SCD '21 #19: We have our FINAL! Judges, your paddles are for guidance only.

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Just as well, as they seem to have lost all of the ones under 9...

Previous thread

I feel very sorry for AJ and Kai. I'm sure they would have been great tonight, and without them we lose some of the variety in the final as well.

I hope she can be there (with her foot of a glittery pouffe!) but I'm not sure I'd want to be if it were me.

photos.app.goo.gl/SAHtzSihdzuZVdWj6

Aaargh. Such a horrible end to the series, in keeping with this horrible year, I suppose.

I must be the only person on here who didn't like Rose's CC; I found it mawkish and treacly like most CC's. I also didn't much like her Quickstep. Might have to vote for John simply because he is doing the lively paso. Or I may not even vote.

It seems to be a given in the media that Rose will win. Don't forget there could be a shock tonight too. Remember Will and Gareth!😀
I'm pleased for both couples and sad for AJ.

I'm just watching last nights's ITT - cried with AJ and Kai - such a shame what's happened.

Actually loved John's VT and that it was all about him and thought he came across very humbly and like he genuinely meant that he wasn't bothered about winning. Then that was spoilt once again by Johannes making it all about him. 'Restore his faith in humanity' - what does that mean if he doesn't win? That people are homophobic? Not at all, Rose is also amazing and inspirational and Gio is a much loved pro. It's not all about you Johannes! That's made me weirdly angry and annoyed. Shit comment!

Has anyone got times for tomight?

night, even...

Janis I think Rose and Gio have been thrown under the bus a bit with the quickstep. I don't know why the judges chose it. It's my least favourite of their ballroom dances and is a bit twee. For a contrast and some drama, I would have loved to have seen their tango again (but it got a 40, so wouldn't be picked by judges) or their Viennese Waltz, which may be my favourite dance. Didn't Anton say she missed a fleckerl, so there was room for improvement. Even their foxtrot would have been better, although that's another romantic dance. The quickstep certainly wasn't helped by their costumes, so I hope they don't get togged up in those again, although I noticed Gio was rehearsing the dance in the knee high boots and Vicky Gill said no one in the final was changing their original outfits

I would have liked to see their samba, cha cha,or anything fierce and not romantic/sweet.

@Piggyinblankets

Has anyone got times for tomight?

7.10 - 9.00pm

I think the only way to rescue this awful year is for Kai, at the half way mark of tonight's show, to get down on one knee and propose to AJ. And we all have the biggest party ever!!

[quote Strictlyfanoftenyears]photos.app.goo.gl/SAHtzSihdzuZVdWj6[/quote]
Oh, thanks Strictly - I watch that dance over and over again as I remember how gobsmacked I was ay the speed. #memories

Wish her some amazing future times and am a bit sad she isn't in the final which will be flat in my eyes now.

The more I think about it the more I think it would have been a good idea not to have a dance off in the semi final but to have the lowest scoring dancer as a reserve finalist. Even without AJ’s injury someone might have tested positive and had to drop out anyway.

@bonfireheart

I think the only way to rescue this awful year is for Kai, at the half way mark of tonight's show, to get down on one knee and propose to AJ. And we all have the biggest party ever!!

Love it!

I would have preferred to have seen one of Rose's earlier dances again than her QS - her week 1 jive or week 2 salsa, or one of her early ballroom dances like the titanic one for movie week.

Normally not a fan when the judges choose a rumba but I did like John's.

Just watched ITT i never bother but thought would dip in as its the final
Kai and AJ interview had me tearing up
Bless them

For the pp who mentioned Robert Webb. He gave a statement on his insta.

"Hullo! I seem to have switched from public to private mode and one of the effects of this is people will inevitably find their own ways to interpret my 'silence'. It isn't really silence, of course. It's just doing other stuff. But I thought I ought to pipe up because I won't be in the group dance of the Strictly final this Sat and I didn't want my absence (or my 'silence' about it) to be taken as evidence of any kind of bad feeling towards the show. My love for Strictly is a season that is forever summer. However, the producers understood that when I had to stop, I had to stop completely. Dianne & Joe came over for lunch a few weeks ago and m'partner gets it.
If I gave out a few more details about what the show had been doing to me physically & mentally, you wouldn't be surprised that the offer of one more dance was politely declined. More generally, I'm sorry that my departure buggered up the format so there are only 3 couples in the final (a lot of angry Rhys fans out there - guys, you do know that if I'd tried to do week 4 but had then dropped dead during the show, it would still be a three-couple final, yeah?)
So anyway, the headlines are: sorry about everything, I'm not doing the thing, I'm fine now btw, and do enjoy the final which will obviously be brilliant because they're all brilliant. See ya!"

