We all know if Ed ends up in the bottom two, he is out. This week, he will no doubt be bottom of the judge's scoring once again. However, there is also a second dance, which again the judges decide who to vote out - surely Ed will be one of the first out for this also, so will only get 1 or 2 points here. Even if he tops the public vote, he will still be bottom 2 overall.

This is a clever way for the judges to remove whoever they want to at this point in the competition...

The second dance will enable the judges to break any ties.

Ed also has the elimination dance of the season (tango) this week and I imagine he'll get an early slot and not out there production to ensure he may go

My husband, who isn't a fan by any means, says that if a celebrity is at the bottom of the judges' list for more than three weeks, they should be automatically eliminated. I doubt this would work but I can see his point.

To do this you would have to scrap the public vote. And with it a heck of a lot of revenue.

Is this an instruction?

Hope not.
Its a bit cold out there.
Just as well Richard Madeley isn't taking part.

Whoever they want?
Do you suggest only people vote and judges have no say at all?
Or do you prefer only judges and no publuc vote?
I don't understand your post.

Ed can ways make a surprise with the tango, you never know.

I have been trying to work out the permutations...

He *could* survive - if there are two ties on the main leaderboard, meaning Ed at the bottom gets 3 points plus 1 for his cha cha-athon, then by topping the public vote he would have 10 points!

If Claudia and Judge Rinder are the next two above him for both main dance and cha cha-athon, they could only have 6 or 7 points each going into the public vote; so if they poll low there, Ed might still escape the DO!

& outscore the likes of Danny, Ore, Louise, Claudia & JR... I don't think so, he'll still be in last place.

It doesn't work like that - the Cha Cha Cha-athon points are added to the judges scores (i.e. if Ed got 24 for his Tango it would be 24 + 1 = 25), and then the judges points ranking is generated from that combined score.

People are still going to vote for him, and Rob Rinder, in droves.

I don't think the BBC are allowed to make much money from the vote.

I think the vote has to work so that no celeb is guaranteed to end up in the bottom two. Is that not what happened the year Tom Chambers was in SCD - when they realised he could not avoid the dance-off they put all the semi-finalists into the final.
The pubic vote has to count as people are paying to vote and otherwise SCD could be accused legitimately of the programme being 'fixed'.
BTW I am not starting a fix discussion here - just saying that due to voting issues on such programmes, over the years, the BBC has to be seen to be careful

On the FAQs, it clearly states that the BBC does not make any money from phone votes. There is a company that is sub-contracted to take the calls (that will take a cut) the phone provider (ie BT or mobile provider) and finally any profit (there may not be any of course) will be donated to charities unspecified by the BBC. So you have no say in what charity that is - it may be one that you have ideological differences with.

Thank you for explaining! So it's as normal really despite any 'hype' about the cha cha-athon, even the bottom-placed dancer can escape the DO if they top the public vote.

considering Ed is better at ballroom than latin AND his quickstep was a revelation I think he will be fine in his tango

as for being out this weekend - dont hold your breath! Im not sure Ed is going anywhere tbh

exactly what Polly T has said

the judges need to be very, very careful otherwise there will be another "Tom Chambers" situation on their hands

Just to be clear - another Tom Chambers situation is now impossible due to the way ties on the judges leaderboard are now ranked. Before 2009, if there were three couples and the top two were tied, the points would go 3,3,1 (meaning it was impossible for the bottom placed couple to avoid the dance off).

Now, if a similar situation arose, the judges points would go 3,3,2 (therefore meaning the bottom placed couple can escape the dance off).

Can somebody remind me what happened with Tom and the leaderboard?

I think Stuart might have explained it above, actually.

historically, the charity has been Children in Need.

Apart from that, and as far as I am aware, the cost of voting from a BT line only covers what BT (or appointed supplier) charges for the service.

In truth, it should be a non-issue, but if it is then there is always the online option which is free and involves no charity at all. Or simply don't vote at all.

The judges have to make sure there are no ties - if Ed only gets 1 point from the judges, it's harder for him to escape the DO

three couples, the top two tied giving them 3 points each and Tom was third giving him only 1 point (before they changed it to the weird scoring they have now!) Meant that no matter what Tom couldn't avoid the bottom 2 so they had to put him through.

There is no revenue from the phone vote.


They aren't allowed to make any money from the vote.


Because of the nature of how the points were allocated then, there was no way Tom Chambers could have avoided being in the Dance Off and potentially sent home - therefore meaning the public couldn't actually vote to save him and therefore any money people had already spent on phoning to vote for him would have been "wasted".


The first Strictly Come Dancing raised money for Sports Relief, then until (from memory) Series 5 it was for Children in Need. Now, if there is any money left over after the cost of the call has been covered, (i.e. from people voting after the vote has closed etc) it is donated to entertainment related charities including the Variety Club of Great Britain (again from memory).

Yes and quite rightly so!

Let's not forget that Pixie Lott won the 'waltz-a-thon' in her year and was eliminated that same weekend, it means sod all really. Its just a way to fill up time and allow the judges to manipulate the leaderboard, but if the public vote against it then it still won't work.

Louise V Danny dance-off anyone?