SCD#8 - It's the Final, dahhhlinngs

[Fiderer]

Be fab-ul-ous.

Be aww-right baaht...

Be line something shoulder mumble...

Be that was full of energy my darling but really (insert leg gesture) ...

Be what you want to be. The Final is now here.

Some of the pros such as Natalie, Karen, Pasha and as much as it pains me to say it, Anton, are so lovely with the duffers. It really put me off Artem when he was so obviously displeased about getting Fern Britton.

I think you can tell a lot about about the pros from how they treat the duffers.

My ideas (for what they are worth) are:

They should drop the Show Dance and instead do:

a) A Judges pick, but the criteria for picking it should be the same for all the couples, either the lowest scoring dance, the dance the Judges liked the most or an early dance, not a different criteria for each couple as usually happens with the Judges giving their favourite couple an 'easier' choice.

b) The favourite dance of the public, which would be voted for in semi-finals week.

c) The favourite dance of the couple.

On another note, the Judges never learn that relentlessly pushing their favourites is the kiss of death for them when the public vote, I can't recall any series where the winner has been the Judges favourite.

I avoided the internet all morning so I didn't see who won and then saw it on the front if the bloody paper when I went to the shop gah!! Watched it just now I do love a group dance they're awesome.

I feel sorry for KK as they were better on the night but I've been a jay fan for a while so happy they won.

This must be it for Anton now isn't it he's 50 next year he's reached the final he can't go on forever

I have a feeling that Jay was miles ahead in the voting and the judges knew it. We know he has never been in the dance off, but I bet there was a large gulf between him and the next.

He was put in the first slot, which is definitely a disadvantage. And Craig in particular we quite "you're not all that " to them right up to the end. I honestly think the judges knew they could push it a bit with Jay, and praise up the others, to see if there was any closing of the gap. Would love to see the final figures.

I'm full of praise for Strictly. I have a "too cool for school" 12 yr old DD and this year I asked if she wanted to watch X factor (she has just moved to secondary and I wondered whether there might be peer pressure). She opted for Strictly and we have had a lovely journey together every Saturday evening since September . It has been a genuine pleasure to watch it together and I think Strictly have actually always just done enough to stop being naff/safe/twee. I don't know why but it just seems to "work", (have even enjoyed the pantomime villain of James Jordan this year!)

The BBC in my opinion wanted a male winner and hoped Peter Andre would be better than he was. Jay has been nailed on to win from week 3 which I don't think they anticipated. It left them with a final they had to pretend was close and I'm pretty sure the judges knew that blatant favouritism of Kellie and Kevin would add a bit of spice and preserve the illusion that it was a realistic contest.

Having said that I'm glad Jay won.

It was all rather underwhelming but that might have been because we were watching it this morning after being out last night. I missed Anita (and Gleb!)

I thought K&K's show dance was too similar to the Charleston and doing two dances like that in a row just reminded the public of her cheesey-grin theatre school persona. There wasn't as much depth and sensitivity to her dances as Jay and Georgia demonstrated week after week.

I'd have been happy if G&G won but also think Jay was a worthy winner.

It was embarrassing having Katie in the final.

Only watched this morning. Stayed away from the internet so managed no spoilers. I'm happy Jay won but on last nights G&G would have got my vote too.
I'm hoping G&G get together & I reckon J &A have got v close, if nothing is happening he certainly wants it too.

I can't recall any series where the winner has been the Judges favourite.

I thought they pretty clearly liked Alesha? I don't remember them disliking Harry Judd either, but maybe they didn't like Aliona. Kara Tointon suffered from Len in particular disapproving of Artem.

Harry Judd and Aliona had a hard time from the Judges early on. Thinking back they did like Jill Halfpenny and Alesha but whenever they go all out to champion a particular couple as they did with Rachel Stevens and Kellie it seems to backfire.

Someone on one of the earlier threads said they thought that they were weighing Jay's vote rather than counting it !

Yes, I think they expected Peter to be better than he was. The thing is, he has the ability but didn't seem to want to put the ours of training in. That's why he went when he did, maybe he thought that his name would carry him through alone?

I think P A thought he was the star turn this year. Im not a PA hater but he was really smug and then a bit bitter when he left

I'm glad jay won although in the final he was very underwhelming. Georgia and Kelly were far better on the night.
I too don't get the "Kelly was the judges fav" line. She is a fabulous dancer and they seemed to like and appreciate her capabilities.
I think they were pretty hard on jay occasionally but it didn't effect how the public felt.
I didn't miss Anita, didn't get the Anita love or her dance partner as lovely as he was too look at. She left me cold every week. I don't think she was robbed. They judged on the dance off alone and IMO they made the right decision.
Georgia is a fabulous dancer and for her charlston alone I thought she may pip JAy at the end. But I agree with what someone else said, I believe jay was miles ahead in the public vote. Why do the bbc refuse to show percentages like they do when the xf is finished on itv. ? It would stop all the conspiracies .

