personally i am prone to voting for my favourites whether or not i actually felt that they did the best dance of the night.
as all i can seem to find on here is quite alot of people moaning about people like me who vote for their favourites i was wondering is there anyone else out there who votes for their favourites? also is it really that big a deal?

i would also like to say that i don't think that it makes us 'stupid' as some peole have said because we are not always swayed by the best dance.

I always put votes in for Mark and Karen, my faves, and luckily they tend to do the best dances!

But I also put a vote in for who I think did a good dance on the night - Ray got a vote this week, as did Carol..

Its all for CIN after all!

I usually vote for a few couples for different reasons..... my fav couple, but only if they deserve it (honest), reason being that I've no great fascination for any of the pro dancers....I really love most of them..... and none of the celebs has been my fav actor/singer/sportsman/etc. My fav couple usually depends on their chemistry and lack of "drama" - this year it's Carol.

I also vote for the couple that I believe gave the best performance on the night, and the couple whose performance I really enjoyed for whatever reason - the fun they had, music, their overall improvement, or whatever.

Obviously as the series progresses and votes become more pertinent, I tend to vote for the best performance..... unless it's close and then my favs would edge it.

I don't think its wrong to vote for your favourites after all you see a dance you either like it or you don't and you vote accordingly. In the first week I wasn't so sure of Mark but after his chachacha I thought he's not too bad I'll keep an eye on him, then I saw his tango and was impressed. Loved his paso doble, and that clinched it for me. I finally voted after seeing his salsa which was bloody fantastic, not because of the incident with the mike I don't do sympathy votes: let the dancing speak for itself, not pity. However that doesn't mean that I wouldn't vote for other couples I have begun to take to Carol and Matt after seeing the foxtrot and the salsa so I've got fingers crossed that I will enjoy their next dance enough to pick up the phone.

Like wise with Ray and Camilla enjoyed their first dance and voted for the first time for their viennese waltz. It just takes time in order for any of the couples to be classed as "favourites", for me they have to deliver week after week only then will I say with confidence I want them to stay.

i most of the time vote for the pros really always support anton and erin

Who determines which is the best dance? It's subjective IMO.

I don't vote any more but all I can say is, when I did, I voted for the couple who entertained me most....not necessarily the most technically competent. For me, 'entertaining to watch' implies a certain level of ability but I'm sure others take a different view and I have no problem with that.

have no real favourites this year but when I vote I vote for the best dancing normally, but sometimes if I don't like the celeb or pro who dance best I just dont vote

As I have given up time and entered 3 groups of dancers for a big CIN gala dance night I don't feel guilty if I don't vote
Last edited by bendymixer : 06-11-2006 at 21:20

I absolutely love Mark and Karen but I vote for best dance and one other to try and get a decent final which we really could get this year.

Last week I voted Mark (best dance) and Carol (felt she was undermarked). This week Mark (best dance) and Ray (best VW when the dances were just soooooo different).

Definitely, I think the public votes become more important as the different between the top and bottom of the leaderboard narrows.

I vote a bit of both - usually I don't get to see the dancing live, or if I do I'm at someone else's house so can't just ring up on their phone

I try and wait till I've seen or at least heard about some of the week's training, and will vote for favourites and those who're going well. For instance last week I voted for Mark and for Carol, having seen/heard about bits of training, and seeing what seemed to me good attitudes and good dancing. On the night (I actually saw the dancing live this week) I didn't regret voting for either of them.

ps I can totally understand voting for your favourites... what annoys me is when people say the dancing isn't important which some people do. It may not be the only criteria on which to vote, but of COURSE it's important! Otherwise it may as well be called "Strictly Come Whose Personality Is Best".
Last edited by sarah-flute : 06-11-2006 at 21:26

Can you imagine a final between Nicholas, Georgina and Jan if for example they had the best personalities

Don't go there!!!

Yes it is that big a deal abfab55. It was thanks to people voting for their faves irrespective of performance that led to the loss of capable dancers like Spoony while the woeful Georgina lived on to slaughter yet another dance the next week.


I am heartily sick of what I call the RFB's (Rabid Fan Bases) voting for their faves week after week even if they stumble around like your embarassing uncle at a wedding. I understand that in the first series a no-hoper got to the final purely on the strength of his RFB.....but thankfully was soundly trounced by Natasha Kaplinsky...but nevertheless his progression probably stopped a more capable dancer getting to the final and making for a more exciting final. It is unlikely such a thing will happen this year with sooooo many good dancers but you never know

Last year I voted for Darren and Lilia, mostly because he is a cricketer, but as the series went on the performances just got better and better. He wasn't the best dancer but the dances he and Lilia put together were just so compelling and exciting to watch. I genuinely enjoyed watching them best.

I can understand the stars' friends and family voting for the person rather than the dance. Also they will get personal support from their colleagues in their various walks of life.

It's also natural for fans of a particular celebrity to vote for him or her. However, unless you're a close relative, voting for someone who is absolutely hopeless does the show no favours at all, and nothing looks more ridiculous than the typical British support for the underdog.

What I don't understand, though, is the block voting for Scottish, Irish, or Welsh contestants. Why is there a feeling that if, say, you are Scottish, it is incumbent upon you to vote for Carol Smillie? This is just an example, I have nothing against Carol, in fact she's one of my favourites, but it seems ridiculous that someone should get millions of votes just because they come from a different part of the UK.

