Here we go again - another strictly fiddle.  Bet in track and field events that if you hurt yourself before the contest, you are out - why then has Jade been given a free ride into next weeks dances.  Probably the same reason why Ms Dixon was foisted on us by the pc/diversity brigade at the BBC.  Tufnell was not very good but had a go and is out, whereas Jade did nothing and is still in.  Stinks to me like last months leotard.

Great fun with Claudia - sorry but Brucie not missed at all.   Oh Dear Laila you fuss,faddle and tear-jerk about something every week.  Poor old Anton I say.

Laila, I admired your courage last night. Seeing you dance with that leg brought a tear to my eye and I was sad to see you break down. Anton, you are my hero. I cant wait to see you fight back next week and prove to everybody that they were right to keep you in.

Excuse me for being cynical, but before last night's show I had Laila down to be in the dance off - I felt the Rumba was not going to be her dance based on recent performances however, upon spraining her ankle she had a choice of whether to dance or not.  Given that she went ahead and gave it a go, she decided once out there that it wasn't working and broke down in tears - always good for the sympathy vote and of course we at home predicted that she would never be in the dance off because that would have caused far too many problems for the producers of the show.  Anyway, if the doctor said she would be ok to dance why couldn't she have had a painkilling injection prior to her performance?  I would have preferred she didn't dance at all.  Will she perform this dance next week? Although how fair that would be to the other couples I'm not sure, as those who didn't dance this week would in theory have had longer to perfect their dances for next week.  I full sympathise with Jade's position which was unavoidable but I felt the Laila episode was too much of a publicity stunt.  Sorry.

I don't watch the dancing because it's pathetic but I like to watch the scoring just to see what a shambles it all is.  Presumably if Jade is unfit every week between now and the final she'll be able to come back then.

 

@Katherine/Olivia etc

 

Yes, Alesha's use of grammar is very annoying. Or should that be, she were right annoying in her use of grammar?

I was somewhat confused by the dance off voting last night. As I understand it, a casting vote is used in the event of a tie. Last night, the votes were clearly 2 for Phil and 1 for Ricky - if Len's vote always counts higher than the others, then why bother asking the others to vote at all? Don't get me wrong, I like Len and I think he is pretty fair, but the system baffles me!

Not that bothered about Phil to be honest. Maybe it's because I don't find him that endearing. Objectively, yes he is an OK dancer but this is the stage in the series where the merely OK dancers get knocked out. Much as I love Ricky G, Chris (Go Team Cola!) etc - it's only a matter of time before they go. 

 

As for Len choosing Ricky - as he said recently on It Takes Two - he marks it on which couple made a mistake and if they both do then he goes on the overall dance. So, as the judges mentioned Phil cocked it up so Len chose him. Simple really. Ricky G kept his nerve and so goes on to next week.

 

As for injury-gate, I am glad Jade and Laila are both through.  I'm just wondering how serious Jade's knee pop is and whether she will be able to dance for the rest of the series.  Anyone heard anything?

I am very upset that Phil Tufnell went last night  he had musicality and grace and good dancing abilities, this is a big mistake as he was well placed on the leader board. Laila should have been disqualified and left until next wek with Jade. Are the public mad? Because a girl cries that does not mean you have to  vote for her. Who should have gone? The person at the bottom of the leader baord.  The show is so unfair. Anyway well done Phil.

Anthea wrote

     I am very disappointed and feel I have lost all faith in the show. I love dancing and it's been an absolute pleasure to sit back over the years to watch Strictly.

BUT, last night was such a let down. I accept the genuine injury of Jade and agree she should be allowed to dance again, but NO-ONE should have been eliminated last night.

 The worse thing about it was that I thought the whole voting was contrived, If Laila had been in the dance off, she would have been unable to perform and so how would have the show filled in the time? Poor Phil is the scapegoat in all this. He is a good dancer and deserved to go further.

I can't believe I'm thinking of switching to X Factor. Len Goodman should be ashamed of himself, he keeps telling us it's a dance competition and then on the dance off voted for the worse dancer. Well done Phil!! you have been great entertainment and I 've voted for you every week.

I agree entirely with Olivia about Alesha's horrible English grammar.  "You was ...." isn't cool it's just dumb and grubby and makes her seem ignorant.  She looks absolutely beautiful but what drops out of her mouth is ugly. The sad thing is that, in spite of what the grumblers say, she really does understand a lot about dance but we can't have confidence in her when the foreigner sitting right next to her speaks English so much better!  Looks aren't everything BBC!

