Strictly '22 #18 — Who's going to lift the glitterball? We don't know, but it will happen in this thread!

[PolkadotsAndMoonbeams]

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We're moving so fast I'm setting this one up to be ready!

I’m sure I’d heard/read something pre-final where a current/former pro said that they wanted Gorka to win too, but for the life of me can’t remember any of the detail 🤦‍♀️

Alijaz did. But so did many others, I seem
to remember seeing posts on the night from Johannes, Karen and others in support of Helen and Gorka.

Aljaz supporting Gorka is fair enough, he worked with him for years, never overlapped with Vito and Carlos and only briefly overlapped with Jowita. But for current pros to publicly come out for one of their colleagues over the new ones is a bit off.

@EvilRingahBitch I agree. It's one thing to speak about it discreetly and hope that it's your friend's turn finally this year after years of disappointment. That's totally understandable. It's another to do so on social media. Really unprofessional and hurtful to the other pros who have worked hard to get to this particular final, as much as Gorka has, and can't help being new. With the judges being nakedly partisan in the final as well, I think it's just created an unpleasant, somewhat edgy conclusion to the programme this year. I feel sorry for Hamza - I note he hasn't been doing the rounds of breakfast TV interviews which usually happens after the final (I don't think he has anyway).

Giovanni was also online prior to the final showing his support for Gorka. Sounds like most of the pros were supporting Gorka given Helen's comment to.

I think Gorka is very well liked amongst the Strictly family. In particular he seems more likeable since he's been with Gemma, I think she's been a really good influence on him.

Now there has been footage of Hamza dancing in a Uni thing a few years ago .

I think it's sad when the focus has been "Helen has been robbed" rather than "Well done Hamza".

You can be disappointed for Gorka and Helen without having to take anything away from Hamza and Jowita.

They all worked hard to be in the final as far as I'm concerned, so it's no more "Poor Gorka" than Poor Vito or Carlos as someone on Digital Spy wrote.

What is being implied here? That he had an unfair advantage or that he lied about his dancing experience?

I've said this before every year on these threads. EVERYONE has had some form of dance experience. Some more than others. One could also argue, some are physically fitter than others so can cope with energetic routines, or some have been in show business for longer so know how to pull off a character performance.

Hamza’s popularity throughout was plain to see and nothing should take away from his win. It wasn’t a vintage Strictly year but he deserves his success and whatever comes his way following the additional exposure.

I didn’t really have a dog in the fight this year, so no complaints about who won, didn’t win, had whatever level of previous experience(unless they personally make a big deal out of it then turn out to be crap!), or was supported by the public/judges/their colleagues. It’s just a tv show at the end of the day. The best bit for me is being able to join in the running commentary on these threads and play spot the zebra

www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-11555715/Strictly-winner-Hamza-Yassins-dancing-past-revealed.html#

I thought it was obvious he had danced in some way before.
Believing he had never ever danced was unlikely.

That's hilarious 😂 they're beyond amateur. Typical daily mail.

Christ the Fail are scraping the barrel even by its standards. EVERYONE will have danced somewhere, at some time. A sashay round me handbag in 1987 does not make me a dancer, trained or otherwise.

I used to do am dram. Should I demand a BAFTA?

James Jordan was very much Team Gorka this year but for him similarly to Aljaz, he won’t know or have loyalty to any of the new pros.

Definitely! I did musicals at school so I'm expecting my Tony any day now 😂

James Jordan doesn’t tend to speak pish when it comes to his Strictly summary.

He may have preferred Gorks to win but if he thought for a minute it should go elsewhere he would, I think, be straight up enough to say.

As sunbird says, it is but a telly programme. For entertainment. The decision has been made - they aren’t going to be redistributing the ball now.

Just make it like how it used to be, with a lovely mix of ballroom and Latin, no cc and no dead relatives popping up all the time like teenage plukes.

And sort out the frocks Giggles. It isn’t fair to spend your budget on the favourite Or the pros.

I’ve been deeply disappointed about that more than anything.

James Jordan never overlapped with Gorka though did he?

I'd really hate to be Hamza at this moment, and be made to feel embarrassed about my win.

I think the way the tabloids are going after Hamza is pretty disgusting. He wasn't my favourite and I think he was the weakest dancer on the night but I can accept he won as it is a public vote. And as previous posters have said, most of the celebrities have some form of dance ability whether it be trained to a high level or taking part in a school production.

