Dunno about you, but personally didnt find this year a vintage year for strictly.

For these reasons for me:

Not a classic "crap" dancer- ie: Widdy, nancy etc. No one amusingly cringey.

No "WOW" dances - cant think of one dance this series that is blow-me-away good

No clear winner - there wasnt a clear winner (or winners) runnig towards the end of the series. The last 4 seemed on a relatively even keel. This was fairer, but made it less exciting.No really exciting competition between 2 or 3 strong candidates as has happened in the past

What do you think of 2012?

I think the show had a decent start and a very strong middle, but the last three weeks (other than Kimberley's sudden SURGE) have been dull. I'd put it marginally above last year, which had a great beginning and end but an incredibly dull middle-run.

Personally speaking I thought 2012 was a vintage year/ 1) we didn't have a totally rubbish person outstaying their welcome week after week, 2) the final was a close affair to my mind and 3) though there were clearly poorer dancers, nobody was that poor given the standard of the week they went out. i.e. I feel exactly opposite to the O.P.

Definitely not a vintage year, probably the lowest standard technically there's ever been except for maybe series 7.

It wasn't exciting at the start, there were too many middling contestants and a couple who outstayed their welcome.

It did heat up in the last 3-4 weeks, but even then the quality just wasn't there compared to classic finals of previous series - 5 and 8 especially. I thought even last year's final was better, there were only 3 dances that really impressed me tonight (Kimberley's VW and Tango and Denise's Jive).

I really loved it, but 4 and 5 are still my favourites

ha ha Monkseal, you werent a Michael and Natalie fan by any chance were you

I've found it quite dull this year but I think that's because - from a personal point of view - I didn't really have an out and out favourite for a long while and only started to really support Dani and Vincent relatively late on. It's harder to get involved in the show when you haven't got vested interest even if it is less stressful!

Not a vintage year per se, but not bad at all. Better than last year where the dullard Harry Judd won and Chelsee underperformed and Jason creep(ed) out just about everyone, including Kristina.

This year we had many good dances. Okay, I am biased somewhat because I could remember most of Dani's dances, liked Louis in the beginning, got frustrated with him in the middle, thinking he'll be another Harry Judd, and then he became the 'last few weeks surge' for me. Kim was under the radar but the last three weeks was also amazing. Hers and Pasha's reaction when they received their first ten (which went on to be their perfect 40 dance), and then their reactions for their charleston was amazing. Denise, despite all the criticisms, had quite a few dances I enjoyed watching, her jive, her charleston and, surprise, surprise, I didn't mind her showdance at all.

The only down-er for me was Lisa outstaying her welcome.

Was pretty dull until the final two or three weeks when Louis and Kimberly got much better and then it was quality,

Heh - I think he went at the right time, just because I couldn't see what else he had left to give (beyond possibly a decent Viennese Waltz) but he definitely livened the show up for as long as he was there.

I think the endings are getting a bit under par. I saw this week that Dani and Louis were doing BBC radioshows at 7-50 on top of TV/PR/VTs/ITT and learning three dances. its pretty inevitable that you don't have enough time to do anything really well . The same thing happened even more markedly with Chelsee last year.

They also need to pay people enough to allow them not to do two jobs at once. Lisa and Dani have had to fit in panto rehearsals on top of their dancing, and other people have been off promoting albums, books, advertising events, singing and all sorts. It shows in training time and tiredness I think .


There's also been a lack of great matches of music, routines and costumes. Vincent, for example, had an even closer relationship with Dani than with Rachel it seemed at times, but they never managed to get music or costumes that allowed him to recreate anything quite like his emotional content with Rachel - or to use the humour he showed in every VT. James ended up producing great shownumbers for Denise with what he was given - but she really needed to create nother impression. Kimberley never quite provided an emotional or wow dance and wasn't helped by weak camera work when she got near.

I've really enjoyed this year and it has definitely been one of my favourites, probably for the reason that I had a favourite couple who went all the way to the final and WON it. I actually liked all 4 final couples though and they were the right 4 to be there.

No shock eliminations this year and I think they all went out pretty much in the right order.

This series had an excellent lineup, but I don't think it quite lived up to it's potential. Bruce's bizzare and embarassing turns, people like Lisa and Richard staying long past their time (imo anyway), some of the weird undermarking of Louis, plus the vitrol aimed at Denise and to a degree Lisa kind of soured it slightly. It was still, on the whole, a good series, just a let down in terms of what this series promised.

No OP i dont agree at all i think this has been an amazing year for strictly

Not impressed at all in the beginning, several celebs I was not a fan of, namely Fern, Denise and Richard. Thought Ball was far to old to compete and some couples were so mismatched like Kristina and her partner. It took me some weeks to get back into it and that was when Michael did that hilarious jive and then he turned it around and became a hero. Louis grabbed my attention with the Dirty Dancing, wow and the zombie dance. Dani and Vincent were lovely as the dark ponies. The right ones were in the final. This year for me was hard going at first, so much so I thought my SCD bubble had burst, but I stuck with it and all ended well. The final was great.

I thought it was a really good year. To pick up on your specific complaints:

"Not a classic "crap" dancer- ie: Widdy, nancy etc. No one amusingly cringey. " - This is one of the best things about 2012 - 'crap' dancing is not entertaining

"No "WOW" dances - cant think of one dance this series that is blow-me-away good" - I can think of several: Denise's jive; Kimberley's fusion; Denise's Charleston; Denise's showdance; Dani's argentine tango

"No clear winner - there wasnt a clear winner (or winners) runnig towards the end of the series. The last 4 seemed on a relatively even keel. This was fairer, but made it less exciting.No really exciting competition between 2 or 3 strong candidates as has happened in the past" - it has been patently obvious that Louis was going to win for weeks so I would agree that made it less exciting but Denise was clearly the front runner as far as dancing was concerned and there was the questionmark over whether she would make the final or the last three.

Why would a bitter Matt D A fan say this hasn't been a vintage year? LoL!!

The average standard was lower than usual, which I think added to the whole 'Denise is a pro' issue. There are usually a few who start out very capable, but she really stuck out.

*As a disclaimer: I DO think she has a huge advantage having had previous dance training, but I DO NOT think it can be held against her, as she's not the first, nor the only one this year, nor the last. It's inevitable when inviting contestants from the entertainment industry!

Brilliant year.
Introduced me to the gorgeous, lovable Kimberley Walsh, her wonderful partnership with Pasha and a second year of his moving choreography....(except show dances where he's crap).

Fabulous year.

Probably the nicest bunch of celebs ever on Strictly. They really seemed to gel, which made it more fun and more touching when someone left.

My favourite dance of all time is not from this series, but there have been far more great dances than previously, because the final 4 were so close.

Loved it and really going to miss it!

Best year yet.

Easily the best year so far. I just couldn't call the final (except for Vincent and Dani). It was so exciting seeing all the couples pulling out all the stops to win the glitter ball.

A good year without a doubt IMO, the OP is speaking rubbish.

I enjoy it every year, but this year was the most predictable yet. You could have guessed that finishing order in week 1. There were 4 great dancers and 10 pretty rubbish ones.

My only complaint is the mass of different dances week in week out. I preferred it when they pretty much did 2 types each week for most of the series. There's too much Latin and we didnt seem to see much ballroom (or that's how it felt). Also why sooooo much focus on the Charleston. Despite it being an obvious crowd pleaser - I preferred the Argentine Tango specialist rounds where you could directly compare them. It was a travesty in her winning year, Flavia didn't get to do the AT with Louis other than in the show dance!

I thought it was pretty good but I just couldn't really engage with anyone other than Ola who I would really love to....I'll leave it there!