Two things bothered me about the skate-off this year.

1) Two contestants were kept in FOUR CONSECUTIVE TIMES, the former was only eliminated when he came up against the latter. Should there be a limit to how many consecutive skate-offs you can be in before you are ejected?

2) Skate-off in the semi final, I think by this point the public should choose. Actually I think the last skate off should be the show before the quarter finals, fromt here on it should be a straight knock-out.

What are your thoughts?

For point one how is that going to work. if you have been in the last three skate-offs and survived and the next week your in the bottom two again your off. No skate-off, no chance to save yourself.

In this series I think the judges have pretty much got it spot on each week. Its when the public start having sole choice it turns into a popularity contest rather than a ice dancing competition

I mostly agree with point 2. I've thought since season 1 that the semi final should be based on viewer vote. I don't mind if its a straight knock out or a skate off with the lines reopened for the two remaining skaters but either way the judges shouldn't get to choose who makes the final.

But then again whatever they do ITV will be acuused of fixing the result or being out to make money. They can't win.

I agree that semifinals should just be public vote

Get rid of the flying in the finals and subistute a fairer preformance for both sexes.

Umm the first point is a bit ridiculous. Why should It matter how many skateoffs you have been in?

I disagree with you. It does matter how many skate-offs you've been in because if you're in a skate-off it either because:

a) you're not a very good skater and have been marked down by the panel

or b) you're not very popular with the public

or c) both of the above!

As a viewer I want to see good skating and/or someone I really like. It was ridiculous for the panel to keep saving two particular contestants!

I think that's a very valid point. It would be OK for the judges to keep saving the person in the bottom two week after week, if the final was going to be decided by those judges, but considering its going to be decided by the public who keep putting them at the bottom, then it doesn't leave much doubt as to who is going to be voted out first does it. It seems a bit of a contradiction the way its all done to me.
Either take notice of the public, or don't give the public the right to decide at all.

I'm happy with the skate-off as it is. I watch the show because I enjoy watching skating and I particularly like good skating. I'd rather the judges kept in someone who was a good skater but unpopular than someone who is more popular but a poor skater.

DoI is not like, say X-Factor, where there is a recording contract at stake and the judges are looking for someone who is popular enough to sell records.

I have no objection to how many times the judges save a particular skater; if viewers don't seem to be voting for someone who is a reasonably good skater, then to have the judges save that person, is surely the purpose of the skate-off?

I do think though, perhaps the bottom 3 couples should be in the skate off, until the series reaches 4 couples, which would perhaps stop 2 strongish couples being in the skate-off while a weaker skater goes through - note: I did say PERHAPS!!!!!

I agree with this - in every series there will be a skater who is clearly not the worst, but without a fanbase find themselves in the bottom 2 with the public week after week.

It happened to Stefan in series 1 - and he finished runner up.
It happened to Claire in series 2 (and she was clearly head and shoulders above some who were automatically going through) - again she was the overall runner up.
This year the sight of Samantha, Nat, Tim and Steve in the skate off before Aggie went was ludicrous.

I don't have a problem with repeated skate-off survivors. I'm not sure how you could do it anyway. Third time in the skate off, so we'll not even bother, which leaves the show a bit short. I do wonder if the judges should perhaps be allowed a little more lee-way to keep in the good skater who had a bad night, although they seemed to do that when it suited anyway, such as keeping in Zaraah over Linda.

There shouldn't be a skate-off for the semi-final, because it makes the public vote almost irrelevant that week. If the e decided via public opinion only, it's not that big a leap to let them contribute via the score-board only, with the lowest combined scorer leaving. There shouldn't be any weak skaters left by then, and with the judges voting on that performance only the judges could be forced to ditch a skater who has been consistently better in the preceeding weeks, as happened with Zaraah and Gareth.

I know people are worried about the likes of Greg getting through to the final, but if the public really like him that much, then it should be allowed. It's an entertainment show at the end of the day. Although he had left by then and I don't think there have ever been any truly rubbish skaters in the semis anyway.

They should ditch the flying too. It was fun in the first year when no-one expected it, but it gives the male celebs too much of a disadvantage, when they already face such a big one with lifts during the course of a normal routine.

Suppose, just suppose, that Zaraah had found herself in a 3rd skate off with Aggie as the other skater.

Should Zaraah have been eliminated and Aggie gone through? Or even skate off king Steve; it was his second skate off when Aggie was eliminated - had it been his 3rd should she have stayed, whilst he was sent packing?

I don't think the judges always get it right - saving Tim over Nat is a glaring example - but I don't think the number of times a competitor finds themselves in the bottom 2 should influence the skate off result.

If there hadn't been a skate-off in the semi-final, do you think that Gareth would have gone through instead of Zaraah?

Personally I thought Zaraah was better on the night, but Gareth was better overall.

Without a skate off in the semi final I think it's safe to say that Gareth would have gone through on the public vote.

