Best not to bother replying - sounds like this person hasn't watched ANY of the series. Eg "Austin never engaged with the audience" - presumably a standing ovation (at the end of the Paso) isn't engaging with the public?

My favourites Christine and Matt have gone,so I have no allegiance to any of the remaining couples,but let's face it for Austin to go was a shock,even for me.
He's been one of the most consistent dancers,in a different league to Lisa and deserved a place in the final.
I honestly feel Austin and Erin were undermarked and Lisa/Brendan overmarked,that jive was awful.
If things are fair okay you can accept the outcome,but this definitely wasn't fair.

Ellie

It's a disgrace that Austin has gone. The judges have been gunning for him now that they couldnt knock out Tom. They are so desparate for Rachel to be in the final that they have pushed out the best dancer in the entire competition. Austin has been robbed and doesnt he know it. They all know it - the look on Brendans face at the end, he knows Lisa should have gone home. Even Arlene looked guilty when she gave a standing ovation at the end. This years judging has been a shambles, an absolute disgrace to their profession and I hope they all get their marching orders next year.

Or make them do the worse rather than the best scoring dance.

It's unfair that you get through a dance-off by having one dance that you can do well and one you can't do so well surely it negates the whole point of dancing two dances which shows you can do both the ballroom and latin - Lisa got through on her ballroom in which actually she was gapping AGAIN! in the dance-off ergo danced it worse in the dance off than the main show but because she'd got 39 for it in the show the judges had to go with her rather than Austin. If he ended up in the dance-off he was doomed and he knew it.

Thank you - it's nice to hear that opinion voiced by a non-Austin fan without an axe to grind. I'm going to state to in return that hubbie would far rather have retained Christine last week than Lisa.

It would be fairer, as the 2 worst dances were only seperated by one point this week (Last week though, even the 2 lowest scoring dances for Lisa/Christine were a full 9 points apart - the same point difference as their two best dances!)

I really do think when you get to the 2 dance stage, then the judges choice should go. The judges get two chances to rank the couples anyway and the public only one. Add the dance off and they have 3. The top with the public vote can have way more votes than even the person second on pv and it still not alter anything at all.

Two dances leads to too many variables. It seems that a couple with one really good dance and one dud is preferred to a couple with 2 dances on the same level. Comparing the merits of relative dances becomes more subjective - is simple and basic performed well better than a faster, more complex routine that is a bit raggedy round the edges?

Spot on Suirad! I just can't understand why the judges didn't want Austin in the final,and I can't understand how they could send Austin home and keep Lisa who has been in the dance off three times,she is hardly the joe public favourite. Hope they bring in the supposed new rule next year...three dance off's and out. Austin was Robbed.

[quote=boddism;29322257]IMO the judges CLEARLY want Rachel to win... watch again that backstage analysis they did: RACHEL, RACHEL, RACHEL. Pity for them she's not terribly popular with the public.....[/QUOTE]

Maybe the 2 facts are not disconnected?

The public have nearly always been anti the judges choices (cough* Zoe and Emma* cough)

But if the judges marked what is actually there, rather than what they want to be there it could get round it.

If, for whatever reason, a person doesn't connect with the voters then being artificially kept towards the top of the leader board - as Bruno actually admitted doing in the case of Emma - isn't going to make them popular quite the reverse!

Thanks Ellie. Good to hear somebody who was not an Austin fan confirm what I thought.

Of course it's my opinion. Like all the other ones on this forum. Never said it was a fact.

The problem with Austin going isn't that the judges bent the rules; it's that the rules (especially when one contestant has withdrawn) tip the balance too much in favour of the judges towards the end of the competition.

The final, if you consider simple justice to both entertainment and dancing sides of the competition, should be competitors showing a balance between high scores and public approval. It's just not on for the public to reject two competitors time and time again and for them to be the finalists - and I like both Lisa and Rachel.

