I agree with you. I actually don't think his jive was as amazing and as spectacular as people made out. Don't get me wrong, it was very good, but I don't think it deserved THAT amount of praise.

Also, I doubt whether Jay's jive would have actually got as much praise it did if he had done it during the second half of the series, where the other couples would have got similar or even higher scores.

It was and it would have, no actually it would have gotten more praise as it was early Len and Darcy would have given tens too.

The level of technique he showed was amazing and it may not have looked difficult, but the steps were very difficult for someone who has never done the jive before. No celeb has ever done some of them. Add into it he performed it with a level of technique certain pros there couldn't ( Tristan, Anton for sure).

Yeah, he wasn't great tonight, but that really was amazing.

Yeah. Being a young, cute shy male helps a lot on Strictly. Their show dance was very ordinary tonight, but I think they would have won tonight regardless of what they did. Kellie and Georgia were miles better.

Very much a deserved winner in my opinion.

I have no problem with Jay winning.

He is an excellent dancer and it is a bit harder for male celebrities actually, due to the need to lead and some of the dances are about showing the female off.

He was not the best dancer at the end and had been overtaken especially by Kellie and I would like the best dancer to win but this is no Chris Hollins moment.

He did do probably the most iconic dance ever on Strictly and one iconic dance can win it for you, like Chris Hollins with his charleston.

A really good series and I have really enjoyed it.




Maggie

Really?!

So I guess you rate Chris Hollins a better (technical/all round) dancer than Jay?....

Or are you just meaning that for this series?

No we won't. Even Harry, the previous boyband winner, had a better average, and the best performance over his series, and managed to come second on marks in his final . Jay's in a group with the other males who won on something other than performance in the last two stages. .There's a pattern there Jay shared the top overall score this series, but was badly beaten into third place in his final and beaten in the SF. Louis managed to get second best marks in his final, but had the third best average of the series and it was worse than Jay's . Tom won coming third in his final,with the third best average overall , but his average was higher than Jay's. Chris won coming third in the last 3 on marks, with the 4th highest average that series. Darren came third in his final with the third best average overall. Ramps stands out winning the last two rounds, having the second best average -and at least had the journey story going for him.

If we want to remember the best male dancers for overall skill, its probably those who did better overall - like Ricky Matt B, Jason, and Austin.

Yes,right result based on series,odd choice of dance tonight where was the legendary jive? The show dance was lazy choreography just a mash up of their dances Aliona could have showcased him more. However, Georgia was totally off timing in one of the Charleston moves but got forty.Don't think the judges(apart from Darcy),wanted him to win.

I still can't see it. I've rewatched it twice tonight, and I still can't see it. Very good, yes, and in sync with Aliona, definitely. But I don't think it's THAT amazing. I certainly don't think of it as the best jive we've ever seen on Strictly. To me, that still goes to Jill Halfpenny. I didn't enjoy Jay's jive as much as I enjoy watching her jive.

I still stand by my comment that it wouldn't have been as highly praised by everyone if he had performed it much later in the series. It came as a surprise with it being so early on. But had he done it much later in the series, it wouldn't have had as much praise from everyone as people would have already known by then that he could dance. Maybe he would still have got very high marks, but people wouldn't be raving about it as much as they did.

How do you know some of the pros like Tristan and Anton couldn't do that? And the jive is a difficult dance to do anyway because it's so high in energy.

Some of the pros do not have the easy technique. To be honest I don't think Tristan can dance to any standard that is worthy of being a pro, he's awful. Sorry Tristan fans, he looks like someone who had a few lessons a while back, but not a dancer.

If that dance had of been done in the semi or QF it would have got 39 if not 40.

It's amazing because the difficulty level of the steps coupled with being executed perfectly. I doubt anyone will ever reach that level on SCD again really, even Jay himself didn't in any of his other dances.

I voted for him and I am 70 years old, such a lovely young man, and very much like my grandson,

I agree with you Amelia. The standard of the Jive was fantastic, it would not have looked out of place on a competition floor. I have danced 20 years, and as I have said in another thread, I never feel the need to re-watch the dances, ever, but having watched this particular show on my own, as soon as my partner came in I said "OMG you have to watch this guy, he is brilliant". We re-watched on iplayer his thoughts echoed mine.

haha, after some years i've come to realise that there are posters who depend on having some/many things to whinge about. i usually whinge a bit myself, but i rarely take any of it too seriously, i just don't care enough

one whingy point though for those who accept what i do, which is that jay was probably the best dancer over the series, if not on the night.... if that reasoning applies to the final, it should also apply to the dance offs. i've never been in favour of a dance off in which a better dancer could go simply for not being better in their final dance(s)

I meant for this series. Chris Hollins was another example of the worst dancer in the final winning However, Jay was better than Chris was so it isn't quite so much of a shock.

Agree with you, it was of such a high level that it was worthy of comp standard.

