Then will another girl ever win?

I dont want to get engaged in endorsing either of the finalists, but rather address the philosophical question of the trends of reality show winners.
I know that a woman did triumph in the first two years of Strictly, but, I think for several reasons, the show has become a different beast. The expanding audience away from just a dance base to a mass audience has arguably been one reason why females have struggled in the past two years despite having strong contenders like Zoe and Emma.

Given that Alesha is clearly so talented in the dance stakes, and has a lovely balanced personality, if she ended up not triumphing in the public vote, then what chance another female celeb ever lifting the trophy?

I don't think we should polarise it into a male v female thing. I had more or less decided, on the basis that the dance off in the semi-final was unfair, that I wouldn't be voting. However, if either of them blows me away on the night I might just be tempted to pick up the phone. Surely that's what the show should be about rather than having preconceived ideas as to who should win for whatever reason.

Another female celeb might be a better dancer, have a personality that has more appeal, or be up against weaker competition. Why not?

I think Alesha will win (while hoping not to jinx her) but I don't think it's fair to her or Matt D to see them as 'a woman' and 'a man' - they are 2 individuals and, especially because you are really voting for a couple, I really don't think that's what the voting will come down to.

When thinking of this year against hyperthetical future years, if anything the story of the year 'the girls are great and the boys are rubbish' actually works against Alesha, because I think it just challenged the voters to stick up for the men. A year which started with 'obviously the men are going to walk away with this' would give a woman more of a chance to take it. Every year is different.

More importantly than their sexes, I think is the battle of the dancer who has been praised from the beginning versus the underdog. If Matt wins, it will either be because he dances better on the night, pure and simple, or because the voters react if Alesha is just assumed to have it in the bag, either by not voting or by rebelling. (I did find myself feeling sorry for Matt when watching ITT tonight, for example, with Alesha's cha cha being praised.)

It's always going to be harder for a woman. No point in pretending about that. Harder, but not impossible. And I'm not going to vote for someone just because they are a woman to balance that, that's false too. Let's just see who dances best.

I'm not a 'dancing' person and I've watched all five series and I can honestly say the sex of the person doesn't come into it for me - just how they dance and bond with their partner.

Just dawned on me, this is the first time on SCD that we`ve had two decent dancers of both sexes in the F2

Another battle of the sexes?

People will vote for whoever they want, for whatever reason, whether I agree with them or not.

The end

No, I agree with you, I do. I am just mulling it over from the point of view that it would be a huge surprise to me, based on Alesha's performances, if she didnt win. Hence, if she didnt, I would seriously be questioning if some kind of voting trends were at work.
One could easily argue that a woman has been the best technical dancer for the past two years when a man has triumphed. And, as many more people are voting than used to be the case, its possible to speculate along these lines.

I am losing all will to live this week....

I'd agree. Likeability of the celebrity is also a key factor for me.

Women I've voted for Lesley Garrett, and Carol Smillie because I liked them as personalities, and liked their dancing, and their relationships with their partners. Havent liked any of the other women enough in all the categories to vote for them lots and lots.

*although in a mad moment did send a vote in for Fiona Phillips because it would get up the noses of the judges*

If Alesha doesnt win

I'm not listening - got my finger in my ears ()

Anyone do sign language?

I don't think Strictly 5 should be compared with its predecessors for 2 main reasons:
[LIST][*]the new method of determining which couple is eliminated means the most popular dancers can be removed whilst favoured dancers are retained regardless of popularity up to the final;
[*]there is significantly more manipulation this year by the producers than ever before.[/LIST]
Consequently any patterns that we think may have been established by series 1-4 have to be re-evaluated now....and new trends won't be clear for another few years yet.

Although I'm tempted to predict that the judges' pet is now more likely to win regardless of gender, it's too early to discount the possibility that anti-judge voting may increase to counteract the additional power of the judges.

One of the reasons it's more difficult for a woman to win is that for some reason the BBC puts in lots of females with previous dance or related experience (this year only Kate G, Stephanie B and to a lesser extent, Tish came in without much previous training). And the public definitely seems to prefer people who've been on a 'journey' and don't have previous experience.

Having said that I still think Alesha's going to win

I hope there will be a reversal this year as I believe people vote for the partnership .
Zoe Ball came across badly in the training clips .... always moaning , whereas Darren Gough and Lilia appeared to be having great fun . The saturday Zoe came on waving her handkerchief to show she had a bad cold turned me right off .
She did however do the best show-dance ....... I dont like all the lifts . The one at the start of the Karen/Mark showdance was foolHARDY and added nothing to the routine . Hopefully we wont see anything like that this saturday ...... I doubt Matt di' has the strength of the sportsmen

It is funny how two people can see things differently - I loved Karen & Mark's show dance and for me the lifts illustrated the pure strength of the partnership ie trust

I agree re the strength of the partnership .... its that 1st lift I cant bear to watch

Sadly it seems that lifts is all people want from showdance these days, not just on SCD but in general (Hannnah and victor) and is not my cup of tea - for showdance I prefer a routine interpreting the music

I'll never get why people go so nuts over lifts, someone being a lifted a few feet in the air, not that interesting.

Whilst I'm not against the odd lift, I do feel the emphasis is now wrong. I'm interested in dancing not gymnastics. Hanna is a lovely dancer, and showed great ingenuity as a teacher with Chris Parker, but I don't like the direction she has taken with Victor. I also found it nauseating when people went on and on and on about Kenny's lift. As Craig said, it's not Strictly Come Weight Lifting.

I agree.


And in relation to the topic.... If Alesha doesn't win... Matt will. Both a worthy winner for different reasons. (Of course Gethin would have been more worthy! hehe) And I don't to phone this week. Yay!!!!! CIN have already gotten a healthy amount from me

I think it will be difficult for girls to win - all the girls chosen have previous dance experience which counts against them these days...

Alesha should win. But, to be sure, you have to vote for her and vote often.

If she doesn't win, I'll be standing on that grassy knoll with Elvis conspiring away.

IMO she's the more appealing of the two finalists in dance and personality, the judges love her and disgruntled Gethin fans from last Saturday appear to have no beef with her appearance in the final. I think she's great, always have, just preferred Gethin as the series progressed.

Go Alesha

You do realise, all the pros have been asked to pick their favourite dances and John, Letitia and others have had their dances chosen too?

I'm a bit perturbed that you are trying to imply that Alesha is being favoured, over poor Matt. Did you feel sorry for Alesha, when Matt's salsa was being praised last week?

Actually, as an Alesha fan, I did find it a little biased towards her last night. That said, Matt wasn't in the studio - Alesha was interviewed on the same night as some silly people who discredited Gethin fans by raving about the see-through shirt, which must have been galling.

Still, Matt is on tonight, so let's see what that's like towards him.

^^^ How though? Because her dance was chosen last night, because it is obvious that she was loved by Letitia, Gabby and Kenny, or what?