Strictly The Final: 6pm tonight (new thread)

What a meanie! Perhaps he was jealous?!

Seriously though, we probably need to think differently these days, as disability in various art forms is now fairly common place.
30 years ago, the part of a disabled character in a play would be played by an able-bodied actor who would jump out of the wheelchair once off stage. Back then, I dont think disabled students were even welcome at drama or stage school.
The question now is how to avoid going too far the other way, especially when it might start to make a show like Strictly less attractive to mainstream able-bodied celebrities who think there is no point competing.
Interesting times, I don't really have the answer.

He promptly banned us

What did you say? "We've been thrown out of better places than this!".

Allira

^He promptly banned us^

What did you say? "We've been thrown out of better places than this!".

Absolutely! My friend and I were once thrown out of a Wimpy bar when she decided to make a tomato and brown sauce pyramid in the middle of the table. So there.

😂

I always record Strictly and then fast forward through all the prelims, the chats with Claudia etc and just watch the dancing, I also fast forward through Motsi and Anton's comments.
I think what Chris has achieved is truly amazing considering he is blind but he got the sympathy vote. It's supposed to be a dancing competition and the other finalists were way better dancers than him.

knspol

I always record Strictly and then fast forward through all the prelims, the chats with Claudia etc and just watch the dancing, I also fast forward through Motsi and Anton's comments.
I think what Chris has achieved is truly amazing considering he is blind but he got the sympathy vote. It's supposed to be a dancing competition and the other finalists were way better dancers than him.

I think it’s about raw beginners doing amazing things through dance…not so much people with a dance background shining like they would anyway.

By that criterion, it should have been either Chris or Pete. And so, no Chris didn’t win because of any ‘sympathy vote’. He is the true spirit of the show and as such a worthy winner.

I generally don't watch Strictly, but hearing that Chris McCauseland would be entering, I was desperate to see how this would work.
I did love watching Chris before Strictly, so my support wasn't of the sympathy or supporting the underdog type,
I've been glued all season, seeing the amazing work that he and Diane have done was fantastic, he went from strength to strength, and appeared to have no fear with all the amazing lifts and tricks they performed.
Yes, there were better dancers, but I believe Strictly should be based on the amount of improvement achieved each week, and no-one can deny that Chris and Diane's progress has been nothing short of spectacular this year.
I've never supported a couple as unfailingly as I have this year, and truly hoped they would at least make it to the final, but for them to win the whole competition, I was both amazed and ecstatic for them.
It just goes to show that no matter your disability, there are some things you can still achieve, and Chris proved that every single week.
Such well deserved winners.
Congratulations Chris and Diane xxx

Personally I don’t want to see already accomplished dancers turning up on week one and getting quite high marks, and then have to watch them week after week turning in similarly competent performances. What is the point? Where's the interest? The only finalist this year who had no dancing experience was Chris, and we had the pleasure of watching a non dancer improve week by week and accomplish what he never thought he could. That should be what Strictly is about - not celebs flaunting their dance expertise from the get go. And to those who say "ah, but they've never done ballroom: - please!! That is disingenuous to say the least, those with dance training will always have better body control, spacial awareness etc, so they have a HUGE advantage from the very start. And they know it. Wouldn't it be much more interesting to have genuine non dancers partnered with professionals, and watch them improve, rather than stage school trained celebs showing off?

..

I don't think anyone was "showing off" or "flaunting themselves", skate. They all seemed very humble. Did you hear what JB said about his rival, Pete Wicks?
This show is all about someone like him, who doesn't have dance experience at all, who comes and learns something and you really see a genuine improvement week on week, so more power to him.

Call me an old cynic .....I'm of the mind that the likes of Layton and Tasha choose to take part as a boost to their careers. They pretty much know they're not going to win as the voting public don't like professional dancers on the show. But they do very well out of it.

Just as some do it to boost their flagging careers.

I know Layton got a lot of online abuse and that should never be tolerated. Sadly that's the downside of social media.

Layton didn't need a leg up from Strictly. He had already auditioned for I think it was Cabaret at the start of the 2023 series. Good celeb dancers are usually booked months in advance. My DGodD is in panto at the moment, but next year's shows are in the diary.

I agree skate it is just a show when you have lots who are very good with little chance of improving because they are already very good.
I enjoy a good dance but they like to talk about inspiring others and there can’t be much if any inspiration if dancers are given high marks from very early on.
no matter how good someone has been they start high scores too early so later on the scores aren’t showing how far someone has come and when they say I couldn’t tell the professional from the pupil, I always think, so what’s the point in all those years of training if someone can achieve so much in a few weeks.

I caught up last night with the Strictly special which aired on Saturday evening. It was well named 20 Fabulous Years . It was a wonderful trip down memory lane and I highly recommend it if you haven’t already watched it.

I watched it too and it was lovely to see so many of the previous winners.

Afterwards I watched the Italian final and Giovanni and his partner won so really pleased for him.

The Italian trophy was HUGE!

It absolutely was!