[Vanessa]

Great jive from Sarah

[Kate!]

Originally Posted by Santa's NaughtiNess

Great jive from Sarah

Agree with you and with Craig.

[smudgie]

I thought the worst dance tonight was the jive from Sarah and Vito.
She was out of time from the very first step and threw it for her. Very clumpy.
She normally perfects every dance so maybe she just couldn’t get back in step.

[Mystic Mock]

Did Anton slip up by saying that it's Pete's last dance?

I loved JB's dances tonight, and I controversially thought that Pete's AT was decent.

And Metallica was picked on the night,which is a plus for Chris.

[millyrose]

Chris was amazing what a trooper, Sarah's jive was the worse dance of the night (shame she's one of my fav's) i fear she might be bottom 2 with Tasha.

[arista]

Originally Posted by Holly Christmas

Starting this afresh for the Semi Final as Nicky has done a flounce.

Please discuss in here. If he comes back I'll ask for this merged.

Yes Fair play
Kate

[arista]

We find out Tonight
BBC1HD 7:20PM

Who was Evicted last night?

[Strictly Jake]

My review of the semi final

What an atmosphere in the audience there was. So loud! It gave the show a really special feel.

Now on to the semi finalists

Tasha, Forgot how much I love something new by Girls Aloud. What a banger. There were some very special things in this salsa, but I could see a mistake here and there so yeah I too would have scored it a 9. Now on to her waltz, everything about it was perfect it was very deserving of it's perfect 40. Beautiful. Should Tasha make the final? Yes she should I've loved watching all her dances and it's been nice having Alijaz back. Should she win? I can't see it happening.

Now on to JB. I loved that Paso Doble. Very powerful. Then the Salsa. Yep one of my favourite of the whole series. Deserved the 40 for sure. That's two weeks now that JB has been my favourite of the night. Should be make the final? Yep! Should he win? I'd love to see it

Now on to Chris. Aw that when your smiling routine was lovely to watch. But that Viennese waltz was on another level. I just adore his and Diannes partnership. Should he make the final? Yes. Will he win? Perhaps

Onto Sarah now. Sarah has been my favourite overall of the series although JB may have pipped her the last two weeks. Really liked her tango and was amazed Vito hasn't done one before. I agree with the judges I wasn't too keen on the jive but most of that is because I hate that song. Should she make the final? Yes. Will she win? Unfortunately not.

Onto Pete. The first dance was wooden the prop didn't hide that. The Argentine tango I agreed with Craig it wasn't good. Shirley and Motsi needed to calm down. Should he make the final? Absolutely not. Will he win? If he does something is wrong.

I think Sarah and Pete will be the bottom 2 with Pete leaving hopefully.

[Kate!]

My prediction

5th Pete
4th Tasha
3rd Sarah
2nd Chris
Winner JB

[GoldHeart]

I kept thinking Tasha would win ,but it seems she doesn't have a strong enough fanbase .

I think Sarah might actually win now.

Imo Sarah,Tasha & JB whoever wins out of these 3 I'm happy as these 3 are the best dancers .

[Mystic Mock]

Chris will win because he is blind.

Strictly has hit a new low this year.

- Dance really badly.

- Crack jokes every single time anyone talks to you.

- And talk about having a disability every single episode.

That's Chris's journey, he has been an awful contestant that has killed the quality of the year in a multitude of different ways, most notably the competition side of the Show has been butchered because people were voting for him before he'd even spoke a word on the Show, absolute joke imo.

And yes I am taking it seriously when I'm watching a Show that I have been a fan of since I was a child, be a waste of time watching even an episode of the series because the public had already decided who they were going to vote for to win well in advance.

Plus it was a waste of time for the other contestants even bothering to rehearse, because the public will just vote for Chris because they want to feel good about themselves for voting for a blind contestant as the winner.

I really do think that there needs to be a discussion from the BBC about if disabled contestants need to be banned off of the Show, nearly every year the judges treat them with kiddie gloves, and most of the time the public aren't much better, unless it's Tasha for some reason.

Imo we should be voting for who we like the best (that could be in a number of different ways) but because someone is blind is unfair to the other contestants, I mean didn't people used to go mad when some viewers used to admit to voting for contestants because they came from their hometown?

As Joey Swoll would say, we need to do better.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Santa Goth

Chris will win because he is blind.

Strictly has hit a new low this year.

- Dance really badly.

