Kelly - 10

Jill - 10

Rachel - 9

Alesha - 9

Tom - 8

Lisa - 8

Hi all this is my first time on DS, I was know as Berkleyuk on SCD forums.

I would have voted as follows-:

Jill 10
Tom 9
Alesha 9
Rachel 8
Kelly 8
Lisa 7

Hey Fluffy hope ya see this message!

Jill: 10
Kelly: 10
Alesha: 10
Rachel: 9
Tom: 8
Lisa: 7

Jill can I give a 9.5?
Rachel 9
Alesha 9
Tom 8
Kelly 8
Lisa 7

I'm still disappointed none of the routines got 40/40, considering how easily this was dished out during the main series. I'm not suggesting the routines last night were perfect, but they were no less deserving of 40/40 than Lisa's chacha, for example...

Alesha and Matthew 10: Loved this, although I wasn't too keen on the musical arrangement and I'm sure it would have been even more magical with a beautifully performed song. But it was beautiful and it was great to see them back doing what they do best; they really are so good together.

Jill and Darren 9.5: Loved this too! if I'd been in the studio audience, this and Alesha's dance would have been in my shortlist of 2. It was quite frenetic in parts and I've deducted only half a point for that as it was hard not to be. Great choreography.

Tom and Camilla 9: Loved this, but like others have said the comedy element is fast becoming his trademark and altough I enjoyed it, it could make others think he can't do "straight" ballroom dances. But it was a lovely end to the show.

Rachel and Vincent 9: Lovely, but I didn't like one of the lifts (either trasition into or out of) and while I understand adding lifts gave us different choreography, everyone should have been told lifts were allowed.

Kelly and Brian 8.5: I wanted to love this dance as I love Brian... I enjoyed it, thought it was very good but it didn't blow me away like I thought it would. I think she should have done the samba.

Lisa and Brendan 7.5: Shame the judges (minus Bruno) didn't mark her like this in the semifinal and final. It was a typical Lisa dance - nice enough but nothing particularly extraordinary, emphasised by her coming after Alesha. Her placing on the leaderboard was absolutely right.

Alesha - 10

Jill -10

Tom - 9

Kelly - 9

Rachel - 7

Lisa 7

These marks may be a bit generous:

Jill - 10 (Amazing - still got it!)
Alesha - 9 (Beautiful)
Rachel - 8.5 (Good but way below her other rumbas)
Kelly - 8 (Good but she pranced about quite a bit)
Tom - 7 (Good but points lost for lack of Foxtrot!)
Lisa - 7 (Disappointing)

Alesha & Matt: 10
Jill & Darren: 10
Kelly & Brian: 9
Rachel & Vincent: 9
Tom & Camilla: 9
Lisa & Brendan: 8

Jill 9
Alesha 7 - but 0 points to wardrobe for giving her a too-long dress
Kelly 8 - maybe a bit generous but I like Brian and I like the jive
Rachel - I fell asleep
Tom 7 - a good example of enthusiasm and energy but without the precision and fine control that Jill has
Lisa - another sleep-attack

Alesha - 10 - Beautiful, elegant and sweet to watch
Kelly - 10 - Not her best dance but it was, fun, bright and energetic, and her and Brian make a great couple
Jill - 9 - 4 years on and she continues to show why she won
Lisa - 8 - Messy, but fun. She got into the spirit and seemed to really enjoy it. Couldnt help but smile.
Tom - 8 - See above
Rachel - 7 - Yawn, you think they could come up with something new...

1. Kelly & Brian – 10 fabulous, fun routine
2. Rachel & Vincent – 9 great Rumba
3. Alesha & Matthew – 9 lovely, graceful VW
4. Jill & Darren – 9 very lively, but a little too frenetic for an AS ….for me
5. Lisa & Brendan – 8
6. Tom & Camilla - 8

Kelly & Brian - 10
Rachel & Vincent - 9.5
Jill & Darren - 9
Alesha & Matthew - 9
Lisa & Brendan- 7
Tom & Camilla - 7

I thought Kelly and Brian just grabbed it - with a smidgin over Rachel and Vincent.

The music" - 1 (for being there)
The Tess-dress - remember Brentford Nylons? I do now...

