We could be left with the really silly situation this weekend where Lisa will need people to vote for Rachel instead of her if she wants to make the final:

possible judges leaderboard:

1. Rachel
2. Lisa
3. Tom

Then Lisa's best chance of surviving is to get people to vote for Rachel and not her!!!! She would have to tell the viewers to vote for Rachel!

As it would work out like this if Lisa beats Rachel in the vote:

Rachel = 3 + 1 = 4
Lisa = 2 + 2 = 4
Tom = 1 + 3 = 4 (goes through on votes)

Which would mean a Rachel v Lisa dance off and Lisa probably going out.

BUT if Lisa loses out on the vote to rachel....

Rachel = 3 + 2 = 5
Lisa = 2 + 1 = 3
Tom = 1 + 3 = 4

would mean Lisa would face Tom in the dance off and therefore stand more chance of surviving than if she was facing Rachel.

How on earth can they have a system like this where you have to hope your opponent gets more votes than you so you yourself can survive?!!!!

This is, of course, assuming the judges pick Tom over Lisa. Who's to say which one they'll pick? I don't think Lisa will be hoping anything of the sort to be honest. She'll be hoping to come top I presume.

I don't get the assumption that Lisa will lose to Rachel in a dance off but beat Tom. We just don't know this. Even if the judges do have their favourites, if there's an obvious difference in the standards of the 2 dances, then they have to pick the best one.

However, I agree in principle, your point that the set up for the semi-final is completely unfair in that having the dance off favours the judges and not the the public.

I get the impression Lisa is thrilled to be where she is and to have had the opportunity to learn all the dances in a 1 to 1 teaching situation with someone she clearly gets on very well with, and get paid for it - I can't imagine how much would it cost.

it might be different if they still had 4 dancers in the semi's maybe they should have missed a dance off the week John left and carried over the scores to the next week

The only way any of the Finalists can make it to the final is by being the best dancer on the night. There is simply no other way.

Why are we assuming Rachel will be top of the table?

She was placed well below Lisa the week before last.

I think it's going to be a bit of a lottery this weekend (which it shouldn't be at this critical stage).

I agree that Lisa is happy just being on the show and improving week by week. She has a brilliant chemistry with
Bad Boy Brendan and I believe they could go all the way this season.
She would have to come top with the judges though otherwise it'll by very hard for her to get through.

Exciting stuff, can't wait for Saturday

Bring it on Lisa & Brendan

I am not making assumptions about the leaderboard. I said it 'might' happen.

I am just saying if the leaderboard happens to work out with Rachel 1st, Lisa 2nd and Tom 3rd then assuming Tom gets the most votes, Lisa would rather have Tom in the dance off than Rachel I would think (since Rachel would have come top of the judges leaderboard in this scenario). And the only way that would happen is if Rachel gets more votes than her.

Anything could happen but I think the scenario I presented has a realistic probability. It could potentially happen, and if it does than Lisa chances of surviving greatly improve if she loses out to rachel in votes and takes her chances in the dance off. And that highlights the silly system they have in place.

Actually, evcery scenario I can think of for Sat leaves Lisa in the bottom 2.

The only way she could avoid the dance off, is to come top and get more votes than second place. Not going to happen is it?

According to some inside voting info posted on the forum earlier this week, Lisa gets more votes than Rachel. Tom gets more than both the girls and Rachel apparently gets the least. Therefore, if Lisa were to come top with the judges and get the secondmost public votes, she'd escape the danceoff.

"Lisa might have to hope"
That is a really funny phrase .

Lisa will have to dance her best - as will the other two.

That is interesting. In which case, if it's true, then it's possible for a Rachel/Tom dance off which I never considered before. If, as many believe, there is a judge's conspiracy, who would the judges save then?

Or, Lisa might come top of the leaderboard and second in the public vote, leaving her clear of the dance off all together.

Like this:

Lisa 3 + 2
Rach 2 + 1
Tom 1 + 3

There was more leaked info that suggested Rach was doing better than Lisa in the public vote. I'd say it's close enough with everything to play for at this point.

If Tom goes through to the final, the title is his though.

All of this is really improving my arithmetic no end!

That is pretty much the point I am trying to make.

There is a very high chance that whatever happens Lisa will be in the dance off this week.

And therefore I would think Lisa would rather go against Tom than Rachel in the dance off. Therefore she would need Rachel to get more votes than her (in the scenario i presented above).

Is it really that hard for people to understand?!

SO...

If and I mean IF:

The judges leaderboard finishes
1. Rachel,
2. Lisa
3. Tom.

and IF Tom wins the public vote


=

Lisa is guranteed to be in the dance off.

So if Lisa is guraanteed to be in the dance of she had better hope Rachel gets more votes than her otherwise she will have to face her in the dance off. Thus my point.

Is the OP trying to con Lisa fans into voting for Rachel here?

If so, I reckon the maths is spot on, and ALL people who vote should vote for Rachel... just for Lisa's sake of course

I thought your point was that Lisa stands a better chance of winning the dance off against Tom than against Rachel.

Ok, so if Tom does come bottom then it's possible that Lisa will be better in the dance off. So what if Rachel came bottom of the leaderboard? Surely that means Lisa would go through if put against her in any respective dance off. This is where I don't quite understand what you're getting at.