I've only followed about three series of SCD, and to my uneducated eye Chelsee seemed far and away the most accomplished dancer this time round.. Harry's weaknesses were fairly obvious to me - his inability to express the emotion of the Latin dances (with the exception of his vampire tango), and his Freddy Krueger impression in his otherwise-impressive American Smooth. Less obvious to me though were the weaknesses in Chelsee's technique.

Would one or two of the more experienced observers here care to run an eye over Chelsee's expertise?

And had it suited the BBC to conduct the final as a fair contest on an even playing field, what dance might the judges have chosen to team with Chelsee's showdance instead of the wasted Jive in order to best-showcase her expertise and to make the optimum first impression upon the viewers who were undecided at the start of the final?

I'm thinking this order of preference -

1. American Smooth
2. Foxtrot
3. Paso Doble
4. Argentine Tango

It seemed to me that her AT had a major weakness in that the storyline was ill-suited for conveying the passion required for a high-quality AT. But in an ideal world the judges would have marked down Harry's AT for the same reason, and the technical expertise Chelsee displayed in that dance would surely have impressed the general public.

Any thoughts please?

It wouldn't have made a difference no matter what Jason and Chelsee done they could not have won Harry was just too popular. I think in the back of their minds Chelsee and Jason knew that they had no chance sadly.

I agree with TLC - Chelsee and Jason were fighting it out for 2nd place.

Interestingly, it says a lot that the McFly fans didn't manage to get Danny to the final of Popstar to Operastar when he did that - he did get marginally further than his talent warranted - but in that show at least the 3 best singers made it to the final - and (IMHO) the best singer won..... this series however - Joe McElderry was always going to win that and the others were fighting for 2nd place in that....

Seriously hoping this doesn't turn into another Harry bashing thread....
I'm intrigued (geniunely) to know what you feel it wasn't a fair final and that somehow the BBC had 'fixed' the final in Harry's favour - both judges choices dances for Harry and Chelsee scored 39 on their first outing - if anything Jason was disadvantaged here with a judge's choice that orginally scored 36.
To my uneducated eye Harry nailed the technique increasingly well each week (especially footwork and posture - compare his week 2 foxtrot to his quickstep, his week 1 cha cha to his rumba) and held his nerve in the final. And he did improve in his 'storytelling' in my opinion and really seemed to enjoy himself in his final dances (I repeat in my opinion!)
I really liked Chelsee and Pasha but she did have some wobbly moments in the final - probably down to nerves I'm sure (she didn't seem to me to be coping well with the pressure and wasn't her usual bubbly self) And at times (in her jive and quickstep especially IMO) her footwork didn't seem as sharp as in her original performance of these dances. My gut reaction (right or wrong) is that she was overwhelmed by the ocassion whereas Harry rose to it.
I know this isn't the 'expert eye' you were requesting - there seem to be very many knowledgeable people on this forum who I'm sure will provide it - hopefully objectively. Just wanted to put the other subjective side to the coin - it just goes to show how our support for a particular celebrity or partnership can influence our perceptions!
And yes I am a Harry fan but thought Chelsee (and her Pash) were fab!
(Waves white flag and hides behind sofa repeating just my opinion, just my opinion.....)

Overall think Chelsee should have won , technically she was the best but her nerves got the better of her at the final . Unfortunately for her Harry had a huge fanbase before scd started she just couldnt compete with .

Jason got to the final and may have made the last two mostly down to Kristina , her choreography was brilliant and she played to his strengths .Not technically the best but i loved the routines they performed .

I'm sorry, but on what grounds can you possibly claim the final wasn't a fair playing field?

All the contestants had to dance a judges' choice, and the judges for Chelsee and Harry at least picked what was widely considered to be their best dance, and as has already been mentioned, they scored the same. Is it because one was ballroom and one Latin? All that shows is that Chelsee was the better Latin dancer and Harry the better ballroom dancer by judges' marks, and the judges picked accordingly. Why they gave Jason the Tango I'll never know, his AS scored higher I think?

If the problem is with Harry not dancing a standard Latin dance, then that's nothing to do with the BBC fixing the final, the rules would have been set out long before that. It's all to do with Aliona being clever with her picks - she was entirely within her rights to pick the dances she did. They also had to do the AS as Harry was banned from doing the Paso because he danced it with Ola for the Children in Need Special. I can't remember what other dance Chelsee had left, but there was nothing stopping her from dancing it, Pasha had a choice where Aliona did not.

