Well, I enjoyed the final. Having been very meh about Joe all the way through I thought Dianne played a blinder with the showdance, and it played to everything he's learnt. I also loved Faye's showdance but the other two didn't really do it for me. I can't imagine why Ashley and Pasha went for their silly troll dance when there were so many others they could have done - but then I'm not a charleston fan at the best of times. I thought the judges chose the first set of dances well, and I enjoyed all four of them.
Not sure about putting Joe fourth in the running order when it was clear that Ashley and Faye are by far the better dancers, so having one of them go fourth would have meant ending each set on a high.
The scoring in the final just showed how ludicrous it's been throughout, really. Shirley and Bruno had no option other than scoring everything a 10 because of having given so many earlier in the series. It would be good to get back to realistic scoring earlier on so that there's somewhere to go when the dances really do get good.
I was pleased but surprised that Kevin and Stacey won. I've rooted for them all series - I like KFG, and I love Stacey's documentaries, the first of which I saw a few months ago and I'm definitely hooked. She goes to some very dangerous places and builds careful, productive and what look like non-exploitative relationships with the women she meets. Hats off to her. But I didn't think they'd win - I thought it would be between Joe's army of fangirls, with some opposition from Faye who was on fire last night.
I don't mind there being ringers, for me it's part of the mix. So I hope there are one or two next year. I'd love for them to cut down on the themes and the faffing about. Keep musicals because it's fun and I love a good musical, and Blackpool because it's tradishun innit, but drop the rest. And get straight into the dances, less of the first half out of hold telling the story. I agree about the direct comparison dances, I used to like that. And please, please, please a new judges line-up. Shirley can stay if she promises to score more sensibly - I actually like it when she gives advice, it's very informative and constructive. But Dave and Bruno have to go, they're simply tedious. Bring back Arlene, and there are plenty of ex-pros to choose from who would be fab - Karen, Natalie, Erin, Ian...