Unappreciating everything that might have made Jay doubt his win tonight when it was very deserved and totally the right result (although I didn't totally love the showdance she whispers very quietly....) Hope he doesn't feel he isn't the worthy winner as he very much is.

Don't think he'll analyse it that deeply. Whoever has the fans the vote the most wins, think he'll take it in his stride. Nothing else bothered him much 😉

Well putting my "professional" head on as someone who was a journalist over a 20 year carer which including a 13 year stint as an arts & entertainments reporter (regional level) involving reviewing some of this country's (and overseas dance companies) best dance companies, I can say hand on heart that yes he was that good.

His technique could have graced plenty of the professional dance companies' (outside of the ballet ones like the Bolshoi) stages in a contemporary show or in some of them which were influenced by the 10 Dance competition.

What he doesn't do, however, is the exaggerated facial expressions beloved of the Ballroom & Latin professional dance world or some of the West End impresarios who expect their cast to project to the back row of the theatre. He isn't an actor and therefore doesn't have that level of "performance" value which comes with a traditional stage school training. Yes he might have gone to MAAD but he clearly wasn't planning to be a "triple threat" student as he doesn't have the acting chops.

On top of the above, I danced ballet, tap (into my teens) and contemporary dance until my early 20s under the guidance of the incredible Nadine Senior, who founded the Northern School of Contemporary Dance, and alongside three of the four founders of what's now Phoenix Dance Theatre and he is, in my opinion, the most technically gifted male celebrity they've had on the show.

Having said all of the above though, I will also say that dance is utterly subjective and works totally on emotions so there's no such thing as a "right" or "wrong" opinion

Now, as this is not an appreciation thread, I'd like to officially unappreciate Ellie Goulding, thought it was boring as all out and actually fast forwarded it, only stopping to watch the pro dancing bits.

She sings like one of Alvin and the Chipmunks. 🙄 Dogs in houses with it on must have been howling in pain. I like that song, but would much rather it was sung by anyone but her.

We had that in the second verse


West Yorks here too, see above

Kellie was hunched, well almost bent double throughout their first dance...and the gurning. ....gah

Considering how they were praising her performance skills, Georgia got a much better entry for her portfolio in terms of showing her range. Kellie got gurn, gurn and gurn, and even at that was being outgurned by her partner.

I honestly would have been ok with Georgia wining. At. Least she showed range.
Kellie was just ugly dancing where everything is in place and works very well, reliable, but you don't necessarily want to show because is ugly, like a tractor.

Georgia is like an Audi TT pretty, small, fast, and very nice, but not that rare.

Jay is like a beautiful vintage car. Beautiful, elegant, not showy (to a point ) and extraordinary. sometimes let's you down, but there is absolutely nothing like him.

I don't grudge Georgia her 40 because she was so good, but Jay woz definitely robbed of a 40 for the paso, which was magnificent. I know very little about dance, but I was riveted by that paso.

Ah well - the best person won in the end, definitely.

Oh I absolutely don't grudge Georgia her 40, she was brilliant, but if she got 40 with obvious errors, Jay more than deserved 40 for his. Craig was just being an arse.

i would kind of go with this. a bit bulky and often unreliable, nice for a weekend amble at a slower pace, but when you need sleek reliability you go for the audi...
.

I know Jay won and I am totally thrilled by that but Craig took the gloss off the win by his bias to Kellie. Of course Jay should have had 40 for his paso. No mistakes, danced with feeling, technically suprb. What more did Craig want?
Kellie did two charlestons and a half arsed tango. Nothing she did moved me as Jay did.

It was Len that peed me off more than Craig last night. Craig almost always gives his 10 to the most questionable of dances. He may bang on about how everything has to come together, but most of the time, if you gurn for England and put on a show- he's happy.

Len though, with the 'now THAT was a showdance' and then replying to a question that he wasn't even asked with 'Kellie absolutely deserves to win', he just annoyed the shite out of me.

