I cant see it myself, I can see it being

Matt or Scott for 1st and second
Ann 3rd with public, maybe 4th behind Kara

I reckon she's third behind Matt and Gavin.

Intresting you say Gavin, well he must doign well in the votes, he hasent been in the bottom 2 yet

I barely dare mention this - but there are rumours that Ann's vote is nothing like as big as we are being led to believe.

I just hope these rumours are true ...

God , I hope so , I keep hoping for the " shock " result and Ann and a decent dancer are standing there and .............................. Ann goes. I would holler and whoop and do a little jig ,

I think its very hard to tell but I agree with Sid about Gavin.....I think his vote has been high...

He has been

Week 1/2 4th from bottom
week 3 2nd from bottom
week 4 2nd from bottom
week 5 2nd from bottom
week 6 3rd from bottom
week 7 4th from top (5th from bottom)
week 8 2nd from bottom

and never a sniff of the bottom 2 in anyof the weeks.. . I think his vote is on the very high side.

Cant guarantee it will stay that way obviously but this escape from the bottom 2 is almost as spectacular as Anns

That'd be more dancing than Ann's done yet.

Me too. However I've seen a suggestion that she is 'in the top three' with the public vote every week and that could be enough to take her to the final.

Patsy and at least one more remaining contestant must have been lower than Ann in the public vote last weekend so I can certainly see her surviving a couple more weeks.

Yes, unfortunately I think she is top of the public vote

I think, going by people I know personally and the polls on this forum, that Kara is second, with Matt third and Scott fourth. I think this week Patsy will be last in the vote.

I can't see any way at all that Ann is not leading the public vote. If you Google "SCD", just about every article is about her or at least mentions her. It's like the rest of them don't exist.

That's just as irrelvant to votes as the number of posts in appreciation threads on this forum. The vast majority of people are casual voters, who don't read a lot about Strictly and don't post on forums. They judge purely on what's in front of them on a Saturday night, by whatever criteria they wish.

I can't see any reason why Ann would be topping the public vote. Every week so far she's only needed to be middling to get through. Judging by the winners previously, I would guess that Matt, Scott and Gavin are high up in the votes, with Kara and Pamela getting their fair share. Scott, Gavin and Pamela clearly do have quite a bit of support as they've been saved from positions of peril by the public vote.

So they don't read newspapers or magazines all week then?

Saturation media coverage does not mean that Ann is leading the public vote, much as you might like it to.

Given the viewer profile of Strictly, I can quite believe that Matt and Scott are polling more votes than she is. Nor would it surprise me, for the same reason, that Gavin is getting a lot of support from the public.

Ann's role is being hyped for the same reason as Wagner on The X Factor and Stuart Baggs on The Apprentice. The more 'outrage' that they are still in their respective shows, the more publicity the shows get. Strictly had a lot of ground to make up after last year's PR gaff-strewn series and Ann is, to be blunt, a means to an end.

I have to say I don't know a single person who is voting for Ann. Everyone thinks the joke has worn thin - which is the same story that emerged today on a well-known showbiz website (which is often correct in its predictions). The BBC will never admit this because of the way in which they want Ann to generate 'controversy'.

I would say Patsy's exit is more or less a foregone conclusion unless she pulls a brilliant AT out of the bag on Saturday - but once she's gone ... From where I'm sitting, the most vulnerable celebs remaining are Pamela and Kara, both of whom will have to score well with the judges to stand any chance of derailing the Widdinator - and even that may not be enough to protect them.

I've noticed she gets plenty of press good and bad. People here abhor Wids but anybody voting for Gavin isn't doing it for his dancing prowess.

Exactly.

To suggest that people vote within a vacuum of Saturday evening TV without being influenced by the media is ridiculous.

I've got news for you: the public don't decide what goes in newspapers. Editors do - and they have agendas, often fed to them by PR companies and vested interests.

So newspaper coverage does not necessarily mirror public opinion. In many instances, it's used to manipulate it. And I would wager this is one of them ...

Are you seriously suggesting that because Ann gets a lot of media coverage, everyone will pick up the phone on Saturday night and vote for her ...?!

That's exactly what I'm saying.

Yes, but attempting to manipulate it and successfully manipulating it are two different things altogether.

So I don't think the media coverage of Ann is an accurate reflection of the public vote. It's hype. And very little else. And a lot of people can see that ...

Eh not really. I'm not influenced by the media about who to vote for and neither is anyone in my family or any of my friends. We have minds of our own you see.

2 years ago, with John Sergeant, he - by his own admission - manipulated the viewers to vote for him. In his own words, he may not know how to dance, but he does know about voters.

He was also different from Ann in 2 other ways; he came across as an affable friendly bloke,and he TRIED. He wasn't very good, by his own admission, but he DID put the hours in and tried his best.


JJ

^^^^^agree entirely^^^^ !

If Ann W is in the final I will be tempted not to watch. If she wins I shall never watch Strictly again. Not that anyone cares what I watch!

Quite frankly I know a lot of people dont read newspapers or gossip magazines and are irritated when Ann pops up on another show advertising Strictly

media coverage can have a non exisitant or an adverse effect
Just because Ann is being heavily promoted says nothing of her popularity

Have you considered it could have the opposite effect & people get fed up of reading about her? I think this did for Susan Boyle in BGT - people get fed up of the hype & it being rammed down their throats.