Strictly final 2022 post

[shallowness]

It Takes Two’s Friday special invited us to gawp at the height difference between Rylan and Janette. He’s also the more gifted live presenter, but anyway. There were interviews with all four couples following a similar pattern – a rundown of all their dances, broadly the same set of questions, and then (if they hadn’t cracked already) breaking them with the family and friend messages Shirley came along and ignored the steer of some of the questions to say what she wanted about the finalists, and she and Janette got a little lost discussing Hamza’s musicality. We had a taster of the ‘Class of 22’ reunion group dance and – finally – Christmas special news, which features one Masked Singer winner, and we then got sung out by another. On the other hand, the Christmas special is letting Bruno sing again. Why? Have him back, by all means, but not to sing.

I watched the The Weakest Link Strictly special but have nothing to say about it, other than Jo Clifton is seriously proud of that jigsaw thing, isn’t she?

THE MOST IMPORTANT FINAL OF THE WEEKEND

According to the opening VT, now that it’s the final, we should ditch ‘journey’ and use ‘odyssey’ instead.

A celebratory opening group pro dance to ‘Never Going to Not Dance Again’ AKA Pink’s Double Negative Song, and I totally thought of Strictly when I first heard it. The contrast between the rest of the pros in reddish outfits and the finalists in silver worked visually, and the celebs didn’t have much to do beyond mugging rhythmically for the camera.

Claudia outdid Tess in her flarey jumpsuit with cape, and Craig and Shirley outdid Motsi and Anton by wearing sparkly crimson and voluminous red respectively. The judges have been oozing ’no dance-off’ relief all week. Up tll this point, they were scrupulous about referring to the finalists alphabetically.

Round one: Judges Choice

But Hamza had been drawn first, I presume. And the VT sold it as Shirley and Mosti’s love of the lifts making them choose Hamza and Jowita’s salsa. From when Hamza and Jowita started dancing side by side, the magic was back. HIS RHYTHMICALITY, his LIGHTNESS and those LIFTS. (Oh, Craig.) Frustratingly, Hamza had clearly danced the salsa better than in week 4, but got the same score. Aww, Jowita’s parents were over to watch.

Molly and Carlos were given the quickstep from week 2 (I did have sympathy for the argument that she should do her cha cha again.) I’d forgotten about the umbrellas at the beginning. Props make me anxious, so I was glad to see the back of them. Molly was sharper, and this was also a light and joyous routine. I side-eyed Shirley for mentioning gapping and giving it a 10 anyway, but as Craig gave it a 9, it too got a 39, which was a leap from the original score. Carlos’s mum had come over. (Aww, but slightly caveated because of China’s interesting public health decisions of late.)

Like Hamza, Fleur had been asked to reprise a dance that had got a 39. Like Molly, she was ‘informed’ by Shirley and given some dance training (I wonder if those couples who were visited by Motsi will feel cheated, looking back, at just getting a pep talk. Presumably Craig and Anton had panto commitments.) This samba was another happy dance, and I loved Fleur in charge, but as well as the sass, there was quality, with very definite accents, or even pauses. It was even better than the first time around, according to the judges, and Craig clearly agreed, reaching for his 10, so they got a full house. I loved Fleur’s line to professional dancers about going from, ‘I don’t know how you do that’ to ‘I know why you do that.’ Vito’s parents were also over again. (Aww.)

Helen’s hat staying on for all of 15 seconds made SUCH a difference to her jive. Not. This too was sharper, as stylish as ever, without the mistake, and though it had lost the surprise factor, it retained the wow factor. Anton brazened out having given it a 10 before, but it deserved its 10s this time, which came from every judge bar Craig, putting it joint second at 39. None of Gorka’s family were watching in the studio, as far as we were informed, but this is his third final.

So, Fleur ‘won’ the first round, having improved a 39 dance enough to get the 10 from Craig. But, as we were constantly reminded, the judges’ scores were for guidance only, and at this rate, Craig was the only one giving us any guidance.

Round two: Showdance

Equal treatment in all the VTs. Every couple admitted they’d had help with the choreography and Jason came to visit them all and gave a note and praise. He claimed that Hamza would be doing ‘next level ballroom’ in their routine. I was surprised (but it worked) by the fact that they danced to an instrumental version of ‘Let’s Face the Music’, and I found myself totally drawn in. I liked how the early lifts accented the music and the last lift led to a gorgeous image. Like Tess, I didn’t really see the mistakes, so I was deflated by the judges’ comments. If I say two judges gave him 8s and two 9s, you can guess which were which. Case of learning a whole new dance in a week where they were working on three? But so did everyone, although he was supposed to lead. I hoped Hamza would put it behind him because he had one more dance, and I’m not convinced the showdance wins the glitterball for anyone, in fact (as this very final would prove) I don’t think the final does, even.

