BUT it would be a waste of money.

Blimey, no wonder I keep getting you all muddled up.


Yes, exactly like that. With cannons and stuff.

So the petition is going really well then - about 50 votes in, and only 9,6999950 to go!!!!

And most of those are either not in support or idle chit chat!

I think it should be scrapped when it's down to the last 4 or 5.

The public PAY for their licence fee and PAY to vote - so should have a greater say about who they want in the final few weeks. As I said in another thread - this shouldn't be a show where it's just a personal judging competition for the 4 on the panel. They asked Austin fans to vote to keep him in - but it was almost impossible in his position and relied on other combinations - as will this weekend's results. We are the paying public and we should be able to really influence who we see in the semi/final. Just my opinion.

Earlier in the competition with more points on offer there is more scope for change of place on the leaderboard - but with only 3 points on offer this week it's harder to influence the vote...

There should be no dance-off in the semi-final.

But he's already won the series

The dance off is exciting!
Just think, if there were no dance off, a lot of people would have nothing to complain about.

Don't you believe it

I agree, pickledgherkin. I like watching the remaining two dances again. I like watching to see if they can up their performance (as Lisa and Jodie have both done in the past) enough to survive that dance off.

It's certainly at the beginning of the series that the dance off allows time for the audience to get to know people it's unfamiliar with. Jodie was in the dance off for her first show. Did she get fewest votes? Who knows, but her dancing saved her. She then went on to become one of the most popular dancers of the series. She certainly wasn't at the beginning. Most people knew not much about her other than she had been a model and was related to Lord Beaverbrook.

Should the dance off still be in existance at this point in the contest? I don't see why not. Most people I've seen complain about it, have complained because their favourites have been removed, quite rightly I think, on the basis of the evening's dancing. I know plenty of us thought it a shame that Cherie left so early, but she didn't improve enough for the dance off and Lisa did. Austin left for the same reason. As someone else said on here, if you're an Olympic runner, and break records in your first and second heats, but then lose in the semi final, then you just don't get to the final even if you're beaten by people who weren't quite as good as you in their heats. You're only as good as the race/evening you're in. Austin was unlucky to have the two dances he did to compete with, Cherie was unlucky with her dance. It doesn't mean that the Judges were wrong in their decision or that they were unfair.

As to whether there should be a dance off at this stage I don't know. I remember being very pissed at the GBP in series three when Zoe, my favourite and easily the best dancer, was at the top of the leaderboard in the final, yet was voted off by them into 3rd place in favour of Darren Gough, the John Sergeant of his day! There are upsides and downsides to the dance off. Everybody wins sometimes and everybody loses sometimes. Keep it in I think. In general, it's advantages outweigh it's disadvantages.

You make some very good points here but I still hold to my view that the dance off at this stage gives the judges too much control. If there must be a dance off with only three couples left, then I think the public's choice should be the ones that go straight through. There could be a dance off between the two others and the judges would still get their final say. This is also flawed however, as, though it might have prevented Zoe Ball's departure, it would have meant Colin Jackson going out and I would have been very annoyed with that! () Still think the celeb most popular with the public should get through to the final though.