Got booted off for being extremely provocative? So how come you're posting. I've never even read that thread; I suspect they're on steroids(maybe tranquilizers) so I leave them in peace. It isn't like other opportunities don't present themselves for some sport is it?

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Why that paragraph ? its a completely accurate analysis of why we ended up where we did. The public gave Matt a chance he shouldn't have had and he took it. The judges had to mark on what they saw not the previous week's disaster. Some of the other comments in the Guardian article might be objectionable but that paragraph is factual.

The only unclear bit was whether Len meant Gethin should have been in the final as one of teh best two dancers or one of the better females who went early should have or someone else who went early and might have been as good as Gethin or Matt should- that was the result of the public's bizarre voting too.

But if Len thought Gentin shouldn't have gone, he could have used his "casting vote" to keep him in.

Also, it's not at all clear that it Matt had been in the dance-off against Letitia that the judges would have kept Letitia.

Anyway, IMO Matt should have stayed over Letitia, and the voters made the right choice by ensuring that he did.

Zoe and Emma both came on to the show as highly popular people - Zoe is one of the most loved TV presenters in the last 20 years and Emma is the sweetest member of the most popular girl band in 20 years. Its unlikely anyone in the BBC would predict that some people wouldn't like them for being too successful,too confident, too keen and too good. The response to the hunky unemotional sportsmen on their journeys was more predictable given the audience but they probably underestimated it.

I agree the first point . Letitia was better that night and I don't think her record was that much worse - she also had reliability going for her as Matt had just collapsed. Letitia almost certainly wouldn't have been better than Gethin last week and he had a bit stronger record too.

The second one depends on how they weigh the other things. if the record is clear cut you would give credit for potential or past performances but i don't think Gethin's record is that much better than Matt's to overrule the performance on the night?

Matt mucked up two dances that night. Letitia did much better. Its unknowable if Matt would have mucked up the dance off too - you are right that might have saved him. If he had not performed much better than Letitia though he was out - the judges had made the point very clearly with their scores, would have looked silly letting him go through on a dreadful night and Letitia actually had a similar record without the catastrophic performance marring it. I think Len is telling us what the judges were going to do until Matt was saved by the public.

Still, quite a few dislike the Spice Girls, and I think the BBC could have noticed there'd been a lot of criticism of Zoe when she was doing the breakfast show on Radio 1. For whatever reason, she does irritate some people. Yet others would consider her "not only beautiful but warm and very funny".

You may be right about what the judges would have done; but it was clear that Matt had had an atypically bad night. I think it's good and right that viewers can save someone in such a case, and if Matt then out-danced Gethin -- if he was that good -- then maybe viewers were right to keep him.

It's a bit much for a judge to blame the viewers for Gethin going when the judges had so large a role in the decision.

Also remember that Len gave Matt 8s that week. If the other judges had marked like Len, Matt wouldn't have been 20 points below.

This overweight middle aged woman has only voted for the beautiful Alesha who has worked hardest and been the best dancer this year.

I really hope that Matt holds it together and dances as well as he's able because he can dance beautifully and I really want the final to be a genuine competition and I hope that the best team wins.

I take it,
on a good night a dancer should go through on merit,
on a bad night he should go through on pity.

I don't think that Len can blame the GBP. At the end of the day, he is the one with the casting vote. It was only after the event, and not consistent with what they had done every time in previous weeks, that the judges said that they had to vote on what they saw in the dance off. Also it is debatable as to who danced the best. After eleven weeks, Len could have saved Gethin on the basis that he was the more consistent and more greatly improved. We would certainly have had a final between two equally popular contestants.

yes, I am a judge knocker and I'm disappointed that a quality newspapers is playing a part in boosting their already inflated egos.

Why that paragraph ? its a completely accurate analysis of why we ended up where we did. The public gave Matt a chance he shouldn't have had and he took it. The judges had to mark on what they saw not the previous week's disaster. Some of the other comments in the Guardian article might be objectionable but that paragraph is factual.

The only unclear bit was whether Len meant Gethin should have been in the final as one of teh best two dancers or one of the better females who went early should have or someone else who went early and might have been as good as Gethin or Matt should- that was the result of the public's bizarre voting too.[/quote]

The paragraph doesn't mention any of the "better females" - the implication is clear: that it's the public's fault that Gethin isn't in the final. This is the nearest anyone has got challenging Len's decision last week and his response is to pass the buck (and insult the audience at the same time).

Len watched the dance-off and chose to ignore the errors Matt made (Philip Jackson commented on them and Arlene obviously spotted them too). Why do that if he felt it would mean the wrong celebrities would be in the final?

The comment is extraordinary because of its content and its timing. It isn't a "completely accurate analysis" of what happened: it's one man pathetically trying to deflect criticism that has quite rightly been aimed at him since last weekend. It's also one man trying to cover for the producers, whose efforts to manipulate public opinion are appalling.

But to be fair it's probably true...

My point had nothing to do with pity, though. It was about keeping the better dancer despite an off night. And, of course, the "off night" has to be exceptional, because otherwise it would mean they weren't such a good dancer after all, or weren't (at that point) up to competing at the required level.

I suggest that the best thing we can do is to prove Len wrong tonight.

Of course, the first person Len should be preaching to is that silly super-annuated teenager who sits to his immediate right on Saturday evenings.