A Little Bit of Honesty.

I just noticed today that Radio Times online says that tonight's show is number 9 of 14! and yes, they've been including the results shows. Do they know something that we don't?

I just noticed today that Radio Times online says that tonight's show is number 9 of 14! and yes, they've been including the results shows. Do they know something that we don't?

That Jive - was the biz. Don't know the scores yet

Here are my thoughts on tonight's show:-

Greg's Salsa - I agree with the judges - a 7 from me. Not sure about his hips but lifts were great and had good rhythm.

Laura's Quickstep - Really enjoyed this and music was great but just not sure about the part when they ran back up onto stage./ I would have preferred them putting dance steps in to get back up there. Half mark off for that. 7.5 from me.

Anastacia's Rumba - Her best dance so far. Not too much wrong with it and gets 7 from me.

Claudia's Foxtrot - A dance without gymnastics was always going to be a test for her and though she danced it quite well it never took off for me. The music didn't help. Did it resemble a foxtrot? 6.5 from me. I was with C.raig on his mark.

Ed's Paso - Sadly, it was a mess. Ed brought campness to it and wasn't dancing as one with Karen at times. Mistakes as well. A generous 5 from me.

Naga's Charleston - That was her best dance. She lost pace near the end but she let herself go and did well. 6.5 from me.

Louise's Foxtrot - Very good. Liked that. Well danced as well. 8 from me.

Danny's Quickstep - Have to say that was superb. Faultless - I'd take point off for mincing around on stage. 9 from me.

Daisy's Rumba - Was good in parts but patchy in other parts. Enjoyed it for most parts 7.5 from me.

Robert's Viennese Waltz - The music didn't suit this dance but I quite enjoyed it. A bit faffing around too much at the start though. Decent - a 7 from me.

Lesley's Charleston - Really enjoyed that. She kept the pace of the dance and caught the flavour very well. 7.5 from me.

Ore's Jive - That was superb. Dance of the night for me. Slick, precise, in time and really sells the dance. 9.5 - excellent. Got to love Ore. He clearly has a love for dancing and emotion he shows is good although may not be everyone's cup of tea.

Sorry but clearly Ed has been by far the weakest dancer this week. Time to go on dance standards but popularity may keep him in.

Greg and Natalie salsa 7
Did well with injury bit messy into the lifts
Laura and Giovanni quickstep 8
That was certainly fast - camerawork annoyingly didn't show feet enough, but looked ok love the song too 8 from me
Anastasia and Brendan rumba 6
Not my fave dance but she did ok maybe not fluid enough. Think she might be in danger. I like a less raunchy rumba so this was up my street. By the by, loved the rumba on the strictly prom, it was beautifully done, I think it was Alijaz and Janette- one THAT was a fab rumba
Claudia and AJ foxtrot 8
She had put some effort into that footwork and technique- I noticed a heel turn and was so proud of myself!
Ed and Katya Paso Doble 5
Not his best- oh dear could be DO
Naga and Pasha Charleston 6.5
Did well for her, a few timing issues noticed  but to borrow L.en's joke she DID come out of her she'll a bit! Probably her best dance
Louise and Kevin foxtrot 8
She looked comfortable throughout neat and tidy
Danny and Oti quickstep 9
Another fab performance. He was on it!
Daisy and Alijaz rumba 7
I thought the tempo of the song was played too fast, but she did well. I think Alijaz does good choreography for rumba. Some of the training footage looked better to me
Judge Rinder and Oksana VW 7
Not a bad effort- noticed a little stumble but  there was content in there. Nice to see it toned down a bit
Lesley and Housewives choice Charleston 8
Lost it towards the end but who can blame her- sterling effort!
Ore and Joanne jive 9.5
Wow that was a-ma-zing- he didn't lose time or energy all the way though- very impressive I thought a 10 was coming, but I wasn't sure how perfect it was to give a 10 myself without looking again. Should have had more confidence in my judgement because I said all through it was as good or better than Jay's. Just wow!  

The DO will give a real insight into popularity this week. Although I have loved him so far, this week Ed danced more how I was expecting in the first couple of weeks- shame it didn't go well on the night, for me he should go, but I wouldn't rule out   Naga and Anastasia in the DO or even a middling shock such as Daisy. But great to have a competition on our hands now - someone is giving Danny a run for his money!