An Audi over an Aston Martin!? Never

I think we've fully established that Len, for all his hype as the 'proper' ballroom judge is basically an open mouthed, lyric singing, kitchen sink, bum out and knees round ears type of dancer - and Bruno the one who gets that sometimes less is more 😱

I think it has been clear through this series that Jay was Darcey and Bruno's favourite but they were more objective and polite in their preference.
Craig, well, he has been a disappointment since fun funnity fun.
I don't begrudge Len. I honestly think that Jay isn't a Ballroom and Latin dancer per se. He is a natural dancer and there is a difference. But I doubt Len gets it.

But I do begrudge the blatant bias towards Kellie, uncool BBC surely you should be reflecting what people want from SCD, not want the judges decide is good dancing. Ungainly gurning and stage school emotion was obviously not cutting the mustard.

Now I will say I admire Kellie for her work ethic, I can see technically she can do SOME steps that are absolutely beautiful, however, it isn't her fault but her body type means that her dancing is ungainly. She cannot help that her legs are bandy and she has proportionally a long body to her leg and arm length. Hence no matter what for me and it appears for the British public no matter whether the judges judge that she was the better dancer, I just didn't enjoy watching her perform,

She was also ungainly , she is not a star dancer probably would be a very good member of a company, but never anyone anyone would want to pay money to go and see dance.

( I can see her oom papa ing her way into a leading role in Nancy, very shortly but that isn't primarily a dance show.)

( ditto for Georgia, what role were you considering for her on the stage Craig? Hecky Thump Chicago, because unless she can do accents and can articulate something more than amazing, I am not sure what she will be able to do, I love watching her dance especially with Giovanni, but someone who can't even manage to pronounce a simple Italian word after 3 months is not going to be able to learn a different accent or learn to be someone she isn't. )



That's sounds mean spirited it isn't meant to be I meant to be unappreciating judges bias and comments, the blatant pushing of telling us Kellie is a wonderful dancer, which she isn't for the majority and that comment to Georgia, she needs to grow a lot as a person to hold a lead in a show and I was really quite cross with Craig for giving her really quite unrealistic expectations .

I loved Bruno's little 'Jay doesn't realise how good he is- but I do'. For all his OTT comments, he does seem to have understood Jay more than any of the others.

For the last few years I have gelled a lot more with what Bruna says that Craig

I don't know when he actually overtook Craig and Craig become to pantomime villain but I think it was when Craig started supporting Widdecome and Lisa for his shows rather than actually judging fairly.

I didn't like the comments Bruno made about Jays showdance because why score the choreography not the dance , but I loved him struggling for the English world ( which I now can't remember ) but finally getting it is as it explained what he felt about the dance,
Convention, was that it?

He'll understand when he wins the most GB's on the tour

i did rather like Georgia's comment in the red button interview.... jay was (again) going through his 'never gonna dance (with you) again' trope that seemed to be his go-to response for any questions about the tragic parting of the ways for him and aliona... 'until the tour' she helpfully reminded him....

I never expected Bruno to be the fairest judge, but he was the only one who really seemed to understand the judge's role in the final and didn't try too hard to impose his own views.

That's not Just Jay though - it's been every just about contestant - and host - every year. Abbey, in particular, mined that well dry.

I suppose, to be fair to them it is the end of the main part of the gig. The tour is just the frilly bit round the edge and a bit of a laugh.

Sorry- can't multi quote on my phone. I agree with you both- coppertop1 and rebecca87- Bruno, for all his OTT exaggerated delivery of his comments sometimes, does tend to be the fairest.

Craig, Darcey and Len always tend to make it pretty obvious who their favourite is- whereas Bruno is always more difficult to pinpoint for me.

I think it's because he goes by the dancing, not the individual- so he's not groping around trying to find the good things to say about his chosen ones dance, he genuinely just goes for the dances he loves- whoever has delivered them. (cue someone showing me up by pointing out all the times Bruno was blatantly biased towards certain dancers ) It may be that it has only happened in recent years, but I appreciate that it has.

Craig offered Georgia a job (very nice of him, but what exactly?) and Len made his feelings perfectly clear and probably spent the after show hours dummy spitting and rampaging round t'internet yelling wuzzrobbed (yeah, now you know how it feels Len. Smarts doesn't it. Now imagine that for 8 years ... ).