So the judges and some people out there believe Kellie should have won Saturday as they believe she was the best on the night. So this brings to question should the winner be based on the final night or how they have done all season?

According to many Jay was the best all season before the final and even the judges seem to agree as he had the best scores going into the final.

So should the winner be decided by one night or who danced best all season?

There is no "should". The winner is decided on public vote and the reasons why people vote are myriad and equally valid.

Obviously it should be the cutest.

It's irrelevant - the public will vote however they wish.

Personally I prefer the winner to be the best dancer over the course of the series, but that's all a question of opinion in itself and sometimes the public vote for a different person than I'd choose, and that's that.

Kellie was undoubtedly the most improved over the latter half of the series, but I still think Jay and Georgia were better dancers, so for me the top three and the winner were correct based on the series as a whole

If it was just best dancer on the night they might as well only do a one-off special in my opinion, but the public can base their votes on whatever criteria they wish.

I thought Georgia deserved to win because, in my opinion she was the best at selling each dance and had the most versatility of the three but that is only my opinion & I certainly wouldn't have been unhappy if Kellie had won as I believe she was the most consistent tnroughout the series, nor was I disappointed in Jay winning because when he does get it right he is quite sublime, certainly the best male celeb I've seen on Strictly!!

All three were winners for me!!

As usual, there's no right or wrong answer as such. However, it would be more satisfactory in my opinion if individual humans (including judges) at least tried to be consistent.

What happens in my experience is that people tend to judge it 'on the night' when it suits them but if it doesn't suit them they will bring in reputation and past performance.

So the result we end up with comes from the smushing together of opinions based on all sorts of different criteria which can vary from week to week.

Exactly.

And appreciation of dance as a performance art is very subjective.

If I can borrow a paradigm from the NAT thread, some viewers will be at the ballet end of the spectrum, while others will be at the pole-dancing end. And even then, someone tending towards the ballet end may prefer a lyrical and athletic pole dance over a poorly executed and ungainly pas de deux.

It's all a matter of personal taste.

Bottom line: the couple first past the post in the vote-for-your-favourite public poll wins.

Simples.

This ^^ Dance is subjective and emotive which is why people are told to vote for their favourite or for the person they'd like to see win.

Honestly, my choice for winner is dependent on so many factors, I couldn't possibly explain it without going on forever.

People should be allowed to vote for whoever they want for whatever reason. Early on in every series we get the Carols, Judys and Russell Grants who people vote for knowing full well they aren't the best dancers. When it gets to the final I think most people vote for who they think was the best overall dancer throughout the series.

As for who was best on the night this year I actually think the judges talked many into believing K&K were the best that night. It's quite amazing how many believe every word they say. I personally think J&A were and G&G second best but that is just my opinion.

The winner should be whoever dances with Aliona. Though obviously that's not going to happen again. So no winner

For the true purist, it could be a question of whether they take anything prior to the final part (part2) into consideration, part1 being just another qualification round for the one, true, final section.

After all, in past years, the numbers were winnowed down to 3 before the finals night, so this approach is consistent.

Having said all that, I'm with DeltaBlues

Ooooh yes this!

Also when it comes to the final in future I will be voting for anyone who doesn't have a glitterball to stop anyone equaling Aliona's record!

I can't fully explain why I vote for someone so I'm not going to say what someone else should do.

Its up to the public how they vote but personally for me I vote base on the series my mind was made up. There was no way that I was going to vote anybody but Jay as for me he was the best dancer all the way along and I brought into the Jay & Aliona partnership more than the others. Also have to say for me Jay was the best on the final I loved all three performances.

I personally vote on the whole series, but that wouldn't mean someone couldn't win me over in the final if over the whole series I hadn't become invested in someone.

Jay was so far ahead of the others in my eyes that yeah he could have turned up, done the Hokey Cokey and I'd still have voted for him, but only as I say because he was so so much better for me than everyone else. (I also think he was the best dancer in the final despite Kellie's big performances)

If Jay hadn't been in the comp this year I would have been supporting Helen, Georgia and Jamelia, but I doubt I'd have been as invested in them so I could have been swayed by Kellie in the final (although the Tango 40 would have annoyed me)

The contestants I've been invested in to the point they could have fallen on their face in the final and I'd still have voted for them were:
Colin (and I did, even after that feckin puppet)
Alesha
Matt (Aliona)
Harry (Aliona)
Jay (Aliona- but also Jay )

People who I voted for on the final night because I'd lost my fave or had no fave but they impressed me in the final were:
Denise Lewis
Mark
Louis
Abbey
Caroline

Other finals I didn't vote because I didn't like anyone enough.

If I'm invested in s couple earlier then I vote on the whole series, if I have no real preference like with the final this year, I just vote with whom ever I feel like based on nothing overly complex. For me, I had enjoyed GG's friendship so much that even though I thought Kellie danced better in the final, I voted for GG.

If Jay had danced his jive I probably would have voted for him as that was an exciting dance and if I had hindsight over how the forum would be post final, I definitely would've voted Kellie. The joys of being unaffiliated in a final.

Exactly how I feel. It's a completely public vote - the winner is the one who gets the most votes.

I voted for Jay as I felt he was the most improved and best dancer all the way through the series......AND the best dancer on the night over the 3 dances. Georgia was brilliant too, and I would have voted for her if Jay wasn't there.

Kellie was over marked and over praised IMO in both the semi-final and final. They were 3rd placed IMO.

Jay was a very very worthy winner, and despite the wozrobbed cries and the judges comments, looking online in various forums/press - a majority seem to agree with his win.

I think on the night team GG danced best this series i wouldnt know who danced best. I just supported Anton and will keep doing that wether he has a good or bad dancer and this series it was one of his better dancers

There is never any sense to public votes.