I emailed the BBC to see if the voting method is going back to the old method, for the Semi-Final, at least, since with the Dance-Off, clearly none of the Judges are going to vote off Aleisha, so she effectively has a bye through to one of the (now) two final spots.

The reply I got back "The voting method for the Semi-Final has not yet been decided"

I thought this may be of interest to readers of this forum.

Oh no! Are they making it up as they go along?

Thank you for the information

Thanks for the info.

Standard RTV procedure. Keep things as vague and flexible as possible for maximum manoeuvrability.

Assuming the dance-off is here to stay, it should be abandoned well before the final IMO. It's too open to abuse by the judges to get their pet through regardless of what the voters want.

agree with that comment completely. I dont like the dance off, only exciting time was when Penny, Gabby and Matt were in the bottom 2, no offence meant to them, but they were clearly not who the judges were expecting.

I didnt like being told by Craig to vote for the best dancers, if that was the case why have a public vote at all? sorry something I feel strongly about, even more so, now we are getting near the final.

I can see the virtues of the dance-off, particularly in the earlier stages of the competition, but I personally think that it should be ditched far earlier in the competition. There comes a point when the dance-off provides the judges with far too much power to shape the outcome of the series: I think the dance-off should stop when the couples start having to do two dances a week.

Who's to say Alesha won't get voted into the final? People are underestimating Alesha's support. Gethin's one week of quality dance doesn't mean all her fans have jumped ship.

I'd like to see what happens if Alesha was voted into the final by the public and Judges were to choose between Gethin and Matt who were the other couple to go through, the boards here would go OTT

But i think it'll count on the public vote 100%.

I agree - the dance-off gives the judges too much power. As someone else said, what's the point of inviting the public to vote if they want it to be a straight forward contest to decide the best dancer?
If that's the case Alesha was the winner before the series began. I actually think they've ruined what was the ideal format. Let the public decide even if it does mean 'shock' results. That's part of the fun and excitement of the show.
And they should have kept the live show on a Saturday night. Watching live makes the show far more watchable and the Sunday night 'pre-recorded' show just comes across as watered down, drawn out and severely lacking the frisson of a live show.

Alesha and gethin have both never been in the bottom 2 and to be honest i think its hard to predict who is getting more phone votes.
Yes Alesha is normally high up on the leaderboard but that doesnt mean she isnt getting a lot of phone votes too.
Personally i hope it IS down to the public.
If its only one thats safe and the bottom 2 are decided by the judges we will know straight away who is going to win ie the one who is saved by hte public rather then being in the bottom 2.
They should just say "in no particular order the two through to the final are..."
Then its more exciting for the finale.

I think Saturday's show just gone should have been the last week of naming the bottom two (in fact, I think when there are five couples left I think it should stop). Now that we are down to four it will be too obvious who the finalists will be. Unless of course there is a surge of support for the couple who stay in.


(Actually, I think the bottom two/dance off should be abandoned altogether)

I think its wrong to assume anything where the judges are concerned . Last year I assumed Bruno would vote for Louisa in any dance-off.

In at least two close dance offs this year I've felt the judges have voted for the professional . For the amount of acknowledgement he gets from them I'm not sure the judges are even aware of Matthew Cutler .

Alesha and Matthew deserve a place in the final ..... it will be a dull final without them much as I like the others as well.

This would all be so much more straightforward if there were still going to be 3 couples in the final. I wish the BBC would see sense on that, but they won't change now.

I've looked at some advance t.v. listings,
and there appears to be a regular, non-live, Results Shows, for the Semi Final - so I would presume that there's going to be the usual Dance-Off?

Doesn't removing the dance off defeat the purpose of it in the first place? I.e. if Alesha doesn't get through ...the best dancer isn't in the final.

I'm not sure what you mean; whether Alesha's "best" or not is a matter of opinion really so it doesn't give her automatic right into the final (though personally I think she deserves to be).

I would much prefer if there was no bottom 2 for the semi final - the couple that was saved would be seen as the 'inferior' pair even before the final starts and it'll be obvious who has the most public support, detracting from the excitement and unpredictable-ness of the final!

