Claudia got at least 3 'wow' dances:

1. Charleston
2. Argentine Tango
3. Salsa

Claudia gained a lot of supporters in last 2 weeks... all she have to do is be at least in second place in voting and she's through to the final...

Agreed, she has had more stand out moments for me than Ore... who really peaked with the AS and Jive. She seems to have really come into her own since the B2 appearance... even then the Charleston was amazing before that. How she hasn't had a 10 before this week is stupid - especially given Danny got 2 yesterday with poor footwork and technique.

Also if there is a tie on the leaderboard next week then the judges scoring would be irrelevant really as the points awarded would be so close and the emphasis would be on the public vote.

Claudia has the momentum I think. But I also fear she may fall into the Dani Harmer/Louisa Lytton category - young, talented and fit but somehow not pulling it off at the last minute with the voters.

It was obvious to me last night that the judges/production team want Claudia,Danny and Louise in the final. My prediction Rinder will go this week and Ore next week. That will mean the girl vote split just as it was last year and Danny will win. However the rest of the public may have a different idea. We have no idea how popular Danny and Louise are. Neither have been in the bottom 2 so when Louise gets to the final she may turn out to be more popular than Danny.

Ore peaked way to early, Claudia (who I haven't been overly keen on) is on the way up.

How many times have they been in the dance off?

Well, once each, so far.

IMO Louise is not a deserving finalist.

Kevin has played it safe through out this series, never really pushed Louise.
I find Louise bland, with no passion & rather boring.
Reminds me of Abbey Clancy, someone else who had no personality and was very vanilla, she only won because she gained the anyone but Natalie Gumede & Susanna Reid vote.

1-2 if he is in DO tonight.

and 2-3 if both in DO next week.

What's the 'girl vote'? Do we only vote for a specific gender? Personally, I vote for the best dancer/dance on the night or someone who appeals to me - regardless of gender. There have been just as many female winners as males I think regardless of who's in the final.

Thank you, so still even-Stevens.

Bottom place could finish top in the public vote and still bow out next week if there's a Dance Off. That's why I think they should scrap it.

Couple A: 4+2 = 6
Couple B: 3+3 = 6
Couple C: 2+1 = 3
Couple D: 1+4 = 5

Third v fourth in the Dance Off despite fourth finishing first in the public vote.

Natalie was robbed, she was my only ever favourite ringer.

That's the problem with so few couples and there being a dance off

Excuse me if this a dumb question/comment, but surely Danny and Louse must be getting decent votes each week despite their leader board position. Wasn't Pixie high on the leader board but she still managed to find herself in the bottom two? If the public didn't like them that much, they would have been in the dance off at least once.

Lone voice in the wilderness here - I think Louise thoroughly deserves a place in the final, imo she is a significantly better dancer than Cloudia or Ore, and Kevin has done a good job of teaching her.
(Not that thrilled with this week's effort mind, but then I didn't care much for any of them this week.)

If the Judge goes tonight, then I think it is hard to call which of Ore/Cloudia would go in a DO against each other - would depend on the dance on the night. I Love Jo's dancing, but her choreography is decidedly hit and miss.

However, none of that matters much, as Danny will win regardless.

There has been a few cases where the top has been in the bottom 2/ DO

Zoe Ball/ Denise Lewis when there were 4 couples

Emma Bunton when there was 5 and 4 couples

Ricky Whitte when there were 4 couples left

Patrick Robinson when there 6 couples and Natale Gumede when there were 5 couples... but in both those cases there was a tie at the top

But yeah the fact neither Louise or Danny have been bottom 2 indicates they should be popular... although are helped by their constant higher position on the leaderboard; only Danny has been tested when he had that blip week and was lower down.

Not necessarily in Danny's case - he could have finished (and could finish) bottom of the public leaderboard both last week and this week and survived.

Danny 5+1 = 6
Claudia 4+5 = 9
Louise 4+4 = 8
Ore 3+2 = 5
Judge Rinder 2+3 = 5

This would result in a Ore v Judge Rinder Dance Off.

Louise could finish second bottom of the vote this week and survived:

Danny 5+4 = 9
Claudia 4+5 = 9
Louise 4+2= 6
Ore 3+1 = 4
Judge Rinder 2+3 = 5

Again, this would result in a Ore v Judge Rinder Dance Off.

It's worth mentioning that Ore's vote was also tested that week as he was low on the leaderboard and he survived. Since then he has had to perform in a Dance Off.

mine too, so proud of her coming 2nd that year against all the odds

None of those dances wowed me, it's all personal choice. I actually didn't like her Charleston at all, and found her AT very ungainly, although the floorwork was good. Her salsa last night she slipped when coming out the splits and no continuity coming out of her lifts. It didn't transport me, although she was giving it welly and AJ wasn't! None of them made me clap enthusiastically like a idiot in my front room as they ended, for me they did not have any "wow". But I would like to see her in the final over Louise, not Ore.

well that's your personal b̶i̶a̶s̶ opinion... but for majority on social media, she is leading this week... it's easy just to say you got other favorite couple and you don't like Claudia... than pretending to be neutral (like the judges).

.....of Claudia and AJ's dance - can anyone tell me what it was? The judges commented on something going wrong (can't remember the exact terms they used).
I wondered if it was when he lifted her up at the end - was she supposed to go up and over his head onto his shoulders? (Even though that looks so difficult if not impossible)!

Not being salty here but have a read of the Ballroom and Latin questions thread. There is no bias there.

Claudia is your favourite and that's fine but she's not always the best dancer.

My favourites have all left actually, I was just stating that just because you thought they were "wow" dances doesn't mean I did. She has grown on me in the last 2 or 3 weeks and I do like her and she dances very well, just not done that one wonderful dance for me yet, although her American Smooth came close, she does a beautiful foxtrot and technically is the best ballroom dancer of the lot.

I don't appreciate being told I am biased against her as I am not, I wouldn't mind her winning. I do not sit there watching her dance hoping she goes wrong or its awful because I am biased against her. In fact I was really hoping this week she would tick all the boxes as they say, but she didn't. None of them did. I could list all the things that annoyed me in the 4 other couples last night but the thread is about Claudia.

I don't mind going against the flow of social media and don't expect anyone or everyone to agree with me, life would be boring if we all agreed on everything, but to just dismiss my opinion with the phrase "bias" I find frankly insulting.