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Strictly Come Dancing
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well
hmmmm
A funny old victory that one.
I shall never accept it
< Flounces off >
<< til next year >
<<< Happy New Year all >>>
On the contrary I thought Tom's last 'free' dance was brilliant. Proper entertainment. Better than Rachel's anyway. I wanted Lisa to win, but without Brendon. If that could have possibly happened! When she was out, I hoped Tom would win it.
Bloody good entertainment throughout the series though, IMHO.
I voted for Lisa in the 1st half, I thought that she danced better than the others. Saint Rachel's dance might have won over the judges but it left me cold.
In the second half, I thought that Rachel's Viennese was better than Tom's but was able to vote for Tom with a clear conscience as his show dance as FAB-U-LUS (OK, I admit that I'd have voted for my washing machine rather than Rachel!).
Lisa and Brandan's show dance reminded me of the circus act that was on last week - lots of lifting but little dancing so, bearing in mind that Austin should have won, I'm fairly happy with the outcome.
Just back from run - have to go out again pretty sharpish so quickly read back - loved the banter on here during the shows I could have been there myself - cheers - raises glass
Watched first show at 12 oclock last night - couldnt keep eyes open for 2nd so watched at 5 am
Quick resume dahhhhlings.............
Voting explanation
Bruno's hair - is he having weave treatment seems to be getting thicker/curlier
Dance of champions
Tom getting through to last 2
Brendan/Lisa's showdance
Rachel/Vincent overall performance on night
Tom winning- sorry conspiracy, conspiracy, conspiracy(should have gone last week - rules amended, how convenient)
A few random thoughts:
Feel a bit better now that I've vented
Off to join the massive queue for the tills at Sainsbury's - I may be gone for some time...
I feel a bit sorry for the girls though as I don't think Tom would have gotten through last week if he'd been in the dance off with Lisa.
Whizzing in from airport - so glad tom won - will read back on my return
Happy Chrimbo Strictlies....
Excellent show last night - well apart form Austin not being part of the final 3 that it!
I voted for lisa in the first half, as i thought she danced the best of all of them - ws hoping for a tom vs lisa final final.
in retrospect, glas Lisa didn't get to the final - her "dress" and dance were awful, well, maybe not 'awful' but certainly diappointing. Thought rachels showdance was good, but tom's was A-MAZ-ING - though Camillas get-up was horrific - whoever voted fpr liquorice allsort gets the prize!
loved the dance of the champs - all the girls wearing toffee penny inspired dresses
and of course the highlight was Austin's Jive - his showdance would have been awesome
merry Xmas Striclies -same time next year? !
agree re Brendan and Lisa's show dance - too modelled on the circus act of the previous week but Lisa did look hot in the 'dress'. T&C's show dance, the highlight of the night for me among many contenders
Yes, fraggle - same time next year
Tom's showdance I thought was good but spoiled by Camilla's awful dress and Tom's facial expressions, which distracted so much from the actual dance. He wasnt the best overall dancer so the wrong result for me but it should have been Austin anyway.
But its not all over yet folks - Christmas Special to come.
Happy Christmas to all in the mean time.
Crossing off the dates on the calendar until series 7 next year?
Wouldn't it be nice if they could do an extra ITT just to sum everything up and get interviews from the finalists? It's too cruel to leave us cold-turkey...
Hope Austin&Erin are in the Xmas Special I'm really going to have to let this go at some point but I'm still cross he wasn't in the final. Wasn't his Jive fantastic?!?
Xmas special????? Nooooooooooooooooooo. I thought I was free of this for another year.
Oh sod it.
Well saw it first thing Sat morning at my brothers, they sat and watched it with me and I fast forwarded through most of it except the dancing obviously!
Quick thoughts were Brendan and Lisa were fab, but once we saw last weeks leaderboard I knew they were first out. Vincent and Rachel continued to leave me cold and even their showdance I can't really recall. Brendan and Lisa's
Fabulous champions dance. I have it on Sky+ so will watch it leisurely in the next day or so.
Looking forward to the Christmas Special, don't really care who wins, just think it will be great to see lots of great dancing
Was great to see John and Kristina again
By the way, Austin and Erin should really have won
Look lets forget about conspiracies etc etc.
Yes Tom would have gone the previous week but it WAS a cock-up.
So he got reprieved. It happens.I' ve seen it in FA Cup semis where somebody gets a jammy and totally undeserved last minute equaliser and wins the penaltry shoot-out.
Once in the final you have to judge it as you see it. The girls were better than Tom in the first half in my opinion although he was unlucky with the stumble. I also thought the Girls should have been on the same score. Perhaps THAT was fixed to avoid the previous weeks shenanighans. Anyway Tom obviously got the votes to send him through.
Couldn't separate the Vienniese Waltz to be honest but also lets be straight, the final really comes down to the showdance.