I can understand Matt fans wanting a dance off.

no.
Id rather Alesha got to the finale on her own merit not by the judge vote.
I would much prefer the public to pick which two couples make the finale.

I'm actually torn on this.

I kind of agree that the dance off should go by the semi final but I don't think it will because I'm sure that the judges won't want to lose that power. If there were three in the final I don't think that there would have been any question of the dance off being used when 3 dancers became two so maybe the same should be true now that there are only three in the semi. I also think that the person saved is almost certainly not going to win but then from what I recall they have always done a bottom two in the semi (and the person in that bottom two who goes through has always lost/come third). X-factor has now dropped the judges vote and although this week's result was obvious, next week's is going ot be exciting since none of the remaining contestants have been in the bottom two and so no one knows the strength of their support.

Having said that, I kind of think that there has to be a dance off to ensure that, as far as possible, the best people get to the final to at least make it as exciting as possible now that there are only going to be two. I agree that the whole point of the dance off is for the judges to save the best dancer, surely that is more important in the semi final that at any other point in the competition. And in the end the ultimate decision will still be in the hands of the public.

My hope is that the final will be Alesha/Gethin however that comes about. My feeling is that without the dance off it will be Matt/Gethin. Another all male final would I think be uninspiring and I would probably not watch.

Found this on The Radio Times site:

Quote:
“Strictly Come DancingSunday 16 December
6:50pm - 7:35pm
BBC1

It's the moment of truth as this year's Strictly Come Dancing finalists are revealed. The votes are in and the judges have had their say, but which couple are on their way to the coveted trophy? The Spice Girls perform two of their hits in the studio and there's a spectacular show dance from three times world and UK exhibition champions Hanna Kartunen and Victor De Silva plus a performance from a troop of British juvenile dancers.”

No mention of a dance off. This show will be so packed that there isn't even time for one!

yep by the sounds of that there will be no dance off! Yay i think thats the best decision. Although i will obviously be gutted if my favourite doesnt make it. At least its a fair way

Oh, that's interesting - I hadn't thought of it like that. Do you mind me asking which 2 you mean?

Have to say I wouldn't take too much notice of the Radio Times website. OP says that BBC haven't decided yet what rules to follow which may be why it doesn't say on there. Also, I looked at this weekend and there is no mention of the dance off there either just says results of quarter finals will be revealed (which i suppose could mean that there isn't one but think that would have been mentioned?)

I hope there isn't a dance off.

If the producers of the show want to maximise interest and voting, doesn't it make more sense to leave the voting for the final two to the public?

Let's say the producers do decide to go the dance-off route, most neutral watchers of the programme might assume Alesha is a shoo-in for the judges' vote and might, therefore, transfer their votes to what they perceive as the fight for the second place between Gethin/Matt/Letitia or any perm of the above.

I think a straight fight between the three for the votes might generate more interest/ratings and calls.

If the final is happening all on the Saturday and the semi-final is having a results show on the Sunday, that implies to me there will be a dance-off in the semis. But I might be wrong.

I did think that whoever went through on the judges' vote might be a lame duck in the final, but now I'm not sure. Maybe they'd be the underdog and that might help them. eg, Gethin/Matt/Letitia get through on the public vote and Alesha is saved by the judges - that gives a week of 'what is wrong with the public not voting for the best?' campaigning before the final and could see a lot of people tuning in to support Alesha who haven't even watched it before (Will Young v Gareth Gates, where I know people who voted without even watching the final, just on what they'd read about Simon Cowell in the papers). I'm just using Alesha as one example (not having a go at anyone ) but she is the one I think would get the most press support if she was seen as at a disadvantage. Who knows.

I suspect you're right about the results show on the Sunday. I hadn't really thought about the fact that the producers wouldn't have enough filler material without a dance-off for the Sunday show.

Blast these pesky producers to tv ratings hell. I want the public to have the final say not the judges (and I want the public to vote for Gethin!!!)

Amen to that Apricot