I have to say that the right decision was made. Austin's two dances were the poorest of the night, his salsa wasn't a 10 by any stretch of the imagination and I think he was just unlucky with the dances he had to do

in my opinion, he hasn't really improved since the waltz and the jive that he did fairly early on

I was convinced Austin was going to win come what may so I'm pleasantly surprised with the outcome

sorry austin fans

[quote=Mamaboogie;29322117]You say Lisa has no chance of winning.

Excuse me - who would ever have thought that Lisa would beat Austin in a dance off?

And beat him she did, fair and square - no fixing, no favourites.[/QUOTE]

No, she only beat him with the judges. Its quite obvious that had we had the system of 2 years ago with no dance off Lisa would have been out (and I'm not an Austin fan).

No problem about disagreeing about those two dances. As for Gary Rhodes' jive, it was not awful, it was criminal
But those were the first weeks; what would have been good in week 2 might not be sufficient at the end of the series. Lisa's jive would have been good many weeks ago, now it was not. As for Tom's rumba, I would have hated it on week 1 - stiff, bad lines, bad faces. And don't get me wrong, I like Tom, and for instance I loved his foxtrot and thought it deserved every single mark it got.

Tom has not even made the final yet for heaven's sake. I can see Craig and Bruno not wanting him in the final for starters.

[quote=Servalan;29325788][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.
Totally agree - if there was no dance off Lisa would have gone - i.e the least popular. Will the BBC learn from this for next year? I don't think so.

I do think Tom may go next week if teh judges have their way.

As long as he comes 1st or 2nd on the LB he`s safe for the final.

It`ll be interesting to see what happens if Tom is last on the LB and ends up in the bottom two. Do the judges put him through to make it the most predictable final in the history of SCD?

[quote=The_abbott;29329351][quote=Servalan;29325788]

Do you have inside information about the voting numbers - if not you can not be sure that Austin didn't get less votes than Lisa this week

[quote=welwynrose;29330539][quote=The_abbott;29329351]
Well the evidence is that Lisa hasbeen in the dance off twice before in a higher position then Austin.

PLus you alwo have the People's figures if you believe them.

That is my gripe really. The judges have far too much control at this stage of the compeition with so few competiors left in. Austin had no chance on Saturday - even with the largest public vote.

Lisa is unpopular with the public and its ridiculous at this stage that she is still whilst being constantly rejected by the viewer. I would say the same choose as who it was at this stage. I am not a tom fan but I would be equally outraged if he had gone on the same basis.

I am neither a "lover" or a "hater" of Austin but I dont quite understand all the whinging and outcry over Austin's departure. It was not the existance of the judge's control over the dance off but the fact that on the night he underperformed! He was a pretty brilliant dancer, but by no means was he flawless and his latin at points was a bit dodgy, flexing pecks and doing gymnastics was not a mark of how good his dancin was.

I thought that there had previously been a lot of criticsm over the fact that this programme revolved around a dance contest and not a popularity one! Hence a dance off reflects this with an element of public control. The four on the night were comparatively evenly matched and I think to criticise Lisa's Jive to the extent it has been is a bit juvenile in favour of all those who "love" Austin.

I found him a bit stiff and soulless, that's all

if he'd have won I wouldn't have cried about it though

I think it goes to show that you can't please all the people all the time - people moan if it's all public/half public half judges, whether it's a darnce competition or a popularity contest, their favourites getting lower marks and their least favourites getting higher marks

I mean really this happens every year - one of them had to go, they all knew no-one was safe, they should have pulled it out of the bag on at least one of the dances

and he didn't, it's that simple

Austin was robbed.

He's clearly the best dancer and performer in the series - the judges simply decided to rig the scores because they want a Tom vs Rachel final, no matter what.

It's deeply unfair.

I'd just like to say I have posted a lot over the last two weeks about the marking of the judges and apart for voting for Christine twice (did I jinx her? ), I am not a supporter of any of the other couples.

I have 'no axe to grind' either and am just sharing my thoughts on what I believe has happened.

I don't believe the judges have an agenda for the couples they want to stay or not to stay. I just think that when it comes to the weaknesses that each couple has when dancing (and they all have them), three of the judges do not mark down one couple as much as they do the other couples. It may only be one mark each dance, but it is enough to make a big difference.