People are told to vote for their favourite, not whose the best dancer as that is absolutely subjective.

It really wasn't, but then again you must be into that stuff. As to the rest of the paragraph - the same could be said for all of the show dances tonight

Yes it really was.

And no it couldn't of ALL the other show dances but yes it could in the case of both Georgia & Giovanni and Katie & Anton.
Kellie & Kevin danced a single Lindyhop not a demonstration of all the ballroom and latin dances she'd learnt previously. Fair play to them and well within their rights.

It's disappointing because I don't think Jay and Aliona really brought out their A game tonight whereas Kellie and Georgia really did. I thought their Paso was fantastic but not as good as Georgia and Kellie's dances.

Also it'd have been nice if they'd looked a little pleased about winning. I think one of the major reasons people vote for their favourite is because you want them to see them so happy about winning and Jay and Aliona just looked a bit not bothered. This might sound stupidly picky but did they even bother to lift the trophy because it looked to me like they just held it awkwardly together?

I'm sure I'm going to get torn to shreds by Jay fans about this but it just left the end to a great series feeling flat. He's shown throughout he's a good dancer so no, not a terrible winner. Just for me I'd have preferred a winner that really proved themselves on the night and one that would have been rather happy about winning not just a bit nonchalant.

Totally agree, Sid. I thought it was a terrific final - all three thoroughly earned the right to be there - and Kellie & Kevin certainly upped their game to be the best dancers on the night (although wardrobe continued to do her no favours). I love Georgia & Giovanni and wanted them to win, but would have accepted it quite happily had Kellie & Kevin won. Jay was underwhelming tonight and although I am a fan of Aliona's choreography, I think she made a mistake with both the fairly humdrum showdance and the choice of paso to showcase Jay's undoubted talent. And the quickstep was nothing special, I thought.

The result was a bit of a let down after such terrific dancing, a bit like the end of Jay & Aliona's showdance, come to think of it. Disappointed.

Are you trying to say that all showdances SHOULD show all of their previous dance movements, because as I see it that is not what people see it as or as to what the show itself sees it as?

It doesn't work that way....or rather it shouldn't

Even the judges tonight talked about Jay's jive as if if was one of the best dances in Strictly history so it seems odd that it didn't get full marks whereas lesser dances have.

Doesn't that go to show that perhaps we shouldn't take the judges scores or even their criticisms at face value. If we're to take away that Jay's jive was just that good why didn't it get a 40? Some have suggested that other than Bruno none of the of the judges could justify getting their ten paddles out in week 3 but should that matter?

Other things get held off when scoring dances. Sometimes bad choreography is brushed aside as it's not the celebs fault other times it's factored in, sometimes it's as vague as an opinion on a stylistic choice divides opinion, heck more than once this series we've had the judges say they will overlook a mistake whereas others get raked over the coals and deducted points for minor errors. Why in Blackpool are they happy to give tens more often, unless of course you're one of the early performers then it's tough luck as you're not factored into the build up.

I'm not suggesting the judges shouldn't be partisan but things like this really take the biscuit. Frankly I don't think the judges did Kellie a service by really piling on the love tonight.

Judges biased?
What about the public?
Can't they be biased too?

Kellie finished top of the judges leaderboard for a reason.
They believed she danced the best overall.
Jay finished bottom of the three because they believed he was third best.
The staunch Kellie supporters can say she was robbed, the Jay supporters can say Kellie was overscored.
Ultimately everyone has their own agenda and often pass comment accordingly.
I take it all with a rather large dollop of salt.

If people are to doubt the judges integrity then it is only fair that the integrity of the public vote is questioned too.
People simply can't have their cake and eat it.

I think he was in complete shock actually. The red button interview with him afterwards showed exactly how much it meant to win.


No, I'm saying that's what a showdance used to be and it has only been in recent years it's developed into something which has to be a big "wow"-y performance carried out at breakneck speed with dozens of lifts and tricks thrown in.

You can't see Natasha and Brendan's showdance anywhere online unfortunately but they performed the final routine from Dirty Dancing, complete with one single final lift - i.e. the big film moment and it was hugely impressive and entertaining.

Other winners performed variants of their best dances, Mark Ramprakash's showdance had elements of his salsa and Argentine Tango etc. It's only been recently that the viewing people have been given an impression that the showdance should be something you more often see on Circ du Soleil.

Kellie danced her routine with great energy and high level performance but I'd seen her do just that in her Tango (and got it again in the Charleston) - no light and shade to give a contrast.


Yes they can, the public are told to vote for their favourites, the judges are supposed to be impartial and voting on what they consider the best in terms of technique, performance etc and, as has been the case since Series One, that is often many and varied and irregular through a series. What they comment and penalise in one couple they ignore in others etc.

The public don't have to be unbiased, they're told to be partisan and to vote for their favourite and that could be as basic as whose dress they like best.

That's a shame.

I honestly thought the standard of this year's final was so much stronger than last year.
All of the contestants deserved their place.