Tonight - I think we a got glimpses of how it might start to  pan out - There were some excellent performances but a few naff themes and tracks which hampered some.   In more than a few dances there was a tad too much 'faffing' for me and I found both Fox Trots a bit frustrating on this front.   My personal favourites were Ore and Joanne and Lesley and A nton - with all respect to Danny and Oti for a (professional?) and excellent QS.   Think E d could be in the danger zone unfortunately along with one of the middle of the board people. In respect of the judges comments,  felt myself agreeing mainly with C raig tonight.

Greg and Nat  Shame about the feet - you can see how hard he is working and how much he is enjoying it but he is still at that stage when he is thinking about each step and how to set up each section. That said - they are a great couple and I enjoyed the routine even though it was a bit rough around the edges and lacked some fluidity.  Those lifts were brilliant  (and with an injured hand!)  I'm glad he got credit for those.  Hope they have done enough to stay in - I really like Greg.

Laura and Gio   Possibly one of my favourite ever costumes!  Love 'Ballroom Blitz' and thought that what they did worked well to the track and it was so fast - however, rather than gliding across the floor to me it was made up of several sections with breaks in between - nothing wrong with that but I found it didn't flow and like C raig I wasn't at all sure about the bit out of hold at the end...............

Brendan and Anastacia Broadly agreed with the judges - I thought she made a great attempt, I disagreed with L en because I thought there was rumba content in there  - she made some lovely shapes and the arms were beautiful but would have liked to have seen it flow more and some more hip action would elevated it from good to excellent - as it was, it didn't pack a real punch.

AJ and Claudia  I found this one unmemorable - although the silly song didn't help - I also thought that C raig said everything that L en should have done - about there being too much out of hold and just not enough Fox Trot.

Ed and Katya For the first time this week he made some errors and didn't really get the feel of this dance like he has done before.  10 out of 10 for effort but he didn't capture the right mood - if he could have sorted out the windmill arms and put a bit of attack into it he would have had half a chance.  Shame.

[b]Naga and Pasha  I thought she made some improvement this week although there were timing issues, and as the judges said  - she actually looked like she was enjoying herself.

Louise and Kevin A bit of  'Kevin faffing' crept in here and I felt they could have done more in hold - but a pretty polished Fox Trot.

Danny and Oti A brilliant theme and a monster of a quickstep - from a distance it could have been a young A nton whirling around the floor    great choreography like something from the West End -  in fact too much like it really!

Daisy and Alijaz Like Alles says - for me this wasn't as good as it looked in training.   She has obviously been more challenged this week and has worked hard - it's not an easy dance for a tall girl.  Good choreography from Alijaz and some good rumba steps but I found it very static and dancing inside the illuminated circle seemed to constrain the dance.

Judge Rinder and Oksana  I knew this would be a marmite one - the cheesy theme didn't appeal to me but somewhere in there was a bit of decent dancing - the rotations and turns were good and he is quite graceful.

Leslie and A nton  For me this was a Charleston with a capital 'C' -  I couldn't believe how good it was - one of the dances of the night for me - energy, full of Charleston steps, characterisation, great timing and swivel -   and 15 hour training days.......... I take my hat off to her.   It is nice to see A nton genuinely enjoying himself with Leslie.

Ore and Joanne  WOW!  They saved the best until last - fantastic performance and the way he did those kicks and flicks!  I still don't know whether I agree with '10's at this early stage and so many of them as well, but this must go down as a new Strictly classic.

Split my votes this week between G reg, Anastacia and Lesley - don't want them to go just yet.......  

Maybe it was because Movie Week was so good, but I found this week fairly ordinary. I wan't swept away by many of them and found myself agreeing with C.raig as often as not.