The thing is about it too is what I put on another thread, most dances that are good do not stand up very well to re-watching for me. I notice things that I didn't the first time, little mistakes, errors of technique. With this jive there is none of that, everything is coming from the right place too, the pumping action, everything. Which makes the decision not to do it even stranger.

I think most of the dances are imitations of the dance they are supposed to be, Jay's jive actually was a jive.

I agree, it was actually a jive danced as a jive should be. I can't speak for the non ballroom and latin dances, but as you say, in the main, the celebs are only imitating, mimicking the given dance. They are dancing the steps that the Pro teaches and then the Pro will work as hard as he/she can to gloss over and make it look like the dance they are given, in the short time they have.They do great jobs though.

Then showboaters like Peter Andre should take note.

I think Jay and Aliona are worthy champions.
Over the whole series they have been the most consistent, being the only finalists never to be in a dance off must mean something.
They have obviously been the most popular with the public throughout.

Before anyone says its supposed to be a dance contest, not a popularity contest, consider some of the judges scores during the Final.
Four tens for dances with obvious errors (watch them again on YouTube).
Criticism and lower marks for their showdance, which is a dance with no rules, the marks were not related to the dance quality, just the choice of choreography.

They are definitely worthy winners.

Jay was the best technical dancer in the final. He was probably the best technical dancer this series. What he wasn't was the best performer, he came third in the final on that front, and great performance can be very useful for getting people to gloss over mistakes.

Everyone is raving about how amazing and in sync Georgia's charleston was, but it actually wasn't. She was off with the timing more than once, most notably in the final spins where her timing was completely out but everyone seems happy to ignore that fact. Ditto all three of Kellie's dances which actually had quite a few little mistakes.

And that's fair enough, everyone has their own judging criteria on what makes a great dance and they're entitled to that opinion - it's what makes dance so subjective. But to suggest that Jay isn't a great dancer just because you prefer performance over technique is completely disingenuous. He's actually incredibly precise, the level of difficulty he mastered was only matched by Georgia on occasion and he is incredibly fluid and lyrical in his movements. Nerves clearly still got the better of him on several occasions over the series causing a few stumbles and he wasn't able to 'act' through those nerves in the way others were, but he is a really beautiful dancer to watch in terms of pure technique and fluidity and when he got everything right and pushed through the nerves (jive, tango, salsa, most of the charleston) he was absolutely brilliant.

I enjoyed Kellie & Kevin the most on the night even though they were the least technically proficient by quite some margin to the other two, because I didn't have a fave and was in the mood to just be entertained and they were the most entertaining for me personally due to their sheer amount of energy and enthusiasm,. But these comments on here suggesting that Jay is a dreadful winner just smack of sour grapes frankly. Any of the three would have deserved the win in the end.

What I love about Jay is that he is real. Imagine any of us doing strictly, think about how nervous you'd be. Actors can hide the nerves through acting but Jay didn't have that and it really showed. But that's what I love, that's how he connects with people and that's why he won last night. Over the series he was the best dancer without a doubt. He danced everything extremely well last night, but unfortunately their dances + the showdance wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but what he did he danced well. I think he's fully deserving.

Jay was a brilliant dancer...one of the best ever.

Tend to agree. A nice bloke, but I found most of his performances stiff, heavy and somewhat pedestrian despite the panel's plaudits of his technical ability.

Kellie was let down by her final dance and those awful props. Too much was more like two solo performances rather than a couple dancing together.

Katie should not have been in the final.

I agree - outrage at any of those three winning is totally OTT!

Jay is my favourite and I'm delighted he won; personally I loved his showdance, it was very 'him' and I think his technical ability is the greatest of the three. As I've said elsewhere though, Jay, Georgia & Kellie are all great dancers with different styles and qualities - so I think a lot is down to preference in what style you like.

Can't agree a jot with the 'boyband fans' statements though, this forum alone is full of people who don't like or didn't know who The Wanted were and absolutely love Jay for his dancing and his personality.

Really weak night for Jay & Aliona. Not worthy on the night at all. Both Georgia and Kellie were better on the night. It's easier to accept the win when the couple just has an off-night and they were the best overall throughout the entire series, but I don't even think Jay & Aliona was the best throughout the series.

He was going to win regardless of what happened, and that was proved last night when he was by far the weakest of the final three.

He always made mistakes or the dances just lacked in any sort of atmosphere throughout the series. Bland is definitely a word that fits him well.

All you need as a male in this competition is to waft your arms gracefully and have a pretty face and the win is yours, unfortunately.

I was not a Jay fan and was rooting for Georgia .But even I feel disappointment for Jay , He was like a bright candle that fizzled out before the birthday cake was presented .
His win was marred by a bland show dance and his place on the leader board reflected a poor show on the night ., It was all a bit bland and beige and meh in the end and I think that is disappointing for anyone who wins a final .