Generally, ALW has already made up his mind & no matter what a girl does in the sing-off he'll put her through.

I agree, and he bends his reasoning for every vote. It seems like one week he's thinking of who's best suited to Dorothy. The next he's thinking of the vocals. The next he's thinking of who will be able to handle the pressure. He's not consistent at all.

Absolutely no point.

Never has been.

I'm sure he has every single scenario covered before hand and it's already predetermined, despite his very lame attempts to stir uncertainty.

Tonight (well last night) was an excellent case in point.

i dont think it has a point for alw as such, apart from adding tension to the show, but i do think it is good for the girls in a way as can give them another chance to show the veiwers at home how good they (or not) under pressure

it also can provide some great songs (for instance in the previous series, the sing off between sam barks and rachel tucker doing memory was fantastic)

I dont know... I think most of the time no, but I think sometimes it might sway him one way or another - Bronte and Lauren is one that sticks out.

Im also inclined to believe that Stephanie's clear distraught at being in the bottom two may have hurt her chances.

I think in most cases he knows which one he is going to save before the sing-off, but there are a few times when it's so close that he uses that as a determining factor. I also think the sing-off is a way for the girls to make an appeal to the audience, so that whoever gets saved may gain votes for the next week.

It certainly adds to the drama.

The only time he saved the person with the fewest votes was Lauren last night so if he had let the public decide there would be pretty much no difference anyway!

No there isn't really any point. Esp when ALW tells us at the beginning of the show that Dorothy has to be able to do comedy and then gets rid of Jess over Danielle. But it does add tension and its true that some of the best performances have been in the sing-offs.

And dont forget the dog excuse .

It's also a chance for ALW to save his favourites from any really disasterous public voting outcomes ... yesterday for eg he might have lost Lauren had it been down to the public alone. As it's his show on the line I bet it's one of his conditions for doing the show that he gets as much control as possible over who stays and goes each week .....

To be honest, if you are asking the public to part with their hard-earned money and vote, it seems pretty arrogant to me to then save the person who they as a group least favour.

Makes the whole process absolutely pointless. The last in the public vote should really, in truth, close the door behind them and leave graciously.

ALW has ONCE in this whole competition saved someone who goes against audience voting... I dont really see that as too bad. I preferred Jenny to Lauren but I knew he'd choose Laure, she has a good voice.

maybe not arrogance, but protecting the interests of the show, if in his professional veiw that someone either would not be able to cope with doing the show, or is not right for the role, and would therefore mean bad reveiws and possibly poor sales, then i can see where he is coming from.

Fortunately I missed that horror last night - I think I would have thrown something at the telly! Joke.

No, there is no point. It's just filler. It could hardly be more obvious that ALW has already considered all possible combinations and decided which contestant he would save in any eventuality before they sing.

There have been times, particularly in previous shows that he has seemed to base his decision on the sing-off...if I remember correctly, in IDA he referred to the sing-off specifically as a basis for his decision to save Rachel Tucker over Sarah Lark, I'm sure there are other examples.

Ultimately, it seems that the sing-off is far more likely to influence his decision earlier on in the show--once it gets past a certain point, he's seen so much from the girls prior to the naming of the bottom two, it would be silly if not unwise for him to allow one song to supersede all of that...

Besides why bother with a sing-off for a primarily acting role.

Not this series, with the boys a few singoffs seemed to make a difference.

I prefer the sing-offs, dance-offs and skate-offs on other shows where a whole judging panel gets to vote, not just one person.

There are only two reasons for the sing off -

1. To keep the level of suspense as high as possible (i.e. good viewer ratings).

2. To give ALW some degree of control over who stays and who leaves.

If ALW was required to base his decision solely on the sing off performance, it might be a different matter, but he is not (unlike the judges on SCD). From a contestants point of view, all it does is prolong their agony.

Except when Matt sat on a step and pouted . .............................

True...so very true!

PS In later years there may be have been a couple of other exceptions!

Good point.

I don't think a show with just acting would capture the publics imagination though,do you?I certainly wouldn't watch.

I love to get the goosebumps when someone totally nails a song.

Also,i prefer that there is at least a result after the singoff and a judge has actually judged.,although i do admit the sing off performances don't seem to have any relevance to who gets voted off(Daniel Boys versus Lewis in adwd!).

Its better than the ridiculous deadlock scenario in X Factor where the judges get asked to judge the sing off and then send it to deadlock,claiming they will let the public decide.The joke of it is that they haven't given the public a chance to vote on the 2 in the sing off,which would often be massively different to the original voting.They may as well just vote off the bottom in the voting,though that would negate the need for the sunday cabaret show(which i don't even watch now out of protest at the deadlock fiasco.

Rant over.Sorry.

he money and reputation on the line, of course he will go for who he prefers