Strictly Come Dancing 2022 - Week 13 - The Final
Here we are, at another SCD Final. All four finalists so deserving of their place, from surprising to surviving, dazzling to death-defying (well, almost - just thinking about some of those lifts...!)
The Judges’ Picks were four really strong dances, though in some cases it was a tough job to improve on routines that were near perfect to begin with. Out of the four I felt that Helen’s Jive was the most improved. It was brilliant to see Molly bring back the Quickstep all the way from Week 2 and give it that extra polish. Hamza’s Salsa was amazingly rhythmic and still had the wow factor, and Fleur’s Samba was a masterclass from start to finish.
Out of the Showdances, Fleur’s was my favourite - I loved the Paso/Argentine Tango inspired content, and she danced it superbly. Closely followed by Helen - a completely different style of Showdance but one that really suited her and showcased her journey in a beautiful way. Hamza’s Ballroom-flavoured Showdance is the kind of dance that is right up my street and I love that he clearly loved that style of dancing, I just felt bad that the nerves got the better of him a little bit. Molly’s Showdance felt more like a Couples’ Choice to me (probably the one she should have done rather than a BBC Theme Tune/Grange Hill themed one, whoops), I would have liked to have seen more of the Ballroom and Latin she’d learnt over the 12 weeks (because she was so fab at it!)
I admit to initially being a little disappointed that we were going to see three Couples’ Choice routines for the Favourite Dances - because I’m an old-school SCD fan and I just love seeing the traditional Ballroom and Latin dances - but, in fairness, all three were fantastic choices. Hamza’s was so joyous and a real celebration of his culture, Fleur was an absolute powerhouse storming up the floor, and Helen rightly brought the house down with her amazing performance coupled with fantastic stylised moves. It was so beautiful to see something slower, precise and refined with Molly’s Rumba, which she danced and performed beautifully.
And the winners of Strictly 2022 are...Hamza & Jowita!
A very worthy winner in Hamza - he’s been a promising dancer from the start and has just grown throughout the series, bringing some incredibly memorable routines. Fantastic work from Jowita, too - it’s a real feat to win SCD in the first year of being in the main pro dancer line-up.
Though Hamza and Molly were my two favourite contestants across the series as a whole, Fleur was the strongest dancer in the Final for me - all three of her dances were amazing. I loved Helen too - it was so fitting she got to dance last in the whole show because her journey has been such a big one.
Another incredible series of SCD mastered and enjoyed to the max! Feel like there’s no other way to round off than to remember Hamza’s words of wisdom from his winners’ speech (which made me so emotional):
- Surround yourself with people whose eyes light up when they see you come in - The top of one mountain is the bottom of the next so keep climbing - Slowly is the fastest way to get to where you want to be
(we should all aspire to Be More Hamza)