Am I disappointed in the result?? I think so.
I have followed this board for the last 2 years now and I am shocked at the oh so obvious anti Lisa and Rachel feeling among many of you. Why??
I couldn’t believe it when due to my work I was away in Spain last weekend meaning I would miss the Final. Luckily, wifey kept me up to date with the scores etc. When she sent me the text saying Lisa was first out, I was gobsmacked to say the least. At that point, I just knew Tom going to win and was not surprised when she rang with the final result.
Now I know there are lots of amateur and professional dancers along with teachers use these boards and I will admit to ‘knowing nothing’ but why was everyone so against the girls?
This programme is an entertainment programme and quite honestly, it is NOT the same as the old Come Dancing series (which I am old enough to remember, unfortunately). I have always felt the programme was aimed at people like me. A 53 year old hairy arsed trucker who is overweight. The programme has viewing figures of 12 million and if only 1% of those take up dance as a result of it, then that’s 100,000 new people keeping you teachers in business. Or is this whole dance business a closed shop??
I was a typical bloke concerning this programme. I used to ask wifey ‘why she was watching this crap’ on a weekly basis and disappear upstairs when it came on. Then one week, I went downstairs to go to toilet and as I walked through the lounge, I looked and said to wifey ‘Isn’t that one of the Spice Girls?’ and sat on the end of the sofa. I was hooked!!!! I cheered for Louisa and was disappointed when she went out.
Last year I waited in eager anticipation for the start of the series and from Week One, we were both Mattesha fans. I got it right last year although I was gobsmacked at how Matt made it to the Final instead of Gethin due to his two ‘unfinished’ dances.
This year no one really caught my eye. I said to wifey that Austin and Tom were the best among the men and that the women looked very strong this year. As the weeks went by, I just enjoyed the dancing. I must be one of the few people that actually enjoyed John and Christina’s Paso Dobla. For the first time, I was able to ‘see the story’. Every week I made my prediction and was right nearly every time. Then I decided I wanted Vincent to win just to poke Flavia in the eye after her ‘naughtiness’ last year. I want not impressed by Rachel or Lisa at first but as the weeks went by, I could see a definite improvement in Lisa. She was all legs and gawky the first few weeks. Rachel ended up in a dance off and the next week produced that rumba. BUT with Tom and Austin, as good as they were, I NEVER saw any improvement in them. They started the competition at a standard and to my untrained eye never made much progress. Unlike the two girls, who made huge strides.
Sorry, all you Tom fans, but I thought he was NOT a worthy winner. He should not have been in the Final anyway. His dancing was definetly off a lower quality last week and the stumble in the Foxtrot should have ruled him out of the Final two this week. The one concession I will make though is that I thought their Showdance was way much better than Vincents!! That was amazing choreography to my eye and perfectly executed.
I was never a major fan off any one of the celebrities this year but I do like to see fair play and I think the GBP made a mockery of Lisa and Rachel’s efforts this year. Both of the girls made tremendous improvement and Tom is a very lucky winner.
I did actually wonder if the GBP voted for Tom because of Camilla (my God, what a sour face she had on while waiting the result). After all, she was robbed off a Final spot last year.
I am, in fact, so disappointed at the result, I may well not watch next years programme as it is obviously not about who makes the most progress and is the better dancer anymore but about who can impress the public from the very beginning.

Alesha?

I think even I would have to say this has been well covered already!!

But:-

I am a massive Tom fan, and loved his showdance which was by far the best. And it wasn't his fault that the beeb cocked things up And I could say that I am shocked at your anti Tom feeling

Didnt dislike Lisa but have always disliked Brendan and his spoilt little boy antics

Didnt care for Rachel, read reports of her behaviour which may or may not be true, and she just seemed a tad boring, personality wise. Liked Vincent though

PS Shouldn't your thread be titled 'how disappointed were you'??

would have walked that competition this year!!!
as would have a few other past winners

I didn't watch this series, because I'm a poor student at uni without a TV (), but I did watch the final - and was overwhelmed at the result...I predicted Tom's win, but as far as I could see, it wasn't deserved. His showdance was good, but to be fair - he's an actor, and his acting is kinda what made it so good.

Lisa was absolutely exceptional, and Rachel was also damn good...then when the past winners came on, I watched Alesha et al., and just couldn't picture Tom standing there, doing the same sort of thing this time next year...

