Disco Salsa vs Actual Salsa

Just what is Kevin pointing at?

Are you sitting comfortably? Strictly snacks at the ready, phone on silent, Twitter all fired up? We're into week 5 now, and the series is comfortably underway, so let's get down to it...

Georgia and Giovanni
I have never seen so many shimmies in one place. For some reason the producers seem scared of doing latin-themed salsa, but this had a lot more content than a lot of the other *shudder* disco salsas we've seen. As with last week, Giovanni gave her a lot to work with and loads of steps, and she managed to keep the energy going throughout the whole thing. The lifts were a bit off, in that she stood still for a second to do a run-up to each one like a kid doing a handstand in the playground.

Carol and Pasha
Ah, a nice safe ballroom number for Pasha to propel Carol through. Saying that, she no longer looks like she's going to fall over when she's out of hold, although her random arm wafting was a bit odd and she looked quite lost at times. Not much to say, it was ok, but she's in the death slot and could be in trouble this week.

Anita and Gleb
That awkward moment when you turn up for Halloween a week early dressed as gothy Dothraki. This could have suffered the curse of the modern tango, but surprisingly it didn't. I loved Len's panther analogy, it was dark and mysterious, just in a different way. And the song worked, the beat underneath it was great and they managed to put staccato into something I wouldn't expect. Anita is going to come up the inside track and overtake the headline-grabbers, just you wait and see.

Peter and Andre
I was DREADING this, I was cringing at the mere thought of it I was expecting faces of Carol Vorderman proportions. In the end was decent, there was a bit of hip action and the arms were good. And then that 'beating heart' movement appeared and I wanted to hide behind a cushion. Nice Princess Jasmine outfit on Janette though, and we've made it through the Andre rumba and never have to see it again.

Kirsty and Brendan
Well there was training footage in the VT, who would've thought that sort of thing existed? This was easily her best dance; it moved well and the routine was complete. Maybe because of the simplicity of the Viennese Waltz and not having to worry about projecting out? Rather overmarked, but whatever, she's not the worst this week.

Ainsley and Natalie
Ainsley doing a jive dressed as a neon pink chef, this is our Saturday nights now. Natalie as ever looks absolutely fabulous and can style out anything. Ainsely's shoulders were once again way too high, he's starting to resemble the Hunchback of Notre Dame with spangles. It was rather messy, which we've come to expect, but he was doing plenty of jive steps - although I wonder if it was good enough to survive another week?

Jamelia and Tristan
After the spangle-tastic surprise of last week's Charleston, Jamelia is finally back doing some ballroom for the first time since week 1. And in a neon pink ballroom maternity dress of all things. This was better than her car-crash waltz, her frame looked a lot better and she did have a good bash at the footwork. She lost her way a bit towards the end, and did some amusing 'eek, what the frig is going on?' faces.

Katie and Anton
Well this was hilarious, these two are so British it was perfect to do it very tongue-in-cheek. Also, the outfits were straight out of Dirty Dancing 'parents at Kellermans' style, which brightened my day immeasurably. And Katie doing more dancing than Anton, hilarious - quite disappointed that this was the time for the judges to have a sense of humour bypass. There were mistakes, but it was totally a salsa, with salsa-based music, which is revelatory enough these days.

Jeremy and Karen
A lovely, simple routine from Karen, to show that Jeremy can do a ballroom routine without jazz hands or comedy choreography - no need for Bruno to go off on one. Jeremy was also totally lost in the dance, I loved how he seemed to have a ponderous moment halfway through. Karen looks delightful too, they'd better get through or I won't be happy. 

Helen and Aljaz
This was a bit...underwhelming? It was a quickstep, there were steps and nice music and a pretty frock, but not much to write home about. Helen seemed a little uncomfortable at times, but as ever executed the routine very well. Maybe it was the routine? I feel like I missed something, but if you liked it, fine by me...

Jay and Aliona
I love Bon Jovi Paso, I do, especially when it's the Bon Jovi song with my name it in. This was the textbook example of how a paso to rock music works - it totally suited Jay's moody Game of Thrones demeanour too. Great shaping, and like Darcey said, those flamenco arms were awesome. A return to form after the quickstep stumble.

Kellie and Kevin
The training footage on ITT looked sha-mazing, and maybe while not quite the same sharpness, this was pretty good on the night. If it wasn't for Jay's jive two weeks ago we'd have been going crazy for this. Great kicks and flicks, loads of arm work, and as ever great musicality from Kellie - plus a foxy Chicago-esque dress. Her best dance so far.