I'm assuming they will be separated into two groups of eight, one week the first eight will perform and the person with the fewest votes is eliminated and the next two do the skate off and the judges choose the second? Is that right?

Apparantly there will be 3 couples skating off against each other for the first two shows, so assuming guys one week girls another the 3 with the lowest votes from the viewers will skate off not sure what happens then if its then the judges that pick the two that go.

Did they not say the competition only begins whenever there's 12 couples left so maybe the public could just vote for who they want to be in the competition after the first skate or they do it X Factor style which is when the couple with the lowest overall public votes + judges scores leaves automatically and the next bottom two are in the skate off. I'm also unsure what they'll do.

All I read was that there will be 3 couples doing the skate off the first two weeks, guess we'll just need to wait and see what happens.

This year we have our biggest line up ever with 16 skaters all eager to prove
themselves every Sunday night, as always some of the skaters have had a few
falls on the ice but we’ve got a real determined bunch this year and we’ve seen
some fantastic progress during training.
There will be a number of changes to the show format this year, the first that
viewers will see is at the very beginning, 16 celebrities have been training since
October, but only 12 will be in the competition - Two will leave in week one and two
will leave in week two, it will all be left to the public vote.

That's from the front page of the press pack...it seems to say there won't be any skate-off for the first two weeks?

There is one thing for sure, it will involve a public vote. ITV will not pass on the opportunity to get money out of the viewing public.

My guess is that there will be 3 in the skate off and the judges will save one couple.

the one with the lowest ammount of votes will leave, then the two with the next lowest votes will be in the skate off and then the judges choose. or they just eliminate the two with the lowest votes.

Main show will have performances and viewers can vote

Results show starts and phonelines will close, the bottom 3 are announced (phonelines then re-opened) and the final 3 will then have a skate off - first ever 3 way skate off.

The skater with most votes goes thru and the bottom 2 go home.

No judges votes count until week 3 - they"ll give opinions in week 1 and 2 and that's all.

Al a X Factor, good thinking Batman

It says on the DS article with Kerry Katona that 4 celebs will not go into the competition and therefore won't skate live. Hmm.

Anyone know how the scoring is going to work, still on a 6.0 basis, bit odd if it is having a total out of 18.0

i would rather it went on a 1-10 0.5 basis such as 7.0,8.5,10.0 = 25.5 for example

anyone got a clue???

Its a big mystery what they are going to do then? It defeats the point if the best dancer on ice goes out because they have the wrong haircut or tabloid image or are unknown? What are they going to do to get votes , stand there and tell jokes or are we meant to select them on their last TV appearance or teeth?

More

It's weird, isn't it? They're saying 4 couples will be eliminated "before the competition starts", but how will they be eliminated if the competition hasn't started? If all 16 couples skate for our votes, then that's the start of the competition, right?

"Two will leave in week one and two
will leave in week two, it will all be left to the public vote."

They're basically saying the competition starts in week three, which makes no sense. Just say you're having double eliminations in the first two weeks of the show, and be done with it.

Agreed. Why over complicate things.

they are classing week 3 as the start, week three will be when they are scored ect...

I think you are right.

Angela Rippon has been training in Devon apparently,at the Plymouth Pavilions ice rink, and she confirmed on local radio that the first eliminations are down to the public vote only.

So the public get 100% decision to start with and then from week 3 it's reduced to 50%. I find that quite a backwards way of doing things but we'll see how it plays out.

I think it's a very bad idea having the first two weeks based only on the viewers vote. It means that good people could go just as easily as those that are really poor - how well known/popular they are is going govern who gets through. At least with the old system, the better they are, the more likely they would get through and the skate off would probably save someone who was fairly good but didn't get enough votes. This time there is no safety net. I wonder if this has been done to try to get more people to vote in order to raise more money.

Also think its totally unfair on the new pros especially those who have lesser known partners as they are more likely to get booted off early due to the likes of Matt and Dan already having a huge fan base of their own, really think it would have been fairer to have had all new pros or to not have changed so many.
Guess we'll just need to wait and see.
Oh and also we could end up with 4 guys going the first 2 weeks or 4 girls as they are mixing it this time unlike last two years when it was guys one week girls the next and when they all got together it was still and even number of each whereas this way we could loose 4 of same sex.

It could have its advantages though - we could get rid of some of the less likeable ones (eg Kerry and Chloe) without interference from the judges....

Mind you - there are so many this year that i haven't heard of.....

I'm just looking through the TV schedule and see that the show is on for 2 hours this Sunday with a 45 minute result show. The listing says the three stars with the fewest votes must compete to make it through..that sounds to me like the judges are going to make the decision?

to confirm.....

it's the public that decide for the first two weeks. 3 way skate off (phone lines are re-opened, prev votes still count) - the skater who impresses most and has most votes goes through into competition and bottom two get axed

I find it amusing people are moaning that it's in PUBLICS hands!! most forum subjects on this site complain that these kind of shows always have secret agenda and judges (X Factor, BGT, Strictly, Got to Dance) always choose people they want, not who viewers want

People should be happy that DOI is letting the viewers control who they'd like to see. And for all the people that are moaning that the viewers could put people through based on popularity - give viewers some credit! and at the end of the day, the final 12 will be chosen fairly by the public....let the fun begin I say!

Not everyone wants to have to spend a fortune on voting in order for the good and fairly good people to stay in - especially at the beginning. I imagine most viewers who decide to vote would only vote for one or two people but would still like to see how others do. I just think being good should improve your chances of staying without having to rely on viewers votes so much.

I've just looked at the voting figures for last year and for the boys first week, the bottom three were Gary lowest, then Danny, then Kieron, who all ended up in the top five. If they had used the same criteria last year, we would have lost two of these and kept the dreadful Bobby Davro, so I wouldn't rely on the public - especially at the beginning.

Well said, at the beginning it's nothing more than a popularity contest. I imagine it will be the 'below average' celebs opposed to the complete disasters that get the boot. Any standouts should be safe I think though, the public will have some sense with this new system but I doubt current favourites Sam and Laura have much of a fanbase compared to the likes of Denise and dare I say Kerry? Last year however, I can't say I would have minded if Gary Lucy got the chop on week 1...

Do we know yet if its the girls this week/ boys next, or mixed both weeks?