Having watched tonights episode of ITT, I have to say I am simply infuriated by the unfairness of this so-called competition.

It is not a fair 'competition' when it is permissible for the judges to rubbish a contestant prior to their performance as Arlene did with James tonight.

Name me one event where this is allowed to happen.

How on earth can it be right that a person who has influence on the result announces her intentions before the dances have even taken place.

And before all you know-alls out there tell me how they know best, then how is it an English Ballroom Champion - Erin - can point out that Patsy on one occasion did not dance a single step right, yet got 8's.

And as for Bruno's outrageous 9 for Zoe last week... well I'm lost for words.

The judges biasness is just a bad joke and totally ruins this show.

I thought the "nobody likes them/him" comment was repellant and for all the pressure we've had telling us who to vote for I feel tempted to vote for J and C just because I feel so riled.
I can hear Arlene tomorrow ignoring some excellent footwork from James [which Anton and Brendan bothe recognised as good] and harping on about his neck position!!

For all the differing opinions on who is and isn't the best dancer, I think the one thing that 99% of the FPs agree on are that the judges marks are well dodgy...

i totally agree with you that the comment 'nobody likes them' was out of order and has made me vow to vote for them

and i havent voted in this comp yet, but i will with a vengance now

Totally rude...Cant believe someone would say such a thing.. shes ment to be a judge!

Places finger on redial to vote for James and Camilla!
xxxx

Totally agree-all Anton fans quick march to the cause of J&C

Totally NOT DONE.
Whatever happened to the concepts 'unbiased judging' and 'can't judge what you haven't seen yet'

Oh well this action will backfire on those losers BIG TIME

People start hitting those numbers and VOTE for James & Camilla.
Who looked great together btw on ITT tonight

Agree with you Jackster they looked great together on ITT! *picks up phone again*
xxx

If by saying that no-one likes james and Camilla she meant herself and the rest of the judges, then I can't think how they are going to get a fair 'trial' tomorrow night when they dance.

Sounds to me like Arlene has made her mind up who she is going to vote for (bitchy comments about James and Erin, comments about Darren's hands).

She's the one that keeps harping on about voting for the best on the night!

I watched this tonight and whilst I realised she was saying much the same as she (and the other judges) have always said about J & C, the detail passed me by. I didn't think it was that important.

Which leads me to believe she wasn't speaking for the public, she was speaking for the judges. Fair enough, perhaps they won't thank her for that and she could have been more circumspect.

If you think that she's seriously damaged J & C's chances tomorrow night, then it doesn't say much about the strength of their fan base. Personally, I find this micro-analysis of what the judges say a bit strange - particularly if people change their voting habits because of it.

Just my opinion in the interests of balance. I guess I'll get some stick for saying this!

I think you are right Gazbo. She has done what SCD wants -kept people talking about it and dying to watch it tomorrow to see if there is any conflict. Very clever..................... and quite calculating!

Arlene was out of order. Bruno's annoying me too with his blind support of Zoe.

I've always liked Len, I've always thought him the most fair, and he's ususally constructive and encouraging. And.... I never thought I'd say this.... Craig's been lovely this series! I like that he comes in on thursday to give his opinions, although I wonder if the judges should really watch the training..... He seems really sweet now, he's got a lot nicer!

Absolutely. I'm with you!!!!

I have to say I agree. Although I'm a fan of James and Camilla, the comments didn't bother me in the slightest. In fact, I think I barely registered much of what she said. I know there's a bit of a backlash on here against her, but I don't think the public at large are going to get too overly concerned with her comments. The fact that she thinks they should be gone is not remotely surprising.

If anything, I think the Erin comment was much more interesting. That was a lot more personal.

To enlighten you a little Gazbo. It's not that her rude remarks damaged J&C's changes of reaching the Final (in fact I think it'll have the exact opposite effect). Those comments were totally out of order and uncalled for. She hasn't seen any routines yet because the Saturday show has yet to start and still this woman (and I use the term loosly) managed to voice a bias remark that the other three couples should go through. Makes no sense in any way. To top that all off she said that no one likes them anyway.

Would qualify that as micro-analyses; I actually felt quite offended for J&C. It's simply respect and common curtisy that didn't happen tonight
Hope this fills in some blanks for you

I totally agree. What with her snidey comments and that known dance expert (!) Graham Norton bitching away about J&C's smoochy music for their rumba (what does he expect? Bat out of Hell??) I was totally turned off by the programme and thought I wouldn't bother again. They keep banging on about everyone getting on so well, it would be a good idea to rein in such negative comments - it just leaves a nasty taste in your mouth.

The only thing Arlene said about J&C that I was listening to was when she said Camilla was hot at the rumba! I was more miffed about what she said about Erin, but that was only because I just thought WTF and didn't get it at all.

I have just watched the show again, leaving aside her comments about J&C, she did say that Colins sucess was dependant on Erins mood?, Although not the biggest Colin fan trough out this whole series Colin and Erin have been completly dedicated in getting to the final, as all sportsman are programmed to do.

Arlene needs to be careful. Craig will commenton positive training and even state he believes james to be the weakest, but can do it in a way that means you retain your faith in him to be objective on the night.

Arlene has even said herself - "I can't say who I want to win because I'm a judge" - it cuts both ways Arlene. By all means be on a panel and comment on what you see... Len and Craig both do it and maintain more integrity.

Oh dear.

I totally agree, didn't understand what she meant when she said the dance would depend on Erin's mood "nudge nudge wink wink" I am normally quite philisophical about the judges, they are an essential part of the show with the good cop bad cop routine but Arlene is really irritating me with her comments this year. Which is a shame because normally she does have something relevant to say but now I don't listen because of what else is coming out of her gob

The more I think about it, the more I don't understand!! I'm starting to think she just wanted to take a pop at Erin before the show was over.

Yes she did say a couple of weeks ago "i normally only having something bad to say about Erin but tonight I have to say something good" or along those lines - may be she's balancing out the good comment not that I can remember what it was

There's seems to have been something going on with Arlene and Erin all series. If you watch it back, when Arlene has critisized Erin and Colin, the looks they've been exchanging have been priceless.

Recently (last week or the week before) Erin stared Arlene right down at the end of the comments bit while Bruce wittered on. My OH noticed it as he likes Erin and was watching her instead of Bruce when he was talking

btw I'm all for Erin giving Arlene the evil eye!

Me too! I too noticed she sems to have something against Erin (like the 'I always have something bad to say' comment) and wasn't it Arlene who christened her Miss Whiplash, a name I find quite insulting.

[Arlene doesn't seem to like Anton either. For instance after Pasty's jive on Sat, Arlene said 'Well, the good the bad and the ugly', Pasty replied something like 'no don't start with that' (meaning the ugly) and Arlene (half)jokingly said 'Well, Anton' before going back to the 'good'. I also remember Anton jokin a few weeks back before his Sat Night Fever dance that Arlene didn't like his dancing and he had to impress her somehow! She then proceeded to cringe when she saw him in his suit.
Honestly, she must be the only middle-aged woman in the country that doesn't find him attractive! ]

Maybe she doesn't like Erin and Anton as a couple for some professional reason (don't know much about the dance world) or doesn't like one of them because they dance with the other etc.

Arlene loved Aled last year, perhaps she`s never forgiven Erin for helping Julian get to the semis !!