What was going on with the vindictive judging tonight in the Christmas Special? How could Craig & Arlene be so cruel to Natasha and Brendan? Did anyone else not think it was incredibly strange? My friends & I sat watching it with open mouths!

Who are you all voting for?

Yeah i thought some of the comments were very uncalled for. Brendan look fuming. Glad Natasha answered Arelene back. They maybe werent amazing but it certainly wasnt their worse dance.

I'm voting.... Natasha and Brendan.

You could DEFINITELY see the chemistry between them tonight couldn't you? Just in the way they were standing/responded to each other as much as their dancing. I thought Natasha looked beautiful. Len was right, the foxtrot was incredibly slow to dance to, but in a way the slowness made their dance even more appealing. They truly worked as one and they seemed so fresh.. not awkward at all.

I'm voting lots for Natasha and Brendan but I also gave one vote each to Aled & Lilia and to Anton & Lesley.

Does anyone know why Julian is not doing it tonight?
I would love Denise to win tonight she is really good and they did just miss out in the Final.
But I would like to know where Julian is please.
Sheila

He's in Panto somewhere.

I thought Denise's dance was performed great BUT most of the routine was just show... scatter chasses... jumps... show-off flicks.. there was very little actual quickstep in the routine.

May I also say that I thought that Darren & Jill should have chosen a different dance... it was hard for me to put out my mind their brilliant jive from the SCD2 final... it made tonight's jive seem less superior.
I would have liked to have seen Denise & Ian do their Tango instead.
Natasha and Brendan and Anton & Lesley showed their expertise by being brave enough to choose a different dance!
It is hard to judge over one dance over two different styles...
I still believe Natasha and Brendan are the TRUE SCD champions...

Gutted....gutted...gutted

who won? I watched the programme but missed the results

Yay, Jill and Darren!

I was so glad that that smug look was well and truly wiped from Brendan's face.

Haha! Natasha & Brendan got what they deserved.....NOTHING!

Jill & Darren are the champions of them all!

I like your atitude Huch'net! Brendan was fuming when it was announced that him and Natasha weren't even in the final two.

yay, glad to hear it! (I take it that Jill and Darren won?)

I know it was so funny, I noticed that Sarah Manners was clapping away when the judges were giving bad points to them & when Jill & Darren were getting high praise from the judges!

Natasha & Brendan did do good dances in the first series but they don't even come close to Jill & Darren and their dance tonight was pathetic, I think it's because they tried to make it special to themselves!

Yep! & Natasha and Brendan did not make it into the final two!

Gutted too.
Mainly because I think it was inevitable that J&D would win - kind of a double-double. They have the triple advantage of a) having trained the most/most recently b) being in the public eye, especially with those who may only have seen SC2 and c) let's refer again to the "unmentionable" fact of J's dance experience (irrespective of the discipline, dance memory for learning steps transcends genre and also the abitity to "present" is already in place).
actually, as a diehard N&B fan, I didn't feel their choreography was that innovative/exciting BUT they still knock the spots off everyone in the inevitable "chemistry" department (said to flatmate that a vote for them is a vote for sex!) AND their control with the slow foxtrot was fabulous.
oh well.

I so wanted Denise & Ian to win to make up for not winning the other one. I'm just so glad that that stupid opera singer woman didn't get anywhere, I can't stand her!

Sorry but all this "we haven't danced together for months" is well basically... crap, erm hello you just brought out a DVD on HOW TO DANCE! I'm sure you don't just forget dancing at the click of a finger & they had as much, if not MORE training than Jill & Darren. The other couples in the first series were in the same boat and they were all better than Natasha & Brendan. They are pathetic & they used excuses!

Exactly, Natasha kept using excuses every time the judges criticised them, surprised that Brendan didn't chip in as well actually.

Yeah i feel the same. Though their foxtrot tonight i didnt find was that amazing either.

I like Jill. But i just feel she should have never been in the competition. If you can dance as you say then you can be taught to dance any type of dance.

I never took to Denise but i least feel Ian took a non-dancer and turned her into one. Like Brendan did with Natasha!!

what about Natasha's "ability to present"? She is a presenter after all.

I'm sure this has been said about 17 million times before, but I think it is wrong to talk about Jill's dance experience as a mitigating factor. A lot of people taking part in that contest had some kind of advantage - - what about Denise and Roger's physical ability/body awareness/general fitness, or Aled and Lesley's musical experience? Or Sarah's acting ability, which would help with her presentation and performance skills. Of course all of these entertainment celebrities have some kind of bonus to bring to this dance contest, but to bang on about Jill's "dance experience" as giving her an unfair advantage... it just says "bad loser" to me.

As far as i'm concerned Jill and Darren are a one trcik pony..'Oh lets do the Jive cos we know we can win with that'...how boring do you get? No chemistry whatsoever and they could at least have proved themselves to be true champion of chamipons by doing a different dance.....Denise and Ian should have won it (seeing as my faves Anton and lesley didn't)

Nat
xxx

Im glad jill and darren won, it would have been cruel to take the winning off of them so early after winning the second series, but they still deserved to win. I didnt like Natasha and brenden, neither did i like Denise and Ian. Jill and Darren are the over all winners.

fair point. would just add, tho', that an ability to present the news is quite different from an ability to present a showdance, but i do get what you're saying.
actually, to go with this further, i thought that denise had an advantage in that she was used to being coached and is also, as a heptathlete, used to learning new disciplines. so, i do get that this was an unlevel, level playing field - everyone brought different strengths to the party.
as i said, i am a diehard N&B fan, so my thoughts are inevitably biased! I come from the maddy-david / mulder-scully etc school of ust (or rst) so my loyalty is not necessarily a rational one

I'm SO pleased it was Jill and Darren. It's the only time EVER that anyone I've wanted to win has won anything!

If they hadn't won I would have really liked Aled and Lilia to win. I thought they were really good together and were always so good humoured and nice.

ooh, and i am a bad loser