Originally Posted by thenetworkbabe:
“The reason why Rachel might top the judges leaderboard is that she might well outperform everyone else. its not engineered - except by who does better and who has a bad night. I doubt if Len and Craig fixed it months ago for some people to get lousy music and poor dances in the wrong weeks.
The rules don't need changing. All the rules do is stop the most popular dancer getting to the final automatically if he is worst on the night. He gets through if he is second or better or if the best dancer is the least popular. A top dancer who is second with the public ought by any logic to go through easier than someone who danced weakest and who ought to face the dance off. The worst dancer going in the dance off idea is there to ensure that the final isn't between the best and worst or the best dancer sits out the final and makes it pointless. Thats logical too. All the most popular dancer has to do is not be worst - which isn't much to ask someone who will otherwise win.”
That depends on what you mean by 'outperform', doesn't it?
I'm sure Rachel will be technically excellent. She always is. But while this may be important to the judges, the public watch with different eyes - look at John Sergeant, if you want the most extreme example of that. Strictly isn't just a dance competition - it's a reality show ... but the judges seem hellbent on ignoring that.
The public vote is being negated by the judges. Over and over again this series. Overmarking and overhyping have skewed the board and the playing field has been anything but level - leaving us with a final three where the public aren't particularly interested in two of the contestants.
I don't think Len and Craig fixed the choice of dances BUT I think you will find a LOT of people on here who feel the 'different dance each week' system has been used by the producers to help influence who stays or goes.
You'll also find a LOT of people arguing for the dance-off to be either feature the lowest-voting dance or to be dropped entirely. You may not agree with that - but there is a real call for change building, and the BBC would do well to start listening ...
”
) thread about Flavia & Vincent is a case in point. 