The competition is over. Gorka should pull up his big boy pants and get over it.
I wanted Fleur to win but the public thought otherwise.
The whole thing is leaving a nasty taste in my mouth. Let Hamza enjoy his win ffs

To be fair, I don't think it's Gorka stamping his feet but other professional dancers and the tabloids carrying on moaning that Helen and Gorka didn't win.

The thing is, the "Helen was robbed" narrative is not borne out at all by the weekly scoring, or even much by the finals scores.

Of the 11 dances that both Helen and Hamza danced, Helen only scored higher than Hamza in 3 of them. (One of those was the Jive, which she also did - and scored highly in - in Strictly Christmas a few years ago).

Hamza also did Rumba (25) and Tango (33) - total 58; Helen also did Paso (29) and Viennese waltz (31) - total 60

Going into the final, therefore, Hamza was the strongest of the two based on scores from the judges.

In the final, they both scored a perfect 40 in their favourite dances (their CCs). They both scored a 39 in their judges' choice. The difference came in the Show dance. These were quite comparable as both were based on traditional ballroom and Latin. Hamza had a mistake, but the judges praised him on his spectacular lifts and transitions in and out of them, and for recovering his composure. Helen was without mistakes, but marked down on her lifts, that were called messy. She got 37 for a dance without mistakes, he got 34 for a dance with a big mistake. That's hardly a massive difference. Craig (the most consistent and conservative judge) gave them both an 8. You need to wonder what Hamza would have scored without the mistake. I thought they were both lovely if a bit tame and too short.

Helen's CC seemed to be the perceived clincher. A dystopian/dominatrix number, mostly consisting of poses, and perceived to be centred on Helen's vengeance against her ex. Shirley said, "It sends a message and I love the message it sends." Not sure what that message was! Not a particularly joyful one. Against that, Hamza's CC based on African street dance, high energy, requiring a high degree of coordinated side by side dancing, and again spectacular lifts. Motsi said it was a dance that brought everyone together, brought joy and moved her to tears. Anton was also moved. Helen, of course, got the final dance of the night and thus the sweet spot/punctuation mark on the evening.

Some viewers will have already had a champion going into the final and nothing would have changed that. Others would base their decision solely on the final performances. Others a bit of both. Nothing that happened before or in the final made Hamza's win outrageous or deserving of the vilification he is now receiving.

And if Hamza doing some amateur hour country dancing at a uni review needs to be counted, then Helen's tap dancing to teacher level, plus previous Strictly experience being trained by a pro dancer and dancing on TV, needs to be weighed up against it.

It isn’t down to Gorka ‘stamping his feet’ though. Nor does he need to pull up big boy pants - whatever that is supposed to mean.

So what if he was disappointed on the night? I was too (although chuffed for Hamza) and I haven’t put months off work in.

It is a bit shit to blame him for the words and actions of others.

And if anything leaves a nasty taste in my mouth? Then it is that.

James: We did predict that Hamza could be the one to take the crown - though I think deep down we were hoping Helen would win. I just think Helen deserved it more than anyone else. I don't mean that to sound bad, but I felt that she's been the most consistent throughout the series.

Ola: Helen was also constantly undermarked throughout the series. We said so many times that we felt she deserved higher scores.

James: If we're going off the final alone, I do think Helen produced far better dances than Hamza - but that was reflected in the leaderboard, right? Hamza was at the bottom.

Ola: Having said that, Hamza was such a joy to watch this season. I did notice he messed up his show dance, which I think was partly why he was at the bottom of the leaderboard.

James: Definitely! It's not wrong that he won. Hamza is a commendable champion.

HELLO!: If the winner was decided purely by the judges, and you were on the panel, who would be your winner?

Ola: If we're talking about dancing alone, from the night of the final only, I think Fleur was the most deserving winner.

James: I agree, she was the best on the night and deserved to be on the top of the leaderboard. Our column readers will know that I've given Fleur a hard time throughout this series, saying I expect more and that I know she has the potential. But she stole the show last night!

Ola: Her Samba was exceptional and her show dance for me was the best of the night, I really enjoyed it. If it was a real professional competition judged solely on the dancing then she would have won.

James: I think overall, it could have been anyone's glitterball. If I was voting on the entire experience and who I was most invested in, then my heart would have voted for Helen and Gorka, but Hamza winning is great too.

I think I'd probably agree with both James & Ola on everything they've said! Thanks for sharing @TheOnlyLivingBoyInNewCross

I can’t wait for the whole media autopsy to be over tbh. Can’t be much fun for any of the contestants, or their pros.