Quickstep-a-thon-annon-annon

After Blackpool, it' s always like the January blues, after all the excitement and glitz there's always a bit of a comedown. On the plus side - so much training footage! Great to see them actually learning the dances rather than prancing about in a field dressed as llamas or whatever, I assume it was because of quickstep-a-thon time constraints, but who cares at the momen

Kellie and Kevin
Is Kevin modelling for the River Island sale rail again? I know wardrobe hate Kellie, but I quite liked her Barbie-does-salsa spangly top. The dreaded Jackson Five music actually had a vague attempt to be remade into something approaching a salsa number, thank heavens. But on the whole it seemed a bit meh, a run of the mill SCD salsa that no one will remember by next week. She's already been in the bottom 2 once, does the death slot not bode well?

Thank goodness it was the latinised version of the song - and the band did a pretty good job with it. Despite my moaning I don't expect all salsa dances on Strictly to be danced to the hits of Hector Lavoe, just some pinch of latin flavour would be nice. This had it. So, win. This wasn't bad, but it wasn't memorably great either. I wouldn't be too surprised to see these guys in the dance off. 

Katie and Anton
Anton's first AT, in case you hadn't picked up on the million and one times it was mentioned. Lovely outfits, but not too sure about Katie's sparkly bra, not very Radio 2. Really loved the scissor-tastic opening lift, but also that they didn't obsess over the lifts either. This was technically very difficult and executed pretty well, but was missing the sex appeal of the epic Argentine Tangos - but do you really want to see that from Anton?

Tangos and Argentine Tangos are starting to merge into each other. The hold for this wasn't correct - they couple should be leaning into each other - it would have helped Katie pick up on Anton's lead too. That comment of Craig's I did agree with, though from the perspective of a follower, it could have been Anton's lead that was a tad late, rather than Katie's picking-up-of-it, if he is unfamiliar with the dance, which we know he is.

Helen and Aljaz
Have they chopped the top half off of Katie's week 1 jive dress to make that gown for Helen? Nice to see her looking comfortable in a dance for once, she seems to have been on edge for weeks, but this was a delight. Well done on the choreography from Aljaz, lots of nice flourishes to add a bit of variation, but also not straying too far from the VW. All in all, a lovely a ballroom dance - and sometimes that's all we really want!

THERE it is. I may have moaned that Helen has been overmarked in latin (she has) but this was right up her street and quite evidently the best dance of the night. Absolutely beautiful and well deserving of 9s and 10s. The footwork looked good to me from what I could see. Mistakes in ballroom tend to be trickier to spot on TV than mistakes in latin. 

Jay and Aliona
Now this is what happens when you do a tango to appropriate music! Imagine if they'd made them do that routine to the Spice Girls or something. Absolutely loved this routine, it's what I want to see from a tango - staccato, sharp, sexy, serial killer faces. Gotta love a Game of Thrones face at a time like this. Easily his best since the Epic Jive of Epic-ness.

Eep. Again, I keep saying it, but this boy's musicality is to die for. I could watch him dancing all day. In terms of technique, he was too 'up' - should have been more into his knees. But the choreography was genius: played to his strengths, hit every accent and break, just...divine. What a talent. 

Peter and Janette
Well this was always going to be awkward after last week's drama...The song did a lot of the work here, along with them trying to bribe us with cake. It was alright, the hold was decent, but it wasn't very memorable. He did look really scared at the start actually, but then it was taken over with crazy faces that reminded me of Jake Wood.

OK. It was better than last week's. It really was. But it was still coated with a thick, saccharine layer of Andre-ness. He is unable to commit fully to a style or character. Where Jay and Anita (for example) are beginning to be able to 'live' the dance they're doing, and perform with conviction, Peter is just always 'Peter moving about', 'Peter moving his leg, 'Peter wafting his arms.' He's unable to escape himself and that is his biggest failing. 

Anita and Gleb
After that all-out-amazing paso last week, following it up with a rumba was always going to be hard. This flitted on the edges of contempo-rumba but thankfully not too much to be annoying, and lots of actual content. This wasn't a natural fit and wasn't ever going to be, but she'd obviously worked very hard and made a lot of headway - hopefully she'll never have to do it again and we can all move on...

Oh this wasn't Anita's best dance. Take it from me though, rumba is hard. It's hard to do without toppling over and requires such control. I don't think she was undermarked this week, and the judges' comments were more than fair. Nevertheless, I voted and voted to keep her in because she has such huge potential, but to have her in the dance off this week could end tearfully... 

