1. Was that Guy on ITT tonight the red button judge?
2. Did he say that Matt's Waltz was overmarked?
3. Did Claudia say "REALLY!!!"?
4. Did he also say Gethin had raised his game in the dance off and Matt wasn't keeping time to the music? In other words that the judges had used criteria to put Matt through other than that based on the dance?

AS an aside they showed everything on ITT last night except the dance off. I wonder why?

In a word.....yes.....to each question.....but Matt`s in the final and thats that.

Basically yes to all your questions!

But I have couple to add:

1) Wasn't Philip Jackson the one who said Matt DA Waltz was placed third in his (in)famous Jacksons Five?
2) Didn't he place Matt's AT as his top choice ?

Therefore,

3) Can we trust what he is saying from now?

I was in a crowded room at the time and couldn't believe what I was hearing or I thought I'd misheard. All I can say is Whoops(well everything else breaks the TOU).

He was talking about the dance-off - which, in his opinion, Matt was ahead of the music twice. Presumably the waltz he marked third was the one in the main show.
Last edited by Apricot : 18-12-2007 at 19:45

Havent trusted his judgement from the very begining

Not trying to be contrary, but I don't see how your points negate what was said in the OP...

BTW, I have to say again (I have wrote this in several other threads) that I definitely saw an improvement in Gethin's AT in the dance-off and Matt's Waltz was visibly less technically clean. But Matt 'acted' more in his dance-off so maybe that tipped the judges' favour towards him?

I suspect that Flavia was very clever in that she recognised Matt has beautiful hands and the Waltz showed that to its maximum effect. She also suggested it in her choice of music (Open Arms), psychologically gearing the attention of the judges to Matt's expressive hands in the dance. Maybe they got sufficiently distracted.

If so, how clever of Flavia! I love her even more.

I wasn't negating it.

But I was genuinely surprised why Philip chose Matt's AT as his top dance. See my post above about what I thought of the dance-off.

It didn't just tried to discrediit the messenger! He said those things on a BBC show obviously there is some internal dissent at the BBC. It's one of dem 'cluster thingies'.

Hi....what does "TOU" stand for.

I wasn't particularly keen on his AT - but I think I may have been expecting too much with Flavia being the champion - however, as dance is very subjective... I suspect there was something in it that Philip saw that I didn't - in the same way that I suspect the judges saw something in Matt's Waltz that I didn't (not that I didn't think it was very good, you understand).

Terms of Use or whatever the equivalent here. What limits my normal vocabulary when engaged in fruitful discussions on forums.

I understand. And I can see where Arlene was coming from when she picked Gethin as well...

I think it's a closer call than 3 votes to 1. Gethin's first AT attempt left me stone cold but his second one was electrifying. At first I thought it's because they dimmed the whole studio and spot-lit only on them, but when I watched it again (and again), I liked it more and more...

Well you learn something new every day....Thanks

Gethin's first AT came immediately after Matt's 40 and you could see he was really deflated being in a no-win situation. The second was much better. Pity only Arlene saw it that way.
BTW, wasn't it potential that put Kenny through over Brian in week 1? Funny how their criteria changed.

I have to say that Gethin's AT actually slightly won me over to Argentine Tangos in general... only slightly, I still hate every other one I've watched, but I enjoyed Geth's.

I'd have hated to be in the judge's position on Saturday, to be honest. Even if Gethin did do better in the dance-off than the first time round, there's nothing to say that sitting there and watching Matt's Waltz again live wouldn't have grabbed me in a totally different way than it did on TV. I still maintain that Gethin and Alesha did much more powerful, emotional and all-round Waltzes, but I don't think the judges necessarily made the wrong decision on Saturday - as I've said, dance is subjective.

It was a close call - I suspect all of the judges could have gone either way, and I understand why each chose the one they did, even if I don't agree with them.

That was a bit of a waffle, sorry!

Personally I would have prefered it if the judges had ignored the Dance off and just voted for who they thought was the better dancer.Matt may still have won but I felt that Graig was backtracking a bit yesterday on ITT.Both Bruno+Graig made a point yesterday of stating that they were following show rules and marked only the dance off....I wonder who they really wanted to send to the final??. Did they just mark the dance off or do they really feel that Matt is better than Gethin.I don`t know......but do they??

After all the so-called Gethin's fans faded away, we are now beginning to see more and more REAL ones around.

Yes, we can agree to disagree of course. Like I said in many other threads, I think the semi-final is ***MY*** final of Strictly this year. I like all three of them!

I will continue to do my screencaps of ITT after Christmas and will be looking forward to doing the one where all the three of them were sitting together, happy and adorable.

I thought Matt danced better both times.
To be honest i think Claudia should stop talking about it now.
Its not fair on Gethin and Camilla as they'll probably be pissed off they're out considering a lot of the professionals/public disagree with the choice AND its also extremely unfair on Matt and Flavia who deserve to be there IMO and might now be doubting themself.

I think Craig knew Gethin was there and that he also probably realised Camilla was still distraught (who wouldn't???), so he's trying to assuage the situation by saying what he said. I have a feeling that deep down in them they feel that Matt is a better (i.e. more natural) dancer than Gethin.

This is not to take anything away from Gethin. After all, Gethin is classically trained violinist so he's musically inclined. But movement-wise he still has some way to go (in latin, though it has improved my leaps and bounds) compared with Alesha and Matt DA. Would be nice to have a three-way finals, because I am sure Gethin will continue to wow us and improve on his previous dances he did well.

And the following is a Christmas Special Spoiler:

Can't wait!

I've never been a "Gethin Fan" I think he has other qualities that will shine through in years to come - dancing he's sort of average at.
What concerns me is fairness and this obviously wasn't. If it's interactive with money then judges should be advisory only. The judges can arrange the outcome and yet money is still being "extracted" from the gullible public. It sucks.

Yes...but that doesn't in any way undermine what he said on ITT...

... if he agrees with your POV!