... and Tom has none, is it a forgone conclusion that Tom is the most popular?

If Tom keeps up with his form in the semi-finals and not fall flat on his face in any of his routines, does that mean that he's the predictable winner of SCDVI?

Discuss!

Well Austin was in his first dance off and he went home so who knows. To be honest, I think this series has descended into a total farce.

I keep thinking I am going to wake up and find Bobby Ewing in the shower!

You have a fair point I suppose. However, the competition is a very close call this year. Even the Poll on here is evidence of this. I suppose it depends on the night of the final + who dances the best. Don't forget - Austin's supporters may have had a 2nd favourite and now sway the vote!

Well, going by the outcome of series 3, when Zoe had been in the Bottom 2 a couple of times inspite of being 1st on the Judge's Leader Board, it was obvious before the Final that she couldn't win based purely on the public vote.

No. The usual sex bias suggests yes but all we know is that Rachel was more popular than Lisa last week and that may have been by one vote. Rachel and Lisa were less popular before and Lisa is still if Tom escaped the dance off last week but apart from the The People leak there's no way of knowing how big any vote is , how open to the dancing the vote is and who else might vote on the night.

If Tom wins on a big vote for doing best all will be fine. If he wins dancing notably less well it could all look absurd. Between that all results are possible.

I did quality to say if he keeps his form, i.e. THAT foxtrot he did (which I adored) and the score he received from his rather 'interesting' (shall we say) Rhumba.

Or even John Sergeant with a complimentay place in the final?

For me, the only surreality was JS. Once he went, the competition snapped back to what it should be, but unfortunately without Cherie. I am still saddened by that.

John-love was like a dose of flu which did so much damage that it left the patient (in this case the competition) rather weakened and unable to recover completely.

Still, I'm sure it will be a good final. Tom or Rachel or Lisa to win, please!

i would love him to win but at the moment i cant see Rachel not winning.
I hope im wrong though.

lol!

I think the closeness in ability between the remaining couples has revealed the flaws in the current format.

The public should be choosing their semi finalists and finalists. Not the judges.

Hell of a water bill you will get....

Its perfectly possible that the judges will manipulate the scores next week to get them a Rachel-Lisa final, so that their fav Rachel wins.....

I would have to say, Lisa out this week
Rachel and Tom....Tom to win as he has the public vote

We don't even know that. If Tom was top of the public vote, Rachel could have been bottom and still survived.

Possible, but will it be probable?

Last night, it was clear Austin missed his chance to shine in his AS. The rest of the couples all did fantastic ballroom routines. Lisa was marked down for her 'poor' jive too. Why would the judges manipulate and get the obviously less popular two (let's admit it, if you are in the dance-off five times between you, you are NOT popular) in the finals and risk getting a low response in viewership (and phone-in 'revenue')?

If Rachel comes top in the judges vote and second in the viewers vote then Tom could well be in the bottom two next week.

What would be the reaction if the judges put Lisa through instead of Tom - the public would have been robbed again of their preferred choice.

Of course will there be a dance off next week - there is no Sunday show (thanks to Sports Personality) so maybe the top two in the public vote go through?

They'll simply show the dance-off later on Saturday night I supposed.

I hope it will be a Rachel/Tom final with Rachel winning. I think it would be a travesty if Tom won. He is not that good. His dancing is manic and chaotic, no control. Although he will win I am sure!!!

His foxtrot was amazing, as was Rachel's Tango, as was Lisa's Waltz. Sadly I wish I could say the same with Austin's AS, but I can't.

I think if the dance off is between Tom and Lisa then I think they have a responsibility to the public to get Lisa ouT!!!!!

It depends where Austin's vote goes. I don't think it will go to Tom. Rachel should have it in the bag for the semis with the AT.

Austin's salsa was not good. The judges were right about him losing confidence when he was out of hold. However, Lisa's jive was dreadful. Why was she complimented on it and marked too high??? Lisa should have went! Austin would have came back next week stronger.

Remember last year Flavia and Matt got the lowest score with their AT. It's not a done deal.

But Austin was tired.

IF Austin did well with his AS and got at least four nines, then he'll scored the same position in the leaderboard with Lisa (i.e. joint bottom with two points each) and he might not have been in the dance off. Think about it...

Tom may be more popular, but it doesn't make him the best. John Sergeant... need I say more?