New scoring for dance show?
2008-12-16 08:30
London - The BBC is to review the
scoring system for its Strictly Come Dancing celebrity dance
contest after Saturday's TV show became marred in confusion.
More than 100 people phoned Britain's state broadcaster to
complain after producers took the decision to put all three
remaining contestants through to next week's final.
The televised competition pairs celebrities with
professional dancers who are then judged on their performance by
a panel and the viewing public, who pay to vote by telephone and
have saved losers from being ejected from the competition.
The four judges on the popular programme had awarded the
same points to Rachel Stevens and Lisa Snowdon, meaning the
other semi-finalist Tom Chambers could not be saved from a
dance-off whatever the outcome of a public vote.
Unprecedented situation
The BBC said the situation had been unprecedented and the
show's producers were examining how they could avoid the
situation happening again.
"Exactly what's going to happen is yet to be debated and
agreed, but that process will begin soon," a spokesperson said.
Millions of viewers had phoned in to save their favourite
act. The BBC decided all the votes would be carried over to this
Saturday's final.
The decision not to reimburse viewers for their calls made
the front pages of a number of Britain's Monday newspapers.
"Strictly no refund" said the Daily Mirror, while the Daily
Mail called it another BBC phone-in "fiasco", in reference to
the corporation's admission last year that a number of its shows
had misled the public through fake quizzes and competitions.
The voting confusion follows the controversy caused when
former BBC political correspondent John Sergeant quit the show
last month.
Sergeant's often inelegant dance steps earned him the
derision of the judges but his sense of fun won him mass public
popularity who voted to keep him on the show.
His decision to leave, amid mounting criticism from some of
the ousted contestants, led to howls of protests from many of
the programme's fans.