Strictly '22 #17 — Never mind which celebs are there, the Glitterball Gang have made it to the final!

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

Previous thread here

I don't have to do the no spoiler warning, because it's the Final and it's ALL LIVE!

Quick reminder for no YouTube videos please, they embed and slow the thread down horribly for some people. I'll add a link to the multimedia thread in a minute.

Plus Helens wasn’t actually a dance, just a series of silly poses and pouting.

Not sure if I missed it, but did they say in the results show what music Hamza was doing for his showdance? I think they did show Molly’s and Helen’s, but not Hamza’s?

Hamza for the win!!! 🏆 🪩

Strictly gets further away from where it all started from in the first few years ,please can the producers have a look back at what made it great to begin with
cc should be banned until the latter stages , voting figures should be released at the end of the final
Hamza for the win

My thoughts are the public vote has been a landslide in favour of Hamza every week and therefore the producers already know that he will win..

But.. Helen creeping up on the rails and as PP said where will Will's votes go

I think Hamza is most likely for the win, with Helen is the one to watch. I'm pleased to see Fleur and Molly have fought their way through.

Fleur's original dance was better than the DO version, but it's a far more complicated dance to perform and replicate than a stompy uninspiring CC. The CC was well syncronised, but that's partly Nancy's skill in dancing down to where Will is at. We've seen in her previous dances, and especially her CC with Rhys last year that there's no way Will could dance up to match her level.

Having had a simple run through with no leaderboard scares or dance offs, I suspect that Will and Nancy were expecting to fly through into the final.
When ITT ran through his dances, a lot of his strong ones were early on before others improved and overtook him.

Absolutely agree. K&A only interacted with the extra dancers when they ran through their raised arms, which Amy then adapted to a few side-by-side jive steps instead. But H&G will need to change so much that it could be a very different dance, which isn't fair.

Also agree that CCs shouldn't be allowed. Much too close to showdances. What's the point in Helen learning so many Latin and ballroom dances if she's just going to perform two showdances? Will be interesting to see what the other three choose for their favourite dances.

I completely agree that CCs shouldn't be allowed in the final, as they are just show dances at the end of the day. I wish they'd ban CC altogether, actually, they completely distort the scoring week on week, and somebody who got lower marks for a proper, technical dance with actual rules gets ousted. I know Will went out on his CC, but again, I think it does the contestants no favours, because once compared side by side to a real dance, a CC with little in the way of pleasing content/interesting tricks/perfect execution gets shown up for what it is.

In the final, why not one Latin, one ballroom one CC/ couples choice?

Too simple?

I think they should have to do a ballroom and Latin, yes.

I don't like it when it's one we've only just seen either, although I understand it makes rehearsals easier.

Yes - I feel the same too.

The problem with CC now is that is is a free for all which makes it very tricky to judge. When it was first introduced they had to choose between contemporary, street, or theatre/jazz if I remember correctly. While this still wasn’t perfect those are at least defined dance styles with some sort of rules/expectation attached to them so easier to judge.

Or as a pp said, if they are going to do it make everybody do it on the same week so the judges aren’t comparing a ballroom/Latin dance with rules against a free for all.

And agree CC shouldn’t be in the final alongside the showdance.

Yes to all of this.

Either: one Latin, one ballroom, one showdance (another of my favourite ever final dances was Rachel Steven's ballroom- too many years have passed for me to remember what it was, VW possibly? But there was a beautiful dress 😂)

Or: your favourite, the one the judges thought was your worst, (see if you've improved since Shirley last gave you 9 and everyone booed Craig because he gave you the 6 you deserved) and your showdance.

It really is moving away from being a ballroom/Latin dancing competition with every season. And it didn't need to. One of its amazing USPs was that it made people who were not remotely interested in that sort of thing get very interested. Now it's turning into BGT. We're going to end up with dance troupes competing before long. Think of how many bloody sob stories and dead rellies then!

I hope Hamza wins. I didn't like the nakedly ambitious face on Helen when their place in the final was confirmed.
at least she didn't shriek and jump up and down.
I want Hamza to win.

Thanks Polka.

Just have to comment on a pp from an earlier thread: But for me, Helen and Hamza - they aren't dancers, aren't stage trained and have come a very long way. Helen is a tap-dancing teacher!