- Crack jokes every single time anyone talks to you.

- And talk about having a disability every single episode.

That's Chris's journey, he has been an awful contestant that has killed the quality of the year in a multitude of different ways, most notably the competition side of the Show has been butchered because people were voting for him before he'd even spoke a word on the Show, absolute joke imo.

And yes I am taking it seriously when I'm watching a Show that I have been a fan of since I was a child, be a waste of time watching even an episode of the series because the public had already decided who they were going to vote for to win well in advance.

Plus it was a waste of time for the other contestants even bothering to rehearse, because the public will just vote for Chris because they want to feel good about themselves for voting for a blind contestant as the winner.

I really do think that there needs to be a discussion from the BBC about if disabled contestants need to be banned off of the Show, nearly every year the judges treat them with kiddie gloves, and most of the time the public aren't much better, unless it's Tasha for some reason.

Imo we should be voting for who we like the best (that could be in a number of different ways) but because someone is blind is unfair to the other contestants, I mean didn't people used to go mad when some viewers used to admit to voting for contestants because they came from their hometown?

As Joey Swoll would say, we need to do better.

Don't agree at all.

I thought he''d last a couple of weeks, then I saw him dance. His footwork is perfect. If he wins, and there's no guarantee he will, he will have won on merit. Tasha is a lovely dancer and she should be, having been previously trained. That's what an unfair advantage is and that's why she won't win. Rose Ayling Ellis won not because she was deaf, but because she learned to dance. If Chris wins it will be for the same reason. Personally, I don't think he will, but he definitely deserves to be in the final.

People talk about his disability because it must be so difficult to teach someone to dance who can't see. Where would you start? He's an inspiration.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Livia

Don't agree at all.

I thought he''d last a couple of weeks, then I saw him dance. His footwork is perfect. If he wins, and there's no guarantee he will, he will have won on merit. Tasha is a lovely dancer and she should be, having been previously trained. That's what an unfair advantage is and that's why she won't win. Rose Ayling Ellis won not because she was deaf, but because she learned to dance. If Chris wins it will be for the same reason. Personally, I don't think he will, but he definitely deserves to be in the final.

People talk about his disability because it must be so difficult to teach someone to dance who can't see. Where would you start? He's an inspiration.

I am telling you now that if Chris could see, he would be lucky to make the top 8.

Chris is the one with the unfair advantage where it counts, because the others basically don't have the same struggles as Chris they're not getting as many votes, and that they have to work twice as hard to earn half of the praise that Chris is receiving just for appearing on the Show, that's the rest of line-up being at a disadvantage.

And Tasha can't hear the Music, which I know was a big thing to praise Rose for in her year, so why is the same praise not being given to Tasha? Dance experience or not she is suffering a disability in a very pivotal area of dancing, which is timing.

And all of my favourites have left the competition so I have no stake in this anymore.

I just want to see people vote for who they genuinely like the best, which I feel is not the case for some of the general public this series, or the year that Rose won either.

[Livia]

Originally Posted by Santa Goth

I am telling you now that if Chris could see, he would be lucky to make the top 8.

Chris is the one with the unfair advantage where it counts, because the others basically don't have the same struggles as Chris they're not getting as many votes, and that they have to work twice as hard to earn half of the praise that Chris is receiving just for appearing on the Show, that's the rest of line-up being at a disadvantage.

And Tasha can't hear the Music, which I know was a big thing to praise Rose for in her year, so why is the same praise not being given to Tasha? Dance experience or not she is suffering a disability in a very pivotal area of dancing, which is timing.

And all of my favourites have left the competition so I have no stake in this anymore.

I just want to see people vote for who they genuinely like the best, which I feel is not the case for some of the general public this series, or the year that Rose won either.

If Chris could see he would be an incredible dancer.

Tasha CAN hear the music, she has a cochlea implant. Even if she didn't she could feel the beat and vibrations.

You have no control over who people vote for or why. The Chris bashing is beneath you.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Livia

If Chris could see he would be an incredible dancer.

Tasha CAN hear the music, she has a cochlea implant. Even if she didn't she could feel the beat and vibrations.

You have no control over who people vote for or why. The Chris bashing is beneath you.

I have no control over people vote for I agree with you on that.

I personally though don't want the Show descending into just voting for contestants based on disability reasons, and I feel that is fair to say without being told that "it's beneath me" to point it out.