Georgia and Giovanni
Loving Georgia's dress, it's a total Ola Jordan knock-off, she also looks a lot like Kristen Stewart in make-up like that. Also, props to her doing a massive solo at the start with full-on faces and nostril-flaring. This was waaay undermarked by the standards of this series, it had attack, lots of steps and commitment to the drama.

Nah, I think it was marked about right... I know Frankie likes a rock paso, but come on, The Final Countdown?! It's hardly hardcore. Anita was given such an advantage with her traditional music last week - the flavour and movements come so much more naturally with an authentic piece. Georgia didn't do a bad job with it at all but it didn't blow me away.

Quickstep-a-thon
Ooh we were all ready for a pile up!  There wasn't so much a pile-up as a lot of tentative, nervous people trying to smile. Here's a random stream of consciousness...Jay doing some amazing pivots and just Charlestoning when in trouble. Peter and Janette spending the first 30 seconds hogging the middle and hopping around. Helen and Aljaz flitting around looking delightful. Katie and Anton hiding in the corners. Scoring fair on the whole - apart from Jay being put much too low.

This was super hard to keep track of but Helen stood out, and to me, so did Jay. However, the camera didn't focus on any one couple long enough to make a thorough decision, so I will have to trust the judge's judgement on this. Wise, or not, I don't even know any more.

Blaaaackpool!

Blackpool camp? Never!

It's Blackpool! We blummin love Blackpool, it's probably our favourite episode of the series. Donkey jokes and sticks of rocks abound, but most importantly there's always such love for the Tower Ballroom and the history of dancing that comes with it. Also, it's always hilarious that they go at the worst time of year when it's freezing and raining, it's so British!

*Disclaimer*: Nothing against them personally, but we hate the backing dancers and they shouldn't be in any dance.

**Agreed - the arguments about the floor being too big don't stand either. Didn't stop earlier contestants...

Jay and Aliona
He's not had a great few weeks, so was hoping the magic of Blackpool would rub off on Jay with this salsa, and at least he had something vaguely approaching a salsa song. Too bad he was dressed in Kevin's dodgy latin cast-offs. Now there's two things I want in a salsa: armography and hips, and I do believe we got both in these. AND an attempt at looking funky from Jay - he wasn't going to go all jazz handy crazy (that's a technical term, that is), but he did seem like he was having a good time. A wee bit overmarked, but whatever, Blackpool!

I'd dance salsa with Jay after seeing this. From me that is a huge compliment. No, the song wasn't salsa but it's as close as the show will go, and at least was an attempt at something vaguely authentic in terms of mood. No issues with it at all. It didn't have the effortless suave of his week three jive, but it was pretty darned good anyway.

Jamelia and Tristan
Remember when Jamelia started doing ballroom and she could barely stand up? Well she just did a pretty decent quickstep - Tristian's shins are intact! She is operating at a lower level than the others, but this was her best dance since the Charleston and her best ballroom by a mile. Improvement and we didn't even have to shout GAPPING, which we normally love to do. Wasn't too sure about the 80s Barbie ballroom dress.

Jamelia's the last contestant in the competition who didn't start from being pretty good anyway (Anita may not have had training but she's quite clearly got natural ability.) Her first attempt at ballroom was like watching a mannequin being dragged about. She has improved immeasurably however. Others have not. She is eclipsing some *cough Peter*, not that you would know it from the comments. The judges talked as though she would be a dead cert to go this week, and in my opinion, she definitely danced better than two other couples... those scores are getting silly... 

Anita and Gleb
Epic dress, epic song, epic curtain-y things - EPIC paso. Also the backing dancers reminded me of the Unsullied from Game of Thrones, which kinda helped, I'm not going to lie. It was a tad over the top and camp, but if you're not going to do that with a paso you've wasted an opportunity. Also so technically sharp, and the Spanish line, ooof what a star!

Let's get the negative over with first. It didn't have a massive amount of paso content - it was very theatrical showdance - but nevertheless, it was absolutely stunning. Anita's characterisation and Spanish line were things of legend. And what a difference an appropriate song choice makes. Loved this. Dance of the night. And oh, topless Gleb.

Katie and Anton
Let's just take a moment to appreciate Erin dropping in for a chat, what a treat. Also what a dream of an old-school ballroom dress. This was Anton acting out his Blackpool dreams and it was everything we thought it would be. Not a perfect performance, bit wobbly on the lifts and I absolutely hate it when they dance with anyone other than their professional partners, but this is the kind of thing we come to Blackpool for.

