The problem with Strictly Come Dancing this year was that as soon as the utterly hilarious Ed Balls got voted off in week 10, it turned into a big snoozefest.  He was the only reason why I watched it for as long as I did.  He was the only celebrity that didn’t have the charisma of a carrot!  The prospect of watching a final featuring Danny Mac, Louise Redknapp and Ore Oduba, filled me with about as much enthusiasm as seeing ten massive Brussels sprouts piled upon my Christmas dinner plate, i.e. an ordeal.  That said though, over the last few years I have become rather partial to the odd sprout or two(my face nearly turned purple once when trying one as a kid),  Therefore, I decided I was going to try and view this final with an open mind.  I just did not want to see though a nauseating, happy clappy two and a half hours plus of ballroom dancing like I feared I might!

The show got off to a full-on glitzy start as Donna Summer’s booming tune ‘When Love Takes Over’, was belted out as the three finalists were theatrically lowered on to the dance floor from the heavens high above.  It was an impressive opening which made think that perhaps my prior misgivings about this final could have been misplaced after all.

What we got however was a final that could have been entitled, ‘The Good, The Bad and The Excruciating Non-Stop Ugly Sobbing.  I bet the producers of Long Lost Family and The X-Factor looked on like proud parents.  Anyway, more about the sobathon later, lets now deal with the good stuff first!

Firstly, Strictly should be applauded because in this day and age of niche channels and programming, Strictly is a rare show that appeals to all the family.  Yes, this final was too formulaic and drawn-out , but the basic format worked.  All couples had their first dance chosen for them by the judges.  This was then followed by their showstopping show dance and then finally they performed their favourite routine that they had previously done in the series.

You cannot help but take your hat off to the dancing that the celebs did.  Ore and Joanne decided to dance their famous jive once more and it really was one of the best dances that you’re ever likely to see on Strictly(they scored a maximum forty).  There was also this lovely heartfelt moment by hyper judge Bruno Tonioli, when he said of Louise’s and Kevin’s show dance, ‘the best lift was the one that you gave to my heart’.  Most of the contrived soppy stuff was irritating beyond belief but I was genuinely moved by Bruno’s words here.

The best bit of this final was when there was an extended tribute section to the retiring head judge Len Goodman.  It gave rise to the funniest line in the show by co-presenter Claudia Winkleman(although in fairness it was her ONLY funny line in one hundred and thirty-five minutes) when she said of Len, ‘he calls himself a cup of tea in a world of skinny lattes’.  Again, the emotion conjured up in this tribute part felt genuine and not contrived.  Yes, there were tears a plenty but I didn’t mind them on this occasion.

Lets now deal with the bad and ugly stuff.  The producer/s need to be sent their P45s because on numerous occasions I felt totally exasperated watching.  Firstly, after Ore and Joanne had finished their first dance which was a tribute to Gene Kelly’s Singing in the Rain, there kept on being reaction shots of this unfamiliar man and woman in the studio audience.  It was the bit when the judges say something nice about the dance that they’ve just seen and we see reaction shots of say the celebrity’s Mum, Dad or spouse.  Who were this strange couple though because we had never seen them before? The lady looked a bit like the singer Annie Lennox but it was all very bizarre.  Then, when Ore’s scores were given we were told that this unknown lady was in fact Gene Kelly’s widow Patricia.  Might have been a better idea to have introduced who she was as soon as their dance had finished me thinks!

A second gripe I have is one that bugged me all series.  When Claudia talked to the couples who had just danced, she then repeatedly mentioned that their loved ones were there watching in the studio audience, cue cringe worthy reaction shots and embarrassed giggles by said loved ones.  It was just over-the-top soppy tosh in an attempt to make us all go, ‘awwww’.  For example, she said to Ore after his final dance, ‘I worship your parents…your wife was sobbing’.  Yep, I had got the point at that stage that somehow they thought a BAFTA was more likely if they could make us sob as much as possible.

The sobathon was that non-stop that it felt like the programme was drowning in its own tears.  For instance, as soon as Tess started the link about how much the celebrities wanted to win Strictly, I therefore knew what soppy guff was then heading my way very soon.  In a passionate speech Danny Mac said to us that winning, ‘would be the greatest achievement of my life’.  Am I the only one who was amazed by this statement? Really, winning Strictly beats everything else you have done in your life thus far, really mate?? At this stage I think I uttered the words, ‘what a load of absolute bilge’, for about the tenth time.

My final moan about the final is again a criticism that could be levelled at the overall series.  It is to do with the UNFUNNY cringe worthy joke/sketch that Claudia and Tess did in each show.  This one revolved around Claudia pretending to lower down with rope, a big mirror for Danny’s show dance later on, only then to smash it when giving Tess a high-five.  It was about as funny as doing the quick-step with a bad dose of piles.  The producers need to cut these lame jokes out of the next series for crying out loud.  Claudia can be naturally witty doing funny one-liners and ad-libbing, so harness this strength of hers more instead.

The final result of the final was a nice shock when underdogs Ore and Joanne beat the big favourite Danny Mac(the dancer) with his pro-partner Oti.  By that stage I didn’t think it was possible for Ore to cry anymore but somehow he managed it for us, hooray!

It was not a bad final however as you’ll have gathered by now, I think the producers spoiled it by trying to make it too much of a sobfest.  Len Goodman on his retirement said, ‘I will miss everything about the show’.  I have to disagree with this Strictly legend because the only thing that I will miss from this series is….GOODNESS, GRACIOUS, GREAT ED BALLS OF FIRE! 3/5.