I have even had people on Facebook and this very Forum basically admitting that they are voting for Chris because of him being blind, that to me kills discussion on the Forums and Social Media, plus it kills any element of Chris being in any danger in the vote, because some (not all) of his fanbase are freely admitting that dance technique, choreography, Music selection, and even his personality are not at the top of their agenda as to why they're voting for him.

That to me I do have a problem with as it goes against the spirit of the Show imo, and I feel like even the people that genuinely do like Chris the best should be able to see where I'm coming from here.

And I agree that Chris would be a much better dancer if he could see, as obviously he'd visually be able to see where he needs to improve.

But that unfortunately isn't the Chris that we can judge as it's a hypothetical conjured up in people's minds, it isn't reality.

I know that I'm being blunt with my opinion (probably because I personally don't even like how Chris has conducted himself on the Show if I'm being honest) where as I actually did like Rose as a person, which does soften the blow a little bit from my perspective.

But for me I honestly don't care about anyone that likes Chris the best because they just like his personality or dances or anything that's actually him contributing something to the series in some way, heck even something as shallow as someone fancying him, I don't care.

I am though very sensitive to someone winning because they have a disability or a sob story or because they're from a big City/hometown advantage, that to me I personally feel are really weak reasons to support someone, and I will always feel that way if I feel like anyone is doing that.

If you or anyone else thinks that I'm out of order for speaking like I am then that's obviously your right to feel that way, but I am going to stand up for the integrity of the competition and that people shouldn't be feeling like they have to support the disabled contestants on Strictly.

And yes, I do feel like that there is pressure every single year to say nice things about the disabled contestants on Strictly, otherwise you get seen as a bad person for not liking/supporting them in some circles within the fandom, it's a toxic mindset that is getting increasingly worse imo.

And I know that I technically am not supposed to be negative about fanbases on here, but I honestly have reached breaking point with this mindset, especially considering Rose's season wasn't that long ago.

[Kate!]

I'm not voting for Chris. I did a couple of times but now we are down to the nitty gritty and going off performances taking disability out of the equation, the other three finalists have the edge. I still think what Chris has achieved though is incredible. But I wouldn't cast a pity vote at the final hurdle. I'm voting for JB.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Holly Christmas

I'm not voting for Chris. I did a couple of times but now we are down to the nitty gritty and going off performances taking disability out of the equation, the other three finalists have the edge. I still think what Chris has achieved though is incredible. But I wouldn't cast a pity vote at the final hurdle. I'm voting for JB.

That's a fair assessment imo.

I do just want to clarify though that I am not having an issue with anyone that genuinely just does like Chris the best because they like him.

Because I know that I can come across as extremely blunt where Chris is concerned.

[millyrose]

Well done Chris, so happy he has made the final what an achievement.

[millyrose]

Sorry to see Pete go but think it was the right time, the others are better dancers. but i do think if it was left to the public vote Tasha would of gone instead of Pete.

[Vanessa]

Originally Posted by millyrose

Sorry to see Pete go but think it was the right time, the others are better dancers. but i do think if it was left to the public vote Tasha would of gone instead of Pete.

Yes. It's a mix of public vote and judges votes.
But Tasha isn't the only one with dance experience there. I don't know why she's been singled out.

[Mystic Mock]

Originally Posted by Santa's NaughtiNess

Yes. It's a mix of public vote and judges votes.
But Tasha isn't the only one with dance experience there. I don't know why she's been singled out.

I'm going to guess it's four different reasons that's not helping Tasha's vote.

1. Coming from Love Island, a lot of the Strictly audience doesn't view people that come from that Show as a Celebrity.

2. Tasha in fairness doesn't really display much of an outgoing personality, she seems pleasant enough imo, but the public want more than pleasant when voting for someone to win.

3. Dance experience and the judges responding in kind with high scores most weeks, has made the public at large probably feel disconnected from her journey, which I know isn't Tasha's fault tbf, but the public in this country love a good underdog story, or the perception of it anyway.

4. Despite not being the only woman to have this trait this series imo, she's clearly a very pretty woman, which we all know can cause some jealousy on Reality TV Shows in some circles.

I will always remember that DS thread about how "Tasha is always the best dressed" which sounded like classic jealousy to me that their favourite wasn't perceived as both attractive and a great dancer, if you read through the lines.

And when you factor in my other three points above, it's niche within a niche unfortunately for Tasha.

That's my perception of why I think that her vote has been so poor throughout the series.