Nice send-off for Len but parting thought is ‘Ore blimey’
Halfway through Saturday night’s marathon Strictly Come Dancing final, Craig Revel Horwood decided to play a game of guess the word: “One word. Three syllables. Begins with F.”
Craig’s word was, of course, fab-u-lous. However, by the end of the show some viewers may have been tempted to offer an alternative: Fi-i-ix.
As I like to believe in fair play and good intentions, I’m not going to raise my eyebrows too far on the subject of how rank outsider BBC presenter Ore Oduba managed to overturn the hot favourites, non-BBC presenter Louise Redknapp and non-BBC actor Danny Mac.
Sure, an emotional Len Goodman calling Ore “the spirit of Strictly” on his farewell judging shift probably helped.
Likewise, Darcey Bussell pointing out that she couldn’t even tell that (dance school graduate) Danny “wasn’t one of the professionals”. The BBC’s bizarre refusal to release voting figures will continue to add fuel to the fire, of course.
It’s all done and dusted now though. Ore may not have been the better dancer but he was the best performer on the night. Besides, we should focus on the fact that another fabulous series of the best talent show on TV ended on a wonderful high with that beautiful goodbye to Len. Filling the grumpy old git’s shoes is certainly going to be a massive job next year.
The producers also have another huge task – somehow managing to top this year’s unlikely hero, Ed Balls.
Good luck, guys. All you have to do is spend the next few months ensuring these 13 words are spoken on BBC1 next September: “Dancing the Lindy Hop, please welcome David Cameron and his partner Katya Jones.”