Count me in LG. I voted a lot on Saturday and shall do so again. We're out on Saturday but I shall be back in time to lend my support. I absolutely hope they win, let's hope many more feel the same.

I think more was at play with Abbey's win if I am honest.

Something in me through the series said if she got to the final she would win the thing, I said it to my family at the time. How much would Peter pay for a Christmas present for her? A new merc or the like? This was a priceless experience, how much was Peter willing to spend with phone calls?

I'm rather shocked at the contemporary too, I think in these shows the success rate of that working is small. I remember Brendan's tries at something different and more contempory and it was a hot mess.
The lift looked messy at first in the VT.
To get a contemporary dance that speaks to a lot of people and is breathtaking requires a bit of experience and one hell of a dance.
Good luck to them, it would be a shame to mis-step now after building up so much momentum these past weeks.

I agree. They work so well, together.

This is first series of Strictly, that I have ever voted for anyone.


Great stuff. I voted loads on Saturday, as well. They deserve it. Yes, I hope so too.

Thanks Elsa I can enjoy the last week of DS now.

Winner showdances:

Alesha: Something Paso-ish? I think she wore purple. There was a lift that went a bit wrong. That's all I've got.

Tom: Ok, that one I properly remember. The Ballroom Comedy Extravaganza. I mean, he'd won by the end of the semi-final and we all knew it but his showdance was actually memorable.

Chris: ... I'm assuming he didn't just do his Charleston again, did he? Oh, mashed potatoes! Ola was in a handstand and he peered through her legs. I want to say maybe it was jive-ish but I swear he messed up his jive in the series so not sure about that.

Kara: Broke her arm halfway through, finished late and dumped a small bucket of glitter over her head.

Harry: I think there were drums? I want to say it was rock and roll but I might be thinking of his jive.

Louis: Like Tom, I think this one was actually memorable. The Contemporary Acrobatics Extravaganza.

Abbey: ... I think there was fire? In which case she was probably doing something with paso or tango but I can't honestly say I remember it. The only one I really remember from last year was Natalie's.

From the look of ITT, Caroline's either going to be Snowdance Mk II (the "You were warned! version) or another version of Louis' attempt (presumably she'll be The Contemporary Emotion Extravaganza). I'm not sure the showdance is the be all and end all, though it probably helps if the competition is close and realistically we've no way of knowing how close the vote is.

Unappreciating Mark and Karen using Kara's old song though. Seriously show? You've run out of pieces of music that can be used for a showdance? That's just pathetic.

But it's just so him ... He's having such a good time and he doesn't want it to stop ... The words mean everything ... Who would have thought he could be in the final and having such a good time and not wanting it to stop ... Rinse, repeat and fade

These, plus:

Matt: a near-indecent lift.

Rachel: had a bow on her bum.

Chelsee: misguided disco attempt.

Jason: Tomilla #2 with added costume changes.

*heavy thinking*

Dr. Hamela: Dirty Dancing.

Harry: there were flames on their outfits?

Mark: started with Karen above his head (it was so clever, it could have gone so wrong etc. etc.)

I have a really poor memory for the actual dancing in most of these though. The only two I can remember well are Tom and Zoe's.

Kimbers .. walked through fire and spectacularly changed outfit. Channelled Beyonce .. was nearly good but lifts were messy

Darren Gough - blokey bloke lift fest.
Matt Dawson - I think it was a ballroom/ Latin mix with lifts. I deffo remember samba rolls and panicking in case we got a shimmy.

Same, I hardly ever re-watch the showdances so I don't remember what most of them did beyond a very brief flash of "it looked something like that."

I know Natalie was dressed as a superheroine from an anime cartoon and Artem basically created an entire anime world for her to play in, including a floating stage and a pole dancing club.

I think Ricky was basically a forklift and Natalie wore a swimming costume. Unless that was their AS?

Denise's feet didn't touch the floor once.

Dani's was a bizarre mess not helped by whoever thought you could make a coherent 90 second song out of Bohemian Rhapsody.

Mark is going to speechify about Don't Stop Me Now, isn't he? He should dance to So Emotional instead. Or Tears of a Clown.

Did you see ITT tonight? The speechifying has started already.

I hunk most of the early Showdances - werent they called 'freestyle' back then? - were a ballroom/Latin mash up. I can remember Jill wearing red and Darren having sparkly trousers

Natasha - her and Brenda staring into one aother's eyes like a school disco. A nation finds it romantic rather than, say, vomitting themselves inside out.

Julian - An Officer & Gentleman themed rumba with him in full US Navy garb and effing hilarious.

