I agree with this, although I stuck it out to the end it was quite a chore by last night and I ended up dipping in and out of the final a bit.

It was a shame because the final had some ingredients of brilliance - Ore and Danny both danced their hearts out and we were treated to some sublime choreography - but the whiff of manipulation and what might have been tainted what should have been a great show.

I find it incredibly sad to be honest. I do like to invest in people to an extent but when you feel its been pre-determined at what point they are going to leave, what's the point? I supported Judge Rinder all the way but felt defeated in his last week and voted more out of habit than anything.

I don't really know what will happen and how I will feel about it next year, but I really hope they start losing viewers - the whole '10 million people are happy so don't change it' schtick is beyond tiring. SCD is badly broken and I fear if they carry on like this it could be terminal, or a show that anyone who takes dancing even vaguely seriously cannot stomach.

The X Factor made the mistake of making their manipulation far too obvious and they lost viewers as a result. Strictly has been far cleverer in hiding it in plain sight up to now but it's becoming far more obvious and that's a risk.

By the way, as an appreciation thread nickname I think we should consider Never Dance BefORE for this year's winner.

Wow! I think this is spot on. I think the result was steadily manipulated in Ore's favour, but was OK with him winning. I had not really invested in anyone much this year. Mainly enjoyed the show and thought most contestants brought something good to the table. Didn't watch last night to avoid the possibility of a repeat of last year. Now watching performances only, quite enjoyable, especially the returning celebrities dance.

Have to credit Jwann, she pitched that showdance just right, I think Ore won the casual viewer vote with three crowd pleasers, so I don't really have any argument with his win, don't like it but wouldn't argue it based on the night.

Still slightly stunned at how badly TTF pitched their show dance, it was generally bland and listless, and the memory of Louise running towards the camera with a deranged grin like a mad auntie who'd just escaped from the attic after murdering the entire family will haunt my nights for years

OK, this is where I'm going to sound bitter - I unappreciate that Never Danced BefORE and Joanne were basically able to dance two American Smooth's in the final. As soon as Joanne announced her intentions for the showdance they should have switched Jore's Judge Pick to the Tango instead (Danny could have got the Viennese Waltz; Louise could have kept the Cha Cha Cha). As it is he danced two dances with a similar theme whereas both Danny and Louise had far more variation in their routines.

I've just watched some more of Danny's dances on YouTube. At least we all know it was the wrong winner. I think it's telling that, other than Jay, Caroline, Kara and Harry, all the ones I want to rewatch are by people that didn't win.

E.g. Denise and James were fantastic, especially their charleston, which was far better than Louis', as was their showdance. I love Flavia but she absolutely rode the "Here's some gymnastics we're calling dancing and I dare any of you to say otherwise as it's 2012 and NOBODY CAN DENY AN OLYMPIAN THE GLITTERBALL!" with Louis.

It's kinda like what TTF did with Kellie last year - the redo Charleston and the lindyhop showdance. It's canny because it cuts down the time spent having to teach and gives more time for the polish.

I did find it amusing that all the showdances were of the 'What I've learnt this Autumn' variety in various genres and even for Len this is now A Very Good Thing. Hope OurLeona was throwing peanuts at the tele.

Is Louis Smith's the only contempowaft showdance that's actually won?

Caroline and Pasha?

I know that I was....

I guess they couldn't because they had Mrs Gene Kelly arriving to be in the audience. My bet, the judges choice was decided on this fact alone.

Oh god I'd forgotten the toilet paper show-dance. Pasha played that really well, even got the top open for extra votes. That was where Doti went wrong - get Danny dancing in some shorts and nothing else and he might've won!

And yet his Showdance was also to a Gene Kelly number (he performed it in An American in Paris) so the nod would have still been there.

Unfortunately I think you're right though, which means we're going to return to three/four numbers the celebrities have either messed up or danced in week one again next year.

Especially an Olympian who bravely lost the gold medal on a tie break.

I wonder how much say the couples actually have for their showdances? We had a ballroom based, Latin based and contempwaft and if Clowider had been fourth slot then there would have been a acrobatic based one. All bases neatly covered.

Odd when the most Gene Kelly-seque routine and styling was Danny's AS the week before. Someone mucked up that storyboard

Not bitter at all I'm flippin annoyed that Jwann basically copied Tom Chambers' showdance, substituting tarting about on podia for tap dancing.

I would like to see a Viewers' Choice in the final. Lowest Scoring, so we can see how much they've improved (or not), Viewers' Choice, and Showdance. And they have to dance the original routines. I would have picked Louizzzze's Cha Cha, because it was so awful, Bore's Charleston, because of the almost-drop, and Danny's American Smooth, because it was so fabulous.

I nearly said it was ironic that Never Danced BefORE was given the Gene Kelly numbers considering Danny was as accomplished at selling them but thought I was sounding bitter enough as it was.

yeah I agree...just WHY do you think it was soooooo important for the finalists to be those three? I mean I PREDICTED IT 5 WEEKS AGO...YOU COULD SENSE WHO THE JOOODGES WANTED THERE... but was it for balance that they wanted Ore as the 'third' man in the final....or was there something more political at large, considering some of the early exits and the criticism those exits gained from some quarters on here?

Good post... thought i was the only one who was bitter lol

I know I'm bitter but do you not think Never Danced BefORE looks the slightest bit smug in this photo? http://i2.mirror.co.uk/incoming/arti...ORE_305JPG.jpg

I think it's likely that that played a role, but Oti as the first black pro to win, would also have made a good story. I think, in the main, of the better dancers, these three offered what they thought would be the ideal mix: Danny the Trained and Consummate Showman; Ore the Plucky Beginner with Natural Flair; Louise the (slightly ) Older Woman Finding Herself Again After Children and Blossoming into... well, I think the well ran dry at the end, but you get the drift. Danny's story was a bit harder to push and relied on him blowing everyone away at the final hurdle, but he went a little adrift when it counted most.

oh yeah...he looks a bit like the 2013 clip of him on you tube after dancing to Hey Ya by Outkast (comic relief, so NO training at all whatsoever m'lord) with Arlene Phillips nearly wetting herself over it...

I think the only one they could have pushed to the final otherwise is Claudia. The final six was made up of her, the finalists, Rob and Ed. The latter two were not strong enough to compete, plus the Judge had a complete imbalance in his dance set which meant he'd have to dance two ballroom's had he made it. The likes of Laura, Daisy and Anastacia maybe didn't develop, partially due to injury perhaps for two of the three, as much as expected and that, on top of Will's withdrawal, made the majority of the series about simply culling the herd.