(...preparing to run because I know I should either know or be able to find out, or be able to work it out but cant...)

In the final, do the judges score the dances for guidance purposes only, and the winner is decided purely on the public vote on the night?

their scores dont make an difference in an 2 person final even if they were being used.The scores are for guidance only.

Oh thanks sally k.

Officially, the judges votes count. But since ties mean the casting 'vote' goes with the public, in effect they don't. The winner either gets 2 points from the judges plus 2 points from the public and therefore wins 4-2, or 1 point from the judges plus 2 points from the public giving a 3-3 tie in points and wins through having got more public votes.

I must admit I find it quite amusing that we now have a panel of 5 judges that don't matter, and all for the reasonable price of approx 7-8k each for one night's work

Maybe next year the beeb might consider having only one judge - perhaps Basil Brush - which would bring an instant saving to the licence fee payer of approx £250k. The money saved could be spent on decent dresses, better guest stars and maybe a few more quid could go the way of the pro dancers too

It is absurd. the purpose of judge 5 could only be to make any judges decision more credible. They might swing opinions where 4 couldn't, but I doubt it. They bring on the new judge . There's one decision who goes and it was the clearest case possible. So they then decide not to make any decision in the SF that could require more credibility. They now have 5 people who will either say what they think about Chris and be ignored or to avoid making the point, they will all claim he is the greatest dancer since Tom.