I agree with the others that I didn't like Lisa's. Of course it didn't count but I must admit I was dreading it being fantastic as she had gone out.
Rachel's was pretty good but not spectacular but still felt she should win BUT THEN there was Tom's.
He won it there and then, fair and square. That was the BEST show-dance I have seen in ANY series.
Put last week's professional acrobats to shame. This was a proper dance, with show, acting, story, steps, lifts, the lot. Straight out of a 50s Hollywood musical. Fantastic choreography by Camilla.
Indeed having miserably failed to dance to Tom's strengths in the semi, this hit every mark and was just superb. Changed my mind there and then and he deserved it because he performed at exactly the right moment.
I was also quite impressed to see the previous winners dancing especially Jill Halfpenny. She could haev been the rustiest although i know she did go into Chicago after he win but she still looked pretty good to me.
I think Jill Halfpenny has a young baby - poss 4 months? - so is doing *very* well indeedy!
(have been sad and watched Austins jive again this morning
)
6.00pm
And then there were three.
"You can't say that, you said it last week."
"But there's still three of them, and "There were still three of them" doesn't scan, it's not a proper phrase."
"Well you'll just have to think of something else."
"It's harder than it looks, you know."
So, what just happened? We started in an Indian summer with more celebs than you could shake a stick at - the boys were separated from the girls (and kept apart by Barbie wire) and the next thing you know, you can't see the telly for the baubles on the tree.
It's the Final. And not just any old Final - it's the Grand Final - Brucie said so. But before we slide inelegantly into a ball of sozzled sequins, a moment of sober reflection. Three great couples, six great dancers, here are the runners and riders:
Rachel's the hot favourite - on several levels. There has been a lot of column inches devoted to the poppet and her personality - more inches than the poppet herself in fact, but Schumacher was right; small is indeed beautiful and she's technically the best of the bunch. Young Vincent proved that he's good in a pinch last week with two great dances in the semi and there's the promise of more tonight with two dances that garnered 79 points first time round. They must be the front runners.
Lisa - arguably the best all-rounder, unarguably too hot to handle for mere mortals. Boy does she want this title. She'll be swanning about with Brendan of course; the dancer from down-under with a passionate nature - when he gets fired up all the blood rushes to his feet.
The chaps are represented by Tom. Not the most macho of blokes, last week he was turned away from his newsagents when he tried to buy a Yorkie. Solid in ballroom, languid in latin, considered the outsider. He's partnered by Camilla. Lovely girl, creative choreographer, good ballroom but her latin looks for all the world like a pair of chopsticks in a tumble dryer.
We kick off with a montage of cliches - you wouldn't catch me doing that, then Brucie does his 'doddery' joke and, despite myself, I find I'm mumbling 'not' at the appropriate moment. Resistance, it seems, is futile.
Tom and Camilla's efforts are a deal more spectacular with more character and more floor coverage but their heartbreaking stumble hangs over everything that follows. The judges loved it, Tom takes it in good part but Craig's 8 is just plain unfair. I'd take it out on the cat but it's off somewhere reading a book.
Round One concludes with Lisa and Brendan and the final Foxtrot. It's an exquisite routine that was properly appreciated by the panel. Bruno thought Lisa was '..mythically glamorous', Craig gave credit to Brendan and Arlene started with Natasha Kaplinsky and took 20 minutes to get to 'brilliant'. 40? It was worth 41.
In the interlude we are treated to the dubious pleasure of Phil, Gillian, Gary (don't do that move, don't do that move) and Jelly - the highlight being Don and Lilia and a brilliant cameo Tango. If nothing else, it all serves as a reminder of how far our finalists have travelled since September.
We enter the Latin quarter with Rachel and Vincent and their famous Rumba. She's changed from a black dress to a white one (she has depth this girl) and it's as slinky and sexy as the original - and I still don't quite get it. Arlene obviously does and she emotes to the point of moistness. Len obviously doesn't and sums up my own sentiments with "...it had a little bit of warmth." Craig was booed for his 9 but the only injustice was that it stood alone.
You can tell Tom's fully charged up for his Salsa because he starts by throwing Camilla around like a rag doll. It's a great spectacle and Len is 'knocked out' which is probably for the best. "Fast and furious fun!" said Bruno before dishing up a 9. It's a sign of the times, though, that 38 is probably not enough.
The last of the latins is Lisa and Brendan's Cha Cha Cha and it's a scorcher. Bruno's enthusiasm outstrips his language skills but "eye-popping brilliant" conveys it well enough while Arlene and Len banged on about how good her knees were. It'll come as no surprise that I've never been asked to judge a dance contest but even I could name 27 things they should have been looking at before they got to her knees. They get the important stuff right however, with another set of perfect marks. 80 out of 80. That's put the cat amongst the penguins.