checkable number. Otherwise, it's just speculation. For all we know, Chris is only slightly more popular that Ricky.

Exactly, though you wouldn't know it from the conspiracy theory threads that have broken out.


Perhaps the reason they don't realise it is that it's not true.

Somehow, finding one case where it could happen has turned into "almost certain".

[quote=MARTYM8;37112402]
How is he almost certain to go? Assuming he tops the vote he has a 50/50 chance of ending up in the DO depending on thether the 2nd on the leaderboard ends up 2nd or 3rd with the public. Hardly 'almost certain' is it?

and as you say they didn't........

The system is such that the judges can't fix it. The problem is that anything can happen depending who got what vote or the best dance of the night or what order people end up in in the vote.

its fair because you can influence your chances by producing better work than your opponents but it can also mean that the most capable, the most popular or the one with the higher marks but the less outstanding dance -off dance can miss the final .

I would go for the three in the final solution and then they can have effectively two competitions - vote for the funniest Ola in a partnership and vote for which of Ali or Ricky impress you most. The only problem is that would mean carrrying over votes, they have no excuse for it and it gives the voting away early.