Alesha & Matthew - 10
Lisa & Brendan - 8
Jill & Darren - 10
Kelly & Brian - 8
Tom & Camilla - 9
Rachel & Vincent - 9

Alesha & Matthew: 10 (They were definatley the best for me )
Jill & Darren: 9.5 (Great, but looked a little 'messy' at times)
Tom & Camilla: 9 (Good, and was in the festive spirit, was a little undermarked for me)
Kelly & Brian: 8.9 (A bit overmarked for me, again looked 'messy' at times, and lost energy at times and her kicks seemed to be all over the place at times )
Rachel & Vincent: 8 (I found it ok, but nothing that stands out and says 'wow'!, very predictable)
Lisa & Brendan: 7.5 (Shame about the little mistakes!)

For me i would of loved Alesha and Matt to win , but not too fussed about Jill winning, as she was very good!

alesha & matthew - 10
jill & darren - 10
kelly & brian - 8 (loved them though)
rachel & vincent - 10
tom & camilla - 9
lisa & brendan - 8

Kelly 10
Jill 10
Rachel 10
Alesha 9
Lisa 7
Tom 7

As posted by moi elsewhere:

Alesha - ok as usual - methinks she wanted to wear a ballroom dress cos she's a bit rounder than last year.

Jill - Glad she won. Wonderful, sparkling routine.

Tom - Should be in a circus/funfair sideshow with his routines and stupid gurning, Popeye the sailor man facial expressions.

Lisa - Wasn't quite as good as she thought, was she?

Rachel - Should have won the series final. But could have tried harder in the special. Bored by that routine now.

Kelly - Completely OTT at the judges desk. Has she got ADHD?

Alesha & Matthew: 10 - They were definatley the best for me
Jill & Darren: 8 - looked a little 'messy' and on speed at times
Tom & Camilla: 9 - Good, and was in the festive spirit
Kelly & Brian: 7 - she is eating too many E's.
Rachel & Vincent: 8 - very predictable
Lisa & Brendan: 6 - found it to be boring.

For me i would of loved Alesha and Matt to win , but not too fussed about Jill winning, as she was very good!

Here are the marks from the Mamaboogie jury.

Jill: 10 - oh my! Does that woman have talent or what?Darren is a God.
Kelly: 9 - still irritates me to high heaven but that jive was the best we've seen for a long time. Brian rocks.
Alesha: 9 - I forget what a stunning ballroom dancer she is.
Rachel: 8 - Love her and Vincent sooooo much but I've seen that Rumba too many times now.
Lisa and Brendan: 7 - it was fine but snooze worthy.
Tom and Camilla: 7 - Oh dear. Complacent anyone?

I'm sulking about not having tickets to the tour now - I want to see the Halfpenny/Bennett powerhouse!!!

Alesha & Matthew - Viennese Waltz
Absoloutly gorgeous! Great to see them back on the ballroom floor! Alesha is sooo much stronger at ballroom than latin and this Waltz was, IMO her best dance! Technically accomplished and she performed it, as ever beautifully and looked stunning too! And, unlike Craig I liked the "suggestive" opening as it suited the music and contrasted well with the "classic" waltz. 10

Lisa & Brendan - Quickstep
I've always loved Lisa as she brings personality and character to every dance, and as Craig said, it transported me back to the 20's/30's glamour era! The most festive dance of the night IMO, we all know she can Quickstep like the best but tonight she did make a couple of mistakes and the gapping was back..in an ordinary competition i'd give a 7 but as it's Christmas...8 (p.s anyone else think she seemed rather "tipsy"..

Jill & Darren - American Smooth
Well this was what I was waiting to see and boy did Jill return with a bang! WOW!! I adored their AS!! Darren is an amazing choreographer, the Viennese Waltz into Quickstep with elements of Samba..it was a specatcle to behold! Jill dances like no other, her spins, her arms, hands, feet and legs are sooo controlled yet she gives soo much energy!! I'm going to be watching this dance over and over I tell you! 10!

