Ooh i certainly hope so!.. i just cannot take to him and all the hype about how good he is!... No he is not!..

Can I ask why people think/want Sophie in the final? I was excited with her to begin with but I think her dances have turned out quite poor, Latin more so than ballroom, and I was just wondering why people would prefer her in the final over Patrick or Ashley for example, who seem to be hitting more of the right notes than her.

In my case, it's not so much a matter of wanting Sophie in the final (although before the series started, I was hoping that she would be a finalist) as it is a case of thinking that she probably has a stronger fanbase than either Ashley or Patrick. Also, as good as Patrick is, he's also somewhat bland and forgettable while Ashley hasn't made much of an impact either. Between those two factors, they may not get enough of a share of the public vote to get them through to the final.

I think that she will be in the final because she's very popular and likeable .
I think that most people vote for her because they like her not necessarily because they like her dancing (well except a few of her dances).

Would like to see Ashley there , the girls can cat fight it out

I don't think that Natalie is popular with the viewers as many people assume in this forum. She is certainly really popular here but not elsewhere.

Has anyone looked at the BBC strictly Facebook page, bbc blog or guardian blog ? Suffice it to say that she's not really popular in those blogs.

With that being said, I think that Natalie and Susanna are dead cert for the finals. Sophie also to an extent.

4th place for the finals at the moment could go to Abbey, Patrick, Ashley or Ben imo.

Perhaps I should have said that, as the public voted to save (rather than eject), then the public decides who does not end up in the bottom two

I really hope its

Ashley
Abbey
Susanna
Patrick

I think we will see:
Mark going next week in DO with either Patrick or Ashley.
Ashley going the week after in DO with Patrick.
Patrick going the following week in DO with Abbey or Natalie.
And in the semi, a DO combination of two of Abbey, Natalie and Ben that either pushes out Ben or Abbey.

So the final would be Sophie, Natalie, Susanna and either Abbey or Ben.

Susanna, Sophie, {Natalie, Ashley, Abbey}

I prefer 3 person finals; this way skips avoiding a tough decision. But I don't mind that much. Natalie isn't a cert for me purely because of her injuries. It's a looming concern.

haha I can't keep up on this forum, people say it's a dance competition not an entertainment one, and then people are voting Sophie through because they like her! (please note: not specifically directed at anyone, including those who I have quoted )

I really think it's anyone's game at this point, due to fanbases and such. Though I would really like a new pro to win as I like that no one has multiple wins unlike on DWTS.

I hope it's not 3 women 1 man, the women will split the traditional voters while the man will cruise to victory.

It is a combination of both, it always has been.

I don't think Sophie should be in the final but she is very popular so I think she will be.

BIB Exactly

Sophie and Abbey for example split voters.

My final four is Ashley, Sophie, Natalie and Susanna

This may be the first finale where 2 new pros (Kevin & Aljaz ) make the finale (if Im not mistaken, someone correct me if Im wrong ) and where 2 pros fight for a 2nd trophy (Artem, Brendan or Ola) .

I assumed there would be and I'm all four it. ④

The wording of the statement makes it clear that there will be no dance off (the leaderboard decides who is in the final). Which means that nobody is safe, perhaps the nr. 1 on the judges leaderboard (Natalie) only just. Craig's comment about Patrick's samba has made me think that there might be a chance that the couple will have to chose (or are given) an old dance as their 2nd semi-final dance.

I think the final four will be Natalie, Susanna, Ashley, and either Ben or Sophie.



On a different note...

Is Week 10 musicals week, and Week 11 fusions week? And what are they doing in Week 12? Just the average two dances??

Really well spotted Sherlock

Think it was the semi-final stage last year that the dance off was ditched too, is that right?

Series 2 had two new pros competing for the win (half the pros that series were carry-overs and one of the newbies had Quentin Wilson, so I think it's still fair to include it) but this is the first series where we'll have potentially have two (or even three) pros going for the double yes.

IIRC that's how they worded it until they changed their minds at the last minute last year as well...

BIB^^^^ I'm not so sure about that.

The BBC statement says:

But that's how it's been throughout the show, as it's the combination of judges' scores and public vote that decides who is in the dance off. So, depending on how that statement is meant to be interpreted, there might still be a dance off in the semi final. It would be good if there isn't a dance off but, based on past history, there probably will still be one.

No, they kept the dance-off. Some theorised it was to ensure Denise made the final, but for whatever reason it was there.

Re: Sherlock Holmes post: I would be cautious at reading too much into the wording if it's not explicit. I'm just recalling interpreting the Apprentice double-boot week as a single because they ambiguously implied only one contestant would go, and it wasn't that way.