Up to this week Austin had the highest combined score of the final 4, he had had the most highest scoring dances (5) and had topped the leader board most times (4). He had never been in the bottom 2.

He could actually have had the highest public vote this week (and indeed, Lisa the lowest) and still have been the one to go.

The judges choice at this stage of the game should be scrapped, really.

I agree - it was a no win situation by that stage.

im with you on that one......Austin was much more entertaining than Lisa,,,,,,,,Judges your face said it all when you voted him off.....you looked guilty as hell

There's no evidence the semi or final would be closer in any way with Austin there.

You have 4 good dancers. 3 performed better than Austin last night. Next week it might have changed or not. We have no firm idea who of the 4 would have produced the closest final in dancing terms. Recent performances suggest not Austin but that too might have changed.

We now have no idea of where Rachel, Tom or Austin's vote was or how far Lisa is behind. Tom could have won already or Rachel could be closing or better. All we know is that Rachel beat Lisa.

The idea that Tom v Austin would be exciting because they each have a lot of votes and each could win is only exciting in the sense of waiting for the vote to be announced. You could have weighed their votes in week one and ended the competion then for all this has to do with what they do on the dance floor. Its essentially substituting a two minute equivalent of the lottery numbers falling or Noel Edmonds getting people to open boxes for a competion beforehand.

There's no evidence either (apart from a DS poll and some early voting polls from when Austin started ahead) that even Austin v Tom was a close race. Its perfectly possible that Tom is way ahead - or not.

The logic of Austin beating Lisa on popularity would apply next week to whoever was least popular in the semi final too. Its actually an argument for not having a QF or a SF at all and just going on popularity. That in turn reduces to the logic that the show might as well have stopped when two people had clear leads in the public vote. As pointed out above, it could be that the public vote has had Tom ahead by miles since JS left so we could/should even have ended the series then if popularity decides who gets where.

In dancing terms any of the last three could all win. In competion terms if the closeness of the dancing isn't reflected in a close vote now or in the final the best way of getting a real dancing competion is to ensure that the best dancers get there so at least what comes before the vote is exciting. If you want a close vote and lots of people have made up their minds beforehand the only way to actually get it is to have the best dancers there even if they are not the most popular.

Not everyone found Austin exciting. I found him irritating beyond belief, but he remained in the competition based partly on ability and partly on popularity. That I can live with, but why such furure at last night's exit?

He was the worst on the night - Lisa was far superior in the dance off - goodbye Austin: now what is unfair about that?

That was in week one with two poor dances and nothing else to base it on.

i personally think they have made it more interesting

everyone though it would be a tom/ustin final and now its wide open anything could happen

Lisa is getting through by the judges over marking her.....and has for a while now.
What they did to Austin was simple........it was unfair.

makes the show utter crap........(No Im not an Austin fan)...lol

In case anyone is interested, there are some trends which suggest either Tom or Rachel will win.

a. female actresses and tv presenters have done much worse than might be expected, especially since they massively dominate the female entrants. The most successful (ie popular with the judges and the public) tend to be a little, er, older.
b. despite being in a miniscule minority compared to the actresses/tv presenters, female singers have done rather well
c. if you can't come on strictly as a male sportsman between 30 and 40 (preferably with a nice chest), come on as a young male actor between 25 and 35, a star of a popular BBC evening soap.

Whilst this doesn't say anything about these specific celebs, it isn't rocket science to work out who is picking up the phone, is it? If I were a betting woman, and having had a look I'm tempted to head off to Ladbrokes, I would put my fiver on Tom. Reasons:

a. Lisa is clearly not very popular...three dance offs etc etc etc.
b. there is evidence from the past weeks of voting, not to mention the leaked results and online polls, that suggest Tom is more popular with the public than rachel. Men in his demographic have generally done better in the final stages than women in Rachel's demographic. Any guesses as to why?????!!!
c. I should expect a lot of the women (whoops, I mean people) who have been voting for Austin will vote to Tom as second choice.

On a more cynical front:

c. The BBC would prefer to have a star from their 'stable' |The judges would prefer someone already signed up to the tour.
d. The producers, interested in variety and diversity, would probably prefer an actor to win rather than a female singer two years in a row.
e. I believe (though haven't checked) the programme has already been losing viewers. If they lose Tom pre-the final, they will risk losing more.

I'm not for a moment suggesting there is anything so tawdry as vote rigging, but editors do EDIT THE PROGRAMMES, and this subtly influences things. The whole sh*t storm over John was continually being stirred up on ITT, with the judges...they aren't idiots. They know this means people will tune in.

I would also add that, in this spirit, I am pretty sure the producers would NOT want have wanted Austin (or any sportsman) to have won. (Please don't misinterpret me, I am by no means saying it wasn't fair, or that it was a fix.) But it does seem to me that having 50% of your winners as male sportsmen between the ages of 30-40 makes it look like a shoe-in from the start. Because, having had a look at the numbers, the fact is that male sportsmen have done way way way way way way better than any other group of people on the show. The result....? Well, is it a coincidence that for the past few years the producers have steadily increased the number of tv presenters and actors/actresses getting on the programme whist the no.s of sports people have remained the same...or gone down...(or had random fat snooker players added to the mix).

