The judges and public alike go wild for a stunning Showdance: in the history of Strictly Come Dancing, a grand total of seven Showdances have achieved full marks, and they can make the difference between winning the Glitterball Trophy and going home empty-handed.

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But it's not something you can just throw together.

Speaking at a press conference in London, Strictly finalist Kevin Clifton explained: "I actually think the Showdance is the most difficult one to choreograph, because when you've got week by week, you're given a dance – say, 'Oh this week you're doing foxtrot, and it's movie week and you're doing this movie.'

"That's sort of the easiest thing to do because there's boundaries to it. You're playing this character, this is the dance, you've got this bank of steps, you make something out of it that is your own. You've got these rules to go by.

"When it comes to Showdance they just go, 'Oh you can do what you want.' So you can pick any song in existence, any kind of props, any kind of style. It's almost too blank a sheet of paper, so it's quite difficult to go in one direction of what you want to do."

But yet again the professionals have stepped up with their choreography. Here's everything we know about the Strictly Showdances for 2016...

Ore Oduba & Joanne Clifton

Ore and Joanne will be performing a Showdance to I Got Rhythm by George and Ira Gershwin

Joanne explained: "Because I thought he suited the characterisation quite well and stuff like Gene Kelly and Fred Astaire - that kind of thing - I've done it to I've Got Rhythm.

"All I'm going to say is, we've got massive props."

Louise Redknapp & Kevin Clifton

Louise and Kevin will be performing a Showdance to One Moment in Time by Whitney Houston

Having set out the difficulties of choreographing a Showdance, Kevin revealed: "I just decided for ours in the end, it's going to be based on Louise.

"I found that's the best thing for me to do, go towards Louise and her story on Strictly: how she's developed from the beginning to the end. So that's what our dance is based on."

We also know there will be lots of spinning.

Danny Mac & Oti Mabuse

Danny and Oti will be performing a Showdance to Set Fire To The Rain by Adele

Oti joked that she might have had "the same dream" as Kevin, as she'll be showcasing her celebrity partner and his Strictly journey.

"Ours is about Danny actually as well," she explained. "We tried to make it about the journey that not a lot of people got to see, because I think when you start with your first dance you have three weeks to prepare for one dance, and our three weeks was like, 'You're going to smile. you're going to look confident. You're going to look like you own it because you're the best.' But people didn't get to see that he came in like, 'I can't do this, I can't do this.'

"So it's really me saying, 'Danny this is all about you, this is how you accepted who you are and began to see the worth in you through this dance.'

"And we're just hoping that people can kind of get it and understand it and see that he's grown through this competition and Strictly has made him a better person."

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The Strictly Come Dancing final will air at 6.40pm on BBC1

Authors

Eleanor Bley GriffithsDrama Editor, RadioTimes.com
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