Gregg and Natalie
OK – not fantastic. I have to say I was watching Natalie much more than Gregg. The last lift though was pretty impressive – Natalie's no stick insect.
7

Laura and Giovanni
Lovely dress. The dance was full-on in terms of energy and speed, but it did seem to be a bit disjointed to me. You could see the gear changes between the various sections too easily. But what do I know. Definitely not worth a nine B.runo!
7

Anastasia and Brendan
Beautiful dress – very flattering.  Not an embarrassing performance in the slightest. I thought she made a good stab at it especially as she's not the greatest dancer of the bunch. Again...
7

Claudia and AJ
Excuse me while I get my sunglasses. What was all that about? The dancing was good enough I suppose. I can't get excited about Claudia but she did make a good job of it.
8

Ed and Katya
Ed completely lost it poor fella. Blanked totally! I felt so sorry for him. It's hard to recover from mistakes, even as a pro, but that was awful. I have enjoyed his performances but I wonder if his time's up now.
1

Naga and Pasha
Lots of energy – she really went for it. I wish she was a better dancer (she has such great legs) but she really isn't.
6

Louise and Kevin
Hated the faffin' about at the beginning and the end. The dance itself though was excellent I thought. She's getting better and better. I can't help myself – I'm enjoying this couple.
8

Danny and Oti
My jaw was on the floor all through this. She looked sooo gorgeous and he was so elegant at the beginning. Then the dance itself took off and it was so, so, so exciting. They flashed across the dance floor and they mirrored each other's performance perfectly. They are so brilliant together. I don't think anyone else is as good these two yet. I can't think what else to say except without a doubt he was worth a...
10  (I'm astounded he didn't get one from any of the judges – meanies.)

Daisy and Aljaz
I was a bit disappointed with this. I think I expected great things from this couple and didn't really get them. It was something and nothing I felt. I was totally in agreement with C.raig when it came to the absence of chemistry.
7

Judge Rinder and Oksana
Too much story and not enough dance though the story was rather fun. A few mistakes as well. Shame.
6

Lesley and A.nton.
C.raig's right – shockingly good. She's amazing – just amazing for 71. She is such a pro she brings out the character of the dance and her dancing was great.  I think she's worth (ok her age is a factor)
8

Ore and Joanne
Fabulous – this guy is just terrific. So terrific that it's very hard to believe he's not a trained dancer. It was a very enjoyable and impressive dance. He doesn't get a 10 from me because I didn't think there was nearly the same brilliance in the performance that Danny gave us. Nor were he and Joanne as a complete couple as Danny and Oti. What Darcy, L.en and B.runo saw in him I have no idea.
9


There we are. Who will go? Ed is obviously in danger again, but perhaps his popularity will pull him through. I think Danny and Ore are safe this week and probably Louise too, but otherwise, it could be anyone.

Have to be tomorrow for comments from me; my week's been all upside down due to my wife in and coming out of hospita' Still hectic and hard work, but big im provement and geting better.

For now I'll say, much as I love Natalie and I'd like Greg to do well, I can never agree with synchronised weightlifting. It's something other contestants can't even hope to try and entertaining as it was, it isn't ballroom dance. I loved Patrick Swayze but thought that "ready,steady..go" daft lift in Dirty Dancing quite ridiculous. Then again, it wasn't in a competition so didn't matter. Nobody puts Natalie up in the rafters...

Gregg and Natalie
The lifts look awkward. A bit stompy and ploddy. Greg needs to work on his latin. 6.5

Laura and Giovanni
Light in their feet. Good frame despite needing to fly through the dance floor. Didn't like the out of hold bobby-poppy moments. 7.5

Anastasia and Brendan
Good lock step (especially in the beginning). Strange sitting down moments as it didn't look good nor elegant. 6.5

Claudia and AJ
Another Cutesey number, I am getting bored with the producers being lazy and obvious with these two regarding music choice and theme-ing. Good footwork and clean top lines. Bit boring and forgettable. 7.5

Ed and Katya
Mistakes galore from beginning to the end. That mincey walk is NO Paso walk. Bad, bad, bad!!! 4.5

Naga and Pasha
Didn't like the second lift (awkward and ugly). Still don't see them dance as a couple. Decent, no more. 6.5

Louise and Kevin
Stupid music choice (Lisa's cha-cha music).Beautiful lines and covers the floor well. But she's being to 'safe' with her performance. Didn't know she has such a nice pair of baps... 8

Danny and Oti
Pure joy. This is the first time I actually FEEL Danny is really enjoying the dance. Wonderful and light on his feet. Top line exquisite. The best Quickstep from a male celeb from the entire 14 series of Strictly. 9.5!