A last log to throw on the fire...why oh why oh why oh why are there so few sportswomen on this programme???? Even Gabby Logan wasn't really a sportswoman, but a tv presenter who had once done a bit of gym years ago. Otherwise there has been Denise Lewis and that's your lot.

I'm not sure I'd agree with this part of your post.

I personally find Austin & Tom more entertaining to watch partly because they dance so well, partly because they 'act' the dances so well and partly because there is a friendly rivalry between them - a sociable competitiveness if you like.

I have liked a lot of Rachel's dances in recent weeks and a few of Lisa's over the series (her VW stands out for me as one of the best dances of the series), but for me neither of them will be as exciting to watch in the final.

I suspect I'm not alone.

Pretty much agree with all of this Ignazio - good post.

Any unfairness went on before the dance off. The dance off was a foregone conclusion.

ok this is how i see it, they never wanted Austin to get anywhere near the final/semi's, hence why they saved lisa tonight, now don't assume that i have anything against lisa ,far from it, but it looked from a long way off that they wanted a bloody tom/kat final and austin even being in the final three would have buggered the chances of that happening,

lisa will once again be used as a sacrificial lamb next week so that the tom/kat pair get the glory of the final,

well thats what will happen unless the voting public see the blatant manipulation and put both tom/kat into the bottom two and leave lisa to waltz into the final, with the judges pissed off by having to choose between the their two favorites,

I would add that Austin was the best dancer at the start but stayed at that level and that explains why his record doesn't swing it for him even if the judges were allowed to bear it in mind how often he came top. Lisa has more recent momentum and she has also done better at producing two dances a week and within that one really good dance a week. As you say the judges will judge the dancing on the night and that was pretty clear cut . His going is partly ability, partly health and its partly luck of the draw with the dances as Arlene pointed out. Its also as other celebs have noted a marathon not a 5k race and Austin may not be the best suited to the longer race.

The point should be made too that it doesn't matter if Austin beat or equalled Lisa in the original judges votes unless he also beats Tom and Rachel fails to beat Lisa. Its pretty pointless arguing about one vote either way when we have no idea if Austin was first , second or anywhere else in the public vote and we do know Rachel beat Lisa.

They may have made the final few seconds a bit more exciting by the result tonight, but I suppose its only really exciting for those who care about the outcome. None of the semi finalists are very interesting either on or off the dance floor, when you compare this one to all the other finals. Yes, there were likely front runners, but always an element of surprise, and contestants who were funny and exciting to watch. Actually I haven't cared as much about this series as the last one. Either its the calibre of the contestants, or perhaps SCD could do with taking a holiday from itself. I'm as bored as a bored person in a really boring situation...

Because that over confident competitiveness is only a good quality in men, the public hate to see it in women. I seem to remember Denise been pretty unpopular despite being an excellent dancer and everyone seemed to really dislike Gabby last year.

Hi Buddy

What was unfair prior to the dance off?

imo Lisa's waltz was worth every mark and far superior to Austin's best dance i.e. the salsa.

Are you saying in a roundabout way that all sportswomen are horrible???

I didn't warm to Gabby Logan, but for god's sake, there must be someone out there who isn't a hard as nails ubermensche.

I don't there is any real evidence about whether Lisa or Rachel is most popular with the public. Rachel has been generally higher with the judges so if they were getting roughly equal public votes Lisa would end up lower overall, and more likely in the danceoff.

I think there is a good chance that Tom will be 3rd of the 3 with the judges next week, and depending on the order of the top 2, and how the public are voting for them (see above) there is every chance he could be in the dance off and so go out.

I think it is anything but predictable right now for next week... but if Tom is in the final I am pretty sure he will win, but if it is the 2 girls I think it is impossible to say.

My gut feel from reading these forums is that there is little to pick between the girls in a public only vote, and the deciding factor would likely be Vincent's greater popularity than Brendan when the the people who generally vote for the male celebrities have to pick between the 2 females (and their partners).

Hi CC

Totally agree with all your comments. I can't believe we're going to be left with the dullest most predictable final ever - or saying that they could use the opportunity to get rid of Tom next week and then we're going to have a final with 2 contestants that the majority of the public obviously haven't warmed to.

They may have saved the better dancer on the night tonight but in one fell swoop they've ripped all the personality out of the show.

I agree with you........

Lisa;s jive was awful..........she was way over marked.

Gee, imagine that!

lol, No I was saying that all the sports people can be quite cocky and competitive but it's always seen as good thing in the men but it's makes the women unpopular with the public.

lol....its a crying shame that I am booked to go out both the next Fridays, and have to stay in on the Saturdays as the OH is going out. What will I do when I can't be bothered to watch SCD? Still it will prepare me for when SCD is over. I'll have to find something else to do with my early Saturday evenings from this coming week!