But I was happy for Camilla

Not at all - Tom was by far the most entertaining dancer. The only other person who would have been as worthy a winner was Austin. Dance isn't about technicalities, you have to generate emotion from those watching. The only time Lisa did that was her Viennese Waltz, Rachel in her rumba. For me Tom and Austin did it almost every week.

Tom was a good winner. No one who watches this gives a shite about the dancing.

The total opposite for me. I think Tom would fit in perfectly, Lisa and Rachel would look out of place. Tom can do what all those winners can - they look like they're having the time of their life dancing, so you enjoy watching them. I think Tom is almost as good as Ramps at latin, and as good as Darren Gough at ballroom, I can't wait to see if they do it again next year.

I am quite happy with the result

Tom was the best ALL ROUND dancer - good at BOTH disciplines.

The girls were good (I might even say Rachel was brilliant) at ballroom, but both of them were one trick ponies at latin - Rachel with the rumba and Lisa with the cha cha.

Lisa was the weakest dancer of the 3 going into the final (she never did learn how to deal with her arms properly) and was overmarked in both of her dances, and quite deservedly was the first to go out leaving the stronger dancers to contest the final on the public vote. Incidentally all 3 had stumbles at one stage or another on final night - the judges just chose not to point it out to the viewers.

Tom's showdance was a real showstopper and he was a worthy winner on that alone - he and Camilla gave a truly unique exhibition and his sheer joy in dancing came across.
He (like Austin) was unlucky in the dances he had in the latter stages of the series but given his performances over the whole run I really don't think anyone can complain about his right to be there - after all he was clearly the public's favourite from the word go, and unlike a certain other public favourite he COULD dance very well.

He can definitely hold his own with ANY of the previous winners - in fact I would put him second to Jill Halfpenny on the all time leader board.

I give a shite about the dancing.

Not at all!!

JJ

Can we please put this journey stuff to bed? Lisa only scored less than 30 twice, with her first dance, salsa, I believe and her paso. She didn't improve massively, she scored 35 for her 3rd dance, for heaven's sake. And if you look at Rachel's dancing, I can't actual see any difference in her performance from her first dance to her VW in the final, she did however perform her rhumba and showdance really well.

If a woman had written that original post about Tom and Austin, instead of LIsa and Rachel, they would have been slaughtered for days for being a jellus hatah!

You have never supported a man, it seems, apart from lukewarm support for Gethin in the semis last year and now you're upset because your favourites didn't win. That's the way it goes, more people supported Tom, end of story. I was an Austin supporter, he didn't make the final for whatever reason, I've accepted it, I don't agree, but hey, that's the way it goes.

She scored 35 for her second ballroom (32 for the first the week before) - the American Smooth and was joint top of the leader board.

When she was in the dance off with Jodie a whole 5 weeks later - she had exactly the same mark for her Quickstep.

Jodie, on the other hand had scored 30 that week for her jive - which had been pushed all week as her the totally worst dance she would ever have to do - which compared to her first Latin score of 22 showed considerable improvement (and just 2 weeks previous to that her Latin had gained her just 23 points).

If anyone in the series deserved the tag of 'most improved' it was Jodie but sadly she had been given the 'tall' tag and apparently couldn't be both.

I'm disappointed you said 'was' instead of 'were'.

Not dissapointed in the slightest in fact thrilled to bits.

Tom was a very worthy winner and like Alesha, Jill, Mark etc.. had a real love for dancing. He was the only finalist that for me really sold every dance and genuinely looked like he was enjoying every minute.
Technically yes Lisa or Rachel were probably better but then I dont think Darren, Mark or Alesha are technically the best dancer ever either. You need more then that to win a show like strictly ie performance, personality, chemistry with your pro partner etc.. for me Tom had all that as well as being a good dancer and he always made me smile when he danced.

Hi OldShep,

I really enjoyed reading your reasoned and insightful post and I agree with some of what you say

Tom was not my preferred choice of winner, but I've accepted his win because the the public should always have the last word. There are no hard and fast rules as to what constitutes a valid reason for voting for somebody.

You've got great taste in Strictly couples though - I, too, supported Louisa, then Alesha and Rachel & Vincent this time

Hope you and Mrs Shep have a wonderful xmas and look forward to seeing you here again next year (you won't be able to resist!)

Let me provide another male perspective to this show.