I popped out the room and missed Erin. Fo' shame. This was perfect for Blackpool. It wasn't perfect technically definitely good enough to stay in. 

Peter and Janette
I thought jive was going to be a strong one for Peter, and he got a perfect song too. Saying that, I didn't think this routine was up to much, you have to really ramp it up for Blackpool and this was pretty underwhelming - lots of running backwards and forwards and not much else. Nice to see the judges actually mention it, was wondering how they were going to try and gloss over it actually, the two 8s were ridiculous. Quite liking Janette's family-friendly-stripper-banana-dress though.

This was abysmal. It hardly had any jive content and the bits there were, were executed by Peter terribly. Those 8s were not deserved and I am convinced that the judges were told to score that highly. Horrendous. Terrible, Dreadful. Appalling. Ghastly. Hideous. Heinous. Frightful. Lousy. I can't think of any more words without trying to find a thesaurus, so I'll stop, but I think you get the picture. Again, this is not really a reflection on Peter who may just have been having a bad week. It's the inflated scoring I have beef with. 

Georgia and Giovanni
These two have suddenly rocked up to the top of the leader board and caught everyone's eye, so Blackpool ballroom was going to be a big deal. This was pretty good, they had a big song to overcome, and her technique keeps on improving. Also, beautiful frock, super-girly without looking like a bridesmaid. This was the dance that suffered from the backing dancers the most though - I lost them more than once and it totally distracted from them as a couple - stop it producers.

Where Anita really stood out in her group number, Georgia kind of got lost in it. This is not due to Georgia's dancing but more to do with the choreography. She's a beautiful dancer and (I hope) a dead cert for the final. 

Helen and Aljaz
Absolutely adore Helen's camp classic outfit, reminds me of Lilia's Candyman jive outfit of legend. Wasn't sure how she was going to take to the Charleston, but she did pretty well, although like Craig said, maybe a bit too musical theatre and not enough raucous 1920s speakeasy. Saying that, I also thought this was the dance that Helen enjoyed the most for a long time, you could really see on her face that she was absolutely loving it.

Helen's an example of someone who has had lots of training but isn't really a natural.  At this point in the competition, I would be expecting that she would have a better grasp of the style  of each dance each week but this is not happening. And again, like Peter, this is not being reflected in her scores. Nevertheless, I much  preferred this to her  latin performances and actually quite enjoyed it. Again, like Peter, the fact that her scores are high in comparison to other dancers makes me inclined to be more negative about her performances than they really deserve - it's the scores I have issues with, not the dances themselves, which aren't bad... they're just not as good as they're made out to be. 

Kellie and Kevin
I saw this on ITT and it looked like props upon props upon human props and I was right, I thought one of those desks was going to wipe them out at one point. This seemed a wee bit underwhelming for the pimp slot, it was good, but not knock-you-socks off. The conga line of dancers was actually quite a fun touch cos Kellie was in charge of them all. Also, Kellie's top looked like one of those ones that you rip off Bucks Fizz-style halfway through a routine, I was waiting for Kevin to do some workplace harassment!

Cute, bubbly and brimming with joy, I did really enjoy this. I didn't think it was worth 10s but I guess it was the end of the show and it's Blackpool and everyone could have got all caught up in the excitement of it all. I say this because Kellie hasn't been consistently over-marked.

Strictly BB - Before Blackpool

Well this was a random episode, wasn't it? So much crazy going on, thank heavens it's Blackpool fun times next week. Let's get down to it...

Anita and Gleb
Death slot again? Pfft, Anita can't be stopped and slays it again! Princess dress and classy routine, and who cares if the song has been used before, it's such a wonderful choice. No gapping that we could see, don't care what you say Craig, as bouncing along in the elegant way a quickstep should, and great hold.

This was lovely. It wasn't perfect and probably received the correct scores. However, other contestants are being comparatively over-marked *cough Peter* *cough Helen* and their - sometimes quite significant - mistakes are completely overlooked. Eg. Helen's lack of latin leg action and Peter's questionable timing. Anita may lack a tiny bit of performance polish, but her natural musicality and energy probably make her - along with Jay - one of the most naturally talented dancers in the competition. Let's go all Lady Catherine D-B on this: had she learned (as a child), she would be a true proficient. 

Jay and Aliona
A foxtrot, now this was an interesting test for Jay, can he make a foxtrot interesting? Well we had the obligatory wafting your arms around for Aliona, obviously, but then again Jay wafts better than any other male contestant. It was all a bit weird, not to do with Jay's technique, but nothing seemed to fit quite right. And then he wacked her in the face, oops. I'm sure people are voting for them, but after the quickstep mistakes, you do wonder if he's being sabotaged by his nerves.