I do agree that, despite Zaraah's grace, Gareth was better overall. I've already explained elsewhere why I think it's unfair to expect all the males to accomplish spectacular lifts and why it's also unfair to expect the girls to cover the lifts technique and still equal the men in ice craft - but Suzanne did show some remarkable technique whereas Zaraah showed very little. If only the judges had penalised her for this, instead of concentrating on her artistry etc. the issue might have been addressed and we could have seen a very different Zaraah.

in the semi finals if you are at the bottom, there really isnt much of a chance of making it to the finals without having to be in the skateoff, its happened all 3 years now....

i agree it should be down to the public from the semi's

The Semi final skate off [ie this year Gareth v Zaraah] is stupid... it just tells you who will be in the third place

Bonnnie
Duncan
Zaraah

I think it should be solely down to the public vote/ judges scores and no skate off at that point.

As to the other point about consecutive skate offs, only this year have two skaters been really permantly in them. The other years it has varied quite a bit; possibly if it remains like it next year it should change but Series 3 seemed a bit weird in that term

The point of the skate off is to stop the public eliminating really good people - or at least fewer of them. it doesn't matter if they have to do it 4 times.

The public are quite capable of ruining the whole series by dropping one of the best two performers in the SF - they did it in the 2007 SCD SF and ended up without their strongest dancer in the final (in terms of record or the judges view) in both 2006 and 2007. Its better to have a final with two people who can perform at roughly the same level even if one has limited support than it is to have one pretty hopeless case with fans versus someone good.

The problem with the skate off is that they have different criteria instead of just anouncing that the judges will weigh things up and make the best decision they can. At the moment for example its not clear if Zaraah made the final because they ignored the skate-off performance by Greg which was argubaly better - which looks sensible on record but contradicts the grounds they sometimes themselves give for the decision.

Agree that but who ever is third into the final will be talked up to make it look competitive. Zaraah was talked up week after week even though her grace was never followed up by much difficulty or wow factor in either her skating or her lifts. There wasn't much between Gareth and Zaraah but she pulled out her best performance when she needed to which would have made it difficult for the judges to go with Gareth. I don't think it mattered for the final as Suzanne and Chris were so much better and obviously so - except to one bizarre reviewer in The Times who wanted to blame racism for what was a pretty clear choice on quality grounds.

Interesting, networkbabe. I have to say that whilst I thought Zaraah danced and skated her best during the final night, overall she was outclassed by Chris and Suzanne. However, I thought her being in the skate-off four times was a bit ridiculous as she was clearly better than some others that were voted to stay in by the public.

Whether that was racist on behalf of the GBP I have no idea. It's a very unpleasant thought. Do you have a link to that article? I'd be interested to read it, if you have the time to post it.

Its in Monday's Times which i read the hard copy of waiting for a train. Its presumably on line but the Times site is like an iceberg - largely hidden. Its a pretty silly article. It confuses arguing that race might have a role with saying definitely that it did and ignored the more realistic argument that it may have some role which may or may not be important. My guess would be that Zaraah might lose some votes but that isn't necessary to explain why she lost public votes to people like Aggie (funny and attracting the anti Jason vote) or Gareth (about the same level with a bigger fan base) or Greg (funny and had a journey story and again annoyed Jason. The guy writing it had some problem with Suzanne and leaped from that to the conclusion Zaraah should have won - which not only ignored the performances and the scores but omitted Chris who almost certainly would have won if Suzanne hadn't.

My own little theory - which may be just as silly - is that ethnic minority contestants are rather like female's in many reality contests. In a close fight a white male will beat them because there are biases in the audience towards white males. If they are clearly better than the nearest white male though they can win. Suzanne (like Leona Lewis or Alesha Dixon) is good enough to make the gap clear. Zaraah might have needed to be unfairly good to win but it didn't matter because she wasn't close enough anyway and someone else did manage to pull one out for the other group who rarely win - women.

Stefan was constantly in the skate off in series 1 - in fact there was a huge outcry when the judges put him through over John Barrowman.

I think you are right, overall Gareth was a bit better than Zaraah, he skated a lot more on his own imo but for whatever reasons the judges wanted her in the final. It didnt make any difference to the outcome as gareth would have gone out like Zaraah did. Nothing racist about it, the better ones went forward

Just in case you didn't find the article:
http://entertainment.timesonline.co....cle3564907.ece
Jason added fuel to the fire - pity no one told him or Tim Teeman that Leona Lewis won X Factor, Alesha Dixon won SCD and Colin Jackson was runner up (and favourite) to take the SCD crown when he competed.

But why bother with the truth when allegations of fix, racism etc. might sell a few extra newspapers.

Stefan was never in the skateoff after John Barrowman left; I would say that the girly vote was split between the two so when one left, the other got their votes.

I do know that Stefan was (undeservedly in the skate off for 3 consecutive weeks).

Week 2 he beat Andi Peters
Week 3 he beat Andrea Mclean
Week 4 he beat John Barrowman

I know Sean Wilson went out in week 5 but I don't know who was in the skate off with him - probably Kelly Holmes.

It's those consecutive weeks I remember (probably because I was voting for him)