Musicals week has arrived, and it’s one of those that all the couples say they were desperate to participate in… but we’re getting to the sharp end now and the good have to be even greater to get through.

Also, this is the first week in Strictly history that Craig Revel Horwood wasn’t on the judging panel, replaced by Cynthia Erivo. It was fitting, as she’s a superb theatre star with plenty to add on the couples performances. It was also fun for the women to outnumber the men on the judging panel, too - first time ever?

As it’s musicals week, the Phantom of the Opera did the terms and conditions. Two questions: does the Phantom know what a mobile is? Are we supposed to believe he would care about the billpayer’s permission?

AJ & Kai - Waltz (Sound of Music)

The training footage VT was super awkward. “I’m not gonna kiss you.” Cringe. This was a good dance but it felt like a really long 90 seconds. All the right steps in the right order though, so well done Kai.

Rhys & Nancy - Jive (Footloose)

This is a tune! Nancy looked like a real taskmaster this week but it paid off. Very light and good, steady kicks. I’m not convinced the feet were pointy enough. Some of teh steps felt a bit rushed but from Rhys it was a lot better than expected. Quite high scoring considering there was a very noticeable mistake in there.

Tom & Amy - Couple’s Choice (Les Miserable)

I don’t understand this dance as a choice… a weird one to try and sell as a performance. It worked better than I thought but probably not my favourite of Tom’s. He did have bonus Harry in the audience though, so that lightened the mood somewhat! Also, how much did Amy look like Danni Minogue with brown hair??

Can I take one moment to address the Russell Crowe message? Firstly, where was he for the Gladiator dance? Much more appropriate. And secondly, he clearly didn’t know what he was talking about, who he was talking to, and perhaps even what Strictly Come Dancing is. Why did they play this message? It just reflects badly on everyone.

Rose & Giovanni - Quickstep (Frozen)

Every single week in the VT, Rose absolutely floors Giovanni with her cheekiness. I love it. The dance was cute and joyful, there was the tiny mistake but I didn’t really notice it myself. Motsi called it a tiny, mini mouse mistake. One ten and they were disappointed with that.

John & Johannes - Viennese Waltz (Mary Poppins)

I’m sure the rooftop bit is Step in Time and not Chim-Chim-Cheree, but carry on lads. The song isn’t dodgy cockney enough, either. A good dance, all very nice, some brilliant spinning. I still get the feeling John isn’t progressing enough at the moment - he’s fantastic, but is he getting better? Hard to tell. The judges picked at quite a few technical details.

Tilly & Nikita - Couple’s Choice (Matilda)

Whose idea was it to put the two babies of the competition in school uniforms? They were both adorable and so young! It was a good dance but my problem is it just wasn’t as good as the Jamie one. I didn’t particularly like it but the judges were chanting Tilly, so it’s no wonder they got the full 40.

Dan & Nadiya - Charleston (Singin’ in the Rain)

Sofa-ography. This was a really good dance, much better than I was expecting. Great faces, good dancing, good lifts. Energetic and a lot of fun. Joyous song too, of course. Dan made it into 30-land!

So many people were getting emotional this week, including me! It was a supremely close leaderboard. There were two joint bottom and two joint penultimate bottom, and all four of those couples were only separated by one point!

Tilly was spared the bottom two for a change, leaving Rhys and Tom to face off. The judges saved Rhys so it was a sad farewell to Tom and Amy. The ongoing shocked face of Nadiya each time she and Dan get through speaks volumes. Who will it be next week?