Why would it have been ridiculous?

If Donal had won, he would have been the viewer's choice and that's how these shows work.

It's not necessarily about being the best. That's what the Olympics is for.

Both Kyran and Suzanne said that wasn't right.

I've stopped watching because it's just not gripping enough for me to handle all the advert breaks. I did record it once, so I could flick though the ads, but never get time on other nights. I only popped in here today to find out who went out last sunday!

Yes I am not as 'into' it as I have been before but I dont really know why.

It makes it easier to FF over the earlier part of the results show and get straight to the part that matters without FF-ing too far and having to back up.

Why would that mean it wasn't ridiculous for him to win?

"Would have been the viewer's choice" applies just as well to anyone in the show. It still would have been ridiculous if Todd, say, or Coleen has won.

good point!

I must admit that although I feel I need to watch all of the first show to properly get into it, I do record and FF through a lot of the results show - all the constant repeats of what has already happened are a little tedious.

In some ways I agree with you, but unlike the pros on Strictly, not all ice skating pros have experience in teaching or putting choreography together.

I wonder how it's all actually done, and just what role T&D have.

The week when Emily's partner seemed annoyed that she wasn't getting routines that showed she could skate on her own in the way she'd done in training, he and Emily seemed to be dealing with some random guy, not T&D.

(My impression is that in ballroom dancing the pros normally choreograph their own routines, but the top skaters seem to have a choreographer or coach doing much of the choreography, though of course the skaters have to have a role as well.)

I'm not bored of this series, but I stopped watching halfway through last year because it was obviously that smug Quinn was going to win.

In principal it would not have been ridiculous if Todd or Colleen had won either. But the really naff dancers/skaters have never won these types of shows, and Donal certainly didn't fall into this category. His skating was very respectable and he improved a lot.

The word 'ridiculous' implies there was something unjust about the outcome. But so long as the votes aren't being miscounted, then everyone is playing by the rules.

Maybe it's the rules some people would like to see changed?

I don't agree that "ridiculous" implies unjust.

Nor does it imply that anything happened that was against the rules.

If people want to say the result would be unjust or unfair or anything else along those lines, they can say that. They say "ridiculous" or "absurd" because they're making a different point.

All replies that say the "ridiculous" winner would have been the voters' choice are simply missing the point.

Of course they can say the result was 'ridiculous' and equally I can question why they would say that.

I fail to see what would have been absurd about Donal winning. He was a good skater and he (and Flo) were likable. He ticked all the relevant boxes.

Of course you can question it, but treating it as if it were about the person not being the viewers' choice, or about the rules being violated somewhere, somehow, or about injustice, is changing the subject and missing the point.

Evidently not for some people.

I know that or he'd have won and I respect the viewer's decision.

And I don't think me inferring the 'ridiculous' remark insinuated some sort of injustice was missing the point at all.

The word ridiculous means 'unreasonable' which implies unfair to me. Why would it be unreasonable for the contestant who gained the most votes in the final to win DOI? Seems perfectly logical and reasonable and above board to me.

Miss you Buddy.

I'd watch that

Its definitely an odd series. Hayley's challengers move on up and then fall back. Everyone left bar Mikey and possibly Hayley has had a vote problem. This far in we have no real idea who the competition is. In a way, thats good as the competition is open. In another, its bad as the Mikey vote looks likely to turf out some real contenders before we find out if they were the contender.The judges marking and comments on Sunday looked random to me for Daniella, Kieron, Gary and Danny - I think you could have played with that order a lot and still been able to defend it and argue the opposite to the spin of the night. The routines seem overloaded in some cases, too difficult in others, empty in some others and it seems random who gets the good one or two of the week. It looks manipulated to make it look less clear cut - but there again it looks too random and messy be more than a mess. Meanwhile, as people who are getting better go, Mikey stagnates or gets worse and still survives in the top 2 of the vote - probably on the basis of what he sang years ago and who he knew. It could end up being as close as series 2 or 3 or as unbalanced and pointless as the final in series 4, and, unlike series 4, the worst skater might actually win this one.

So would I - but never again with Bunton and Gardiner on the panel.

Oh Sid, I'm sure you can see as well as I can why it could have been considered absurd to consider Donal a more worthy winner than Ray Quinn.

If he'd won it would have been a fair reflection of his public support, of course it would, but you can hardly pretend that on skating merit he was ahead of the pack. And you know I'm saying that as a former Donut.

It all depends what criteria you use to judge whether a result was the 'correct' one - and the world ain't never gonna agree on that. Still, I think most of the time we get the deserving winner, by hook or by crook.

NO i think it ia a fabulous show, and it is so inspiring to kids and these days the kids need some inspiration in life to stop them turning into the awful chavs that this country is producing, all they can think of is causing disruption and think it is funny....carry on DOI and give the kids something exciting to do

Aw sweet of you! - but I'm still not watching! Our paths will cross elsewhere!

Ratings seem pretty healthy at 8.2 million on Sunday, so I don't imagine ITV will be too worried.

I certainly find this year far more exciting than last year, despite the annoying bias and manipulation towards certain contestants.

If only they could get rid of the last no-hoper of a skater in Mikey, it would be a really interesting contest I think.

Absolutely agree ! I think Daniella, Danny, Kieron and Hayley will all have to do something really great to win the show (although my personal favorite is Hayley...she gives it everything she has got!) and last year, it was so obvious Ray was going to win...at least this year there is a little element of surprise still left (if everybody else improves and Hayley stays the same)

Yep. I think the contest is still quite open compared to most years (even if you accept that Hayley is at present possibly the best in some respects). And I think that's a good thing.