Like I have said before, Jay and Aliona had won over the affection of the public ever since they did that jive in week 3. Even Frankie Bridge - who was a runner-up on last year's show - had said in the days after his jive at a fashion awards she was attending, that he was going to win this year's show. I was very sceptical about that though, but you only had to look at the weekly polls of which couple danced best to see that they were extremely popular and always at the top.

Personally, both Georgia and Kellie gave much better dances than Jay did. Georgia's charleston to "Hot Mama Rag" from Chicago was superb and she deserved to get that extra point she had been denied during movies' week. As for Kellie, her showdance stood out from the rest and her charleston to Star Wars was so tight.

It was a foregone conclusion weeks ago. Everybody knew it. The girls tonight knew they weren't going to win so it was fun time. Go out on a high having danced the best they could. It took the pressure off really.

As for scoring I personally thought that Georgia rumba was better than Jay few weeks ago and Kellie last week. The thing is you can't compare scores across weeks. It was scored right in the final.

To be honest it's been obvious for weeks he was going to win. In my opinion he was lucky last night though. His showdance was good but not as dazzling as it could have been, his quickstep was also very good but so were Georgia's and Kellie's judges pick dances and I'm still baffled why he didn't do his Pulp Fiction Jive again.

Jay is a modest, shy young guy, and I believe that he was very happy, but in a state of total shock.

In contrast, if Kellie had won, Kevin would have probably hoisted her on to his shoulders and they would have run around the dance floor waving the glitter ball, screaming like banshees. I know which reaction I preferred.

Jay seems like a lovely bloke but when someone is so successful from the very first show it's boring and predictable when they go onto win.

I really wish the public had voted for one of the girls too but the main type of voter on these shows is indeed female who is voting based on who they fancy,or, failing that, on personality and sob stories. It's all very high school and very annoying but I suppose we just have to remember SCD is just a bit of light entertainment Saturday night fluff and none of this really matters (and yet it still frustrates me...grrr!)

I wholeheartedly agree.

Modest shy guys don't become performers with a boy band. It's this projected personality onto Jay that is the most bizarre in all this. I suppose it was started by the Producers with first show and it was bought by audience. He's a trained performer of many years experience.

Trained performers can still be shy, I have met many well known actors and actresses over the past 60 years and many of them are very nervous when they are on show as themselves. Some of them only become confident when they can hide behind a script and become another character, totally different to their real selves.

Kelly's showdance was a bloody charleston - yeah that's great just do one dance you can do of the same type as the one you're chosing to perform again in the third round - people won't notice in the slightest! Hubbie thinks that Katie outdanced her in her showdance too. I'm sorry at least Ailona and Giovinni too tried to do something different - IMO either Jay or Georgia would have been worthy winners but I did prefer Jay so I'm happy.

This is rubbish - most of the blokes had gone by that stage including Peter Andre who ticks all the boxes for a shallow voter. I'm tried of the women only vote for cute men arguement because it's rubbish.

Jay is such a worthy winner, I was so fedup with Len having a go at him at every dance he did
Hooray . I don't care how many mini glitter balls anyone else wins, Jay got the top price.

I voted for Jay in the final after splitting my votes between the three for the previous two weeks.

I find it a little insulting when posters dismiss those who have voted for Jay as 'horny housewives' 'the boy band brigade' or 'wanted fans'. I had no idea who Jay was at the start of the show, have no desire to shag him and he is the only young male I have ever voted for on strictly.

I'm also baffled by the posts that seem to suggest he only had one really good dance??? Obviously everyone is entitled to their own opinion but to put Jay in the same group as SEB or Jake Wood seems very unfair. My favourite dance of Jays was his Tango, I also loved his salsa, rumba, charleston, jive, paso and a lovely ballroom that I can't remember the name of right now, and those are just the ones that I loved.

I also don't think that comparing scoring averages with other males in other seasons gives any indication of his standard. All series are different levels and this one was really high, Helen and Anita could easily and deservedly been in the final. If he had performed that jive later on in the series he would have had 40, lots of variables affect scoring and I don't think they are comparable across seasons.

Any of the final three would have been worthy winners as far as I'm concerned. I was disappointed in Jays showdance, and other than his Paso which I thought was brilliant I think he was outshone last night, but over the series his dances entertained me a bit more than the others and that's why I voted for him and think he's a worthy winner.

Georgia and Kellie might be better dancers with more personality, but Jay has a penis.

That will come as a hell of a shock to my husband, since he sat through me voting for Jill, Alesha, Kara, Kimberley and - most weeks up until the quarter finals - Helen, to name but a few. And yes, I voted for Jay in the final. Not because I fancy him or because he's spun a sob story but because in my opinion he has been not only one of the most consistent dancers across the series but the only one capable of creating more than one "OMG, wow!" moment for me. Georgia's Charleston was probably my third favourite dance of the entire series (after Jay's jive and tango) BUT much of the choreography was lifted straight from the film so while I loved it - because she danced it well and because I love Chicago - I considered Jay and Aliona to have displayed more originality when they created their moments that gave me goosebumps. Even though Aliona referenced a few iconic moves from Pulp Fiction, 90%+ of her choreo was original (they don't jive in the film at all) and Jay more than did it justice, as he did with that spinetingling tango.

This ^^