I tend to vote for the couple who entertained me the most or who has improved the most....rather than the most technically competent. So, for example, in series two I voted for Julian Clary and Erin Boag (even thou I actually thought Jill Halfpenny and Darren Bennett were the more proficient dancers).

Unlike other people I don’t think there is anything wrong in that……it is after all my money - and I should be allowed to vote for who I want. If other people vote differently then that's their money. The judges are paid to provide a professional opinion and ensure that the most talented dancers score well. I want a program that entertains me.
Last edited by PrincessNidor : 07-11-2006 at 05:48

Very brave to take on the RFs who do seem to dominate the forums. They are entitled, as we all are, to an opinion and to spend their money voting for whoever they like for whatever reason. But I too get infuriated when I see talented celebs getting cut just because of blind devotion
(often to the pro dancer rather than his/her partner). And it
would make a nonsense of the competitive element of the show if the final were to be decided on popularity alone.

No its not that big a deal! Its a Saturday night TV show - nothing else

If the judges can vote for their favourites - so can we - fair's fair! Added to which - its the voter's money and they can spend it on voting for whoever they like!

To be honest I don't actually have a favourite couple at the moment (so can't be classed as one of the Rabid Fans (as was so nicely put a couple of points above) - there are several I like, but if you pushed me - I would say that Mark and Karen are at the top - on sheer enthusiasm, natural talent and just getting on with it without any training dramas.

So who do I vote for? The ones who have IMHO done the best dance - but also - if the judges have unfairly marked someone down eg Peter & Erin's Paso (which was technically good with all the right moves and no mistakes - it was just a bit clunky) or not matched comments with marks - then I'll slip those couples a vote too.

Who will I never vote for? An overmarked judges pet - unless they HAVE genuinely done the best dance of the evening

I always vote twice once for my favs & then again for the couple who imo did the best dance - if it happens to be my favs then thats a bonus - I think what does happen with the really poor dancers is that because the judges are so harsh the GBP comes over all sympathatic and think how dare they speak to that person like like - the only time it stops is when the judges do the "that was your best dance" and then the GBP is statisfied and no longer vote - IMO spoony slipped through because he was in the middle of the table and didn't have a huge fan base

Yes - and because the low scoring couples that week were Jan and Anton (Anton has massive fanbase) and Georgina and James (ripped into for second week running).

I wish there wasn't so much sympathy voting, it makes a mockery of it.

The thing is though, it is quite a common thing now, for the people the judges slate to stay, not just in SCD but in any show which involves judges and a phone vote! If the audience knows this - then you can bet your bottom dollar that the judges and powers that be know.
So - why do they keep doing it.
Surely it's not so they encourage people to vote - and then have the helpful 'shock' eviction - which just encourages people to vote more for their favourites the next week?

I thought at the time, and I still think now that Spoony was a sacrifice to the great God ratings and votes.

I realise I probably count as one of the RFB , but my favourite is one of the best dancers in there, so far I can vote for him with a clear conscience - I do also vote for those that I think deserve it on the night, for instance a couple of weeks ago I also voted for Carol & Matthew, and last week put in a vote for Ray & Camilla as I thought their V Waltz was beautiful.

If we didn't think it was that big a deal we wouldn't be on these forums discussing it. I have nothing against folks having their favourites per se. We all have them (I have mine.....not so much this year but last year I was solidly behind Colin Jackson). What I find hard to bear is the sheer irrationality of some of the public voting which is why I use the term RFB instead of the Great British Public because I believe it is those who vote to keep all those hopeless clodhoppers in will vote deteminedly throughout the week and are probably welded to the phone come Saturday nite, and not even because of the sympathy vote entirely but because a celeb is in a particular soap or looks good (remeber James Martin making it all the way to the semis last year purely on his RFB of horny housewives...claiming the scalps of spirited IMPROVERS like Will Thorpe and Patsy Palmer along the way)

Last year as much as I liked Colin I simply COULDN'T bring myself to vote for the "Muppet Dance" which was, quite frankly, pants, and couldn't hold a candle to Darren's more crowd pleasing routine which I did vote for

I can't vote because I'm in Ireland. Not sure whether that's a good or bad thing - good for my phone bill probably. However, if I did vote I would vote for someone I thought did a good dance, but probably wouldn't vote for certain people. For example, if Matt and Carol and Emma and Darren had both done amazing dances, my vote would go to Matt and Carol based on them being my favourites. Having said that, if they had done a horrific performance (like Jan or Georgina) I wouldn't vote for my favourites no matter how much I may like their attitude or Matt's smile.

I'm the same ~ I haven't actually voted yet this series, but when I do I vote on the basis of ability and entertainment.

I am genuinely confused about the comment about not being "swayed" by the best dance . What, you actively go out of your way to not be "brain washed" by the best dance? I'm finding that degree of blinkered stubbornness very odd. I think its the used of the word "swayed" that I can't get my head round, it seems to imply that someone is trying to "get one over on you" by dancing well, and it takes a lot of resiliance to resist!

Oh, and a big round of applause for the posters taking a stance against the RFB's!
Last edited by dancingbearbear : 07-11-2006 at 11:51

Believe me EmilyIRE that is entirely understandable and I wouldn't expect anyone to not vote for their favourites if they've done a good dance or indeed improved from the week before