Daisy and Aljaz
Music tempo was quicken, making the rumba look rushed. Chemistry between them seems awkward. 7

Judge Rinder and Oksana
Too much faffing about and out of hold moments. Didn't like it. No fleckrl and even the standing spin look Flintstones rough. 6.5

Lesley and A.nton.
Beautiful swivel. A bit start and stoppy. But amazing energy and I can't believe she's 71 because she dances like she's half that age! 7.5

Ore and Joanne
Sleek and crisp kicks and flicks. The energy never wanes from the beginning to the end. Confident performance and hand placements don't look odd any longer. Truly amazing choreography danced amazingly well. 9.5 (tie with Danny at the top of the leaderboard for me)

I don't feel I miss Will Young at all. It's like he never took part.

I fear Naga and Ed will be at the bottom two and the latter voted off. Hopefully not. I want to see Ed do another ballroom number, I'm sure he'd have improved since week one waltz.

TANGOLERO wrote:

For now I'll say, much as I love Natalie and I'd like Greg to do well, I can never agree with synchronised weightlifting. It's something other contestants can't even hope to try and entertaining as it was, it isn't ballroom dance. I loved Patrick Swayze but thought that "ready,steady..go" daft lift in Dirty Dancing quite ridiculous. Then again, it wasn't in a competition so didn't matter. Nobody puts Natalie up in the rafters...

Does any one remember that once upon a time - In her first year of SCD Nat and Ricky Whittle did a very similar lift in an American Smooth and they were actually told off for doing such a 'showy' lift - how things have changed in Strictly land!!

I agree with you CD in what you say about Ed - despite the performance I find myself wanting him to stay in another week to see what he comes up with next - and it would be good to see him do a ballroom n umber, but I did miss Will last night because I feel he definitely added competition to the higher end of the leaderboard - however there were a few unmemorable performances so I think that we are still at the stage in the competition where it could be anyone in the DO.

Hope your wife is recovering ok Mr T

I voted blindly last night online due to missing the show. I went for Greg and Nat (I don't usually warm to Nataliebut I love Greg and the partnership. I voted for C.laudia and Ed ....... I'll no doubt catch up with the dances later on..

Looking forward to reading everyone's comments later...and Mr T, may I add my best wishes to Mrs T

The Goddess

So this wasn’t the complete car crash I was dreading. Some nice shimmying and a welcome bum wiggle (well if I’m going to be deprived of Gorka’s I’m making the most of Greg’s). Natalie jumping up and down screaming her head off at the end like she’d won the Glitterball was everything.

The Balls

Love how Ed’s been saying he’s gonna try to be be less camp and ended up out-camping Rinder As for Rinder, where was the Viennese Waltz? I remember years ago V.incent got told off for not having enough in his VW with Louisa but he had twice as much as what Rinder had and the judges didn’t say anything! I’m glad Darcey echoed Karen's point about unnecessary over-performing, hope Rinder takes note.

The Foxtrots

Thumbs down to both I’m afraid. Not for execution (Claudia and Louise both appear to be very neat, precise dancers) but for music choice. Even before L.en spoke about Claudia & AJ’s I knew he’d talk about being a traditionalist and I happen to agree with him here. I get that they were going for a young, fresh vibe but the song and the dance didn’t marry at all well, the tempo was too fast for a Foxtrot. And if I’d kept my eyes shut through Louise's performance and asked to guess what she'd just danced, I'd have guessed a Cha Cha.

The Charlestons

Oh Pasha! THANK YOU WARDROBE *fans self* Big improvement in Naga’s performance level. She looked like she was genuinely having a good time (and why wouldn’t you dancing with Pasha dressed like that). Sadly I don’t think it’ll be enough to keep her out the dance-off (though I’ve been saying this for weeks!). As for Lesley – what a lady. Never runs out of energy or spirit. She’s like a glass of champagne – all sparkly and bubbly and fun. Who knew she’d ended up being one of A.nton’s best partners!