I am really disappointed with this series,the voting is purely on personality and I mean the judges voting.Chris stomped around like a maniac and did very little dancing Craig gave him a six which was about right and Alesha have him a nine!!!.thenNatalie could have sent me to sleep with her foxtrot and managed to score thirty four points ,how? the judges comments did not match their votes.As for the scoring how can a couple in the last position carry more than one point through to the viewers votes its no wonder than the couples in the middle are being in the dance offs

I agree that Phil should have stayed in - Jade couldn't dance (though I think she is fantastic) and Laila couldn't dance properly. On the night this is a DANCE competition. For Jeanice- the song was 'Nights in White Satin' and was originally sung by the Moody Blues

I LOVED Phil. Absolutly gutted that he went. He has really improved and is always entertaining. And even when he wasnt technically great i always found him really endearing. I think he and Katya had a great partnership and they seemed to get along really well. Katya always choreographed beautiful routines and he improved so much through her teaching. I will really miss watching them every Satarday. LOVING Claudia, lets have her on every satarday show...and the ones during the week too!! Thought she and Tess were fab!!

Have to say that more that what shocked me more than the injuries was that for the past two weeks, the public are actually voting for couples who deserve to be in the competition!! Finally, its only taken them SEVEN serieses!!

 

Speaking of the injuries, I think its unfair for you guys to say that Jade should be eliminated... Her knee popped today and she was on doctors' orders. She's gifted at dancing, is hot and really if she, Ali and Ricky W made the final three that for me would be the tightest Strictly ever compared to last year when Lisa Snowdon& Rachel Stevens were way ahead of Tom Chambers.

 

Then as for Laila & Anton, well I was expecting the public to vote for them and for once this was a pity vote I supported. Because, she made the effort and from the bits they performed and hearing the track you can tell Anton had done a really good job choreographically, and I think she could catch up with the top three from what shes done n the past so I think she deserved the sympathy vote.

 

As for the bottom two, I don't think it compares at all to Zoe Lucker and Ali... It was a really difficult night, because everyone did well with what they had, the lowest scores were quite high in comparison to past weeks. I was dreading Ali being in it again or even Ricky W; Natalie had a really good night and I think itwould have been unfair to vote her in the bottom two; Chris has really improved over the weeks and always entertains...

 

So that leaves you with Ricky Groves who was wooden in the waltz, and Phil who got outshone by everybody else. I was expecting Ricky G to go as he was himself, but like Len said its based on the dance off. Don't think its unfair at all, Phil is a good TV personality and his pro was really good with him, they had a really nice relationship. But its unfair to people like Ricky & Ali who are natural dancers, and then Chris & Natalie who aren't but have progressed further.

 

So for once the dance off was balanced... otherwise, I'm wondering if Cowell put a curse on Strictly or summat?! Brucie taken ill, Jade & Laila with leg injuries, and then the only thing Ronnie Corbett can do is trip down the stairs, lol, that was so pointless...

 

But otherwise, Claudia has really grown on me this series. I've seen more of 'It takes two' and she's quite funny and natural with them, I was impressed by her. Tess handled it better than I expected, she's photogenic and clearly a fan of the show but doesn't have Bruce's charisma or personality though she did well... hopefully no more drama next week!

 

Just great routines and practical voting....

I can't believe that nobody has had a word about Alesha's use of the word 'was', instead of 'were'! I cant take her seriously anyway', but it makes me cringe that week after week, she says 'You WAS great,' 'You WAS really nailing it',' I could see that you WAS really enjoying that'etc. Her vocabularly is limited, she lacks technical expertise and she comes over as someone who has little to offer anyone. She's a JUDGE on the BBC, for goodness sake! Lower school pupils in a secondary school would be corrected straight away. She lowers the tone of the show AND was VERY rude to Craig Kelly about Zoe going. It was a personal attack on him. Len was displeased at Craig's personal description of Jo Wood's dancing, yet wasn't bothered about Alesha's'. Elecution lessons, a dictionary and grammar lessons needed!

Jade should of course be out since she did not dance, nothing else makes sense surely.

Phil danced beautifully and he is out?!! Extremely wrong and unfair. The judges' voting was a draw 2-2 and absolute nonsense with Len having that deciding vote.

BOOOO!!! Nobody should have gone out tonight and this decision should be changed.

Anders Petteroe.

Len gets the deciding vote because he is head judge - he has the most experience as a judge as that is what he has done in the past - the others haven't.

 

They cant judge Jade on her rehearsal dance because the judges dont see it, the only watch it on the live show.

 

Very difficult decision tonight = whatever happened someone would feel hard done by.  Laila wouldnt have been able to do dance off, if she had been in bottom two.  Jade will go through next week without dancing this week, which some people will say is unfair to those who were able to dance this week.

 

A very strange and eventful week, lets get back to normal next week!