@bonfireheart

I think the only way to rescue this awful year is for Kai, at the half way mark of tonight's show, to get down on one knee and propose to AJ. And we all have the biggest party ever!!

If that happens the gospel choir had better burst into It Should Have Been Me as I descend from the rafters on Ann Widdecombe's winch and in full wedding dress. I saw Kai (Bert) first!

'Restore his faith in humanity' - what does that mean if he doesn't win? That people are homophobic?
The opposite. That if they win - a same-sex couple on a prime-time show - the nation have accepted them wholeheartedly.

All three - a woman of colour, a deaf woman, a gay man - will have faced barriers and discrimination that white able-bodied straight people won't have. Representation is important.

Strictly has never just been about the dancing either - the pros know that. So to get through to the final - and then to win the thing - is validation: it is human to want that.

I am under no illusions that, despite teaching sexual orientation equality as part of British values, there will be young people who still use homophobic slurs as part of their 'banter', that young gay men and women still face stigma, that the great British Public are still by and large pearl-clutchers.

So I don't begrudge Johannes saying that. In the same way that I don't begrudge Rose saying her moment of silence has changed people's lives. Because I haven't been in their shoes and their lived experience won't reflect mine.

Either John or Rose would be a worthy winner. I just had my heart set on AJ as she was, for me, the most interesting to watch.

I hope no one has been having a pop at Robert for the lack of a 4 person final. Or that he can’t appear in the final.

It is nothing to do with him - his health comes first - it is all on the programme heads.

They should so have him looking down on proceedings like the Wizard of Oz. 🙂

I'm so gutted for AJ and Kai. This final is going to feel slightly flat with just two couples, hope there isn't too much filler and a fair amount of time given to AJ and Kai - although I get it might be difficult for them to talk too much without getting upset.

I think it's a shame that he couldn't take part in some way - even if it was a pre-recorded Kermit skit before a group dance of Mahna Mahna
or him being on a tablet on a wheeled stand or held by Diane.
Same as for Tilly. In fact, two ipads with them on waving while being danced with would have made me beam.
However, I am well aware that is very much Perform, monkey boy! and if Robert had mental health issues, as well as physical, then he has bloomin' well earnt his right to chill rather than being dubbed a Danny John-Jules.
I hope that Diane gets to shine in the Xmas show instead - karma dictates a win for her and Fred might be nice. I saw all the Xmas couples on it takes two yesterday and Fred's red Diane hair as he was going to be a turkey(!) cheered me up.

As a pp said re Denise Van Outen, I am amazed they haven't Vicky Gill jazzled her moonboot, got a Strictlified wheelchair, and she isn't appearing at the end of the groupdance.
But maybe AJ herself just needs and has opted for R+R, wine on the sofa with her Mum and to watch the final along with all of us?

Start time tonight is 7pm, not 7.10 btw

@SequinsandStiIettos

For the pp who mentioned Robert Webb. He gave a statement on his insta.

"Hullo! I seem to have switched from public to private mode and one of the effects of this is people will inevitably find their own ways to interpret my 'silence'. It isn't really silence, of course. It's just doing other stuff. But I thought I ought to pipe up because I won't be in the group dance of the Strictly final this Sat and I didn't want my absence (or my 'silence' about it) to be taken as evidence of any kind of bad feeling towards the show. My love for Strictly is a season that is forever summer. However, the producers understood that when I had to stop, I had to stop completely. Dianne & Joe came over for lunch a few weeks ago and m'partner gets it.
If I gave out a few more details about what the show had been doing to me physically & mentally, you wouldn't be surprised that the offer of one more dance was politely declined. More generally, I'm sorry that my departure buggered up the format so there are only 3 couples in the final (a lot of angry Rhys fans out there - guys, you do know that if I'd tried to do week 4 but had then dropped dead during the show, it would still be a three-couple final, yeah?)
So anyway, the headlines are: sorry about everything, I'm not doing the thing, I'm fine now btw, and do enjoy the final which will obviously be brilliant because they're all brilliant. See ya!"

He does sound a bit arsey in this statement though doesnt he? Why would anyone think that he had any bad feeling about the show anyway?