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Strictly Come Dancing 2018 - The Grand Final

So the grand final of Strictly has been and gone, many apologies for not posting this sooner.  I had all the intentions and with the run into Christmas, I never got around to posting it.  However, it was a night full of wonderous dancing and amazing performances.

The pros kicked off with their opening dance introducing the four finalists for the evening.  In the order they will be performing, please welcome  Ashley Roberts and her partner Pasha Kovalev, Stacey Dooley and her partner Kevin Clifton, Faye Tozer and her partner Giovanni Pernice and finally Joe Sugg and his partner Diane Buswell.

So the first dance of the evening for the four couples is a dance chosen by the judges.  They choose a dance they have already performed in an earlier week which they feel could be improved on from when it was first performed.

Ashley was given her Salsa from Week 3 which was her Dirty Dancing routine in Movie week.  In week 3 she got a score of 35.  Whilst it was a good routine and obviously iconic dance, and yes the lift was carried off well, I wasn't that enamoured with it the first time.  I somehow feel her legs should be together in the lift, I would have to look at the original again to check but I still wasn't blown away in the final.  However, the judges seemed to think it was perfect giving her a score of 40.

Stacey had to dance her Foxtrot from Week 4.  I remember this being okay but nothing special and the faffing about with the motorcycle annoyed me.  It was much the same the second time around, too much faffing but the dancing itself was okay. The judges gave her a score of 33 the first time which increased to 39 tonight.

Third up was Faye who was given her Viennese Waltz from way back in Week 2.  I remember this one because I didn't like it at the time, it was too fierce and angry for the VW.  However, the judges liked the take on it back then and feel like she can improve upon her first performance.  Obviously, the routine wasn't going to change so the chances of me liking it a second time were slim to none.  Again the judges liked it, increasing her score from 31 in Week 2 to a perfect 40 for the final.

Finally, it was Joe and he was given his Paso Doble from Week 7.  I remember thinking how impressed I was with this routine but he had a bit of a wobble on the knee slide.  It turns out he came out of it on the wrong foot which is why it looked wobbly.  So he'd obviously worked on that and his free arm as well.  The final performance looked more polished and I loved his cheeky little grin when he got the knee lift right.  A great improvement from 34 up to 39.

So after the first dance, we have two dancers on 40 and two on 39.  A close call but for me, Joe was the best in the first dance.

Now onto the Showdances.  These are the dances which give the pros a chance to choreograph a dance which highlights the best in their celeb partners, showcase what they have learnt and generally give a spectacular dance without any restrictions on lifts, steps or techniques.  However, I feel this season they have lost their impact a little with the introduction of the Couples Choice which is not quite as much freedom as the Showdances but fewer restrictions than the usual dances.   You can find the links to all four Showdances in this article.

Ashley chose a very contemporary style to her showdance.  It was visually beautiful, the lifts were perfectly executed and the timing was impeccable, especially using the revolving stage.  There were no wobbles or missed cues.  The whole thing was quite incredible to watch, however, the only thing for me is, as I mentioned earlier, it was too much like her contemporary Couples Choice dance so it lost a lot of its impact over me.  Nice but not special.

Next up was Stacey and I was looking forward to this as Kevin had been building up the excitement for this during the week by saying it was something never before seen on Strictly and would require perfect timing to pull off.  Talk about an anti-climax, Kev!   This whole routine felt disjointed, rushed and not much dancing. It was more just running around from mark to mark and not at all the type of quality we have come to expect from Kevin.  Disappointing.

Next was Faye and what a contrast to Stacey.  This dance was pure old school class.  It was elegant, entertaining and stylish.  Giovanni knows exactly how to show off his celeb and their expertise.  Faye looked confident during this routine, she knew she could dance like this and the sections on the top hat were sublime.  A proper traditional style dance, straight out of the old dance halls.  Perfect performance.

The final showdance was Joe's and it was completely different from all the other showdances and also different from anything we've seen from Joe so far.  It was as if Dianne gave him the freedom to be himself and the confidence to break free of the confines of technique. However, there still seemed to be a bit of running around but not as much as Stacey.  There were some great steps and recognisable steps in the routine but what really showed was Joe's enjoyment.  Frantic but fun.

So the showdances scored 40 for both Faye and Ashley, 39 for Joe and 36 for Stacey.  My favourite was Faye, she's topp(Hat)ed out for me.