As for the Harry v Chelsee question, I don't think it was at all clear cut that Chelsee was 'far and away' the better dancer. I'll admit I'm a Harry fan, but I'll easily admit that his Latin wasn't brilliant - apart from the Rumba, Charleston and AT. But equally I never thought Chelsee's Latin was brilliant - her Jive technique left a lot to be desired imo (I think Charlie Brooks in the Christmas Special had better kicks and flicks) and there were several mistakes in her Rumba.

I also thought her inability to act a dance was quite startling at times, particularly in her AT - I could see from ITT that she and Pasha had a great friendship, but I never believed it on the dancefloor, whereas at least in the AT and VW I believed Harry and Aliona. It wasn't a strong year for believable partnerships on the dancefloor overall though, but really I don't see that Chelsee was much better than Harry in terms of conveying emotion, and he was better at ballroom. I think what decides it for me is that Harry and Aliona produced dances I'll remember and rewatch, whereas Chelsee did not, and for Jason I'll only remember his showdance, entirely for Kristina's genius choreography.

I also disagree entirely that Harry's AT was ill-suited for conveying passion, but maybe that's a subjective viewpoint. It was certainly better than Jason's, so it merited 40 on that ground alone...

If Chelsee had improved her Jive in the final, I think it might have been a closer contest. But her nerves got to her, and that's the only thing that made the final less close than it otherwise would have been. I don't subscribe to the idea that Harry had it won, at least not before the first round of dances in the final. Chelsee had a chance, but it was ultimately her own nerves, and Harry's contrasting ability to control his on the night, which made the difference.

TBH I think Chelsee could've danced anything in the final...the problem was that nerves got to her to such an extent that, on the night, she was lucky to beat Jason into second. In hindsight, Harry could've danced one of his weaker latins and still finished top of the leaderboard.

Chelsee is a naturally gifted dancer but she never could quite finish or nail her dances and often had trouble controlling her balance. Harry's not great at Latin but good at ballroom and he delivered on the night while Chelsee didn't.

The judges' choice dance was selected very fairly.
The criteria appears to be the highest scoring dance for each celeb (excluding semifinals) and which topped the leaderboard in its week.
This was the Jive for Chelsee, QS for Harry and Tango for Jason. Jason scored higher for his AS but was only third on the leaderboard and his Tango was the next dance that satisfied the judges' criteria.

Thanks for the responses thus far.

To those here who haven't seen where I'm coming from on this - imagine the judges sitting down on the Monday after the semi-final to decide upon their choice of dances for the final. Which dance out of ALL of the celebrity dances was from the judges' reactions at the time the one which most impressed them during the series?

Chelsee's Jive was arguably the best Jive of the series. But the judges have seen other Jives with which to compare it. Craig, for one, didn't seem to think it the equal of Jill Halfpenny's Jive.

Chelsee's Paso, on the other hand, was surely the best celebrity Paso they had ever seen. Their reactions at the time said it all, and their award of the first perfect score for a Paso in the history of the competition confirmed it. I don't ever recall Craig reacting to a celebrity performance in quite that manner.

And bearing in mind their desire to put on a show worthy of their return to the 'home of ballroom', what better performance to grace the event than such a classic and spectacular interpretation of that iconic dance? Surely it virtually picked itself as being first on their list for an occasion like that?

So how did it end up that Harry got his best dance of the series (from the judges' reactions at the time), while Chelsee got ..... not her Paso ..... nor any of the slow ballroom dances where she could display the exquisite fluidity and armography the judges had been raving about all series ..... but a dance which wasn't going to attract a single additional voter who wouldn't have been attracted in any event by her show dance?

p.s. Kara first danced the Rumba last year in the semi-final, and the judges unsurprisingly picked it for the final. Surely in an ideal world the final should be all about allowing the celebrities to showcase the expertise each has acquired during the course of the competition?

The judges?!

I strongly suspect that all the choices were made by Moira Ross and her merry band of producers, with the entertaining jive and tango chosen over other higher scoring dances. Entertaining = High Ratings, the only currency TV execs understand. In Moira-land a waltz cannot be entertaining unless it has "The Grant" or "Widdy" in it. I refuse to blame Pasha for the hot mess that was their showdance - it was Moira who choreographed it, surely?

Last year's final was an anticlimax as the best dancer and winner left with no perfect score and was nitpicked to death. Harry's coronation on the other hand was everything a producer could ask for. The only downside was its predictability which I suspect had a negative effect on the second show's ratings as unlike in prevous years, they were lower than the first show's.

Interesting thoughts and well put,but I have to come down in the "it-was-probably-all-over-before-it-started" camp.

