Strictly Come Dancing Final

There were quite a few dances for the three finalists to perform tonight. Fist they had to do their favourite ballroom routine. Denise and Ian kicked off with a fabulous Quickstep which earned them the first two 'ten' marks of the series from the judges. Jill and Darren performed a Foxtrot. The judges observed that it was a harder dance than the quickstep, and although executed well, scored them slightly less than Denise & Ian. Julian and Erin got disappointing scores for their Quickstep in comparison, but still their best marks of the series. Although they are the underdogs of the final, I thought their ballroom routine was very good and enjoyable to watch nonetheless.

Like the X Factor final we had a few montages of all the dancing contestants rehearsing and performing. For their Latin routine, Denise and Ian performed their samba which had been such a hit for them a few weeks ago. Due to a slippery floor, Denise was inhibited somewhat and seemed to lose her footing for a couple of steps but regained them admirably. Jill and Darren's Jive was always a popular routine and they scored 10/10 from all four judges. Julian and Erin struggled with the samba, and got a low score. Julian has always been slightly awkward with the masculine and passionate Latin dances.

The final judges score put Jill in first, Denise second and Julian third and it was up to the public now. Also in the first show we saw mini-routines form all the eliminated contestants.

In the second show the three finalist competed together in the Viennese Waltz. The judges commented, but did not score, however all praised Denise and Jill.

At this point it was revealed who was in third place and this was Julian and Erin. This was no real surprise to anyone, least of all them, as they were the weakest couple left in the competition and both Jill and Denise had evolved into proper dancers. The left by performing their freestyle routine, a kind of Top Gun/Officer and a Gentleman pastiche.

Denise and Ian performed a lively routine which took little steps from all the dances they had performed, as well as a few lifts, which would not be easy as Denise is very tall, and as an athlete, quite muscular (although still slim). Jill and Darren also performed a very good routine. Both got glowing reviews from the judges, who did not score them.

After a final routine from Bruce Forsythe accompanied by the eliminated contestants, the winners were announced to be Jill and Darren. The were a very good couple and deserving winners.