Whilst I would agree with this I would like to point out......

Ali and Ricky are in the semi final with Chris and have as much chance as Chris if the public vote for them.

Jade withdrew (not Chris's fault)

Zoe went out when there were (as Len said) 5 couples worse than her so again (not Chris's fault)

Laila on her night was good but on another night was terrible it would have been wrong for her to go through on Saturday as Chris did dance better than her in both dances.

This series is unique to me for the lack of decent and consistant dancers in it.....and its unfortunate that Ali and Ricky have not caught the imagination of some voters. However in my view there is still everything to play for.

I think we can all agree that Chris is guaranteed to be in the final now the dance off has been scrapped, but I still think it will be close between Ricky and Ali, depending on who dances the best on the night. I would much rather see Ricky in the final, as Ali has to be one of the most boring people ever on Strictly- she reminds me of Rachel Stevens last year. I definately will be voting for Ricky on Saturday.

Hope it doesn't backfire on you.

Strictly 7: Alians vs Colans (the Barbarians)

Hope so. I'm a S.F. freak.

Rachel was a much better dancer than Ali primarily because she mastered both disciplines. They're probably on equal footing in Ballroom but, in the Latin Rachel completely blows Ali off the dancefloor.

There is no way Ali's Rumba or Tango performances come anywhere near Rachel's, and I doubt very much if her AT reach the same spectacular heights.

Like you I will be voting for Ricky, but, I'm under no illusion that the people who will beat him to the final are a patch on last year's runner-up.

Exactly. I have very little money at the moment and allowed myself a certain number of votes each Saturday, but if Chris is the winner I will keep my cash for other things.

Makes sense I've spent my money on a cinema ticket for Saturday as I've lost all interest now

I'm an Ali supporter but I agree with you on the above. Rachel was a much better dancer than Ali. In fact I think she was streets ahead of any of this years bunch, Ricky included.

True Daisy I think that was proved by how many times Rachel and Vincent won on the SCD tour this year! As lots of you have said there has not been an outstanding competitor this year, may be Jade! It is very open you will just have to vote more to ensure the person you want is in the final!

The best dancer doesnt always win this competition!

Because she will get to do a showdance .. and that will be worth seeing

But they usually can dance quite well

But I want to see Ricky's show dance too. I could accept Chris winning as long as the final was a good show. For me that means great dancing so if it was a 3 person show I could at least have the pleasure of Ricky and Ali while going to make a cup of tea when Chris is on

One thing is for sure, my favourite rarely wins.

Exactly

That's how I feel about it as well, only I would sit and watch everyone's dances. Ali and Chris have had 13 weeks to do something with their latin and let's be frank neither of them are very good at it. This year's final will have some great ballroom and and two mediocre latin. Hopefully they'll both pull out something for the showdance, but I'll be surprised if either of them will surprise us like Tom or even Darren did (if you knew how much I dislike Darren Gough you will know how hard it was for me to type that). Chris will re-vamp his Charlston and Ali will probably do some "dreamy" AS. Hopefully I'm wrong and will be pleasantly surprised but, going on the past 13 weeks (and last week in particular) "I don't think so".

Interesting to see how the judges spin it. Ricky going before the final is bad but losing to Chris in it is worse for the show. Ricky has had more marks but Ali has had a higher high. Ali may be near enough to Chris to win or barely ahead of Ricky.
As Ricky and Ali are close and they can claim either was better in different dances they could spin for anyone. The safe option is to praise both because the last thing they want is to make it clear that the best dancer didn't even make the final.

Excellent post theneworkbabe and I too am interested in how the judges will spin this. I still believe he was supposed to have gone out against Natalie and if he had they would have been spared this embarrassment.

They must be spitting feathers over Jade's injury because I really think she was the only one capable of taking over from Chris. People could see her improving and enjoying SCD and both on here and with people I talked to she seemed to be everyone's favourite or second favourite.

I think Ricky is still in with a good chance at the final. To be in the dance off once doesn't necessarily shake the fans up as it can be fluke, and the chances are he will be saved. To be there twice shows that if he is to stay the public need to get dialing.

I think they are all vulnerable in a way, but I would say that it's plausible Ricky could pick up a lot of votes from the people who are floating but know they don't want either Chris or Ali in the final.

That is a crying shame because she would have given us the choice in a final with 3 in it too. She would have added a journey and a different style to the final and might even have pushed the others to perform to stay ahead of her. Problem 2 of course was that they had lost Zoe as a repalcement too and Leila went off the boil when she needed to step up.

In a determined effort to waste my life I looked back at the marks for this series and the really surprising thing to me is that not only does Chris have Jade and Ali and Zoe and Ricky in front of him but he also gets beaten more dances than not by Phil and Nat at the point they go out. I think Nat with the right dances (no lifts) might have kept on going , so we would have had the choice of a journey or basic ability this week or last. A female with a journey story might not have been unstoppable as a male with massive support for whatever, so we might as you imply have had an unpredictable conclusion even without Jade.

I don't agree with this statement!

Where is all this supposed progress from Chris? An increase in gurning does not make for progress!

His dancing is well below the other two technically, and on a par with Ali but below Ricky on a performance point!

This is now fixed for Chris to win so the BBC can keep their votewinner in the final...

All getting rid of the dance-off has done is made things a LOT more interesting this week.

Now the straight battle between the two best pairs will definitely take place...it'll just be in the semi, not the final. Ali and Ricky are going to have to dance out of their skins to ensure public support that gets them past the post.

I do think this ruling smacks of a fix to get Chris into the final, but that's fine - they wouldn't be the first reality show to make up the rules to suit their needs and they won't be the last.

Let's just enjoy the ride to the final, and all of Cola's Thickos, cheer with me that he's made it. Unless something really bad happens

That's about right - although I quite like Natalie

Our household are all unanimous in that we want Ali and Chris in the final. Ricky is a good dancer, but I don't get all excited when I watch him dance. I love Ali's dancing, and I love watching Chris's effort, and the fun he is quite clearly having. If either of them won, I'd be quite happy.