What a bizarre song to foxtrot to. And please can we stop pretending that there's such a thing as an 'American Smooth' when all the ballroom dances on this show now follow that format? This had such a contemporary feel, they might as well have been auditioning for So You Think You Can Dance. The weirdly poor British version. 

Jamelia and Tristan
This girl has had more ups and downs than Blackpool Pleasure Beach - there is your official Blackpool reference from this blog. I am loving Jamelia's 80s-tastic look, and it started well, but then it didn't really go anywhere. Her technique has definitely improved though, there is no way she could have done that a few weeks ago. Also, they just didn't look like they were dancing together, it was like they were trying to recreate when a dodgy bloke tries to accost you on the dancefloor and you keep dancing away trying not to look directly at them.

This was not good. Yes, Jamelia really can do the 'eyes and teeth' technique, but her actual samba technique? It was mostly just jogging to catch up with Tristan's increasingly questionable choreography. Then again, her improvement from the beginning of the series has been quite remarkable. She could be over-taking some of the others soon. 

Helen and Aljaz
I suddenly realised I was waiting for Helen to do this dance, she's not really suited to party dances and y'know, tango stiffness and overall haughtiness. And then I saw that Ajaz had been flocked like a reupholstered sofa. Also, why was Helen doing Carol Voderman rumba faces? And don't get us started on the song choice...amongst all that apparently there was a tango. I genuinely couldn't concentrate.

I'm going to be kind and say that Helen can do the movements. But movement alone isn't dance. And week on week, it's becoming more and more obvious to me that Helen isn't really dancing. She is incredibly poised and placed, which are great traits if you're a porcelain doll on a creepy grandmother's mantlepiece, and not so great if you're trying to win a televised dance competition. It could be that she's just not all that comfortable. So, actress..? Act.
Also, why was Aljaz dressed as Laurence Llewelyn Bowen?

Katie and Anton
Anton doing a rumba klaxon! Stand in a doorway or hide under the kitchen table as per regulations. This was cheesy as a wheel of brie, but I really quite enjoyed it. It was classy and stylish, and actually looked like a rumba, heavens to Betsy. Katie was totally into it and her technique was good. Well done girl!

Remember when week on week, the judges said to Rachel Stevens 'this should have been your dance' and then she did that rumba with Vincent and everyone was like, woah, we were not expecting her breakthrough to be rumba? Well, I'm pretty sure that everyone expected this to be a car crash. Not because of Katie at all, but well, because Anton and rumba go together like peas and chocolate mousse. But this was quite lovely. It was a rumba with... wait for it... rumba steps in it. It wasn't pose, move, pose, arm, pose. It was basics and fans and alemana turns. Beautifully executed too, yes a little melodramatic, but next to Peter's performances was positively staid. Loved it. 
  
Kellie and Kevin
I wanted to hate this....I didn't hate it 100%. If only because Kellie had a bit of samba technique going on there under the madness. And teenage me would have gone out wearing that skirt if she could've got her plastic bracelet-ed mitts on it. Kevin on the other hand seems to have gone over the edge, mid-life crisis maybe?

About the equivalent of a geography teacher trying to be cool circa 1996 when all this was so over but he hadn't noticed, or even realised that it was primarily novelty to begin with. It's Richard Madeley as Ali G. It's David Brent. It makes me dislike them despite my suspicion they had nothing to do with the theming or music.

Peter and Janette
Oh look Peter's children are finally with us. I was ready to vom at this VW, but it was actually a vague relief to see someone at least having a go at ballroom, and basically it wasn't Boom Boom Shake the Room and I'm exhausted. Good hold, but agree with Craig about the super-human effort in every step, he's still really blocky. Still slightly disorientated that it wasn't absolutely infuriating, so I guess well done Peter?

Did you ever watch Hebburn? One word: Gervaise. Peter's so corny he makes Mark Wright look like Gordon Brown. 

Georgia and Giovanni
Have really been enjoying these two the past few weeks, they've been working hard and putting together some great routines - and then they came and knocked it out of the park with this amazing Charleston! Great routine, so much choreography with changes of pace and gymnastical wonders of lifts. They were about four bars into this dance when I realised we were on to something special, think we may have witnessed a Strictly classic. 

This was great but all I could think was that if this didn't get 10s after Peter's undeserving foray into the top echelons of paddledom, I was going to throw my shoe at the TV. 

