I thought his perfromance was outstanding. what was Craig thinking?

I'm with Craig - in that I don't think it was perfect.

I thought it went a bit funny somewhere in the middle where the leg movements looked tangled and a bit odd.

Well he spotted a mistake or two clearly. I thought Ricky stumbled in a couple of the lifts actually. Nonetheless it was still brilliant.

Mark deserved full house of 10s.
Rachel deserved full house of 10s.
Ricky deserved full house of 10s.

Thankyou! For me it far outshone Ali's American Smooth.

I think Craig mentioned that when Ricky came down the steps he was out of time, which was why he knocked a point off. I played it back and it was true. But the rest of the dance looked good to me, so maybe he was being a bit picky.

Don't think Craig can get past Rickys bandy legs

Absolutely. If Ali's AS deserved a perfect score then both of Ricky's dances did.

I really don't think they give out full marks on the merit of the dance anymore. It's all politics and it's something that is decided by the producers to give some couples more chance or to make the show interesting.

I think series 4 was the last time the judges marked dances fairly. Remember that 40 points for Matt to get Gethin out. As great as Rachel was, did her foxtrot deserve 40 points, especially that early on in the series and don't get me started on Lisa's perfect score. It's all politics folks, don't take it so seriously.

I have to say though Ricky was amazing and I'm glad he is in the final.

Guess he'd be more understanding if someone broke his legs in about 7 places.

A showstopping performance! deserved 50's up there with Ramps and Rachel, might even be my fave.

To be fair to Craig, he hasn't disguised the fact that Ricky's pigeon toes are a problem for him...so I don't think his '9' was unexpected or inconsistent.

I think if any dance on strictly deserved perfect score it's Mark and Karen AT.

If that didn't get 40 than surely we can't complain about another dance not getting perfect score.

This.

If Craig had given Ali & Brian a 9, then less people would complaining about Ricky & Natalie's lack of 50 points.

Yasmin is right about the politics (not that giving an extra mark to Ricky & Natalie would have made any difference) and the televisual/spectacle aspect of the scoring at this stage. With only three couples, they can put away the paddles from 1 to 7 and still separate them (the couples).

I don't think we're ever going to see a 7 in a strictly semi-final again.

Even though I'm a WWW and thought his AT was jaw droppingly fan-tas-tic, I think it's right that he didn't get a full house. I loved Mark and Karen's AT and although it's not as technical as Ricky's (or Rachel's) it's still the bench mark for all AT's in SCD. I think it's right that Ricky's was marked equal because I don't think it was better.

He was robbed of a couple more tens for his Waltz too.

Neither Ali or Ricky deserved a 50. That said he wasbetter than her. Just goes to show the judge's bias.

I agree too!

i agreed with craig u make a mistake u cant get full marks

Definitely thought so for the Waltz, I really thought he out-romanced Brian and Ali with that routine. It was stunning.

Indeed!

Given that Ali got 50 for her american smooth despite them messing up with their arms towards the start then Ricky should have got a 50 too. However given that both made slight mistakes i think they both should have got 49.
In all honesty what it means is that Ricky has something to work for in the final - getting an elusive perfect score

So why didn't Craig mark Ali & Brian down ? their AS wasn't perfect either

I agree with everyone who sees the discrepancies in one non-perfect dance getting a 50 and another non-perfect dance not: but it drove me to the voting phone, so maybe others too? I'm glad Ricky went through.