The Rhumbas

I’m out of step with the judges on this one. Having stuck up for Daisy up until now, I thought she was over-praised. I found her Rhumba more stop-starty than Anastacia’s (and performed with less feeling). It was missing that continuous motion through the body as she transitioned from one move into the next so the end result was what looked like a series of poses and pauses. As such, she and Aljaz weren’t able to create much of a mood because it was interrupted every time Daisy stopped moving her body to prepare for the next bit.

The Quicksteps

Laura moved across the floor like lightening to a fantastically fast track. Her head placement didn’t look quite right (she seemed to be tilting it back further and further until it looked like she no longer had a neck), but she did a good job. Still find Gio sleazely plus it was unfortunate (but rather amusing) that they were shoved in the death slot having just survived a ‘shock’ bottom two appearance Onto Oti and Danny and can I start by saying they had THE best outfits. Oti’s dress was divine and Danny looked so dashing in tails. The Quickstep itself was flawless and I loved the era they captured but I come back to the same point: I expected it to be impeccable. So whilst there was a great deal to admire, there was no element of surprise. I wouldn’t have denied them 10s but I wouldn’t have felt that special ‘Strictly 10’ feeling if they’d got them either.

That Jive

By comparison, Ore’s Jive was totally unexpected, and utterly exhilarating, and I loved it! Sure it wasn’t quite as refined as Danny’s performance but I don’t need it to be. I think it had reached a sufficient level of excellence to justify the marks it got but what separated it from Danny (and Jay tbh) is that I wasn’t just appreciating a high standard of dancing, I was having an emotional reaction to it – which is what dance is about. Wanted to add Jo looked fab in her 60s get up and I applaud her for yet another choreographical success – and not a prop in sight!

So I gave most my votes to Greg as I felt the goddess might be in danger this week what with going first and their leaderboard position.

And now I’m going to go and read all your comments

When downloading both Danny and Ore's dances to the Classic threads I couldn't but help notice comments on the YouTube thread from Danny's fans saying if Ore deserved 10's then Danny definitely did. Glad to see someone pointing out to them that Danny did dance school whilst Ore has not. However, others are jumping onboard saying the judges want to undermine Danny and make the series appear competitive by overmarking Ore. Sorry I don't buy that. I loved both of their dances last night but I would have detracted a mark from Danny and Oti's dance for the time spent faffing around at the start of the dance whereas Ore's dance was fuller of dance content.

Just three noteworthy dances for me.

The Judge - sorry but is he being stitched up? Leiderhosen and kissing a cow? Put the man in tails and let him dance a graceful Viennese waltz, he's quite capable. Fear he will be in the bottom two.

Ed - sorry mate but this I didn't enjoy and if there is any justice in Strictly then you will be the one saying goodbye later on.

Ore - WOW!

The others were pretty much all as expected. Would be a shame if any of them had to go.

Caught up with the dancing finally.

Loved Ore and Joanne's jive! Wow.... tbh still prefered Jay & Aliona's! But what a star Ore turning out to be.

Danny did well but I see a sleek more seasoned dancer with experience.

Never a Dorien fan but Lesley fab energy I hope you stay

Ed oh you have been better but I'm glad I voted blindly for you another week I think

Naga and Pasha and Oj and C.laudia sorry but neither dance enthralled me. Pasha looked strained and not his best choreography.

Laura and Daisy too much posture posing and omg Daisy that goldfish pout no no

Louise mmm well meh think it was the music for me

Anastacia good extensions just seemed glued stuck in her middle

Judge oh please as C.raig advised a delicious dancer in there let's see more

I dislike watching it on catch up I miss the excitement build up......