Rachel & Vincent - Rumba
I have to say if any dance was made for this pair its the Rumba..Rachel has a great hip action from her perfect technique in her footwork. However, I thought tonights performance was "safe", it was virtually the same choreography as her previous Rumba with a few lifts. Also, Rachel doesn't seem to do transitions between figures smoothly, they can still be a bit "sticky" in places. Still not a bad effort! 8

Kelly & Brian - Jive
It's great to see her back after her tradgedy last year. I still don't think the Jive is her best dance, she just seems to be too placed and precise, and I feel more energy was needed in the kicks and flicks. Also, Brian occasionally "outdanced" her..however she performed it very well, it suits her personality. 9

Tom & Camilla - Foxtrot
I enjoy the performance Tom give's these showy ballroom dances, like his showdance! Him and Camilla have great interplay and, admittedly he did do only half the dance in hold but I loved it and it was very festive and enjoyable! 9

My leaderboard
1. Jill and Darren
= Alesha and Matthew
3. Kelly and Brian
4. Tom and Camilla
5. Lisa and Brendan
6. Rachel and Vincent

Overall a great evening of entertainment, great to see Kelly, Alesha and Jill back on the floor.

Jill was a deserving winner, when Darren said they had only 5 sessions of training it just confirmed for me how talented and naturally gifted at dance Jill truly is!

Bring on Strictly '09!

Best wishes, and a Happy New Year!
astraeus

Rachel & Vincent - 9 (not particular fans of theirs, but their dance was the cleanest danced, if a tad boring 'cos they'd already done it twice).

Lisa & Brendan - 8 (maybe they should have left their Xmas tipple until after they'd danced!!!!)

Kelly & Brian - 8 (not the best jive in the world, but at least it WAS a proper jive, and very entertaining.

Alesha & Matt - 7 (it was OK, but not great)

Tom & Camilla - 7 (not their best dance)

Jill & Darren - 6 (for making up a dance that does not exist; and even if it did exist it was manic and messy)

1. Kelly and Brian )
Joint first
1.Rachel and Vincent )

I was amazed at how well Kelly jived and I do think Brian has brought something new and refreshing to SCD. Hope he's back next year. At Christmas people expect something a bit lively - had Rachel and Vincent danced something faster the leaderboard may have looked different. Still thought they were fantastic.

2. Alesha and Matthew - still look made for each other - and Alesha's enthusiasm is still contagious.

3. Lisa and Brendan - the gapping was noticeable, but for sheer enjoyment they deserve an extra point.

4. Jill and Darren - this surprised me, I thought they would be well ahead of the opposition - but that was just too frenetic for me.

5. Tom and Camilla - I think they enjoyed it more than me.

Alesha and Matthew - 10 - Beautiful! Still my all time favourites!

Jill and Darren - 9.5 - Fab! She's still got it!

Kelly and Brian - 9 - Brian comes up trumps again with his choreography, but when not dancing Kelly is as irritating as ever for me.

Rachel and Vincent - 9 - Not as good as their previous two rumbas for me

Tom and Camilla - 9 - Great fun!

Lisa and Brendan - 8 - The only dance tonight I wasn't keen on.

...and I know now the answer to the question "Who was more irritating, Lisa or Kelly?". The answer for me is Kelly - but Lisa would flirt with a bread roll if it was male.

No tens with me on this show.

Kelly and Brian. 9. Rocking!! The audience woke up then. Like me, they seemed comatose up that point. Only contestant capable of bantering with Bruce....which grump as he was, didn't like. Hates to be outshone. She's a delight. Loved her performances in the series, also in the group dances, she was the one always standing out and it was the saddest thing for me when she went. Not much basic jive but what a performer.

Jill and Darren. 8. Bit peculiar. Couldn't really get the dance though I know it was fiendishly difficult but some of her lines weren't good. Maybe I need to watch it back.

Rachel and Vincent. 8. Beautiful rumba but have now seen it 3 times and disappointing if they can't be bothered to do something special to finish off the series.

Tom and Camilla. 7. Not a fan of the Faces, and to me it lacked the je ne sais quoi of charisma and technique..he pulled off the showdance big time but for me that's all he's done that's up to what I expect of a winner.

Alesha and Matthew. 7. Still blankly watching them and not seeing anything remarkable.

Lisa and Brendan. 6. The gapping was back, she seemed worse for wear but it made me smile.