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Dancers ready for Strictly final Snowdon knocked out of Strictly
(about 23 hours later)
Contestants on Strictly Come Dancing will battle it out on the dance floor during the show's grand final later. Lisa Snowdon has been eliminated from Strictly Come Dancing in the grand final on BBC One.
Rachel Stevens, Lisa Snowdon and Tom Chambers have all made it through, thanks to a controversial scoring anomaly on last week's show. It leaves Tom Chambers and Rachel Stevens to battle it out for this year's title.
Dances will include a Salsa, Rumba and Cha Cha Cha, while all three hopefuls will perform a foxtrot with their professional partners. Stevens, Snowdon and Chambers all made it through to the final, thanks to a controversial scoring anomaly on last week's show.
The action kicks off on BBC One at 1840, with the results at 2100. Stevens and Snowdon were in the top two positions on judges scores alone following the first round.
The finalists have put in a total of 820 hours' training between them, with former S Club 7 singer Rachel Stevens racking up the most time in the rehearsal studio - 304 hours. But the public chose to save Chambers and Stevens to dance for the title, to be decided by public vote alone.
"I am absolutely over the moon to be in the final - I don't think it's even sunk in," said the star, whose waist measurement has shrunk by 8cm over the last three months. Snowdon said: "It has been amazing. I know it's a cliche but I already feel like a winner. I've had a great time - it's been brilliant."
Tricks Her dance partner, Brendan Cole, paid tribute to the model, describing her as "fantastic" and a "hard worker".
The three celebrities each performed two dances in the first part of the final - ballroom and Latin - in a bid to win over the judges and the public.
Snowdon was awarded the maximum 80 points by the judges, ending the first show of the two-part final with three points.
Stevens was in second place with 79 out of 80 from the judges, equating to two points, while Chambers' judges score of 73 resulted in one point.
Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli look ahead to the finalCraig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli look ahead to the final
The combined total of last week's and this week's results left Snowdon and Stevens at the top of the leaderboard with a score of seven, followed by Chambers' five.
Those figures were then converted into three points each for the women and one for Chambers before telephone lines were opened to the public vote.
Strictly Come Dancing presenters Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly opened the grand final by apologising to viewers for the voting problems which marred last week's show.
The programme sparked controversy after Chambers was saved from the semi-final dance-off by a last-minute decision to let all three remaining couples go through to the final.
The decision followed a tie between Stevens and Snowdon, who were awarded exactly the same amount of points by the judges, meaning the public vote could not save Chambers.
Daly told viewers: "We are sorry we didn't realise this earlier but when we did we took the fairest decision in the circumstances to put all three couples through to the final."
Rehearsal time
All of this years contestants returned to perform during the grand final, apart from model Jodie Kidd who was sick. It also featured a performance by singer Duffy.
All five previous winners of Strictly Come Dancing - Natasha Kaplinsky, Jill Halfpenny, Darren Gough, Mark Ramprakash and Alesha Dixon - also appeared, with all but Kaplinsky performing a group routine to a version of Robbie Williams' Let Me Entertain You.
The three finalists have put in a total of 820 hours' training between them, with former S Club 7 singer Stevens racking up the most time in the rehearsal studio - 304 hours.
"I am absolutely over the moon to be in the final - I don't think it's even sunk in," said the star, whose waist measurement has shrunk by 8cm over the last three months.
Former Holby City actor Chambers - who has postponed his honeymoon until after the final - said he wanted to win for the sake of his dance partner, Camilla Dallerup.Former Holby City actor Chambers - who has postponed his honeymoon until after the final - said he wanted to win for the sake of his dance partner, Camilla Dallerup.
"It would mean granting Camilla her dream. She's been working for this for six years and she's been in the semi-final twice," he said."It would mean granting Camilla her dream. She's been working for this for six years and she's been in the semi-final twice," he said.
Snowdon said she was excited by the final, "but I will make sure I enjoy every last moment from the show... Snowdon said she was excited by the final, adding she planned to "enjoy every last moment".
"And we might have a few tricks up our sleeves... you'll have to wait and see!" Rachel (left), Tom (middle) and Lisa (right) started training in the summer
The first edition of the reality ballroom show will see each couple perform two dances.
The dancers with the lowest number of public votes will be knocked out at the start of the second episode - after which the remaining couples will perform a further two dances.
Last year's show was won by singer Alesha Dixon and Matthew CutlerBookmakers William Hill predicted that by the time the show starts, more than £1m will be riding on the twinkle-toed contestants.
Spokesman Rupert Adams said: "We are experiencing record betting levels as it is a wide open competition and any of the finalists can win."
The problems encountered on last Saturday's show occurred when there was a tie between Snowdon and Stevens following the judges' scoring.The problems encountered on last Saturday's show occurred when there was a tie between Snowdon and Stevens following the judges' scoring.
Because of the way the points were then awarded, actor Chambers and partner Dallerup could not have been saved from the dance-off regardless of how many public votes they received, and that was considered by the show's producers to be unfair.
However, the problem was not realised until after voting had started. Producers took the decision to scrap the voting and put all three contestants into the final.However, the problem was not realised until after voting had started. Producers took the decision to scrap the voting and put all three contestants into the final.
Votes cast last week have been carried forward to the final - but viewers who want a refund can obtain one via the show's official website. Votes cast last week were carried forward to the final - but viewers who want a refund can obtain one via the show's official website.
After explaining what happened last week, Forsyth and Daly also revealed for the first time the results of the semi-final after the judges scores were combined with the viewers' votes.
Stevens and her partner, Vincent Simone, were at the top with five points, followed by Chambers and Dallerup and model Snowdon and Brendan Cole with four points.
Viewers were told these points would be combined with the judges scores from tonight's dances and converted into a final leader board.
How to claim a refundHow to claim a refund