True. But if one of the good dancers goes this week that means that the "those who value dancing" vote will not be split in the final and the remainder will have more of a chance of winning. Not much of a chance, but at least a chance.

I don't think it's by any means certain that it will be Ricky who is eliminated. He seems to have picked up some of Laila's vote on here.

Only time will tell - statistically there is no reason why he shouldn't make the final 2. Although I think it's a given that Chris' popularity with the public is unassailable, it's all to play for between the other 2 - Ali too has been in the dance off.

It depends on what proportion of the public who value dancing are able to switch between two very different personalities and dance partnerships. I'd still like to see more dancing rather than less. Chris is going to struggle with the large number of dances needed for the final. I find these two couple finals rather flat.

but there will be a lot of people who once their favourite goes won't bother transferring their vote especially at this late stage

My perception is that his popularity has increased since last Saturday but of course we don't know whether the difference between his and Ali's vote last Saturday is large or small. Now there is a longer voting time slot multiple voting also comes into the picture.

I think everyone wants to see their favourite get to the final so they are able to see the maximum no of dances from them. However I really don't think it matters who wins once they are there. I know Jill (Chicago) and Alesha have benefitted from winning but I don't really think any of these three will in the same way.

And there are alot of people without favourates who just judge on which dance they found impressive that week and even more who only view the saturday show and so don't care about the gimmicks t-shirts, nick names and nipple pulling stunts.

Which is what happened last year.
Which is why I'm p.d off that the bbc hasn't learnt anything.

They will learn something if one of the two finalists gets an injury.

Now that would be a dis-aaaa-ster and is a good reason why a 3 person final is sensible.

I am hoping that Chris gets through to the final and goes on to win the thing.

Love the pairing of him and Ola and think he deserves the title. His first week Rumba was stunning and his Charlston was just fantastic.

Ali is okay but not as amazing as she is made out to be and Ricky is just a big headed bad driver.

Chris to win

Depends how you look at it.

Chris might be regarded as mediocre when it comes to dancing technique, but he's an exceptional performer.

The other two are excellent technicians, but I question their performance ability.

Hi Sid

Agreed again. I can't understand why people can't just accept that Chris is very popular and he has improved over the weeks whilst giving us alot of enjoyment. He is certainly my kind of contestant - trying hard and enjoying himself without appearing desperate to win.

I value dancing - and I think Ricky deserves to win it, yet there is no way my vote will be transferring to Ali, I'll keep the money in my pocket in that case, thanks.

I haven't voted yet this series but will do so on Saturday.

He hasn't improved that much he was 2nd on the leaderboard in week one scoring a 30 for his Rhumba which was the same score as Ali got

That is 2 dances out of the whole series, with the Charleston playing to his strengths and choreographed by an outsider.

Had he had the Rock n Roll....

I can accept he's popular, but he's certainly not an exceptional performer. He has one mode only, wich is chin out, and that's his performance.

I've felt where he had to keep a more restrained face (Paso springs to mind) his performance was as woeful as the legs were.

I would agree that Chris hasn't made the sorts of strides we saw slow-starters Darren Gough and Matt Dawson make.

But then I haven't witnessed much improvement in Ali or Ricky either. The former still struggles with characterising her routines and up until the weekend, Ricky was almost always guilty of making glaring errors.

He's obviously not to the unbiased. If you went to a show and saw one of the dancers pulling his faces most people would be put off. The only dance it fitted was the Charleston but he can't stop it. It is only the fact that his supporters know him and like his personality that they ignore his poor performance skills.

I question the other twos performance skill on some dances too but neither is as bad as Chris.

I really don't think any of them have got much better over the last few weeks. In fact Ricky is certainly no better than when he started (mistakes apart )- Ali only slightly but she still has a long way to go to reach the standard of Rachel and Lisa last year. I agree Chris hasn't come on in leaps and bounds but at least you can see a difference in his dancing from a few weeks ago.

I question the use of that word.

Those who watch Chris and think he performs well are going to like him.

Those who watch and think he looks like he's being tortured/tickled by the invisible man are not.

No bias on either side. Or equal bias depending on how you look at it.

Ah so the t-shirts etc are just for fun then!

Hey, I like Chris alot but even I'm not stupid enough to believe he isn't desperate to win. Of course he is. They all are.

Absolutely Sue - the progression is most evident in Chris, albeit limited.


Quite.

And I like to think that people can be critical of their favourites too. For example, the performance side of Chris' Paso didn't work for me and I said so at the time.

Hand on heart, I really can't see a difference in Chris Hollins's dancing from a few weeks ago apart from the Charleston which, performance and timing wise, was fantastic.

His Samba last Saturday was, in my eyes, excruciatingly bad - I watched it again today and then watched Ricky Whittle's Cha Cha and words almost fail me about the gap in quality - both performance and technique.

Where I do concede Chris Hollins has improved is he doesn't seem to forget the routines any more (apart from a little hiccup in the ballroom two weeks ago when he went the wrong way and Ola didn't know where they were going to end up).

Well remembering his steps is a great improvement

I agree that his dancing is not as great a Ricky's but its what you personally want to get out of the show. I am not a dance expert so the technicalities of a dance really go over my head. I watch it to be entertained and Chris does this for me. However, I do appreciate that isn't everyone's feelings and I totally accept what they say.

I just hope that, if he does win, we don't get the backlash we got last year with Tom. At the end of the day the GBP have the final say and its, like an election, you have to accept the result.

Sporty people more than most.