I can't really add much to what everyone else has said. The comments are pretty fair. Seems to me C raig alresfy has his favourits and the rest won't mater.  I'm a bit like L en in being old fashioned and probably out of touch with modernity, but foxtrots, waltzes, Viennese etc are strictly ballroom (pardon the pun) amd it's entertainment rather than dance skills that a lot of the public wants, even to the extent of the props, themes, costumes and Highland Games log lifting being seen as more important than the dance Fair enough, but ballroom dance it isn't, none of it. I'd like to add this mini rant if you'll bear with me a couple of minutes:

See, there was no real jive back in the rock and roll era, the Yanks brought it into Britain during and after the war till about 1950 then America again had a shift and Bill Hayley and co arrived over here with rock and roll, a sort of combination of Jive, boogie, Lindy Hop and a few more styles all crowding in there.. R and R wasn't about ballrooms back then (I was 17 back in 1956 when Rock around the Clock and Jerry Lee Lewis and all that arrived in the cinemas and kicked off a wild era lasting till the Dylan and Beatles periods which were actually the end of the rock and roll dance era as it was) and it certainly wasn't sequence dancing but totally individual. A lot of ballrooms banned it outright at the onset. It only came into ballrooms because the likes of Mecca etc, realised that unless they accepted it they would get left behind. Thus, the dance schools started to teach a form of jive that was much more formalised and complied with ballroom rules. It was really the shift in popular mainstream music that made ballroom suffer, not rock and roll. No intention of upsetting anyone, but all the truly daft dances like the Twist, Funky Chicken, Simon Says and that coffee bar handbag twitching ...and all the rest of that wallop fodder that allowed the pint and fag shuffle into the clubs, should have been banned at source. To call it dance is like calling Donaldo Trumpton a humanitarian evangelist or Ann Widdicome a gymnast. (sorry Anne, just a comparison, I know you can do a triple somersault).

My point is that in my own recent extravanganza on BBC'S ballroom history of our local Palias, we spent three months being taught a sort of sequence jive that, when out big night at the Palais finally arrived, we were told to go out there and do as we wished? What's it all about Alfie, we could have done that without any training at all. I saw Ori and Joanne's jive last night as sort of proving the individuality of jive just as Jill Halfpenny once did. Joanne just let Ori Losse and what a triumph.

I know my views may conflict where those who remember Fred Astaire and those who think Patrick Swayze invented dancing will inevitably differ. Fortunately, a little bit of honesty never really hurt anyone, at least not when talking dance.

Mini rant over.....

P.S. to all my wife's well wishers, thank you and it will be a lengthy thing but she's getting there.

Love your description of a dance "The pint and fag shuffle" fantastic.
personally I grew up around the saggy leggings,tight satin trousers and boob tubes with wild hair at the nightclub followed by the erection section ( the slow slobbering dance when all the gorillas oops guys moved from the bar they had hugged for hours to find a gal and hug her instead )

Mrs T lots of tlc wishes

Really enjoyed reading everyone's reviews, seems to be broadly similar views on last nights show and I haven't much to add.
I was so disappointed with Ed, both with the comedy choreography and his total mess-up. Still, I gave him a vote anyway, I do think he's a potential improver.
As an ardent Jay fan, slightly peeved at L.ens comment - yes, Ore's jive was very good, but personally I found it just a bit too frantic in places. It didn't transfix me the way Jay did last year.
I was truly impressed by Lesley - so much energy, acting, and timing.
Both foxtrots felt a bit flat to me, not fussed on the music choices or the very bright stage lighting for both of them.
Dance of the night for me was Danny and Oti's quickstep - just gorgeous and a 10 from me. The fact that his mum dresses her dogs in replica stage outfits each week is just so odd that I found myself warming to him.

Really enjoyed reading everyone's reviews and comments this week.

I really thought the Ed would be in the DO tonight - but wasn't surprised to see either Naga or Anastacia there - I was wondering whether Anastacia had benefitted from a bounce back vote last week - now we know the answer!   I really like her and much as I felt sorry for Naga, it was the right decision and I'm glad Anastacia will still be around for another week - I wonder whether she will turn into the proverbial DO person this year?????  

I hope that Ed gets a ballroom n umber next week - I think he earned a lot of respect for his Charleston and Samba which both contained some good dancing but I think it was a mistake to give him the paso this week - it just had that w iddy feel to it - would like to see what he can do  in the ballroom now that we are a few weeks in.

