Final Fever

Final time and it's a long one, let's get down to it! As ever, it's hard work blogging about dances that have already been done, so here's a quick rundown...

Alexandra's American Smooth was a sweet as a box of chocolates, and she just exuded delight. Debbie got lumbered with her weird salsa, but sold it as ever and we also had the delight of Spelling With Giovanni. Gemma got the best choice because I do really love that paso, and it showed them as strong and a team.  Joe's VW was the first of his dances I really liked and this was great to see again, especially for Katya's dramatic heroine over-acting to make up for the lack of moustache.

Now, let's get cracking with the craziest of Christmas treats, the showdances!

Alexandra and Gorka
After the drama they've had this series, I love that Alex and Gorka chose the ultimate showtune for their showdance, and did the most razzmatazzy choreography possible. Whilst also throwing in an Argentine Tango, because why not? As ever, you should play to your strengths and we saw it with her musicality and verve. What's more, showdances often feel like they're rattling along until the wheels come off, whereas this had control, and was all the better for it. Love youse guys.

Debbie and Giovanni
I saw some It Takes Two footage and it looked rather contempo-waft, and, shocker, ballet-heavy. Giovanni likes himself a schmaltzy showdance, doesn't he? Great song choice and nice to have a change of pace in a showdance, but it didn't feel like more than the some of its parts. And too many lifts for me.

Gemma and Aljaz
This was the most unknown quantity going into it, but you can often play that to your advantage. This was a pretty good routine with a balance of ballroom and Charleston and maybe a bit of cha cha thrown in, but I think it showed up that Gemma is technically behind the other three. There were moments when looked like she was standing still waiting for the next move. But full marks for oomph, which is what you always want from Gemma, it was enough of a surprise to maybe keep her in this.

Joe and Katya
This took a long time to get to the dancing...and was basically just a bit weird. Once we got underway, it turned into a very nice quickstep with very well-executed lifts, but not much more than that. I don't really have much to say about it, which is seriously dangerous for a showdance...

And then we had the final dances, and I realised this series has gone by in a flash! Thankfully we had Alex to raise the roof with the epic jive of epicness, this girl has given everything this series. Debbie reminded us that when she's at her best, she's awesome, with the Argentine Tango. Then we had Gemma changing the pace with a lovely bit of ballroom with an AS that did her proud, and brought a bit of Blackpool to the final! Finally, I wasn't expecting to enjoy Joe and Katya's Charleston as much as I did; I felt like it had improved and was perfectly executed.

Just before the heart-stopping moment with the winners announcement, we actually had one of the best group numbers we've had! It's usually a car crash but this was remarkably good and carefree. Here's a list of exclaiming highlights...The Rev not doing any dancing! Ruth and Anton stripping! Davood and Nadiya messing up a lift! Mollie just doing lifts! Kevin and Susan making me well-up in a surprising turn of events! The return of Jonnie's glitter blade!

And then the red lights came down for the final decision (and four people instead of three just made the stage look cluttered this year), and the winner is......JOE! The only-person-not-in-the-dance-off thing did make it the most likely, and everyone loves a J-word. Plus Katya has given us some great choreography this year. It's been a cracking series that brought us some great dances, Shirley, and plenty of laughs, see you all next year!