Well, that's my opinion!

Her American smooth really didn't merit that perfect score and her AT was actually quite ropey, but still scored well. I turned to hubby at the time and said "that could well have lost her the public vote". I admit I am a team Cola fan, but I would have preferred to see Ali in the final with Chris than Ricky (largely because I can't stand Natalie), but I think the judges did her no favours with their high scores.

Nobody's dance deserved a 10 but they insist on giving them out.

I completely agree. I commented to my husband after the AT when she went wrong that she would still get 9's. The judges seem to overlook her numerous mistakes week after week and still rewarded her with high scores. I am not a Ricky fan by any stretch but I thought his AT was magnificent and outshone Ali's American Smooth by miles, but he didnt get the perfect score. By being the judges pet she has paid the price.

I felt it unfair on the judges especially Bruno to keep harping on about Chris' face when he is dancing I was glad when Bruce stuck up for Chris. At least Chris didnt mess up the steps. I am glad they had the power taken away from them, at last the public showed the judges what they thought of them

I disagree Either Ricky or Ali were doomed this week regardless of their scores and the same will happen next week The fact is that neither have the public vote and the last two shows are merely charting Chris' triumphant procession to the Strictly trophy...

...great if you're a particular fan, desperately dull and predictable if you're a neutral

Yup, the second she scored perfect for a dance that had an obvious mistake I knew she was doomed - I'm Team Cola, but chucked a vote Ricky's way last night out of annoyance with the judges - their AT was the least enjoyable of the night, if they'd marked her fairly she might still be there

[quote=Agent Krycek;37249391]Yup, the second she scored perfect for a dance that had an obvious mistake I knew she was doomed - I'm Team Cola, but chucked a vote Ricky's way last night out of annoyance with the judges - their AT was the least enjoyable of the night, if they'd marked her fairly she might still be there[/QUOTE]

Possibly, in which case Ricky would be gone, Ali would be the runner-up instead and the final result would be even more obvious than it is now

Thats why I think craig is the best judge. He doesn't hand them out at the drop of a hat. If he gives a 10 you know it's really deserved.

Bruno and Alesha are a bit too 10 happy, so they don't really mean much.

I think a lot of people may have done the same!

I actually cringed during her AT, both the fellas did much better ATs than she did, and far more enjoyable to watch.

I don't think you can simplify it to that extent. There were a number of possible factors last night in Ricky's favour which could have been the equal of or greater than factors counting against Ali...and, if so, you could just as easily claim one of those positives for Ricky cost Ali her place. In other words it was almost certainly a combination of factors and it's highly speculative and questionable to single one out as key.

However, I'm sure that perceived overmarking does affect votes to an irrational degree...but also people who have made up their minds not to vote for someone may be prone to assess them as overmarked.

She looked terrified. There was no tension in the body or the atmosphere. Floppy. Like her tango and most of her Latin.

I felt sorry for her. Overmarking annoys people no end and she shouldn't have got those marks but wasn't it just her poor performances per se that lost her votes?

Actually I think it was probably Ricky's AT that did for Ali.

It was stunningly good (slight timing issue on the steps notwithstanding - and I didn't notice that at the time anyway).

She was overmarked, but I don't think that mattered really, she just wasn't as good either on technical (to beat Ricky) or entertainment (to beat Chris).

Neither of her dances were that great, the AT was the worst of the night and her AS was pretty weak so how she got a such a high score shows the judges really lost it

I agree with you

It was a fight for the finals between Ricky/Ali, last night Ricky upped his game. Simples.

Agree, as soon as I saw their AT I made up my mind to throw my floating votes for Ricky instead of Ali. It was just miles better then her AT, and I preferred it to her AS. The judges marks didn't really make a difference to that decision. Ricky just pulled it out of the bag.

Actually both me and hubbie argeed that Chris probably didn't do enough work in the rhumba and his hands were pretty bad so despite liking him where willing to see him go on the basis of that. Then Ali came out and she was shockingly bad (I think it is the worst AT I've seen) and the judges still marked her higher than Chris - I have to admit I was preduiced against before she did the AS because of that and then she made mistakes in that and got a perfect score and that was it we wanted her gone. She got more public vote than Ricky last week so unless Ricky fans didn't vote last week because they knew he'd survive a dance-off which is possible then it's not that the public had it in for Ali before she set foot on the floor. Nothing gets people's backs up more than over-marking.

I'd agree with that - I've been voting for Chris, but didn't last night, because I didn't think he did enough, and I would have been ok with seeing him go at that stage. I also thought Ali's AT was terrible, and she was massively overmarked in both dances, and in comparison Ricky's AT was undermarked, so I voted for Ricky, because I thought he was better.

Ricky was never a great vote getter, but neither was Ali, both dancers being in a league of their own having suffered the indignity of the dance-off. Thanks to the safety net of judges in the dance-off neither was ever in danger of eviction. Until last night a low phone vote was immaterial to them.

But how did Ricky suddenly climb above Ali? During the last hour in the Saturday Voting Intentions poll Ali rose by 1% whereas Ricky rose by 2%. If this indicated a late groundswell for Ricky, fair enough, but climbing a minimum 12% to beat Ali?

Was it due to multiple voting for Ricky?

What was the ££value of Tom's Strictly win to his career? Could it have been worth Ricky's and Natalie's managers spending £10K on a highly organised team of multiple phone votes?

No complaints, all's fair and within the rules if not actively encouraged, and is evidently the practice with Cola supporters. Fair Ali and innocent Brian would probably have not thought of this angle?

Or was it the case with 90% of the phone electorate being female, at the moment of truth they voted for their male gender preference? Yes, Ricky promised in Week One if he got to the Final to dance in a thong, BBC permitting?

Oh dear, Cinderella gone leaving not even a slipper behind.

I agree.

I agree. I think this was a big factor for the 'neutral' voters in not voting for her.

It's the same every year. There is always one (usually female) who seems to get overmarked and rated highly by the judges no matter what they do. In the end, the wider public gets bored of the favouritism, they don't vote for the couple and they get eliminated in the final three. It happened with Emma Bunton, Lisa Snowdon and now Ali Bastian.

Is it fair? Probably not. But that's the way it goes.

Certainly I'm not suggesting the voters had it in for Ali particularly...simply that claims of overmarking have to be considered in conjunction with the tendency of some people to look for reasons to justify pre-existing prejudice...and a classic example of such a reason is 'overmarking'.