I am beginning to think that Craig has no filters in his brain . He can be hurtful and mean spirited and he doesnt seem to get that . I balnk him out now as I find he riles me up

That's where you are going wrong Terry - you are meant to vote for who Craig likes.

Oh I see, I wondered why he always looks cross with me.

I don't think Craig was harsh at all, he gave a critique as he saw fair and I happen to agree with him.

If you are looking for cruel I'd look to Bruno. He laughs when they have made mistakes or are not great and can say some quite snide things disguised with a laugh.

Craig never said anything personal, he was accurate with what he saw and also praised performance skills.

I agree with this.
Craig is constructive. He gives more guidance in one critique than the others give in a whole series.
Bruno, on the other hand, is either sneering ( as you say, disguising the nastiness with a smile ) or he's gushing on about how he was transported here or there, accompanied by ridiculous arm waving, which doesn't help the contestants one iota.

No, I'm saying that my enjoyment of the show is lessened because the public voted the way they did, and that therefore IN MY OPINION the public vote was wrong, on the criteria that I judge the dancing by. And I'm entitled to hold that opinion just as much as you're entitled to vote for Anita.

Or, to put it simply - Craig had an opinion (which I happen to share). He is entitled to hold that opinion and entitled to air it - he's not there to represent the public, he's there to give his opinion. You have the right to vote for whoever you want, but others have the right to disagree with you and the right to say they disagree. What's so hard to understand about that?

Yes, I generally find Craig's critique and score by far the most accurate......however he was perhaps not wise to say what he did considering the judge 2 chairs up gave a 9 for such a poor performance, that was what I found ......I don't think it matters either way though, she is the one this year who has a large following and many of which will vote 20+ times, it's on another level from the average viewer imo.

Why do you think it is only Anita fans who vote 20+ times? On reading some of the Appreciation Threads on here I don't think that is the case. I am an Anita fan and I haven't voted at all but I may find myself voting 20+ times for her this coming Saturday night.

If the bottom two on the leaderboard were always the ones in the dance off and the bottom one always got the boot off then it might be technically right and the judges would no doubt be delighted but it would be a really boring show.

Craig said on ITT last week that it was so close now that it was up to the public to decide. He can't throw his toys out of the pram if they pick different ones to who he wanted!

Helen was already in the DO on judges' leaderboard, so he can't really complain about her. Georgia is a different story, she was high on judges' leaderboard, shared 2nd place. Rather than throwing his toys out of the pram, he just pointed out a fact, nothing childish about that. I think they should still be able say what they think. I am rather curious why he ignored the new rule that judges have to explain their choice, he did not.

I only use free votes now.

Something just doesn't sit right with me that they will never reveal the voting results, which makes no sense, I mean it's not MI5, it's a tv show. They used to too, but they say they checked with the freedom of information act and they are allowed to hold it back.

So I won't spend any money on votes unless they tell us where the money has actually gone.

Exactly. Even Len G said that, if I remember correctly.

Back to Craig's useless statement and accusing tone: He's a judge. IMO, he must be, or at least must be seen to be, impartial all through out. Besides, he already had his say. He had already ripped Anita and Gleb's routine to pieces & ranked them way down. Collectively, they put Helen, at least, in a dance-off position. What was he trying to achieve? The thing was; there were just 6 couples remaining, with not much difference between them. He himself said it was so close. Perhaps, he forgot to remind himself that from that point onwards; dance routines would be more a matter of taste rather than dance technicalities.

Me too. I have only voted 10 times weekly. I might have to up it to 50 times for this weekend, from my landline.

It's not the GBP - it's the GBVP - that portion of the British public that gets involved in Voting on reality shows...

BTW the way Helen was shelved reminded me of the other year when Pixie Lott was squeezed out... Dave

Go right ahead if that's what you want to do, but don't then come back & complain if Craig or any of the other judges, makes further comments about the public & their voting, because to me, if you're going to those lengths you are completely destroying what integrity the show has ever had!!
I really hope another year they put a cap on how many votes one person can make, and I would say that whoever you were voting 50 times for before you accuse me of being anti Anita or whatever!!

Seriously????

I think he was throwing the toys out of the pram, because two of the four people he wanted in the final were in the bottom two. He had said in a blog that he wants Georgia, Kellie, Jay and Helen in the Final. I am surprised BBC even allows these idiots to be judges. If this is not biased, What is?.

I'm sorry; but would you mind telling us more about the BIB.
In 2013 Abby Clancey beat the infinitely better dancer Natalie Gumede, didn't she? If I remember correctly, she did so by out voting NG. As a matter of principle, what is the difference between 3 votes and 50 votes? They're both more than one vote each person.

Honestly I don't think it matters because fans of all the contestants multi-vote especially those on the forums. It evens itself out in the end. I don't believe it would make any different if you could only vote once anyway.

It figures. He was probably gunning for Katie and/or Anita.

It's really simple to me!! By going to those lengths you are making it no longer about who is the best dancer, but who has the most obsessive fanbase, which I find not only rather pathetic & childish but also very damaging to the show in general!!
For the record I have watched Strictly avidly for I think 6 series now but have never actually voted once!! Now since joining this forum & finding out this kind of thing is going on I will certainly not be about to start however much I like a dance, what's the point!!

I fully agree with you about the 2013 result, it was the biggest travesty since Chris Hollins v Ricky Whittle but I'm not sure what point you were trying to make by it?

The difference between 3 votes & 50 by the way is 47 votes (sorry couldn't resist that ) but at least by capping it at say 5 votes per person per week you would stop it spiralling any further into fan madness!!

I am sorry, best dancer in whose eyes?? In my eyes the person whom I am voting for is the best dancer. If by best dancer, you mean people with previous dance experience being compared to people who started dancing 3 months ago and are doing very well.
This is an entertainment show and people are entitled to vote for whom ever they want and how many times they want.

Well said Skyrah!! i also voted for Jeremy as he made me laugh and smile every week and was a joy to watch!! I will never vote for someone who doesn't entertain me and am sick to death every year of being told who I should vote for!!!

So romantic, this notion of "may the best dancer win." And naive. You've been watching it for 6 years now and you still believe such notion. I gave one example deconstructing it; you gave two and still you believe it. I made the reference to Natalie Gumede and Abby Clancey in the hope that you might be able to look at SCD for what it really is: an entertainment show where the most popular contestant -- who manages to reach intermediate level ballroom dance -- wins. It's a bonus if the most popular happens to be the best dancer of the lot. Why do you think the BBC allow the public to have a say in the outcome?

It's up to you if you don't want to vote and up to me if I want to vote 50 or more times. It's neither pathetic nor childish. IMO.

Yep, as a matter of arithmetics, the difference is 47. Now, as a matter of principle? What difference does it make if it's 3 or 5 or 50 votes one is allowed? If you're so big on getting the true statistical popularity of each celebrity, then it should be 1 vote for each person; shouldn't it??

Correct me if I'm wrong here but from the tone of your earlier post that I replied to you implied that you were likely intending to give 50 votes to your favourite on saturday, without having even seen that person's dance, therefore I'm assuming you would do the same if said person made a complete dog's breakfast of said dance, simply because said person is your favourite!! That is not about voting for the best dancer it's about fan obsession imo!!
I am not naming names simply because, like I said earlier I like watching that person dance too, so would rather generalise, but for the hundredth time if you are going to go to those lengths don't then come down all high & mighty on the judges for commenting how it's the public who are influencing who's in the dance off & why technically better dancers who don't deserve to be there are ending up there!!