I was also hooked on Strictly when the 4th series started. For me it wasn't because of Emma, but the entire feel-good vibe the show gave to me. I was sick in the hospital, feeling miserable, and the only thing I could do on a Saturday evening was to turn on the hospital telly. Boy was I hooked (like you did)!

I was NOT disappointed at the results at all. In fact Tom wasn't even my most favoured. That honour went to Austin Healey (whom I didn't give a damn before the show, knowing him only as a cocky rugby player with a vile mouth). My second favourite was Rachel. I had high hopes on her, partly also because I wanted Vincent to progress much further than he did with Stephanie in series 5.

By simply watching the dances and and dancers, I grew to like Jodie and she became my joint second favourite with Rachel. I could see Rachel tried to act her dance but was surpried she often came across quite cold in her performance. But it's undeniable she's a very, very talented dancer.

Tom, on the other hand, was the one I loved to joke about. His paso face I have coined it as Tomapasta! It was so ridiculous that an actor couldn't act an angry face but instead pulled the most pantomime expression that will be left imprinted in my memory for a long time.

Lisa, I wasn't thrilled nor bored with her. She did improve her ballroom with her hold, and her cha-cha was great. But even so, even I thought her cha-cha was way overmarked in the final. It's this perceived overmarking and judges' favouritism that probably caused her popularity to dwindle. And let's not get into that showdance she did in the final. It's got to be the most 'memorable' showdance in SCD history, more so that Colin's unfortunate puppetdance! Can you really think the audience will vote for her should she be in the final two???

Tom really stole my heart with his showdance. You can tell he was 100% into it, heart and soul. He was reliving his boyhood dream of dancing a cheeky number Fred Astaire style, and people (including me) reponded to that. I voted for Rachel in the first half of the competition (with no perceived phone-line problem), but when Tom did THAT showdance, I tried to vote for him, and I couldn't get through even once before the phone line was closed.

He is a good dancer. Perhaps not as technically accomplished in his ballroom as Gethin (Camilla's previous partner), but his sway and musicality was argubly better than Gethin (who's also musical with classical violin training background). But in terms of the latin, he's among the best male celebrities, up there with Mark Ramprakash and Colin Jackson. And overall he's miles better than Darren Gough, ballroom and latin wise so if Darren can be a Strictly Champ, more so can Tom be!

Merry Christmas to you, BTW. I am sure next year you'll watch Strictly again. Believe me, you cannot resist it!

I haven't seen him act, but from what I've seen he's not that good an actor, based partly on the Paso face. What he is good at, as is Camilla, is comic timing at least in terms of dancing, and slapstick.

I think Tom is a worthy winner. Just because he was lowest on the leaderboard people are complaining, but they don't seem to have grasped that people weren't as entertained by Lisa and Rachel as they were by Tom. Maybe he wasn't the best technically, but technique needs to be balanced with entertainment and enthusiasm as well. I don't doubt the girls' enthusiasm for what they were doing, but it didn't really come across.

It might be the christmas sherry but I cant work out who you mean.

Are you also eating pork instead of turkey? Gosh you are killing the dancing pig, our national treasure.

Oh thanks got it now, was thinking too deeply about it obviously

It's Christmastime, time for reflection and deep meditation. Don't blame you.

So nothing of any worth to contribute to the discussion then Pingman?

I wasn't disappointed. I was exhilarated by Tom and Camilla's show dance and surprised and pleased with the result. I was sad for Vincent, but it's not the end of the world. I didn't like Lisa and Brendan's show dance at all, although they were brave to attempt it, but I loved Rachel and Vincent's show dance.

The last three couples were all brilliant in their way, and it was a shock when Austin went out of course.

It's not WW3. I've really enjoyed this series, and for the record, I was a Jodie supporter.

Yes, disappointed. But not enough to stop me watching. OldShep56, I really enjoyed reading your post - you seem very level-headed and It's nice to hear the views of someone whose glasses aren't tinted! In hindsight, this happens from time to time. Someone you don't deem worthy lifts the trophy (for me it was Gough and now Tom) but looking back Gough did turn out some great ballroom dances and has been great on Xmas specials etc. It doesn't hurt so much anymore. So you never know by next year I may feel a bit better about Tom winning, although saying that Gough never annoyed me when he danced or spoke, I just thought he wasn't as good as Zoe and Colin.