I don't really care who wins this "popularity contest," but for the BBC to move the goalposts so late in the day, in an attempt to make it "more popular," may in the long run have the opposite effect.

Sorry, but, what are you talking about?

Psst, I think it's an attempt at a 'subtle' whinge about Chris getting through.

Silly thing is that the fact Chris got through means he had the highest public vote. So had there been a dance off it would have been between Ali and Ricky. And Ricky probably would have gone through.

But let's not point this out to the OP as they clearly want to have a whine.

Actually...the result tonight shows that if the Dance Off was still there then Chris would've probably gone. As Ricky has been saved then he must've got at least second with the public vote - if he'd finished bottom he would've gone (unless Ali had won the public vote).

That means that Chris couldn't be saved by the public:

Ricky 3+2 = 5
Ali 2+1 = 3
Chris 1+3 = 4

Ali v Chris.

Ricky 3+3 = 6
Ali 2+1 = 3
Chris 1+2 = 3

Ali v Chris.

Removing the Dance Off saved the public favourite (relatively speaking).

The public voted - not the BBC - and the public have got the 2 finalists they wanted.

The public pay for the BBC and the judges salaries - time for the judges to learn their place!

Would the OP like their dummy back?

How rude

Actually Fudd's right. But you can't tell how people would have voted if the dance off was there. For example I voted for Chris AND Ricky tonight but if there was a DO I would probably only have voted for Chris.

I don't believe production interference so late in the day that potentially alters the outcome is a good idea if it can be helped...and I do suspect that it is damaging long term for this kind of show.

However, the alternative was hardly satisfactory either...and no doubt the OFCOM-on-speed-dial merchants would have been poised over their phones had the rules not been changed.

The bottom line is there should have been a rollover weeks back to keep the numbers up.

And a good job too - it would have been totally wrong for the person who came top in the public vote to be voted off by the judges at this stage.

Considering some of the abuse Chris fans are getting tonight (we have been told on here already that we should be taken to one side and shot), I think that particular comment is pretty mild.

This.

The BBC didn't put Chris or Ricky through. The public did. All the Ali fans who are spitting their dummies out need to accept that A) Her fans didn't vote enough and B) She didn't do enough to convince the neutrals to vote for her. So stop blaming the BBC, Chris fans and Ricky fans.

Really ?

Are you following me around the forum or something?

Compared with the abuse Chris supporters have received on this forum tonight I dont think making a comment like mine really constitues as being rude. Im just reminding them about how childish they sound.

There are lots of dummies flying about tonight!

Someone wise posted last week that you had to wait to see the result to see if the rule change saved Chris. We now know it did as Ricky would have gone through with both the public vote and judges lead. Its very unlikely people would have voted differently if the dance off had been there - not least as smart Ali fanss should not have voted for her at all as soon as Ricky topped the leaderboard. Chris would have faced Ali in a dance off with Ali with the best marked dance of the series - snowballs in hell would have had more chance of surviving.

You now have a winner who is oinly there because the BBC changed the rules or a winner who can't face his major competition in the final.

Instead of panicking to save Chris and not upset his vote the rule change required was one to make sure that three dancers made the final - which would have allowed Chris to continue and the two best dancers to actually fiinish the competition.

I knew there would be. Why do they take the show so seriousley? Its all a bit of fun at the end of the day. Ali and Brian are doing the tour, so its not like they will never see them dance again.

Seriously. It's been deleted now.


I agree. The week to carry over all votes was the week Jade left of course - either bringing back Phil and carrying over the votes from the previous week or simply carrying over the votes to the next week. But they could've still carried it over, even at this late stage.

Don't flatter yourself. I'm just reading all the possible Anti Chris threads.

Well it happened with Gethin and the world didn't end and I'm sure it wouldn't have had Chris gone.

Is there any actual proof that Gethin finished top of the public vote?

To be fair, we don't actually know that - because we don't know how the lack of dance off affected the voting either.

The only way we would know for sure would be if the voting was carried out as if a dance off were in place ... and then the announcement after the lines closed that there wasn't

It almost ended for me. I loved Gethin and I still haven't got over it. I think that he would have got through to the final if there hadn't been a dance off. I think he was better than Matt because he didn't make mistakes (ducks waiting for Matt lovers to throw things at me).

The only way to avoid this is to ensure that each year there is a three person final. The BBC should put in a contingency for this.

Good point. About as much evidence as Chris really. Just rumours and so forth. But based on the quarters that year it seemed that way.

They probably thought they were making a different show. A search of the archives found a letter addressed to Jimmy Saville from a young Chris Hollins saying "Dear Jim, would you fix it for me to win Strictly Come Dancing" and the producers thought they could save loads of dosh by making both Jim'll Fix It and Strictly at the same time