Jeremy and Kaen
Completely random theme! Jeremy bent double! John Cleese leg kicks! Karen just laughing her head off for the whole routine! We may have reached peak Jeremy, but if he doesn't get to Blackpool I will be sad. Also, Karen looks like a super-glamorous miner, and I'm glad they resisted the urge to put Jezza in a boiler suit.

Problem was that this became more about the theme and silliness than the dance. Contrary to popular opinion, I would say that in Jeremy's case this was actually the first week that had happened. Yes, last week's horse etc was on the random side, but I could see actual dancing. This week, not so much. His timing wasn't as on point as usual. His joy was still there though. Just let him learn to dance, please, don't turn him into a John Sargeant. He is so much more than that.

Samba Italiano

...don't worry, it's safe to come out from behind the sofa, the horrors of Halloween are over for another year. That also means we're now in November and Christmas is hurtling towards us, despite the fact there's still 10 celebs left! Claudia has even got into the Christmas spirit early by wearing a dress covered in baubles, how we love that woman.

Peter and Janette
Peter in the death slot? Oh my days, we thought it would never happen, and it means we get the Andre Sideshow out of the way early on. Not sure about Janette's wig, makes her look like Liza Minelli. Now, I saw the ITT training footage on Tuesday and called 10s straight away as part of the Peter redemption arc, it was always going to be a dance to suit him. It was good and the energy was off the scale, but it wasn't perfect; if you're going to do a whole routine based around synchronicity then you have to 100% nail it. Also, mouth choreography from the Jake Wood school, eg open it as wide as the Channel Tunnel.

Yep. The choreography was tricky and this was performed with the aplomb of a stage school brat in her first leading role as Annie. Enthusiastic, yes. Perfect, no. At first I thought there was a screen lag. Then I realised it was only affecting half my TV. Peter was a nano-second behind at many points. In dance, that's like a billion years and it was very noticeable. It was a fast and complicated routine, so there's no shame on Peter here. It's just it shouldn't have got 10s. Shame on you, judges. Or whoever is really deciding the scores.

Jamelia and Tristan
Well they got some nice outfits, as mentioned last week no one wants to go out in their Halloween outfit looking like a mouldy panda or and remnants of the dressing up box. Jamelia's ballroom has been pretty bad so far, and this was a marked improvement. The VW gives you a chance to really work on those ballroom basics, and while there were still some issues with hold this was a good effort. Whether it will save her for another week is a different matter, even with Len's walnuts on the line...

She's already in trouble so put the poor girl in the death slot. This was nice, and I loved Jamelia's red dress. It was also by far her best ballroom, if not her best overall dance yet. Problem with a Viennese Waltz in the death slot at this point of the competition - will anyone remember it? It would be a shame to Jamelia because she is improving and that is the point.

Carol and Pasha
Yes, Carol is still here. As lovely as she and Pasha are, I feel like their time should have come a few weeks ago. Her ballroom is definitely improved, but it's not going to get dramatically better. Also,  an Are You Being Served? theme is possibly the oddest choice for an American Smooth with a Shania Twain song, and a sherbet dip dress, so many odd mashups in that number!

I do agree with Frankie. They're the least competent couple now. Nevertheless, Bruno was incredibly harsh. Carol, like Jamelia, is improving. Some other contestants aren't and that isn't even being mentioned. 

Helen and Aljaz
Grey pyjamas, it just screams rumba, doesn't it? The VT with Helen's incredibly hammy friends was hilarious, get them their own naff ITV2 sitcom. I expect this to be balletic, and it was, but it was also a bit meh, they could have gone further and played to her strengths with amazing lines etc. Instead it gave us time to notice there was no hip action at all, it didn't even look like they'd tried to work on it. Three eights was daft, especially after the judges had been having a bit of a ding-doing about it.

Let's get real here. Helen's latin has not improved one bit. Her footwork was abysmal and her legs locked into a straight position like they were bound like that with duct tape. Len's inconsistent with his ranting, but I'm with him on this. This is like the Sorites Paradox of dance. How many rumba steps do you have to take out the rumba before it's no longer a rumba? 
So choreography poor, and technique poor, but 8s? Nonsense. Yes, she's balletic and graceful, Well stick her in a production of Giselle and be done. 