Although I have not seen a bad choice of choreography or music in any of his routines,I do wonder whether Pasha's disco showdance was the best showcase for Chelsee.Perhaps a bigger contrast to the jive would have been better.
I am thinking of a story,almost self referential,where a young naive innocent comes under the spell of a Svengali-type.
Start Chelsee on her own a bit like the foxtrot;Pasha moves in and begins to draw her in-shades of their AS here;then a costume rip-off reveals darker colours and a switch to a more severe interplay that gradually becomes an Argentine Tango,or an eventual stand-off between the characters in a nod to their Paso.

Chelsee imo was the best dancer in this competition especially b/c to quote Alesha"she was equally strong in her Latin and in her ballroom".
I supported her throughout the serie and I knew that she was never going to win this competition.Like someone else said she was always fighting for second place just because it was pretty obvious that Harry had it in the bag.At the end of the day, it comes down to popularity and Harry was very popular but at least he is a very good dancer.
I know that nerves got the best of her on the night but even if she wasnt affected by nerves she would have still lost to Harry.
Harry is a great dancer and I like him.He was my 2nd fav. contestant after Chelsee so I am not that she lost.
Im still glad that she beat Donobot, sorry couldnt resist.
Happy new year in advance to everyone.

Let;s look at the judges' scores....(ok I know there was a huge amount of over/under marking this series and the top 5 were all over/undermarked at some point IMO and in the opinion of those who post in the live show discussion threads. I did more than my fair share of shouting at the TV this series!! And I know it depends on which week they performed any particular dance and what the other competitor's danced.)
But let's just have a look anyway....
Top scores for each dance across this series:
Cha cha - Jason 32
Salsa - Harry 34
Samba - Chelsee 35
Waltz - Harry 35
Foxtrot - Chelsee 36
Tango - Jason 38
Charleston - Harry 39
American Smooth - Harry 39
Rumba -Chelsee 39
Vienesse Waltz - Harry 39
Jive - Chelsee 39
Quickstep - Harry 40
Paso Doble - Chelsee 40
Argentine Tango - Jason 40 Harry 40
Freestyle- Jason 40

Average scores (not including the Swingathon)
Jason - 34.8
Chelsee - 35.3
Harry - 35.6

So the judges scores (flawed as they are) and the final result seem to be in agreement.

To the OP.

You've got to remember that the rules stated they weren't allowed to pick their SF dances.

I'm doing this on my iPhone or would give a fuller response.

I dance and I never bought into the forum thing that Chelsee was the better dancer. Even though she had the obvious advantage of being led by her pro (whilst Harry had to learn to lead) Chelsee had some fundamental issues time and again with balance and not pointing her toes. Yes her arms (armography) were good and her poise and posture improved and yes she possibly had the biggest journey out of her and Harry (ridding herself of the chav-ness) - I still feel though that Harry ended the most polished performer when everything is taken into consideration.

Harry also rose to the occasion in the final whilst Chelsee plainly struggled in what for her was sort of home territory.

(*written as a dancer and dance fan rather than either a Harry or Chelsee fan - ie. an unbiased view)

Any of the 3 finalists would have been worthy winners.... they were without doubt the 3 best dancers throughout the competition, and for one we had a final with 3 people who fully deserved their place (no judges pets or protest vote results)

Personally I thought Jason was the best of the three - he brought the showbiz/ fun element to it - its a shame that he shot himself in the foot every single time he opened his mouth in an interview - he could dance, and he obviously enjoyed the whole thing - as did Chelsee.

Harry was good and with his McFly fanbase he had a huge adavantage over the others and I think it was the combination of those two facts which allowed him to lift the trophy. Maybe if Chelsee's nerves hadn't got the better of her on the night she may have done better - but she was rightly bottom of the judges leaderboard at the end of the first show as she made mistakes the boys didn't!

Chelsee's jive got a far bigger positive public reaction than her paso doble did. In terms of the two dances done in the final, if we're sticking to the rule that semi-final dances weren't allowed, then all three dancers I think had their best options. And even if we're not sticking to that rule I think Harry (Viennese Waltz) and Jason (Argentine Tango) have a better argument for being deprived of a vote winner than Chelsee does. (I guess Harry's Viennese Waltz would clash with his American Smooth, but then if Aliona had known in advance she could have choreographed a very different American Smooth...)

(Having said that I think it's over-stated just how much Chelsee did "wobble" in the final. Then again, history is written by the winners, so by Series 11 I fully expect the public memory of Chelsee's performance in the final will be of her falling over repeatedly a la Kate Garraway)

(Having said that, her showdance was bollocks)

In an Ideal world the final would have been

Harry
Chelsee
Holly

Jason having gone at wembley
with the same outcome Harry winning as he was an improved dancer