I've said it already, I don't like the Charleston but I thought Georgia's was the best dance of the night.

The whole SCD thing of "The final decision is up to you" esp in the final makes it more popularity than dance ability and always will.

I'm not sure that Peter ever had anything other than average ability. I suspect he was coached before the start of the series which is why he seemed so much better than many of the others at the outset, but the problem was that he never really got any better and was then overtaken. The judges seem to have developed a number of preconceptions about him which meant that they closed their eyes to reality - it was ridiculous them saying how perfectly he was keeping time whilst there was a simultaneous VT on which we could all see that he wasn't keeping time at all. I do rather wonder whether there was an element of that in the judges' scoring for people like Anita, and also in the final.

I think when the judges are seen to have favourites or to be unfairly harsh then it has the opposite effect with people feeling "x really needs my vote".
I think J&A going first went in their favour because the lines open before everyone has finished. They should wait until everyone has danced to make it fair.

Oh for sure Peter thought he was the star turn. But he ddint really try either He did 4 hours of training in the week leading up to Blackpool, thats why his jive was shit.

I think Jay was a cert from the beginning. He's got a huge fanbase from his boyband days.

Strictly have actually always just done enough to stop being naff/safe/twee. I don't know why but it just seems to "work", (have even enjoyed the pantomime villain of James Jordan this year!)

strictly have embraced the naff and gone totally overboard. I love it!

I don't think there is any comparison to X Factor. X Factor is about cold hard business and i find it quite unpleasant and mean spirited ( although I only watch the first couple of weeks before strictly starts). Strictly is warm and fuzzy. It doesn't really matter who wins, because there's no real prize at the end. some celebs get a bit of a career boost, but most just carry on with their day jobs.

JJ is annoyingly informative on Twitter during strictly. He's a tool the rest of the time though.

Yes, X Factor is quite uncomfortable for me now. Taking these Young kids and building their hopes up before tossing them on a scrap heap.

I think Simon Cowell is a cold ruthless and nasty man actually.

K&K made a big mistake doing their Charleston, it was just never going to compare to G&G's despite the Judges best efforts to make out it did, it was also too similar to their Show Dance in style, their Viennese Waltz would have been a better choice although my favourite dance of theirs was the Quickstep and I would have loved to have seen that again. I still think the Judges overwhelming favouritism to them went against them.

Just enjoyed catching up on this thread. FWIW, I was seriously underwhelmed by all four of the judges' choice dances. I think choosing them on the basis of room for improvement might make sense in a serious dance contest, but Strictly is an entertainment show, and what should be at the core of it is entertaining the audience. I think they should drop that - it would be better if each couple chose their favourite dance, with advice and help from the judges, and then had a longer showdance.

I loved K&K's showdance, but the others didn't do much for me. However, I had to let go of it being a lindyhop because for me one of the best things about a lindyhop is the wonderful 40s feeling, which doesn't go too well if you set it in the 20s. I warmed to Jay when he told Aliona he wouldn't have changed a step of their showdance when she was clearly feeling deflated by the judges' comments.

I've never taken to Georgia with her little-girl voice and the constant tears but I thought her Charleston was brilliant. Such a pity that K&K had also chosen the Charleston which both lost in comparison to G&G and was too similar to their showdance. Why on earth didn't they do either the American Smooth or the VW?

Congratulations to Craig for holding his position through the series of not giving 10s unless deserved. It meant that 10s from him were worth so much more when they finally appeared. Darcy irritated me with her standing to attention and shouting when she gave her first 10. But then I do find both Darcy and Bruno increasingly irritating.

The highlight for me was the group dance. I love seeing them all back and I go all gooey and sentimental at the references to earlier in the series.

I'm delighted Jay and Aliona won, I have loved watching them through the weeks.

I thought G&G were frequently overmarked. Loved their Charleston, but was underwhelmed by many of their dances.

K&K made a massive mistake picking a Charleston and should have gone for their Viennese Waltz as that was more original.

I don't particularly feel Kelly was a blatant favourite with the BBC. She had lovely clean foot and technically is very good.

I cant see that the BBC would want a male winner. The public loved Jay and voted for him.

I don't understand the need on here to have pop at Peter again. He's alright and quite a good dancer.

I think the public love romantic dancing and emotional chemistry which Aliona and Jay had. That's what they voted for as well.

There's an interesting moment in K&K's jive where they do one of the steps that featured in J&A's. I can't describe it very well, but it's the one where they both go up on their toes side by side with their arms in the air and each raise the outside foot up to knee level - it's at around 1.07 in the YouTube recording of Jay's jive. I know it's only one step, but if you compare the way K&K do that move with the way J&A did it, you can see exactly why J&A won.

If Kellie was the BBC's favourite, why were her costumes so shit?