I cannot believe the uproar about John, both on here and everywhere else in the media.

Why does it matter what order the celebrities leave in? Who will care when we have the winner?

There are several points I would like people to consider in this:

a) The judges have been clear since series 1 that the public have and equal say in who stays and the casting vote in a tie. With this being the case, why are they so arrogant about wanting John to go, afterall they, by Len's admission are there to comment on the dance, while the public can consider far more.

b) If we are supposed to vote for the best dancer - as stated by both the judges and many fms on here when John stays - why is anyone voting for anyone but the best dancer on the night? It seems that people are able to excuse voting for Jodie, Cherie, etc, because they are doing better than John, but if they are not the best dancer and it is strictly a dancing competition, they shouldn't be voted for.

c) Is this more about the pros and celebs egos than anything else? Rachel cried because she was in the dance off and then, mysteriously, the judges overmarked her so she was top of the leaderboard and safe, so she wouldn't be humiliated again, so she could kid herself that she was popular. Again, Brendan looked livid that he and Lisa were put at risk, and James convinced himself that Cherie was a winner. The fact that a celeb has a personality and doesn't have to rely on good looks or over blown praise may have come as a shock to some celebs and pros, this series.

d) Trying to damn John with faint praise is incredibly arrogant of the judges - according to Craig, John had improved enough to go from a 1 to a 5. Maybe, if they hadn't been so anti-John and so determined to get him out, it wouldn't have turned into a battle between the public and the judges.

e) The judges blindness to some of the couple's faults is incredibly annoying. Cherie did not master Latin on Saturday - she looked slow and rigid. Lisa and Brendan's Samba was lacking enthusiasm (I blame Brendan) and Rachel got top marks for not very much at all! Maybe if the judges were fairer across the board, the public would reflect a fairness in the vote.

d) This competition will come down to a couple of the dancers who have ability and show consistency. The others will fall by the wayside. The pros cannot kid themselves they have a chance of winning when it's fairly obvious this competition is most likely to be between Tom and Austin. When the pros first met the celebs they knew whether they had a chance of winning or not, whatever the bravado, and they cannot change the facts.

e) This competition is about more factors than the dancing ability of the celebs, otherwise, the bbc wouldn't involve the public - none specialists - in the decision.

f) The bbc have no business whatsoever inviting celebs they know are going to be there purely for the amusement factor if this is a serious dancing competition. That is unacceptable. The whole point is the whole package. If this wasn't the case, the judges would have be more impartial too.

When Christmas comes, no one will care who went out when. They'll just be bothered about the winner and whether they were deserving of it. IMO, there has only been one instance of someone winning when they weren't the best dancer, and that was because of one of the professionals (Erin) making a misjudgement.

Relax everyone and enjoy the series for what it is - Saturday night family entertainment.

I hope you can see my point of view - I am not being malicious about any couple's fans, merely trying to be as objective as possible.

Seldom has so much sense been talked in one post on this board. I expect the thread will therefore drop like a brick from the front page.

A B C D E D E F ??? What??

I'm sorry - but no.

I think you'll find that if John does the decent thing and sacrifices himself to the dancing gods on some kind of pyre on ITT this week, then all the remaining - deserving - couples will win by default. Everyone will be happy and all will be right wi' world.

I thought everyone knew that...?

Hear hear

True.


It is not strictly a dancing competition, it's a light entertainment show. If it were a proper dancing competition there would be no voice for the general public.


If this were a proper dance competition personality wouldn't come into it.


You're making a few too many assumptions now for my liking.


I'm going to trust the judges' judgment over yours I'm afraid.


How can they change the facts?


That's the problem with the show and also many of the viewers, they stupidly think it is a serious dance competition, it's not.


It's not serious dancing compeition.


When Christmas comes I'll have forgotten all about the winner, the only thing I am going to remember from this series is John Sergeant and the mess that was caused on the show and how much more interesting in made things.


You're definitely being contradictory.

That's just my point - it isn't a serieous dance competition, it's an entertainment show. If you read the post in it's entirity, not in small points, you'll see I'm suppositioning myself into the judges argument!

They should do away with amateurs next year and just let the pros compete. I am sure that they would all be quite happy when they got voted off and there would not be any back-biting or sulks or resentments. And of course the utterly unbiased and fair minded judges would not have to put up with the aggravation of having to watch incompetent dancers who can't do heel leads or wiggle their backsides in the appropriate manner. And if they also did away with the pesky general public who seem to think that they can vote for anyone they like then all would be would be strictly perfect.

What a brilliant paragraph. This has been my contention from the word go.

Wow! You were spot on!

Thanks

Agreed...lets keep posting to keep the first post up there!

Cannot believe this...have logged on for the first time today and so many threads on this subject....mind boggling, you'd think Kate, Kenny or Julian never happened.

It all just goes to show that you shouldn't let the public vote on ANYTHING on the telly!!!

We all know it's just a money-making exercise anyway - so I don't know why anyone bothers voting.

Leave the judging to people who know what they're talking about!

.....and watch it be moved into the slot Come Dancing had. It would lose it's appeal, be seen as a fix and be shelved.

The public say is part of the appeal.

I agree, esp point f!

If they are all so upset, let the judges do the marking and deciding who goes. I don't care, I just like watching the dancing!

People suggesting John "resign" makes me laugh..wtf! I really would lose my respect for any contestant who did that. They would prob not want that to happen anyway as those who voted for him would be in uproar, demanding their phone money back. Let the show follow its rules now for goodness sakes.

And yes, only one couple can win!

Stop being sensible. We all much prefer arguing and creating conspiracy theories.

.............. and you don't think that it isn't a fix as it is???

Delightful as he is, John Sergeant should not still be in the show, whilst Cherie Lunghi is eliminated.

This is supposed to be a dancing competition - not a popularity contest.

No, it's an entertainment show in which judges give their opinion, and the public give their's. If it was a serious dancing competition, John Sergeant would not have been asked to take part as it would be been considered that he was not on an equal footing with the others.

Had it been a serious dancing competition, the celebs would all have been of a similar age and ability.

....it's not that difficult if you apply a bit of logic to it!

Then contestants should be chosen who are more evenly matched rather than having experienced dancers against those who've never danced in their life. I've said this so many times now

Secretly the Beeb are rubbing their hands with glee about John still being in the competition, they must be earning some money with people vying to keep him in. He's quite adorable in a grand/fatherly way, we'd all like a dad or granddad like John. Also he's the underdog, us Brits always take them to heart and back them.

Take the show for what it is, light entertainment. Its meant to be fun, the more people get worked up about John remaining in the comp the longer he'll stay in.

John to win

Unfortunately the OPs argument is ruined by including all that nonsense about Rachel. She wasn't overmarked 'so she wouldn't be humiliated'. She was the best on the night with an excellently performed rumba. She deserved her place.

Lmao...I suppose this board would be much quieter otherwise

Happily logic is one of my strong points!!

I don't agree though - there is no essential reason for them all to be of a similar age and ability - because the purpose of the show continuing for several weeks is to show the journey each contestant goes on. There is no automatic assumption that a younger person should make a better dancer.

There have been numerous celebs who have made amazing progress during the show - and that is what makes it interesting.

Serious or not - it is still a dancing competition!