Somehow we have whittled the contestants down to just four and it’s time to wave goodbye to the one who will miss out on the final. Somehow it feels so soon that we have reached this point, and yet when you watch the titles it’s like “oh yea, they were in it, that was so long ago!” Time is weird.

Anyway, here’s how my thoughts flowed as the couples tried out two dances in one night.

Emma and Anton. Cha Cha Cha. Hard dance at this point in the competition, surely? And yea, it’s not so good. Bad timing, quite a few mistakes. Oof. Good confidence, she enjoyed it but I don’t think I did.

Kelvin and Oti. Quickstep. A whole class above what we just witnessed. Pretty much perfect. Fast, furious, fun, brilliant. “Bam-ba-bam-bam-bam-boom.” Motsi sums it up perfectly. Shirley says Kelvin’s woodpecker is amazing. Say no more. 40!!!!

Chris and Karen. Viennese Waltz. Good! Better than I was expecting actually. Not sure the character quite works for the dance, but great song, good steps. Really nice comments from Craig - mistakes etc, but such a great journey. Shirley appears to have fallen out of love with him, the scores never go down like that.

Karim and Amy. Love that they have Vincent in to choreograph. Something about his inability to keep still makes this not great.. and the chemistry doesn’t work because of the age gap. But it’s good with some fantastic tricks. Felt like he was just going through the steps a little bit, but the boy can rock some excellent eyeliner. Has an Argentine Tango ever had a ten before? Outrageous.

Emma and Anton. Waltz. To a classical piece. Really not designed for me. Nice, if you like that kind of thing and much better than her cha cha cha. The judges very argumentative today!

Kelvin and Oti. Paso Doble. Wardrobe know what they’re doing with this outfit. He’s so good. Another dance where it’s like, oh Oti’s there too. If anything, it’s got slightly too much femininity. But it’s sharp and crisp and I’m here for it. Rewinding to watch again. What if we accidentally get stuck in a loop and keep watching this over and over until the final?

Chris and Karen. Rumba. Lack of hips is a problem. Good concentration and movement, but it doesn’t feel like he’s invested as much as Karen is. “Put her acting on”. Karen looks well sad, bless her. Maybe she knows it’s time to go. 4 in a semi final is a harsh score but he’s not wrong.

Karim and Amy. American Smooth. Doesn’t look comfortable in the lifts, gotta be said. Not confident, not good timing. Pointy toes and stuff but not quite embodying the dance. Great song though.

The leaderboard: Kelvin, Karim, Emma, Chris. The legit order. Don’t really need to bother with the final!

But of course we will! I don’t think it was a surprise to see Chris go and his attitude to the whole thing has been wonderful. I think Karim will be worried, being in the bottom two again and so close to the final which is all in the hands of the public. But he’s made it and as we all know, the show-dances are really what make and break the final, so who knows?

Can’t wait!