For me I think that Judge Rinder and C laudia need to up their game -  The Judge has potential but needs to get off the plateau and show some real progress - I hope Oksana can rise to it.  With C laudia and AJ  I know its not entirely their fault but I agree with others who have said that the themes are getting too samey - I also think the judges have been quite soft with them (barring C raig's 'little bit of honesty' on Saturday night)  I note that she has been given the samba for next week - they seem to be giving her all the athletic dances so that she gets to a certain point in the contest - but I'm really not sure about the longevity of these two and how they are going to cope with some of the more grown up dances.

Good points Mauve.
It seems a little early, but I'm going to say it anyway....after last night it seems that barring disaster, there is only place up for grabs in the final. In no particular order I expect the next people to leave will be Ed, Anastasia, Lesley, Greg, Judge. Which leaves Louise, Claudia, Daisy Laura to slug it out- could be a cat fight on our hands

I'm hoping an all male final Greg, Ore and Danny

Not beyond the realms of possibility Sax...I really like him and Nat, just not sure he has it in him- happy to be proved wrong though!
However, not sure if the producers would feel about an all male final

A lucky escape for Ed and The Judge. I hope Ed's got some ballroom dances coming up soon or he's in trouble.

I'm still not sure who picks the themes & costumes but there's no doubt they set the mood. Add the wrong music and it's the end of the game. I like Danny but I can't imagine him being put into Lederhosen for his VW or given a duff music track.

I'm not really warming to AJ & Claudia. Yes she's doing a good job of what he tells her to do but....... For me there's too much mismatch between traditional and modern ideas, for example, Claudia looked like she was about to Foxtrot in that pink gown but AJ looked set for a High School 80's disco and that's before the bizarre music.

Can't get into the Whitmore either, but that might be more Gio, who's like an annoying fly buzzing about. That said, I did enjoy Gio & Janettes Rumba on the Result show the other week.

I'm glad Anastasia's got another week, although I think she's not got many more weeks to go. Bren dan will be boxing clever with his choreography I'm sure.

Love Lesley's attitude. She's certainly giving some of the younger ones a run for their money and her joy is infectious. An ton's playing a blinder with his routines so far.

I think Louise is talented, but I'm finding some of Kevin's choreography a bit cheesy and predictable. It'll be interesting to see him with a true (mature) beginner next year.

Daisy - I can't decide about her dancing. Some weeks I think she has potential, (I liked her Cha-Cha) but last week when 'in hold' I'm bored watching her.  Alijax is usually clever with his choreography, so I think she'll be ok for a few more weeks whilst the deadwood's pruned.

Greg - for me he is one of the honest beginners, and I like to watch him improving. I hope he can keep chipping away and stay under the exit radar for as long as possible.

Ore's jive was very energetic and I really liked it. No props. Simple black & white 60's costumes, and full of dance content. The energy was relentless and I was exhausted watching it. I don't buy the idea that he was ever a dance beginner. I don't think he went to stage school, but watching some of the stage school Strictly shockers in previous years it isn't always a given that they can dance.

Glad that Naga went out on her best week. I think Pasha was at a loss with her.

I'm missing Kristina & Aliona's choreography this year. I used to like Trent's choreography too. Glad to see Oti flying. She's fitted in so well

Thought the James Brown feel good opener was on the mark tonight, ( can't stand Madness though) great action and syncopation. As has been said, no real surprise to find Naga in the dance-off but that charlston was never going to be a winner. An old and oft repeated moan, but I think they should drop the slow and sexy style rumba from the schedule altogether. To start with, it gives the women a big advantage because men outside of pro circles are lost with anything but dance class in-hold basics. Use upbeat Cuban rumba instead where the guy gets to enjoy himself instead of looking like he's tryng to land a tuna fish with that "hope the wife isn't watching" facial rigor mortis. Better still, put the Dirty Dancing style Mambo in instead.

Anastacia did well enough, but Naga goes and Ed stays due to nothing to do with dancing. The sharp end, although the dancing is great, is looking a bit too clear-cut for my liking already. C raig gives Ed a 2 then drools all over Danny Mac's suspenders and gives Ori a 9, no real indications there then? Next week will be a bit harder to predict and I hope Greg doesn't walk the coals. I reckon Lesley won't last too long so her and any one of Anastacia, Ed ,Rinder and Claudia could be in the mix. Time will no doubt tell. Keep dancing....