Oh no! After eight ice cream (just like AE wafers) is sickly and cannot be eaten regularly in large doses. Mint choc chip on the other hand is perfectly balanced and can be eaten daily and more than once if so prescribed.

This is a difficult area and possibly the only point where I have any initial sympathy with the BBC. (And after last week, this is a big deal!)

I think it's unfair for Alesha, Gethin and Matt to have questions to asked at the time and in the manner they have; having said this, if the BBC ignored the outcry about last weekend's semi's result, it would be accused of sweeing public opinion under the carpet.

What we have instead is a botched effort to address something that was badly botched in the first place: the producers' attempt to create a 'narrative' that would generate publicity and the judges' inconsistency and arrogance.

What we should have now is a tense competition between the two best dancers: what we have instead is something that's been tainted by stupidity and bad management. I am just hoping that the producers will have the sense to put recent history behind them, and the audience, so we can get on with the matter in hand ... but I'm not holding my breath.

What? I regular eat tubs of the stuff in one sitting!

Ughh! I'm feeling queezy.




It is a shame for this controversy to have arisen so late in the series, when it will inevitably carry over to people's enjoyment (or not) of the final.

This isn't the first season that the voting process has produced bizarre results, for examples Gabby's and Penny's early departures. Such results were not uncommon under the old format; but the difference this year was that the producers introduced the dance-off to give the judges control over who actually left. The judges' fury when the public outwitted them (by ensuring that Kate and Kenny never appeared in the bottom two) was joyous to behold; but it resulted in the judges' throwing the process out of the window altogether in order to put Matt and Alesha through to the final. That's just bad producing.

If the dance-off does continue next year, at the very least the BBC are going to have to ensure that the criteria used by the judges are transparent and consistently applied. The way the judges have changed the criteria as it suited them, then ludicrously to claim in the semi that they could only judge on today's performance (the first or the second?: I'm still not sdure) has cost them any credibility they may have had left following their panto dame performances.

I agree with borntosuffer about the question put to Philip Jackson ; there was enough discussion and dissension here and on the BBC boards and no doubt on set about the score and the result .
Claudia obviously felt it was right to ask it and Philip Jackson replied very firmly and very quickly .He wasn't the only one to say the result was wrong , Darren Bennett is shown on one of the videos saying the same thing .
All I can say is that I am glad it was NOT Karen Hardy who was asked directly and replied in the same vein or this forum would have imploded with all the anti Karen "How Dare She "posts .

Also whilst I agree totally with the OP about the unpleasant comments , I have no idea why it remains alright to pass similar comments about the pro dancers especially Karen who has been well and truly " insulted " by posts on here .

Whoever wins , wins and it may well have only a little to do with dancing on the night .

I have also found myself thoroughly annoyed by the inordinate number of 10s handed out for dances which really did not deserve it . It is unfortunately the 40/40 came now , but I too think it wasn't deserving of it and also that Alesha has deserved few of hers either .
I suspect that all those given unwarranted 10s knew full well they were Undeserved , but only Alesha and Matt had the courage to say . For that alone she would get my vote .
I have enjoyed Matt's dancing , or rather Flavia's VERY CLEVER routines which is what has got him this far , but I find , whilst agreeing about the plain nasty posts , the persona of Matt portrayed by the show and by Matt himself grates with me terribly .

I didn't see anything wrong with the way it was asked, personally - I thought the question was obviously designed to address points raised in the forums. If anything, there's been very little discussion of the controversy on the show itself. The judges had the chance to put across their points of view on Monday and Phillip Jackson very briefly put across his argument on Tuesday, but it was hardly a heated discussion. Given all the controversy, I was glad they addressed the concerns many people had about Saturday, however briefly. What was it in particular you didn't like about the way the question was asked? How should it have been addressed?

As for Matt, I'm sure he's perfectly capable of dealing with that sort of discussion - I don't think it's any different to Craig suggesting the week before that Matt should've been in the dance off, so he's dealt with it previously. The point is none of it's a criticism of Matt himself: it's a criticism of the judges' marking and the system of having a dance off in the semi-final.

I totally agree with what you say Geelong Cat. I think people like myself who felt that Gethin should be in the final need to know that it hasn't just been brushed under the carpet. The only problem is, the more people - judges or professionals, who say that Gethin should have got through the more it dilutes the excitement of the final. I really looked forward to Saturday's final up until last week but, if a better offer comes along on Saturday night, I won't bother watching it. As you say Matt is not to blame and I have a great deal of sympathy for him. However, I still do not believe he should be in the final and it won't stop me wanting Alesha to win as I feel that, if the judging had been fair, Gethin would have been there and not Matt.