[quote=jonah_242;29324862]
I think they should not be doing the dance off at this stage of the competition.
If you do the maths Austin could have got the most votes tonight.
And then next week Tom could get the most votes and go out if he is bottom of the judges' points leaderboard.
So we could be left with the situation with a Lisa vs Rachel final when neither of them are getting the votes.
The people are not really getting a say in who they want to win.[quote]
These two points say it all for me - but I also agree with the many excellent points made by BuddyB and ElectraPalatine.
What I find most striking about all this is that neither the judges nor the producers have learned from the JS shambles. One thing at the heart of that was the public feeling that the judges were
telling them how to vote and who their favourites should be - and given the huge amount of bad feeling that caused, you would think the judges would have twigged and stopped ... but, instead, they, and the producers, have continued.
The dance-off isn't the point - it's the scoring that preceded it. If Christine had turned in a jive like Lisa did, she'd've got 5s, 6s and 7s. So we now have one of the public's favourite contestants voted off the show. And if the same fate befalls Tom next week, the bad feeling will only get worse.
The judges are out of control. Some of them - take a bow, Arlene - seem to think that they are are the official champions of some of the contestants. They, and the producers, know that Rachel is not that popular with the public so are going out of the way to hype her up, in the hope that the public will vote for her, so they have a more evenly matched final. Unfortuantely for them, all it does make their favouritism ever more blatant ...

If I hear "they're just the perfect package" again, I will not be held responsible for my actions. (And a Rachel vs Lisa final will just have me not switching on at all. :yawn
I never thought I'd hear myself saying this, but SCD needs to take a leaf out of The X Factor's book - and stick to the public vote in the final weeks of the competition. And if the judges don't like that, tough. They're still out to pick a fight with the public - and, ultimately, it'll be one they won't win.