Silence Is Golden

Dec 17, 2021 by Rob

The ‘will she/won’t she take part?’ AJ injury saga has at least livened up the final week of Strictly 2021. Given the ongoing fitness concerns surrounding AJ, TPTB probably regret not initiating a bye week following Robert Webb’s exit from the show, as this would have allowed them more wiggle room regarding this year’s final.

It was a huge shame for Rhys and Nancy that Webb’s withdrawal from this series robbed them of a final place. There is no doubt we would have been watching a Rose, AJ, John, Rhys final under normal circumstances.

Semi-final judges’ leaderboard:

Rose and Giovanni: Waltz – (4) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 – Argentine Tango – (8) – 10, 10, 10, 10 = 40 = 79
AJ and Kai: Quickstep – (2) – 10, 10, 10, 10 = 40 – Rumba – (6) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 = 79
John and Johannes: Couple’s Choice (Contemporary) – (3) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 – Jive – (7) – 9, 10, 10, 10 = 39 = 78 – bottom 2
Rhys and Nancy: Tango – (1) – 9, 9, 9, 9 = 36 – Samba – (5) – 9, 10, 10, 9 = 38 = 74 – eliminated

On the eve of the final, it remains unclear whether AJ will be able to take to the floor tomorrow night. Whether it ends up a 3-couple final or 2-couple final it is hard to see how either AJ & Kai or John & Johannes can land a significant blow, with Rose & Giovanni winning the hearts of the nation and looking unassailable on the public vote.

The first routines of the night will be the judges’ choices. They have gone with John’s Week 7 rumba, which scored 35 (8, 8, 10, 9), AJ’s week 1, 34-scoring jive (8, 8, 9, 9), and Rose’s Week 9 quickstep which scored 37 (10, 9, 9, 9), the 10 coming courtesy of Cynthia Erivo. Votelines will open after all three couples have performed their first dance of the night.

The second round of dances will be the showdances, with the house gospel choir called upon for all three songs. Rose’s showdance will incorporate the biggest prop in Strictly history. Her and Giovanni’s routine has been described as an elegant, romantic number, lyrical in nature, and involving lifts set to ‘The Rose’ by Bette Midler.

John’s showdance, accompanied by ‘You’ve Got The Love’, has been choreographed by Jason Gilkison, with Argentine tango, Charleston and some other genres also featuring in their dance medley.

Pre-injury, AJ suggested her and Kai would be throwing the kitchen sink at their routine involving lifts, tricks, and a mix of ballroom and Latin set to Beyonce’s ‘Runnin’’, but that was before a serious ligament injury put AJ’s final participation in doubt.

In the last round of dances on the evening, the couple’s choices, Rose and Giovanni will reprise their heartstrings-tugging Couple’s Choice (Contemporary) routine from week 8 which was the moment of the series. You could argue it won’t resonate quite as powerfully second time around but it will still have huge impact and be enjoyed by the audience.

AJ and Kai will reprise their Week 7 Charleston, and John and Johannes their Week 3 paso doble. All three of these routines scored 39 first time round, so we can probably anticipate Craig dusting off his 10 paddle and some maximum scores being awarded to climax the series on a feel-good note.

That is, as long as AJ is able to get through her three routines unscathed on the night, and without her injury flaring up. She really couldn’t have asked for three more punishing routines in jive, a showdance and Charleston, and the quality may well suffer due to severely restricted training hours this week.

One of the most intelligent ideas put forward this week came from Vithun on Twitter:

https://twitter.com/VitIllankovan/status/1471428977780830209

There could easily be a degree of sympathy that creeps into the AJ vote, especially if we see her going through some physical and emotional turmoil during the evening. But even if AJ comes out to perform her showdance on crutches it still looks unlikely this will be enough for her to outpoll Rose, with John’s semi-final dance-off appearance confirming he has it all to do from third place going into the pv-only final.

Please do let us know who got your Strictly 2021 final vote on our exit poll which will open during tomorrow night’s show:

Strictly 2021 Exit Poll – Grand Final

Final dances and songs:

Judges’ choice –

AJ & Kai – Jive to ‘Gold Dust’ by DJ Fresh (week 1, 34 – 8, 8, 9, 9)
John & Johannes – Rumba to ’Shape of My Heart’ by Sting (week 7, 35 – 8, 8, 10, 9)
Rose & Giovanni – Quickstep to ‘Love is an Open Door’ from Frozen (week 9, 37 – 10, 9, 9, 9)

Showdances:

AJ & Kai – medley of ballroom and Latin to Beyonce’s ‘Runnin’’
John & Johannes – medley inc. Charleston and AT to ‘You Got The Love’ by Florence + The Machine
Rose & Giovanni – romantic, lyrical routine incorporating giant prop to ‘The Rose’ by Bette Midler

Couple’s choice –

AJ & Kai – Charleston to ‘Don’t Bring Lulu’ by Dorothy Provine (week 7, 39 – 9, 10, 10, 10)
John & Johannes – Paso doble to ‘He’s a Pirate’ from Pirates of the Caribbean: The Curse of the Black Pearl (week 3, 39 – 9, 10, 10, 10)
Rose & Giovanni – Couple’s Choice (Contemporary) to ’Symphony’ by Clean Bandit feat. Zara Larsson (week 8, 39 – 9, 10, 10, 10)