Who will lift the Glitterball?! SCD FINAL Part 2

[EineReiseDurchDieZeit]

KEEP DANCING

Belatedly rejoining you on the live thread.

Happy to see Chris win because I've always liked him and regardless of his disability he's learned to dance so much better than I ever dreamed a man like him with zero experience could (unlike Bill Bailey who was always likely to be a decent dancer).

Still loathed Craig's doggerel though.

Vito and Jowita eh? Fair enough. You wouldn't say that either of them are punching above their weight.

I had JB winning the first round, Tash winning the freestyle and Chris winning the third round.
Chris had some very dodgy dances en route to the final and some over scoring. So yes, of course, his fan base and to some extent, some leeway because of his disability kept him in on his poor weeks. Bill Bailey's fan base kept him in when he had a dodgy tango.
But there were so many times, I sat open-mouthed at Chris, going OMG just how has he learnt that, even with muscle memory. He had me applauding at home as it was incredible.
Yes, they've done the blindfold gimmick before on Strictly - Georgia's freestyle and Shana on DWTS. But Chris was doing this week in, week out. I did want him to close his eyes during his waltz, just to remind those at home just what we were looking at - I remember resident troll insinuating he must have some vision. Nope. All done from learning from being placed into position/feeling the position. Remarkable man.

Agree! Dianne really pushed him and he did it all really well!

JB would have smashed that in any other year. Loved their dances.

Also enjoyed Tasha's. I think she had Aljaz did have chemistry, but it was a respectful, hardworking and professional relationship rather than a huggy daaahling one. The show dance was incredible.

Sarah was a bit of a letdown. Didn't enjoy their show dance and thought the cha cha was a bad choice of last dance. She didn't sparkle as PP said.

One thing I liked about this series was the unobtrusive way everyone helped Chris when needed, without ever making a big thing of it. I noticed from time to time, e.g. in big group numbers, someone just helping him get into the right position or when leaving the floor - it could be a professional, one of the stars, or members of the crew. Strictly at its best.

Also no dancing without shoes. Not that I have anything against it as such, it's just that when a couple turn up for their CC in bare feet you just know it's going to be two minutes of emoting and wafting, and it will be utterly tedious.

Vito and Jowita would make beautiful babies if they felt that way inclined.

I doubt many would begrudge Chris the win and if they did then they'd be a bit sour. For reasons of joy, which I definitely felt - not all the time but enough - for at times making us forget he was blind until we remembered again and felt all "OMG he's blind and he can do that!", for doing far, far, far better than anyone including himself would have imagined and far, far better than most of the other celebrities and so much more he deserved that win. It's not just about the dancing but if you can't dance at all you're highly unlikely to win. It's dancing and a certain je ne sais quoi, a feeling we get from a person that makes us want to watch them, that makes us like them without even knowing them and all that sort of stuff.

JB gave me big joy and in another year he would have won but he got to the final and we got to see him do all of his dances so I can't be sad that he didn't win and I doubt he can either. You get to the final, you show that you're a fun person and you can dance, you have some manner of future and that's what it's all about. Probably!

The crying? I cried and it didn't feel forced, I didn't feel manipulated it just happened because I was moved by all of it. I went on to cry watching Wham! Last Christmas Unwrapped and then, because I'm a huge idiot, I watched The Green Mile and went to bed a wreck of snot and tears. I have no one but myself to blame for that last one. I know the film breaks me, I was already teary, it was never going to end well.

Vito and Jowita would make beautiful babies if they felt that way inclined.

Just as long as Jowita is aware that any babies with Vito will be part Labrador puppy 😁

Only watched last night.
I'm very pleased for Chris and Dianne. I hadn't really warmed to her before, but good heavens she's shown her mettle this year. What an achievement. Her parents are adorable too. Chris is clearly a lovely, thoughtful, sensitive man, as well as genuinely funny.
I liked Craig's poem too. They obviously have so much respect and liking for each other. Chris nailed it: 'Craig's been our worst critic and that's great, because it gives you the most to improve.'

Group dance: who persuaded Pete to put those breeks on again?!
Where was Paul?
Toyah was no less annoying.
Enjoyed seeing Punam giving it laldy. She was robbed of a good few more weeks IMO.

Final dances:

LOVED seeing Let's Go Fly a Kite again. So joyous and so classy.
Tasha and Aljaz CC: yawn. Didn't like it any more second time round.
Didn't really love Chris's CC, but I almost never love a CC. I wish they'd picked his week one routine so we could see how much he's improved and also be reminded of the shock when we all saw what he was already able to achieve even in the first week.Sarah and Vito AS: I didn't get it. Didn't feel like an AS to me and the song was so bland.

