Very well said

My main problem with Kevin is that I don't like the way he dances. I've discovered that the knees round ears, kitchen sink, lyric bawling, twee theming, playing to the gallery method isn't for me. It's just too much and so that counts Robin out as well.

I think Karen - and Janette - do as well as they can with the celebs they are allocated, given their general ability and the gaps in their own knowledge/training. Both seem lovely ladies, but I'd not be bothered if I never saw either of them dance again.

I don't think people are being nasty about Grimsby exactly.
We have had it shoved down our throats that the Cliftons are from Grimsby so it has just become part of their name.
JoannefromGrimsby and KevinFromGrimsby.
I think it came from someone somewhere thinking it is a bigger achievement for people from an area of the country that is somewhat 'underprivileged' to gain success.
A kind of 'havent they done well being so successful considering they come from a place considered a backwater' - that kind of thing.

The other thing is that Strictly Powers That Be decided that Kevin and Joanne were to be the BBC sweethearts and pushed them at us constantly. Which has backfired because they just are not that well liked and people have become resentful of them because they are sick of having them shoved at them.

That's true - it just seemed to come totally from left field this series.

Suddenly, the celeb who has the highest average, who has been marked (overall) above every other celeb that series coming into the final "isn't the best dancer". No qualifications about "on the night", just "Nah - she's better". This is what baffles me. That and the treatment of Katie.

You have two celebs who are in the position they are in (show favourite and finalist) partly because of what the judges have done. In Jay's case, they've marked him more highly than anyone else, in Katie's case, they've been the main reason for her making the final in the first place.

Yet once they're in those positions, the judges decide to drop them in favour of someone else. Well sorry mates, it doesn't work like that. You've put them there, you can't just change your mind at the last minute and expect the public to fall in line. This may come as a shock (although as stated in the post quoted, previous series should give you a clue) but the voters have minds of their own.

No I was at work till 1.30am and then the bastards rang me at 7.30. . Also I have the plague, though getting better, but not helped by lack of sleep.


I am so tired I am obviously causing internet arguments all over the place. I think I need to take my fingers off elsewhere

Very true.

I do feel a bit sorry for Georgia. She's been forgotten in all of the hoo-ha (which pretty much sums up her series actually).

The treatment of Katie was awful. You were given a choice and you chose to take her into the final. Smile, be gracious and over mark her. It means nothing but it might just make you stop looking like a bunch of petulant toddlers with no toys left in the pram.

The treatment of Jay was baffling. Was The Jive that important to the show? He was suddenly demoted to sub-Hollins levels.

And for all the Kellie wuzzrobbed-ing going on, I still wouldn't be surprised if Georgia actually came 'the real' second.

I have to admit, I can't remember the last final it was when the person generally deemed to be the "anti-favourite" going in didn't get the biggest push from the judges on the night. I think it was probably Series 5. Lisa, Ricky, Hamela, Jason, Denise, Natalie, Simon (I guess you could argue it was Mark who was the least popular but he was basically the Katie of his final) and now Kellie. It seems to be a storyline thingy that whoever the public dislike the most gets to come back like the corpse springing back to life in a slasher film for one last scare. It's just that some times it comes off more organically than others...

I sympathise. I've been there.

Teaching 30 hyperactive, mouthy little buggers, several of whom don't give a toss whether you're there or not whilst having to provide multiple sets of evidence for everything you bloody do is stressful enough but at least I don't get phoned out of hours.

Give me the little darlings over the NHS any day. You're a star, hun. Get well soon.

Here you go Nooney. Korky suggested I put it on the MF but I find it quite a wearying place. I hope the NAT doesn't mind getting sloppy seconds...




http://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-ra...tacular-series

Comment from the article:

"LittleArch99
The author writes that the studio audience was cheering for Kellie to win. I was lucky enough to be in the audience for the final (love the public ballot) and I don't think this was the case at all. Everyone around me, indeed everyone I met all night, wanted Jay to win. If it sounded like the audience preferred Kellie I suspect it was more down to the fact that she was the third dancer and every time we were meant to cheer when their names were read out - which seemed to be all the time - we were slow of the mark for the first mentioned Jay, warming up through Georgia and on form by the time Kellie's name was mentioned. Any such impression - which I understand having watched it back - was more about us being caught off guard in reacting than group-think that Kellie was most deserving. It's hard work in the audience! I was thrilled that Jay won given his performance over the series and he danced beautifully on the night. 'Twas marvellous."

I'm not appreciating this widespread (mostly in the media) claim that Kellie finished second in the final.

As they're classed as joint runners-up how can they claim she was second?? Unless of course the BBC revealed the voting figures to them - but why would they?? Unless they want this 'controversy' to keep going and going.

So what if Kellie got 119 points out of 120 from the judges who repeated stated their scores are only for guidance. But given how inconsistent the judges had been over the course of the series I'd be surprised if a lot of people voted purely on the basis of what they said.

