I felt more than ever tonight that the judges comments (or lack of in Sam C's case) were constructed so as to shape the voting. Wonder if it'll work out. Or am I just over analysing...?!

For example I though Luke was great but got the most criticism. Hannah was below par but got great comments!

Its obvious that Luke and Sam C are the worst singers, but will probably be saved by the teeny girls.

Totally agree, I was wondering if there was something up with the speakers on my TV.

Luke is not one of the worst singers,he a has a great ,unique voice,That does sound like a copy cat version of other singers out there at the moment.He is something completely different and new to what is in the music business at the moment .

Seems like they want sympathy votes for Luke and no sympathy votes for Sam C or Hannah...

It's been like this for the entire series. The "judges" just read out the producers' pre-scripted comments (Nicole and Louis are the worst culprits in this regard).

I agree ,as for Sam C yes we all know he's the weakest of the lot but Gary was just rude with how he acted towards him tonight ,and needs to remember he's just a 19/20 year old young lad ..not nice to watch his clear dislike for the lad

As for their over the top praise for Hannah ,i thought she was shite tonight

Tactical remarks have been a thing for ages.

This is what I thought as well - said at the time they were having a go at Luke to get him the sympathy vote.

He was singing ahead of the rhythm to be fair, Gary and Nicole's comments were fair!

Oh give over

This is why mentors shouldn't be judges, the public put to much stock in to what these 4 people say, yet they are all trying to win so will obviously aim criticism whether warranted or not and big up their or their mates acts.

Totally agree with this, even though I really like Luke and I think he's got an interesting voice. If you compare his performance to Sam B's it's really obvious.

In general I thought they were pretty close to the mark. In most cases they said much of what I was thinking. Exception to me was with Hannah (who just seemed all over the place) and with Sam C (where they mostly avoided the subject).

Eh? Hannah was brilliant tonight, Luke was disappointing and struggled to hit a lot of the notes.

Tbh I thought Luke was really bad tonight. But then again he doesn't deserve to go because of Kiss From a Rose which was amazing.

i thought their comments were pretty fair on the whole, though they do have an issue with overpraising. hannah was atrocious but they were acting like she was the best of the night.

louis' critique to abi and gary + nicole's critiques to luke were bang on the money. with regarde to sam c.....what more is there to be said really that hasn't been said a million times before? every single week thus far he's gotten exactly the same criticism. but now he's been crying to the cameras about not liking the comments, so....

I thought Barlow was actually very gracious towards Sam C last night - he clearly didn't have anything good to say, but knows that Sam C is getting upset by his comments, so he tried to move things along quickly rather than destroying the kid again.

Gary took his cue from Thumper the rabbit in Bambi.

If you can't say anything nice don't say anything at all

Second laugh I've had on this board this morning.

It's long been a mystery to me why there is absolutely no effort made to improve the judges comments and make them more focused on the performances. The judges don't critique the actual performance - they just use meaningless generalities like " I love you" or " you made it your own" etc, etc.

Over on strictly the judges are in a completely different league managing to combine real critique of the dancing but in a manner that is far from dry or boring. Quite how no-one has thought that they ought to he trying to match strictly is beyond me.

Dermot is also getting increasingly like a panto character. He seems to be trying extra hard in an attempt to stop the ratings slide but its looking like desperation.

Erm, i think you will find that Hannah was in the top three last night. As for Luke, well he was probably the worst with Sam C.

Erm, I think you'll find that people have different opinions and taste to you.

Imo Hannah was not in the top 3 and Luke is not the worst singer.

It seemed to me that the producers have been trying to turn Sam C into the new Rylan and someone for Gary to have a go at every week. Gary's comment was so short this week it sounded like he was supposed to really lay into Sam but he refused to play ball. It's his last year on the show after all.

I actually think what Gary did said last night (ie saying nothing and the comment about other singers) was ruder than what he said last week. I am sure there a lot of people who feel Gary should be treating Sam C with a lot more respect. Last week it was mentioned Sam went to Gary to ask for advice because he is keen to learn and this is how he treats him

Gary should the one acting with maturity and setting an example. It cannot be difficult to give comments without being nasty. I hope that Sam C stays tonight just to teach Gary a lesson.