Ballroom Blitz - the sequel!

Roll up, roll up! Here we go again with another go on the Strictly dancefloor, 8 new couples, anyone else getting a touch of deja vu?

Natalie and Vincent

So it's Natalie that draws the short straw and goes first (or is it, if the dancing first paradigm plays out once again?). Brillaint choreography from Vincent, it reminded me of the vintage Anton-Patsy Palmer tango from many years ago. But was it just me or did Natalie have a sudden freakout face-pulling moment halfway through? That was probably the dreaded I'm-standing-on-my-frock-oh-crap moment we all have nightmares about. All in all a rather promising start.

Zoe and James

Loving the VT footage of James 'eyes of a killer' Jordan, not loving his Gary Rhodes hair. And omg what a horrific choice of music! Thankfully Zoe seems to have natural grace in buckets (not a very graceful metaphor I admit). The judges were right; simple elegance. However, two eights seems a tad extravagant, maybe it's just because I don't get the technical side of the waltz.

Craig and Flavia

The magic of television means Craig was having a bust-up with Rosie Webster on the other side, good to see the fellow Lancastrian can multi-task. Fabulous dress for Flavia, genius song choice...it was all going so well until they got into hold! And I think we need a psychological study of the effect of nerves on the men's mouths! I wouldn't write Craig off at this stage, he certainly has potential even if he didn't shine tonight.

Richard and Lilia

And here we go with the horsey jokes, are you ready for a full series of them? Lilia looks like a pocket princess, Richard looks like he's glad its over. I can only describe the judges' reaction as a good-natured savaging. He wasn't as bad as Joe, but I don't think it looks good for Richard.

Laila and Anton

I still can't get over how amazingly fabulous Laila's pink dress in the promo footage is. Let her wear it in the show! Saying that she got a pretty good dress tonight too, lucky thing. And thank god Anton gets to flex his ballroom muscles with some proper choreography for once! Beautiful pivots, I myself did not notice this alledged limp hand and like Len i'm not bovvered.

Tufty (his official name on this blog) and Katya

Poor Mr Tufty started to look more and more nervous as the dance approached, but overall it really wasn't that bad- who would have thought?! He seemed as surprised as the rest of us too! Is Phil in fact the dark horse? If Len says you have the best footwork then you're on to something...

Jo and Brendan

I know she isn't really famous for much else, but do we really need to know the ins and outs of her marriage in the opening VT? Nevertheless, for once the dress department managed to dress an older woman rather well AND she got some foxy shoes! I normally don't like tangoes to that sort of music, but Brendan certainly made it work and it was a great routine. Too bad it looked like she and Brendan were doing different dances! Saying that, a three from Craig was harsh.

Ricky and Natalie

Like last week, the most hyped contestant comes last. Loving Natalie's use of brooms and elastic bands in training, we do like a creative pro! Very prolonged start, I know all of you sitting at home were thinking 'oooh Len won't like that!' and I also know you all gasped at the stumble. Thankfully Len didn't go on about it and started heaping on the praise, seriously a nine in week ONE?!

Group dance - Wacko Jacko spectacular!

Karen Hardy works her magic once more, I think that was one of the best group dances I've ever seen on the show (next to the Jitterbug and Dirty Dancing medlies). Craig was right that Joe looked like he was in the room with us. Ricky's moonwalk was indeed fab, but he does only seem to be able to dance with his mouth open. And hurrah for ravishing Rav! I also can't explain it, but Chris is just such a likeable dancer. As a final note, loved Ali's dress, she looked like Little Boots!

Well, that's me for tonight. No idea who is going to go at this stage, as we know you can't always rely on the bottom two! Clover will be with you for the latin tomorrow!