I swear Candice is Naterlie Dormer, she excelled in tudor week. Totally deserving the star baker crown this week. She, Jane and Andrew will be the finalists.

Benjamina and Selasi it was like watching a car crash, its a shame I thought Benjamina was solid then she had a shocking technical and her showstopper stopped but for the wrong reasons. I actually thought all along when it came to showstoppers she wasn't ambitious enough. When she pushed herself what she came up with was definitly not going to work as the maze kept falling and breaking and it was the wrong shade of green, surely she could have gone for something else. Anyway its over for her she's out.

Candice will win!

I thought that to begin with but you are probably right, those producers trying to cause trouble

Some people just seem to have some contestants who can do no wrong and others who they spend all their time attacking.

I like her also

Really thought Selasi would go because of his poor track record. Benjamina all the hugs from me.

Jane took this contest so seriously and she was on the verge of bursting into tears during the whole filming.

Candice's peacock was gorgeous. Well deserved SB.

Okay I understand why people don't like Candice (her gothic makeup, her pouting) but as long as she can bake something good I don't mind her.

I am rooting for my boi Andrew and Jane to win.

The peacock looked great, but for me the most showstopping showstopper so far was Paul's lion last year

Hate to say it but Candice did best this week, peacock was stunning

Sad Benjamna went although love Selasie too

What has Selasi got on Paul and Merry to survive yet again with three relatively average to poor bakes? IMO he's been on borrowed time for weeks now, and has only survived because their was always someone worse than him. Felt sure he would go this week, but again, Benjamina, who's been consistently excellent all series, is judged to have been worse this week and gets the boot. I don't get that at all.

I'll be gob-smacked if he can out-bake any one of Jane, Andrew or Candice to make the final, as all evidence so far is that he's not on par with them in terms of ability. Maybe not far behind, but in a four horse race, he's definitely bringing up the rear.

Candice to win !

Yeah I can't see Selasi making it past next week. I said a few weeks ago that I thought Andrew, Jane & Candice would make it to the final with Jane winning. Although I'd like a Candice win.

I think Selasi is the obvious choice for the boot next week based on overall performance but it's entirely possible he outbakes any one (and it only has to be one) of Jane, Candice or Andrew. If you look at individual weeks he's done it before with all of them. He seems to do better with cakes (almost winning Week 1 and a couple of times like in Botanicals Week they've pulled him out the fire at the last minute) so if they're part of the theme, he could do it.

Good to see talented Nadiya being snapped up by the BBC! http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-37658478

Have they announced a theme for the semi-finals, I cant remember what it said in the trailer...

So C4 has lost another person who could be a judge for their Bake Off (although she did win last year that doesn't give her the experiance to replace Mary). It's good to see that she knows that signing with the BBC she has the better chance to develop more programs.

With Prue Leith now presenting My Kitchen Rules UK on C4 does anyone else think that she might be a possible new judge for Paul? Or do you think she might have been scared off by how bad MKR is!

Makes sense for Nadiya to be contracted to the BBC as she has the kind of wholesome image that fits. Also she seems to have more than one brain cell and could present programmes on a few subjects or hold her own debating them.

Re theme I don't think there is one? Hopefully they'll just ramp up the difficulty and technicality but give the contestants time to show their best. Now is the point to compare best with best rather than a hurried lottery of a splodgefest.

Semi-final is patisserie week. If it's anything like 'Creme de la Creme' in what's expected of them should be very interesting.

Nadiya is famous because of the BBC. It would have been a really dumb move for her to go somewhere else. NID she will stay with Auntie.

Maybe Mary and Nadiya can set up their own GBBO-esque show?

I'm gutted Benjamina went as I really liked her.

But I adore Selasi so out of the two I'd rather he stayed. He's never won star baker but has been close a couple of times and he's great with cakes and his flavours always seem to be spot on.

Candice is amazing and I can't see past her winning at this stage and she'd deserve it if she did. It does make it slightly less exciting that it seems so obvious. If she doesn't win then they really messed up the series edit imo.

But then given they know the result before the first episode airs they can tweak the editing to generate whatever story they like. It makes sense not to showcase the same person right the way through or it is a boring waste of all the other contestants This is why in this type of thing we often get "surprise" winners when in actual fact these under the radar people were actually near the top of the pile all along. Makes for more drama.

Oh I get that but I mean they have made it far far too obvious that Candice is the front runner. If she's not going to win then yes make a big thing that she was SB three times but also make sure you highlight her bad bits too. All she's had the whole series is some vague feedback about not doing too much when she almost always pulls it off.

Even in the weeks where I felt she'd had a bad week, the judges haven't even mentioned her as in the running to go home.

As I said from what I've seen she absolutely deserves it. So much so that any other result wouldn't just seem a shock it would Actually seem unfair.

Andrews making a late charge though so I guess if he has an even better week next week and then in the final he could snatch it.

To give it a baking analogy, if she doesn't win they seriously over egged the Candice pudding!

They're not going to do themselves any favours by making it obvious though. Not saying she isn't going to win but if the result seems a foregone conclusion then where is the attraction in that?

I think the format of the show tends to make it less of a foregone conclusion anyway as people are only rated on that week's challenges not those cumulatively from previous weeks. It is there in the show title "Bake Off" as in a sudden death shoot out each week, past performance irrelevant. This is why Selasi has survived so long and why despite the odds he has a reasonable chance of winning, they all do. Bit like the FA Cup each round is a win lose knock out unlike leagues where the winner is the most consistent.

They have form for making it seem obvious when it wasn't. Richard the builder guy won star baker 5 times (including the 3 weeks pre final) and didn't win.

None of them have particularly impressed me this series, they've all had flashes of brilliance but nothing like the skill levels seen on previous series and any of them deserve to win imo

I'd like it to be Selasi for the simple fact i'd love to see his 'yeah whatever' reaction

To a certain extent doesn't that highlight a flaw with the format?

You could go from week to week winning star baker, while someone else middles along until they produce three stunning bakes in the final, crowning them the winner. In fact, it happened in that series - Nancy won SB in week 1, then was more or less average into the final.

I suppose there's an argument about consistency, but the counter to that is that the person continually winning SB could do exactly what they've always done, only to be trumped by something a little bit better in the final.

Well if it's a flaw it's certainly not restricted to GBBO. Basically any contest which has elimination rounds has the same 'flaw', doesn't it? Strictly may not declare it's winner each week but it's the same process, as is X-Factor. So too some sports. Look what happened to Tom Daley in the Olympics coming first in a qualifying round from which scores are not carried over and bombing out in the final.

The only alternative would be to keep all the contestants throughout the contest and total their weekly positions at the end but it wouldn't be the same programme at all minus the peril of the axe.

Sorry Benjamina has gone. She was unlucky. Normally she has been a better baker.

Candice deserved star baker this week. Although my Hubby watched it for the first time this week and asked why is she pulling those faces.

I quite like Andrew to win.

I actually think (and of course hope) Jane would win. Is anyone with me?
Cutie Andrew second please.

"You have added only one point to your total" doesn't sound as dramatic as "You are leaving". They compete for the place in the final, but it is still not decided. It's the last finish that counts.

I'd like Jane to win, but Candice was strong lately, she may win it if she does not make a big mistake. Andrew is rather inconsistent, so you can't tell if he wins or goes.

For those who haven't heard - guess who will be the new presenter?

http://www.digitalspy.com/tv/great-b...-on-channel-4/

Excellent news! He has a dry, unique humour and is far better than the smug Mel & Sue. Can't wait!