As a Tasha non-fan, I have to say I LOVED her and Aljaz's show dance. Proper showbiz, utter class, danced with such character (which I thought was missing for her previously). Likening her to the great Cyd Charisse was a bit OTT, but she was excellent.
The others were all a bit underwhelming for me; JB had excellent music, Lauren was terrific, he started amazingly but I felt he lost energy in a few places. Chris and Dianne were enthusiastic and endearing but a bit like a couple of drunken best mates running around at the indie disco. Sarah and Vito were awful: she just can't do that arch and stylised jazz/Fosse style. Vito gets it and I love watching him do it, but she just doesn't.

I liked seeing JB's samba again but he did go wrong, didn't he?
It was a given that Chris was going to do his waltz again, and I like it, but walking alone to the 'you'll never walk alone' bit is so on the nose it makes me cringe a little, sorry Chris and Dianne.
Tasha's AS suffers from a shite song. Left me cold both times.
I don't know why Sarah and Vito picked the cha cha. It fell badly flat, IMO. Although I do like Vito getting to live his fantasy of being one of Madonna's backing dancers in that period.

Agree with a pp that it really brought it home to me what Chris faces when I saw him having to pat around in the air for the glitterball.

Thank you all for the company and the laughs. Until next time!

Hi all, professionals announced for live tour and Kai has Montell (yay)!

I wonder who will win the live shows? I suspect it may be Lauren v Vito rather than the celebs.

Awesome! He deserves good things

Why's JB listed with both Amy and Lauren? Is Amy hoping to come back but Lauren is in reserve?

I'll be interested to see how Montell does. She clearly wasn't popular with the TV show viewers, but I think the tour often turns things upside down, doesn't it, e.g. ringers or other less-popular people win?

@MarkWithaC , yes I saw that, I thought maybe Lauren was swapping with Amy so she could do Gio's tour but the dates are the same so Lauren must have said no to Gio. Maybe Amy will be appearing but not dancing.

Or does Amy think/hope she'll be fit again at least at some point in the tour?

I feel sorry for JB being stuck in a throuple.

How is it going to work, as I thought Lauren was doing Gio's tour? Would it be her during the matinée and then Amy in the evening?

Is Amy definitely well enough to dance everyday for however long the tour lasts?

Producers must have already thought thos through though, and hopefully it will become clear why they are both partnering JB!

In a way, I'm glad that Chris won over JB, as it would have been awkward for him and Lauren, and heartbreaking for Amy to think it could have been her.

If anyone wants to learn more about how Chris copes with his sight loss, I really recommend watching “Wonders of the World I Can’t See” where Chris goes away to a famous location (Athens, Rome, Petra and Niagra Falls) with another comedian who has to guide him around and describe the sights to him. It’s very funny and also eye opening (if you’ll pardon the phrase) to how inaccessible so many of these places are to disabled people. You can watch on 4 On Demand.

I wonder who will win the live shows? I suspect it may be Lauren v Vito rather than the celebs.

Oddly, it's not usually the Strictly champ of the year who goes on to win the majority of the tours.

Last year, Ellie and Vito only won 3 out of 30, but Layton who wasn't popular here, won a whopping 19 out of 30, and Bobby won 8.

In the previous year, Vito and Fleur won 4 out of 32, Helen and Kai won the most that year, with Hamza in 3rd place behind Will.

Interesting that Helen won with a partner who wasn't her main-show partner (Gorka).

Maybe JB will repeat one of the dances he did with Amy and one (or more) of the dances he did with Lauren.

I really hope Lauren said no to Gio. A pp on a post a while ago said they saw her in his show and he was vile to her, so kudos to her if she told him to get lost.

I've seen her in Gio's show but didn't get any sense of him being vile to her.

We saw the live show the year Joe sugg was on. He and Diane won the majority of the live shows.

Lovely interview with Chris here. So nice to read one that doesn’t patronise disabled people by referring to them as super-humans. If I had a £ for every time someone asked me if my dad had amazing hearing I’d be very rich!

Nice to see him point out that, like most celebs on SCD, he can dance with Dianne but he cannot “dance”! They are learning routines not techniques that they build on over years of lessons. If you popped on a Jive and asked most SCD celebs to show you a fall away throwaway, a Hip Bump and an American Spin they wouldn’t have a bloody clue!

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/clyvrxpe2xdo

Great article. So pleased that he won! I liked all four finalists but I wanted him to lift the glitterball.

Doors will open for the other three I hope, as a result of SCD. Pete and Montell too.

My colleague’s little niece saw Wynne in Birmingham a couple of weeks ago and nervously said hi. He stopped chatted for a little while and was very pleasant to her and her mum apparently.

Gio has just won the Italian version of Strictly ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️ ♥️

Did anyone watch the 20 year special episode last night, I can't see another thread on it? Thought it was a really lovely show. Roll on September!