but that's not what the rule says

so i'm watching this show called dancing on ice.  it's one of those 'pair a celebrity with a professional and make them compete against a bunch of other celebrities, getting scored by judges who may or may not know what they are talking about, and let the public decides who goes or stays,' and is, you probably figured out, based around ice dancing.  i have generally enjoyed it in the past, but i'm not so thrilled with some of the format changes that have been made recently.  that's neither here nor there for the point of this post, however. 

it goes like this, usually:  each couple skates.  the judges score them.  the public votes.  the two couples with the lowest public votes have to skate again.  the judges decide between them who goes and who stays.  the rule in the skate-off is this:  previous performances are forgotten;  skaters are judged solely on the skate-off itself.  solely. on. the skate-off. 

except this past week, that didn't seem to happen.  and it really made me angry, despite the fact that the celeb who got booted out was, actually, the worst skater so far in the competition.

he hadn't really put in the hours to even work on his basic skating skills, and was pretty wobbly on his feet compared to everyone else.  he also hadn't done very much to endear himself to the voting public, coming off as a bit of a whiner, and arrogant to boot.  undeservedly arrogant, on this show, anyway.  so it wasn't surprising he was in the skate-off;  it was surprising it had taken a few weeks for him to end up there.  i was sure, before they skated, that he'd be going home.  if he didn't get saved by the public, there was no way he was going to be staying.  that's what i thought. 

and then, they skated.  he's not the best skater, as i've said, but he skated his routine even better than he had in the first show-- no wobbles, hit all his (limited) tricks, really sold it.  i was impressed.  still, the other woman up against him was a far better skater.  i was happy for him that he would, at least, go out with a good performance. 

and then she skated.  and messed it up.  she didn't fall, but she wobbled--a lot-- and missed her steps--a lot-- and just generally made a hash of it.  i think everyone was surprised, and the coaches and hosts and all (i think) thought she had just blown her own chances of staying in-- because you are judged solely on that performance.  and although she's the better skater over-all, she did not put in the better performance just then. 

so they go to the judges, and only one of them (the head judge, who actually does know what he's talking about) saved him.  the other two?  obviously were not judging on the performance just given but on the overall potential and talent of the skaters.  WHICH IS NOT THE RULE.

i was furious.  i didn't want him to stay in before that, because he's not that good and he's a bit annoying-- but after their skate-off performances, he DESERVED to stay in.  because he pulled it out, and she didn't. 

what's the point of having rules if you are just going to vote for who you like?  i used to think this way of doing it, to let the judges have the final say on who went home and who stayed in, was more fair than leaving it up to the public.  now?  obviously i was wrong about that.