Rumour has it...it was a good 'un,.



Rawr!

Evening all, there's no Bruce tonight. Can we cope? I love having Bruce on the show, I'm not desperate for him to retire like everyone else, although I do love our Claudia! However, she does seem to have come dressed as a dental hygenist this week, but then again Tess is a casino waitress which is just as odd.

Denise and James/Ian

Poor Ian, always the bridesmaid, he's turning into a Strictly Miss Haversham, get him back on the main show! As for James, at least you're allowed to grimace all the way through the paso. Thought this was pretty good, I do love a proper paso flaring-nostrils drama. I'm not supposed to like her cos she's a ringer, but she's putting in great, exciting performances and we need plenty of that this series! And her dress is from the Strictly Superhero school of costuming, hurrah!

Richard and Erin

Erin looks wrong in a Charleston dress, she looks wrong in anything other than a floor-length ballgown. But what a pro, doing the Charleston with barely a grimace! It was a really fun routine actually, totally manic but that's what I want from this dance! Bit sloppy in places, but proper steps and (pretentiousness warning)....captured the spirit of the dah-ance.

Louis and Flavia

I actually swore when I saw that swing. I'd hoped it was kindling on someone's fire by now, maybe Michael could have another go with his axe? But other than that, what a delight! Loved how Flavia's dress made it look like a black and white film *sigh* Nice moment of calm and grace, until the judges went and had a major barny. Bruno went all Italian, Len went all cocker-knee, Craig went all waspy and Darcey was....er...there. The six from Craig was horrendous!

Fern and Artem

Fern seemed to be having a Pamela Stephenson moment, despite wearing a Letitia Dean cast-off. And wow, I've not seen so much nude mesh since Carol Voderman's seriously wrong rumba! I think this was actually my favourite dance from Fern, it was fun, full of steps and oomph. To speak like Len, after a few boring weeks someone's put a firework up her bum!

Victoria and Brendan

Wow, she looks amazing! And Brendan wore his comedy hat for all of three second, hurrah! Such a classic quickstep, I love it when they go for the old-school theming and Craig used the word gusto, one of my favourite Strictly words. It is all about the hold though, but I think we'd all grip on to Brendan in that situation...

Dani and Vincent

Best song choice of the night, oooh the drama! Nice to see a sharp, dark, punchy tango, there's been too many gimmicks recently. Wasn't too sure about the dress, not to sound like your granny, but I think I would have accepted the shorter hemline without the cropped top, bit too much. Fabulous underskirts though, and you don't get to say that very often these days. Great footwork and staccato, she really is turning into the dark horse!

Nicky and Karen

I notice the microphone wasn't used for the entire dance, as was implied in training this week, which promised to tangle itself around their legs and send them crashing to the floor. Again, he's better in ballroom (latin is really suffering this year!) but since it was a foxtrot I got a bit bored once they were in hold. Well done for the hard work and Karen's super-glitz dress though.

Kimberley and Pasha

It was lovely, there was a fleckerl and a princess dress. Len used the word whimiscal and Craig said delicious, I'm loving the Strictly vocab tonight. Delicious makes me want to compare it to a box of Hotel Chocolat choccies (does anyone want to pay us to advertise those?)

Michael and Natalie

It's latin time, I'm hiding behind a cushion. Well, it was better than the jive of doom...but that's not saying much. There was a lot of walking/jogging combined with the shaking-of-the-bum-that-is-not-hip-action. The lifts were good, but that was mainly down to Natalie's legs and turquoise pants. Pointing out Ramps was cruel, a reminder of the joys that went before...

Lisa and Robin

Is there anyone in the country having a better time on a Saturday night than Lisa Riley? Genius song choice, charming choreography and great teamwork. I didn't even hate the hats or the extended opening! I think this is also one of those partnerships where everyone is gunning for the pro as much as the celeb, go Robin!