Met up with friends last night to watch the final of Strictly Come Dancing and boy what a terrific final it was - I have watched this show since episode one of Series One and have to say that this one was the best ever from the point of view of ability. Natasha Kaplinski, winner of Series One, was in the audience and she said that she would have never made it beyond week one now as standards are so high, and she is right. What is such fun about this show is watching the improvement week after week of those taking part, and the way confidence grows. This year it was Lisa Snowden, who most people thought would be out very early on, she was gawky all over the place and no style at all, and yet here she was in the final turning in a stunning performance. Last year Letitia Dean, one of the obligatory East Ender celebs which the Beeb seem to feel must appear in each series, arrived, overweight, unhappy after a divorce and breakdown, totally lacking in any sort of self esteem and she was lucky to be teamed with Darren Bennett, who always seems to me to be an absolute sweetie, thought as a tough professional, I am sure he cannot be all sweetness and light. No matter, she got better week by week and though she did not make the semi finals, by the time she left, weight had been shed, confidence blossomed and she was transformed into a beautiful happy woman.
My favourite, Austin, was voted out a few weeks ago much to my disappointment so I had to switch allegiance to Tom Chambers which was not difficult as he is such an engaging character and boy, what a natural dancer. The judges seemed to consistently under mark him and it would seem, from the Strictly message boards that others felt the same, while they consistently over marked Rachel Stevens who they seemed determined to propel into the final.
After the fiasco of last week's voting feelings were running pretty high, but the BBC quite rightly showed the public voting figures of the semi final and it was clear that Tom had the support of the public which he really needed as a stumble in his first dance this week put him down low again and I really thought he had blown it.
Well, I will not bore you with a blow by blow account of it all, but in the end the final result is always, but always decided by the show dance. When I heard that Tom and Camilla were dancing to If they Could see me now from the show Sweet Charity, I knew we would be in for something terrific and we were. He came out onto the floor with the style and grace of Astaire, no higher praise as far as I am concerned, and that was it. I knew he had won then and there. Stunning.
So a lovely evening. And the reason? Very simple. A great show, full of fun, drama, humour, entertainment, exemplary and gracious behavior from all contestants, extra dances from the professionals and a line up of past winners, glitter, excitement and, not a Jonathan Ross moment in sight, viewing figures are going to be huge.
The past winners danced to 'Let me Entertain you' and that is what this show did in abundance.
Great stuff and I loved every moment.