Re : the shouting out, I don't think that's quite fair - when Katie was still in, she was last to be announced, and the cheers for Kellie were clearly louder than they were for her. I did think the reaction to Jay's dances were definitely the loudest (although Kellie's showdance got a good one as well) though.

Given I have never been to Grimsby I don't know I would necessarily want to be rude about it, is it nice?

Kevin doesn't come from there I believe, so that's something in its favour

The insult as I have said was directed at Kevin.

I stand by it as well, I don't like the way he dances or choreographs and guess what judges I have a say in it.

I was just thinking how much nicer as a semi and final it would have been to have Helen in it.

No Clifton dances, no Clifton pushing by the judges.
Just lovely ballroom dances a lovely credible alternative to Jay which could have made it possibly a more exciting final.

So my suggestion is do away with the dance off that I believe saved Kellie as she was certainly overmarked and protected since then

Let people vote for who they want to see in the final and don't nobble good dancers with impossible themes.

Fair enough but has there ever been a time when the person marked highest by the judges over the series is talked down on finals night to promote someone else? I don't know, I'm probably being hypersensitive but it seems baffling. While the judges did indeed push those above, I never had the feeling (Tom Chambers apart - they managed to be nice to Chris Hollins and even he'd admit he wasn't the best dancer) that they were disappointed in the final choice. You mention Simon, for example, but it was Caroline who got the perfect score all the way through. This time - I just don't get it.

The final definitely lacked a Helen. And an Alijaz.

Aliona has quit????

Natalie had better get a contender next year then.

The whole of the series 7 final seemed designed to show that Chris wasn't that bad, really - they even stuck in a lindyhopathon so he could get a few more marks for his Charleston.

We wuzzallrobbed :

Thanks Dippy, lovely to re-read confirmation that Jay was popular with studio audience. I think this year has had the biggest post-series downer I've ever known, it's such a shame. I'm sure supporters of every couple feel cheated (as they do every year) but it seems that this year the feeling has over-flowed into the general media and possibly made all the celebs feel a bit miffed.

Unappreciating that Georgia is losing out in all this - it's likely she was second.

Apart from Jay winning the public vote in the Final, the only indicator of public voting is whether they have ended up in the dance-off.

Jay - no dance-off
Georgia - one dance-off
Kellie - two dance-offs

It's the best indication we've got, though by no means perfect, that the votes in the Final were in that order. If that's the case Georgia would be second.

Even if the judges' marks had been taken into account - if the public vote was in that order, Jay would have still have won with Georgia second.

(Personally, agree with the final having 4 couples and being entirely based on the public vote - one of the few changes from the beginning that's an improvement.)

I sometimes think the producers must be howling with the agony of simultaneously creating a cuddly family show that your nan wants to watch with the need to introduce some conflict so that everyone but your nan doesn't switch off. Being the Beeb, it often gets rather hapless. It probably doesn't say much for me that this is the main attraction of the show as far as I'm concerned.

Yes and yet ironically most of the dancers and celebs have raved about how well they all got on and how it has been really lovely this year. I do think the camaraderie was very evident - obviously not enough controversy for the producers or the media. Seems like they had to rank it up and create something out of nothing.

I don't think it was the pimping of Kellie that caused all the bad feeling and sour grapes now, it was the "bloody hell Katie you're shit" after they saved her last week and the pretty rotten way they treated Jay. In the final, everything is lovely, marvellous, wonderful, damn with faint praise if you have to, but don't rip the apart, it just leaves a bad taste afterwards.

No-one ends up getting what they want that way, the judges don't get their winner because the judges' behaviour ensured that Jay fans went into hypervote mode and the public doesn't get to feel good about the winner they chose.

We end up where we are with everyone moaning about something.

I completely agree!


True. I feel a bit sorry for both her and her fans.
Still she managed to put an excellent Charleston in the final.


Bib I think this is what has irked people. It didn't feel organic at all. If it had been Georgia the favoured one, I think it wouldn't have left that bitter after taste, as she has arguably been more liked through out and probably perceived through the series as both better dancer and a bit of teachers pet by some.


Totally. That would have been class. I do wonder if they had been in the final instead of Kellie, they would have been the judges favourites. Which I think to a point, people would have liked.


Exactly. I was a massive Ricky fan but even I was fine as the final went. They managed to make the final a feel good of some sorts.

To equate that final to this series, it's frankly really sad. (Not that you have Aggs.)

Even more to unappreciate - now bloody Darcey's at it as well... http://www.ok.co.uk/celebrity-news/d...hould-have-won

So it seems Bruno is the only judge who either believes Jay deserved to win, or has the decency to keep his opinion to himself at a time when it is no longer relevant. He's been my favourite judge for a while now and this confirms it again, I'm sick of the others and would be happy to see the back of all three of them!