I must say I thoroughly enjoyed Zoe & Ian's dance tonight. It had fire and passion, and to me that's what ballroom dancing is all about. They were very believable.

Liza T

Yes, these two really do have the edge over all the others for me. There's something very special about them on the dance floor.

Yet to me, Ian in particular, leaves me cold and the blatent overscoring from the judges makes me more and more determined to vote for others...

I think Ian is the best male professional by far


(ducks down behind tiny, waiting for missiles from anton's fans)

same here I am afraid, for some reason I can't warm to Ian or Zoe, Zoe gets on my nerves slightly

Zoe gets on my nerves A LOT. She tried to act all stressed out and tearful on the VT tonight so as to get sympathy votes from the public - pathetic! The judges have hyped her up so much more than she deserves to be and because of that she feels she's going to win (please don't let her win!!!). Hate the way she does that looking all coy and down at her feet then suddenly grabbing Ian after the scores are in - ugh!!! Patsy and Anton's Tango was way better!!!

Ian and Zoe leave me cold as well, and they are being terribly overmarked - their tango tonight may have looked good, but the gap between them was a basic serious error, and no way deserved 10s. Also Ian is nowhere near as good a professional in latin as, say Darren Bennett, (British Champion, in top 6 in Europe and the World) and Matthew Cutler (on past results). Darren Gough has surprised me however by how good he has become.,

Don't agree that Anton and Patsy's tango was way better tho! It was dire!

Yes, it's begining to seem like a fix..... I hope I'm wrong.

Is it entirely appropriate to post anti-Ian&Zoe comments on a 'Ian and Zoe to Win' thread?

It's not inapproriate if people don't agree ian and Zoe should win.

I was hoping I wouldn't have to "defend" Zoe and Ian again, but I feel the need to say something about the fake accusations. To say Zoe was acting for sympathy votes I find a rather unpleasant thing to suggest. The tears didn't look at all fake to me. She seemed to be genuinely upset at her inability to grasp the dance as well as she would have liked in training. That would be frustrating for anyone, as we have ourselves witnessed with other couples. I certainly wouldn't suggest any of those were put on for sympathy.

Anyway, I certainly hope - especially after tonight's performance - that Zoe and Ian win. It was a fantastic routine and they really sold the passion part of it. Kudos to Ian for the tough routine. He may have pushed Zoe, but it did pay off. They looked wonderful together.

Paranoid theories are attracted to DS boards. The "I know they were only acting" post is part of the territory. The "any female with any emotion is a liar" variant is worryingly common. You just have to add " my paranoid theory is that...." in front of those posts and they go away. The alternative is to join in and think how the same comment applies to every other celebrity - with contestants criticising other contestant's s marks or the judges or saying how good they were or drumming up votes shamelessly, its not difficult to say something bad about anyone.


In dancing terms, it would be bizarre if Zoe and Ian didn't win given the number of weeks they have come top and been put there by a majority of the judges because they have the best package of style and substance. They just have to maintain their edge. The problem is that women voters in all reality TV shows are prone to vote for males they fancy unless the females are decidedly better and the males are obviously flawed. Unfortunately its easier to show you are funnier than the males or a better singer than the males than it is to be clearly a better dancer. Zoe is better, but her differential over the males may not be enough to compensate. Dancing, being visual, allows the "fitter" males to demonstrate that they are " fit" in a way that singing or surviving Big Brother doesn't .

This works for Zoe as long as the pro-male vote fragments all over the place, but at the end she has to fight off fewer and fewer of them and she has the problem that the males are very alpha. Given the choice between an alpha female and an alpha male, many females will join the alpha male's hareem and there will be lots of nice people who will vote for the nice "olympic gold medal winner" (which was how they described Colin tonight - although he actually never won one) Its not impossible for Zoe to win - but the non-dancing factors are a big hill to climb over.

Wow - what a great post. I'm so glad I read it. I hope others do too

guess thats us told then...

Very insightful post, thenetworkbabe. You've certainly given me something to think about

I'm not saying Zoe isn't any good - she is. But I do believe that she is overmarked by the judges each week because they are biased towards her and do not give her enough constructive criticism, even though her performances are far from perfect (e.g., the gaping space in between her and Ian go overlooked each week). Zoe's performances are ok, but I do believe Darren and Colin are better and should go head-to-head in the Final.

I have really only dipped in and out of SCD previously. This year I have watched more due to being forced! to watch it with friends and the fact that the dancing is of a high quality.

The one thing I have really enjoyed is the quality of the mens leading.

I have been told be a SCD addict and competent dancer that the judges do take into account the fact that it is more difficult for a man to lead than a woman to follow. It is but a good lead can not always make a woman into a good dancer - but they can make a good dancer look even better. A good/professional woman cannot make a good man look much better.

I am surprised that Zoe has got 10's when looking at the level that Colin is dancing at.

Last weeks 10 was not deserved. This weeks possibly - the judges do know what they are talking about. Though Bruno does fancy Zoe!

So, overall I think Colin is the 'better' dancer even though it does not look as good as Zoe sometimes but we are talking such a small margin.

Zoe & ian to win


Zoe and Ian are a joy to watch - and I just can't see any of the other couples beating them! Go Zoe and Ian

Agreed. It's an excellent post and I agree with the points made.

Yes it is, the only time it's not appropriate is on an appreciation thread.

I really wanted a male to win this year for a change and would still like either Colin or Darren to win but I have to say that Zoe and Ian are a class above the rest.

Yep guys, I know, I was stressed last night and apologide for my 'is this appropriate' comment, which ironically, wasn't appropriate

What I find interesting is that SCD is a neat example of just how fickle us Brits seem to be regarding our heroes/heroines/stars/celebs etc. At the beginning of the series, there were precious few negative comments about Zoe and Ian...everyone seemed to like them and whether they were your favourite couple or not, everyone agreed that they really could dance. Their ability did not go unnoticed by the judges as each week (bar the Jive) they've scored increasingly high marks - which seems to be inversely proportional to the amount of negative (and often nasty) comments they receive on these boards. I wonder whether it's (a) due to the typically British characteristic of rooting for the underdog or (b) the equally British characteristic of building people up just so that they can be knocked down in dramatic style...I'm not sure. I hope it's the former, because enjoying watching poeple fall from their pedestals (where WE put them in the first place) is a particularly unattractive trait. For what it's worth, Zoe and Ian have never been my favourite couple (Bill & Karen were that for me) although I'd be the first to admit that Zoe and Ian have more talent.

Finally this board is letting me post, Had a bit of trouble registering etc. Anyways I thought Id make this my first post. I defenatly think Zoe and Ian should win, I think they are the best, but also they look good together, and seem to be having fun. I also like Darren and Lilia and would love it to be them two in the final , It cant say I enjoy reading all the negitive stuff that is said about Z&I but I understand that everyone has there own opinions etc, so I wont get into a paddy

Thats all I wanted to say really!
Zoe and Ian to win - I think they are amazing x