Does anyone know the voting format for the final...do the judges have the final say?

yes so they can pull another phone scam

Surely not? They will go for Alesha no contest

I have been told (I do not know if it's correct) that the judges and phone votes will each count for 50% of the final placings.

How can this be? Can it be a draw this year? If it's a draw do the judges get the final vote?

If they do then the person that they like can NOT lose, therefore making all the telephone votes pointless.

If the telephone votes decide who wins then the who the judges vote for will be pointless as whoever the public vote for on the telephone can NOT lose!

I think it needs some clarification somewhere along the line.

The judges will assign marks, i.e.

Couple A - 38 + 39 = 77
Couple B - 37 + 39 = 76

Thus, the judges would have:

Couple A - 2 marks
Couple B - 1 mark.

Now, when the public votes come in, they are also converted into 1 or 2 marks.

Thus:

Couple B - 466,232 votes
Couple A - 399,845 votes

Couple B would have 1 + 2 marks
Couple A would have 2 + 1 marks.

However, because Couple B had more public votes, they would win. If Couple A had more, they would win. Essentially, the public vote decides it, but they keep the judges anyway. Where the judges' marks would keep things interesting is in a 3 person final.

Der Chef says

Same as usual the public will decide who is in the bottom 2

The judges will decide the winner from the dance off

Anybody who ddidnt phone vote for the winner will get a called and recorded message to dial a 0900 premium number to hear na na na na

Then your phone will b****h slap you round the face and burst into flames

Ohhh Yeah


*I will be questioned on the validity of this but dont come crying to me when rubbing your face and trying to turn off the smoke alarm 10:00 Pm on saturday

Many thanks, thought it must be like that as otherwise there'd be no point in asking the public to vote. The judges still get their say by praising/criticising the performances in a way to sway the phone votes I suppose.

So, whoever gets the most phone votes wins!

From the BBC SCD site -

For the final on 22nd December each couple will dance five times in total: In the main show our two finalists will perform their favourite Ballroom dance, favourite Latin dance and a judges choice which involves both couples dancing to one piece of music which can include more than one type of dance. The judges will mark these performances details below.
In the results show at 9.35pm the two finalists will perform a group Viennese Waltz and a Show dance where unlimited lifts are permitted.
Our four judges will comment on all performances and score the main show dances from 1-10, with 10 being the highest possible mark. The four judges' scores will be added together and placed on a leader board.
The rest is up to you, the viewer. The phone lines will open for our final two after the results show on Sunday 16th Dec and will remain open until our results show on Saturday 22nd Dec. It is then that your votes will be counted and verified.
The votes from the public and scores from the judges will be added together and the couple with the most points will be announced the winner.

Therefore the judges votes DO count

Quite simply, in a two couple final, whichever couple receives the highest number of viewer votes wins.

You could be either 1st or 2nd on the Judges leaderboard, but securing the greater share of the public vote wins you the Glitterball Trophy.

Hang on, so the show dance will be just before the phone lines close? Was that what happened last year, I can't remember? So basically the couples should concentrate on their 2 dances they've done before and the judges's choice since almost all the voting will take place after them.

The person with the most public votes will win even if they get the lower scores - it's the opposite of last Saturday, when the judges had all the power. The judges' scores are really just to give them something to do.

Yes, last year the phones lines closed approx. 5 minutes after Mark and Karen completed their Showdance (maybe even quicker).

I simply don't understand all this emphasis on the Showdance. Even Matt's showdance last year was completed a mere 15 or so minutes before phone lines closed. Not much time to get too many votes.

The vast majority of people, if they haven't already voted, will vote during the main show or between this and the results show.

I believe therefore, it is the three dances in the main show (all three marked by the Judges) that will most influence neutrals.

Not really.

Two couples, A and B.

If A is first with judges and B is second, therefore getting 2 and 1 points respectively;

If A then gets the most phone votes, A will get 4 points overall - B will get 2 - A will win.

If B gets the most phone votes, A will have a total of three points and so will B. The phone vote is weighted more heavily than the judges' vote, and if the totals after the votes are equal, the public vote is more important. So B's public vote of two points will trump A's public vote of one.

Ergo, essentially once you have two people left (and I think this applies even in a 3 person final once the third placed couple has gone out), the public can either confirm or overturn the judges' decision, and the judges have no say in the matter.

Pretty much!

And I would have to agree with Sports Fan about the importance of the main dances. The showdance may create a sudden spurt of votes towards the end, but unless it's incredibly close it can't make THAT much difference. There just isn't time.

Agree with you completely. But I do think it shows the lack of care in the structure of the final. I'd argue that the showdance is going to be significant in whether people remember Alesha or Matt as the better dancer, and so whether they think the result is correct or not. It is in the interests of the programme and the contestants that the person perceived by the majority of the public as better actually wins, not just who a minority can multiple-vote for (see X-Factor) - and that's said with an open mind about who might dance better on the night. Either one could stuff up the showdance and it would be too late to change the vote but it could change the perception of the vote.

It just seems so obvious to me that a first show of the 2 previous dances and the show dance, followed by a results show with a music act and pro dance, a group dance by all the other previous contestants and perhaps a joint VW from both couples, would work better for everyone. We're used to seeing a results show not based on the contestants dancing now. I know, it makes no difference writing it here, but it does baffle me.

But on the "how to vote" page of the BBC website, it still says that voting will close at "9.00 in the results show". That would be actually be before the results show starts on tele. and therefore, before the dancers have performed their Viennese waltz and showdance

Seemingly 75% of those interested in the competition support Alesha.
Provided they vote (and I don't do 'phone votes as a way of charitable giving so count me out) Alesha will win.

As she surely should.

If it were a 3 person final, the voting would close and then reopen.

Guessing this might just not have been updated.