Molly’s routine had a great opening, although I think the gloves and canes (sigh, props again) ought to have been a different colour to pop more against the Kylie lips. But then there was too much side by side for me, and I thought the best bits were when they came together. I’m not sure what fresh new side of Molly we saw; it was a little more commercial than their couples choice, but I thought it had similar problems choreographically. The judges weren’t won over either, giving it a 37.

FLAMES for Fleur’s Latin-flavoured showdance and it was such a powerful dance, but one that built emotionally too. The judges appreciated it, although I wasn’t sure where Craig was going to end up, but it got a 39.

Helen’s showdance featured very clever choreography. She looked light and stylish doing the quickstep base, and it was an uplifting, celebratory song. 37, putting her in the same position as Molly. (I enjoyed it more.)

I’ll admit that Fleur and Vito won that round most emphatically, as she danced it most cleanly, they did look lost in it, and the reminders of her Argentine tango and rumba were good.

Round three: Couples' choice

In which three out of the four couples plumped for their couples choice. The VTs were the couples’ odysseys with some clips from family from the packages on ITT.

It was so, so good to see Hamza’s couples’ choice again. Not to get all Anton, but it was a real moment (along with the Bollywood group number) to see a different style to what we’d ever seen before, and the way Jowita threw herself so wholeheartedly into it helped. Hamza danced it better and without the timing error, and the judges reflected the emotional impact of the dance, especially, of course, Motsi. 10 FROM CRAIG = 40.

Molly had chosen her rumba, and that was a post-paso performance. I was way more engaged as a viewer, and that was because she felt more committed (more sure that she’d got it?) and controlled enough to pull off the light and shade. Claudia got a chuckle from me for the Beyonce, Prince and Whitney handshake. 39 - I started writing that as soon as Craig gave her a 9.

In Fleur and Vito’s odyssey VT, we got a quick glimpse of Vito’s ABBA look, which made me choke with laughter. Their reprise of their couples’ choice was so well done. Doing it in the studio without the backing dancers meant the attention focused on them (mainly her) and how good and detailed it was. 40 again.

Helen and Gorka were in a similar position, dropping the extra dancers, and having to retool the routine a little more so that it was a couple’s dance, but it was still all about Helen as Sally Bowlesish, with Gorka as her furniture and whatever support she needed. We got to appreciate her timing, how limber she was and how she owned it. 40!!!

A look at the leaderboard where Hamza was paying for his mistakes in the showdance; Helen had one point over on Molly; while Fleur was Queen of the Night – granted, the difference in the first round was very marginal, and the three couples choices that got the 40 were all equally splendid, but she pulled off the showdance best. Don’t show this to Nancy, but Fleur grabbed her spot in the final in a way Will might not have. I gave her one of my online votes, but, based on the whole series, I gave the rest and a few phone calls to Hamza. (This has been a much cheaper Strictly than usual.)

<3 Rose <3 came on to do the Ts and Cs and exude joy (oops, I passed over Mo Gilligan’s attempt/promo for his new show.)

We then got what felt like an oldskool Florence and the Machine performance of a new song (I don’t know how new, I haven’t paid attention to her for a while). She wore a gold jumpsuit with flares that made Claudia’s look tame, while the pros wafted around her in subdued tones (except for Dianne’s hair) starting off contemporary but then going into more dramatic ballroom territory. That wasn’t quite what I expected them to plump for for the final, but I enjoyed it.

Time for the return of the rest of the cast of 2022, and that was a fun routine. Enter Kaye in an epic red coat, surrounded by the group of sharp suited pros in black, then more returnees appeared in colour. Mostly good choices were made for their highpoints. One second I was thinking, ‘Ooh, brave to be singing Bros in front of actual Matt Goss dancing to it’, but soon lost myself in the Stock, Aitken and Waterman-era music. Special highlight was getting Ellie T and Johannes to reprise the Casualty tango, which was got a giggle out of me in what was mainly a celebratory routine.

What Strictly meant to the viewers had your usual range from little kids to pensioners, with people with dwarfism bumping out Deaf people (and a subtext of ‘Remember the weeks when Strictly distracted us from the graphs?’)

Having four couples, all of whom deserved to be there made it less intense than last year. I was supporting Hamza, and I thought either he or Helen would win going in, although Will’s vote collapsed in the semis. Fleur and Molly had to know that after being in four dance-offs, they were highly unlikely to get the glitterball, but they’d all got to celebrate how far they’d come.

But anyway, I was very calm and pleased that Hamza and Jowita won, because I’ve been rooting for them since well, his first foxtrot. Before then he was someone I knew next to nothing about, and apart from looking quite chunky, I was worried about his hair. But that dance made the biggest first impression. After two ‘eh’ dances, as we were reminded, had come the salsa and the discovery of his rhythm and the lifts, but I also loved their quickstep, tango, Argentine tango, the couples’ choice backed up by the samba for honouring his African heritage, and the Charleston, how he has borne himself and his lovely relationship with Jowita. I loved that Jowita referenced the fact that he had no dance training (but did lift rugby players in lineouts) and had pigeon toes at the start of his journey odyssey.

[Edited for typos 23/2/25.]