Anyway.
Loved Fleur's paso. Loved the Charleston almost as much. Lovely styling to the choreography. She's so gracious in the DO and I'm pleased she got through.
Molly's AS was meh. Liked her paso, but not as much as the judges did. Glad to see her in the final. Carlos was sweet in his interview.
Hamza's waltz was a bit 'steery', as Anton said, but they just so obviously love dancing together I don't care. His Charleston was joyous.
Helen's waltz was a bit dull, I thought. AT was quite good but she looked wobbly in her solo bit at the start, and I agreed with Craig her shoulders were raised and she looked rigid.
Will's paso was as I foretold: smell-the-fart. Terrible capework. He and Nancy both had faces like bulldogs chewing the proverbial at the criticism. Not impressive.
His CC was also as I'd thought: toe-curling. Embarrassing dad. I'm not sorry he's gone, TBH.

Much as I dislike CC, it is still basically that, isn't it? Will's was street; Helen's was theatre/jazz. I suppose Fleur's wasn't as clear-cut 'street' as Will's but I'd put it in that broad category.

Anyway, I'd probably ditch it given the choice. I've only really liked Bill's, Helen's and Faye Tozer's.

Agree with every word of this.

I also think that the CC should have to be a proper dance - not some contempowaft sh*te (thankfully thin on the ground this year). That way even if it is used in a later stage of the competition it can be properly marked and assessed.

I wonder if Will thought that he would be waved through with a CC because it is so personal no-one can objectively criticise it?

I wasn't keen on Will, and was glad he was out, but I do think that he has been a good performer and shot himself in the foot with that CC.

This please. ⬆

Rose and Giovani's CC was amazing, but that was because of the beautifully staged and timed use of the silence, athough it did feel like a beautiful celebration of the love of dancing.
In the final (not helped by there only being two finalists) it did feel a bit flat that the show dance felt a bit samey in tone to the CC, then they had a gentle ballroom.

I suppose with the logistics of doing 3 dances, you don't want to dig too far back because there'd be too much relearning of choreography and less time to polish for optimum performance.

A CC week or spreading across a couple of weeks about 2/3s in might be a more even playing field than such a liberal scattering. CC can be a chance to sort the wheat from the chaff in that it can be an insight into the contestant's relationship with dance. Sometimes they can backfire on competent but uninspiring contestants. Fleur's played to her strengths and I think has boosted her path to the final. Hamza's was a joy to see something different. Helen's played to her strengths and was something she'd have struggled to pull off early on. Molly's got lost in the awkward constraints of the BBC theme week and it would have been difficult to excel that week.

This must be the first year in ages they have had the full four finalists. It should be a great show and i am glad it is back on a Saturday where it belongs.

Disapponted Will didn't make it to the final, the judges have their minds set...I think Fleur should have gone between the two of them...

I am glad that there are 4 finalists but, let's be honest, unless Hamza or Helen totally screw up one of them are going to be the winner.

I would have preferred Will in the final to either Molly or Fleur as I think then the competition would have been truly open. Hamza, Helen and Will were the only ones not to have been in a dance off until this week when Will was.

It did seem as though the judges did not want Will in the final. Shirley pursing her lips when Tess asked if he would be in the final was disgusting but then she is a very rude woman

I’ve watched since the very beginning and have gradually over the last couple of producer’s lost my enthusiasm to a degree.
Definitely agree couples choice is impossible to judge or mark objectively.
I rue the move away from the traditional 10 dance formula the show was based on. The ridiculous the amount of themes and appalling costumes are turning the show into a parody of itself.
The final should be, as a pp said, one ballroom, one latin and the show dance.

I will still be watching and voting on Saturday though.

@mydogisthebest totally agree with all this...I commented on that before Shirley was v rude when asked about Will getting to the final her mind was already made up ...!!

So agree!

Len wouldn't have allowed all of this "faffing abaht", and Arlene wouldn't have held back over sloppy dancing techniques.

It's turned from a dance competition to thinly disguised "entertainment".

And I'm sick to death of the personal stuff, and the VTs and the Nanz Warz and the competitive miseryfests and the horrible costumes and inappropriate music.

Please - a bit of background, a bit of the training schedule, a chat with wardrobe about the dresses, and PROPER DANCING! Get us back to the good old days of Strictly.