Battling for Blackpool

It appears Claudia and Tess are on to us with the Blackpool drinking game and sought to make the nation paralytic with all their references this year, But who cares, it's just so nice seeing celebs slog it out to come to good old Blackpool each year. Bring on the blood, sweat and tears!

Alex and Neil
Hurrah for the return of Ginger Neil! Alex has been going from strength to strength following her Charleston breakthrough a few weeks ago and this jive suited her right down to the ground. Her timing has improved and she's just better at selling a dance, it was super cute and sunny and yellow. Also, the return of the much-forgotten chicken walk jive step, I love it!

This was peppy and cute and it was lovely to see them back dancing together again. Alex is improving more than anyone but I fear she may suffer an Anita-Rani-esque departure soon - the others started off so well, she's unlikely to be able to catch up to the same standard in the eyes of the judges. Unless she can stay out of the dance off...

Mike and Katya
Mike in the death slot, although who knows what that means anymore? I was glad to see they played this one straight and it was all the better for it, plus Katya's absolutely gorgeous frock. There was clear improvement here, although mainly in the footwork. I might be turning into Craig, but my gosh his hands were indeed like spatulas. Fun ending move too, I think I've seen yoga people doing it at the gym. I know it's (still) time for Mike to go, but I thought the judges were a bit hard on this one.

I think I must have been a bit distracted as I didn't think his timing was too bad, tweeted to say as much and got corrected by several people. Yeah, guys, I've watched again. It was not good.

Karim and Amy
More ballroom from Karm, oh how they are spoiling us, plus I love how Amy says fleckrrrrrrl. There was a LOT of faffing in this, I found the way they kept breaking hold very distracting. Part 2 of me turning into Craig, I think it was a bit frentic and didn't look like a VW. That's not necessarily Karim's fault although there were a couple of mistakes, so I can see why they felt frustrated, well done to Claudia for holding their hands up until that Blackpool rock faux pas!

It was recognisably a Viennese Waltz but one that was just a bit... hammed up. Karim is oh so talented, there's no need for faffy choreography. Next week I want to see clean, pure dance. Amy - take note.

Chris and Karen
Another one I'm glad to see back in ballroom, I can see why they've thrown all the party dances at Chris, but I think he can give more. The song did a lot of work here, but Chris gave good tango face, I think I even saw a smoulder at the beginning. I could see every element of concentration in the routine, but there was clearly improvement in technique, particularly the frame. Karen did a great job with this, plus did not manage to set herself alight among all those flames - flames always feel very dangerous on Strictly!

I quite liked this dramatic arrangement, even if the number of breaks made it feel more Paso than tango to me. I'm glad he's through as he is very likeable, genuinely is learning and tries hard. But yeah, I think he's gonna be out in Blackpool. 

Michelle and Giovanni
I thought it was physically impossible to make Michelle Visage look frumpy, but here we are...Beyond the odd styling this was another cheeky delight from these two, they just work so well together! There was a lot going on in this routine with a few different styles, but they didn't let it swamp the performance. I cannot wait to see how Michelle takes to Blackpool!

Mostly I just imagined Frankie going. SLEEVES. They put her in SLEEVES. 

Emma and Anton
Ah Couple's Choice, what joy, contestant who has previously done professional musical theatre tours doing theatre jazz. I thought this was an odd routine, I love anything Fosse, but the routine didn't seem to go anywhere, I was waiting for some big-bucks fabulous ending that never came. Emma has great musicality though and that shone through once again. As we know, CC's doesn't count, but it can definitely bring a contestant out of themselves in a way that really helps, which Emma deserves after last week's rumba debacle.

Ugh, Couple's Choice does not count. Even if it is quite good. Like this. I swear I thought I saw Anton go wrong. 

Saffron and AJ
More classic ballroom? I cannot believe my eyes, we've been sorely lacking in waltzes this year. Sightly odd nude dress though that looked a bit Barbara Streisand. This was perfectly nice, but I was surprised the judges raved about it. I think I just didn't like the routine, I could appreciate the technical elements and Saffron's ever-increasing skill, but I definitely got more out of their showstopper foxtrot a few weeks ago. 

Thing is though, waltz is the 'beginner' dance. It's the first thing you learn. And if a dancer with a speck of talent doesn't do it early on, it's usually a sure fire hit for a cracker later on in the series. And here we go. 

Kelvin and Oti
Putting Oti behind the wheel of a supercar sounds like the next step on her quest for world domination, watch out Lewis Hamilton! However, this is not really the ideal theme for a salsa, it's downright odd. Saying that, these two made the whole thing look so relaxed their fun was infectious. Of course there were the hips that send the nation a-quiver, but the lifts were also very confidently handled. No my favourite salsa, but a good shot of fun in an otherwise oddly-balanced show.

Kelvin will be remembered for the gorgeous samba (to salsa music) that was oozing in latin flavour. Now, if I were a producer on the show, I might think, hmmm, that worked well, let's replicate it. But NO. They wasted the most naturally talented latin dancer's salsa - which is the purest latin dance on the show having not be codified or whatnot - by DRESSING HIM UP AS A RACING DRIVER and making him dance it to pop. It was not salsa. FFS.

Bring on Blackpool!