Finally, the third dance from the finalists is their own choice.  This is usually a dance they scored high on or just generally enjoyed performing in a final bid to impress.

Ashley chose to dance her Charleston again.  This was from back in Week 6 and I thoroughly enjoyed it back then. I was pleased they chose to do this, it was fun and quirky but also technically perfect and fantastic to watch.  I don't like her much but I do like this routine from her.  It was so good to see her embrace her fun side and not the usual pouting show-off she usually comes across as. Perfect 40 once again but deservedly so.

Stacey and Kevin chose to revisit their Paso Doble from week 10.   I always love Kevin's Pasos, he seems to excel at them and this was good the first time around.  Apart from an unfortunate wardrobe malfunction at the end (it was a flesh coloured bodysuit but looked like something else. Surely a black bodysuit would have been much better?), this was a great routine and deserved her 39 points from the judges.

Faye's final routine was her Couples Choice Jazz, again from week 6.  I was so excited to see this again.  Although it didn't have the same impact without the Halloween makeup, it was still in perfect sync and such an incredible routine.  Scoring 39 the first time because Craig marked her down for almost losing her glasses, this time not even Craig could fault her and she got the 40 score she truly deserved.  Amazing performance.

The final dance went to Joe and unusually they chose, not the best dance but an early dance.  They went for the Charleston from Week 2, according to Joe they wanted to do this again to see how much he had improved over the weeks.  This was enjoyable back in week 2 although a bit rough and ready.  This time, they had smoothed out the rough spots and raised their score a massive 7 points from 31 to 38!

Once again I put Faye on top so for me, Faye was the best performer on the night overall.  My rankings were as follows

Faye, Joe, Ashley, Stacey

However, the judges placed them as follows

Ashley 120
Faye  120
Joe  116
Stacey 114

However the final result is determined by public vote alone, the judge's scores have no impact on the final winner.  Whilst the votes are counted and verified, there was a performance from Michael Buble and the Class of 2018 take to the floor for one final dance (and yes Danny was back to feature in this).

Finally, it was time to reveal the Strictly Come dancing champions of 2018.  Drum roll please.........and it's Stacey and Kevin!!!! Whilst I was pleased that Stacey won (and not Ashley), I was even more thrilled for Kevin.  He is such a talented performer and teacher.  He has been on the show for six seasons and been a finalist for 5 of those years.  Even the year he didn't make the final, last year with Susan Calman, he took her further than anyone imagined.  He truly deserved this win, his reaction was adorable and it was so cute to see the first person over to him to congratulate him was his ex-wife Karen.  Still clearly so much affection between them despite their personal problems.

So ends another wonderful season of Strictly.  Now we face the long wait until next August when the next round of celebs are revealed. (I know there's a Christmas Day show but I already knew the winner of this was Aston Merrygold, thanks to the Strictly Spoiler)

Until next year then

Keep Dancing

Ratatouille Pasta Melt

Ingredients

• 1 onion
• 1 red pepper
• 150ml chicken stock
• 1 aubergine
• 1 courgette
• 2 x 400g cans chopped tomatoes with garlic
• 1 tsp dried mixed herbs
• Salt and freshly ground black pepper
• 150g dried wholemeal pasta, cooked in advance
• 200g mozzarella cheese, grated

Method

1. Peel and chop the onion, deseed and chop the pepper, place in a pan with the stock, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 5 minutes.
2. Trim and dice the aubergine and courgette, add to the pan with the tomatoes, herbs and seasoning, bring to the boil, cover and simmer for 15 minutes.
3. Stir in the boiled pasta and 110g mozzarella cheese. Pile into a shallow ovenproof dish and sprinkle the remaining cheese on top. Place under a preheated hot grill for 3-4 minutes until the cheese has melted. Serve sprinkled with black pepper.

Tip: Add 6 Syns on all choices if not using mozzarella cheese as a Healthy Extra

Sticky Pork Stir-Fry (SW Friendly)

Ingredients

500g lean pork cut into strips
1 tin of water chestnuts
1 tin of bamboo shoots
8 spring onions, each cut into 3 pieces
200ml boiling vegetable stock
4 level tablespoons of teriyaki sauce

Fry the pork in batches until all is cooked through.

Stir fry the bamboo shoots and water chestnuts for 3 minutes then add the spring onion for a remaining 1 minute.

Return the pork to the pan and add the stock and bubble until reduced by half.  Stir in the teriyaki sauce and heat through.


Serves 4