Jay and Aliona
First Argentine Tango of the series, and as my colleague at work said 'the idea of Jay doing the Argentine Tango gives me the googles', I'm still laughing. Also training footage in the VT and the Gotan Project, you are really spoiling us. This was a great, solid AT - it didn't blow me away but it was intense, had the old jigsaw legs and had the intricate footwork we like to see. Like the judges said, it lacked a bit of wow, but Jay's Game of Thrones faces and random moments of awkwardness make him human.

This was tricky because it did appear to be all about Aliona. But then in the Argentine Tango the man is a frame to display the lady. And Jay did that. It's just when it's supposed to be the male celeb at the centre of it, you'd expect to see more...him. So I thought back to my favourite Argentine Tango (nay, my favourite dance) ever, which was Mark and Karen. And they just had more of a noticeable connection than Jay and Aliona do. But this wasn't badly done at all, and he's still quite a exquisite dancer. 

Katie and Anton
More training footage, what the hell is going on, BBC? Nice to see a full-on-bit of ballroom too. It was a bit skippy in places, with a few stumbles from Katie; it's easy in the quickstep to make a mistake and lose the flow of the dance. A few gapping issues too, but they worked it out towards the end. Nice enough, but not winning material.

Ambitious and it's such a shame that this went a bit mibble in the middle. If this had gone well, I think we would have been smelling more 10s. But alas, this is the way it goes. I'm not convinced that this partnership can reach the final stages after that. If you can't ace a quickstep with Anton then there's little chance of acing anything else. But Katie is still delightful, she's doing well and is very much what the show is about. I can seen them doing a fabulous ballroom dance in Blackpool. Let's hope they get chance.

Anita and Gleb
I was very wary of the cleaners theme (I mean, why? ffs) but Anita actually looks as cute as a button, she can carry off pretty much any look. And as for it having a theme, it still had a hell of a lot of jive content in it, especially when you compare it to Helen's rumba. Anita is fearless and takes whatever you throw at her - including literally Gleb's body, he seems to want to hurtle at her at 100mph all the time! They did a great job, really sharp and full of energy. 

Not impressed that Anita didn't get clean dance (haha?!). By that, I mean, she didn't get one without an overt theme. Her technique is certainly not perfect, but at this stage in the competition Anita is squaring out to be the contestant with three magic things: natural dance ability, room for improvement and likeability. They are winning features. I now not only think she could win, I now think she will win. 
Lots of folks on Twitter complaining she wasn't wearing heels. Please tell me you believe that wasn't her decision. I think it could have helped her technique had she been wearing them, and I don't think she would have had much say about what was on her feet. 

Kellie and Kevin
What are those outfits about, they look like a pair of 1970s curtains. Also, excessive pointless faffing at the start, but once they got down to it there was a pretty nice waltz there. Kevin is the king of schmaltz and that sometimes works with numbers like this. Not much else to say, nice technique, nice flow, nice top line, it was all very....nice.

That I can barely remember this the day after doesn't bode well for these two. I have struggled to warm to any partnership in which Kevin is one half. There's a lack of authenticity. Don't ask me. I can't really put a finger on what I mean, but it's more him than her. This was nice, as Frankie says. I've nothing against it...

Jeremy and Karen
They are getting their money's worth out of that horse, aren't they? I always wondered what would happen when Jezza got something super-serious and non-smiley like the tango or paso, but then this happened. Although I do admit I was cackling away at the opening. It was a fairly decent stab at a tango, there were steps and skills and his great timing as ever. I'm also loving Karen's tiered saloon girl dress. I hope people are still voting for Jezza because SCD would be much less fun without him.

A HORSE! A HORSE! A TANGO FOR MY HORSE! It's like all these weird props, all these silly little dalliances with random swings, umbrellas, lightsabers etc, were all building up to this one surreal moment where there was a fake horse slap bang in the middle of the Strictly dancefloor. And there was Jeremy Vine, having a lovely time dancing in front of it. Jeremy is the heart of this year's competition. As I have stated before, he can dance. Yes, it's his own style. But it's dancing. He is pure joy. Long may he reign. 

Georgia and Giovanni
Nice to see these two graduating to the pimp slot, they've been plugging away at their dancing for weeks and it's paying off. The sight of beige samba outfits does make me want to weep though. So so so much faffing, I was falling asleep, and then BOOM, samba action! Energy throughout and the running promenade and spins were great. Like Bruno said, she wasn't just dancing but also performing, I think she might be the most improved of the lot. Also props to Giovanni for throwing together some great routines.

This was great. Possibly super fast for a samba I thought and Georgia had to sacrifice some technique just to keep up. But a great job with great music. Other than the faffing about at the start, it really captured the flavour of a ballroom samba.