Colin - PUPPETS

Zoe - Ian falls on his bum to America

Everything Else Before Series 5 - LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS DISCO LIFTS

Alesha - Hungover 80s grotfest to I NEED A HERO - Matthew almost drops her on her head at the end.

Matt D Brat - He wears Flavia's vagina as a hat for 90 seconds, occasionally twitches his dick in Arlene's direction

Tomzilla - Rampaging Gurnfest of Musical Theatre Stuff that he spent 6 years perfecting for that creepy arse Youtube showreel he filmed in his basement

Rachel - WHAT A FEELING with a bow on her arse, skidded onto her face with her bum in the air at the end, then giggled like a real girl for the first time

Snowdance - the woman, the legend

Chris - MASHED POTATO

Ricky Nipple - Natalie in a skintight cozzie to dispell all the tranny rumours, also LIFTS

Kara - crap Queen Wetherspoons 1am jukebox dance-along with dinky glitter-bucket

Matt Baker - hip hop with hay bales to "I Like The Way You Moo"

Hamela - A complete rip-off of Natasha's from Series 1, but with the sexual tension only running one way

Harry - drumming and showing his arms off and precious little dancing

Chelsee - disco lift botchbortion

Jason - MANIC MANIC MANIC MANIC STRIPPING OFF MANIC COLLAPSE DIES THE END

Louis - Pretentious shirtless crap on a giant beachball with backflips probably

Denise - LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS LIFTS FIREWORKS NO SITTING ON A CHAIR HERE THE END

Kimberley - Flamin' 'oop

Dani - Bohemian Rhapsody complete with lobster arms and crappy lifts

Abbey - Model strut, model strut, pout pout flamethrows

Natalie - Sylvia Young End Of Term Party, felt like it had been choreographed for Bonnie Langford and she'd pulled out last second, certainly not yet touching the divine

Susanna - Mawkish 70s Elton John supernova complete with Susanna swinging around Kevin's like a pair of giant knickers on a rotary washing-line in a gale

Sophie - Disco Latin, because we all remember that being her speciality.

I think Matt's was to say a little prayer, was a little flat I think, but Lilia had a beautiful black outfit.

Wasn't Ola and Chris' one to grease? The only reason he won the show was because he was slightly under-marked on an ok Charleston and it never seemed to die.

Oh now I'm having flashback to Matt and Aliona. Heather-mixture tweed and hip-hip - how misguided was that? I mean, who the **** looks at Matt Baker and thinks 'My god, he's so street!'?*

*I bet Iveta could have pulled it off.

I'd forgotten BoRhap!

If Mark got the Birdie Song, he'd speechify.

You are wicked

No... it was 'Do Ya Love Me' ... old sixties track (with its ironic second line .. 'now that I can dance'!

Ola and Chris' showdance was "Do Ya Love me?" (hence - mashed potato)

I'm no particular hobbit fan but to say he only won because of a slightly undermarked Charleston is unfair. "Team Cola" was an unstoppable juggernaut in a bit of an unforgettable year. No way were they not winning by a landslide. The Charleston simply added a bit of credibility to it (not much but a bit - it was the standout dance of the series whether you liked it or not). A Cola victory would have happened with or without the Charleston, so in that respect, I'm rather grateful to that Charleston - gurning cheesefest though it may have been!

That's it!!! All I could see was Ola in the pedal pushers!

Yes, very ironic line there!

I remember snippets. Puppetgate, yep. Zoe - I remember her rainbow skirt and doing the splits. Wardrobe and Lilia - I did like the end lift. Mark having Karen sitting on his hand two feet above his head. Alesha - quality street sweetie costume and Matthew nearly dropping her. Tom -yep, Rachel? Nope. Cola? Nope, thankfully. Ricky - I seem to remember him weightlifting Nat above his head. Was it the showdance? Kara -I remember a bandaged arm. Matt? Nope. He's too YFC to be properly cool. More likely to be found propping up the bar at the Royal Highland.

Harry - I can't remember any of his, apart from the 50's style jive or whatever it was he did. Was that a lacklustre year? I'm struggling to remember any of the other contestants. Louis - Now that I do remember. Jason? Not really. Natalie, yes. Susannah yes, Abbey- not really.

Just noticed Frankie & the TTF do not even have a proper team name - Very poor show.

I have seen Grimsbenstien somewhere out there, but couldn't work out if it was a Micky take or serious

Where every other couple on the BBC site have made some sort of mangling of names for a team, they have stuck with Team Frankie & Kevin.

Team Krankie wouldn't pull in the votes I suspect.