Icons week is finally here after quite the build up. It feels odd going from one theme week directly to another, but actually if you dig into it, this isn’t so different to other weeks - a variety of different songs by a variety of different artists. The big news this week was poor Amy, taken ill at the end of last week’s show. The legend is on the mend but has Lauren stepping in for her this week with JB.

Also wanted to give a shoutout to Lenny Henry who was brilliant at reading out the terms and conditions, and made Claudia squeak with joy when they both said ‘Tess’ at the same time.

Pete & Jowita - Salsa (Queen)

It was going so well, the arm things messed up just like in the VT and then it went out of sync. Felt long which is never a good sign. Love that Jowita put the jacket on at the end. “I like you as a person, the dancing needs to get better.” Motsi saying the harsh but true things as always.

Wynne & Katya - Rumba (Shirley Bassey)

He really got into it, I wasn’t that bothered about the rumba itself, no hips or anything. Liked the reflections in the gold things at the back. Good ending to the piece, but it is a dancing competition not a singing one.

Sam & Nikita - American Smooth (Taylor Swift)

Danced well, but something was weird about her head, not far enough over or the neck was too stiff? The dragging on the floor was fun. Very gentle for her but it felt lacking in oomph.

Chris & Dianne - Tango (Kiss)

Secret love of S Club 7! Took ages to figure out what the song was, I really liked it, bit stompy in places maybe, but quite fun. The knee slide was great! The shoulders are definitely coming down. So interesting that Dianne pointed out he has literally no frame of reference for each dance.

Sarah & Vito - Cha Cha (Madonna)

Bonus Miranda in the VT. Amazing jump off the top of the podium, bit wobbly immediately after but then got into it. Great performance, fantastic tune. Great personality, really channelling the sass of Madonna. Vito looked amazing too.

JB & Lauren - Couple’s Choice (Bruno Mars)

This was great, a couple of good tricks and he pulled it off - relaxed and loving it, natural moves, really cool, very good. BUT he was completely outclassed by Lauren who smashed it. Had to watch it twice as couldn’t take my eyes off her the first time. Big triple hug at the end.

Montell & Johannes - Waltz (Whitney Houston)

Tess said it was possibly the greatest key change of all time, which has got me thinking. But the song for the dance was awful - changed the timing of it and the singing was quite a letdown. Completely distracted from the dance, but it looked okay I think. Split the judges more than we’ve ever seen!

Jamie & Michelle - Samba (George Michael)

I wouldn’t have thought this would work but it really does - surely no one has worn a leather jacket and done a samba before? Putting the guitar down in one go was great too, I can’t do that in ten attempts. The judges weren’t so sure, but none of them seem to factor in the George Michael character being layered on top of this dance.

Tasha & Aljaž - Couple’s Choice (P!nk)

Powerful VT, mostly just proving that Love Island is awful. Really good dance, honestly, basically perfect. The lifts were amazing. Her previous training will have helped here. Bless Team Tasha being in tears in the audience. How was that not a 40??? What more do they need to do Craig?

Shayne & Nancy - Quickstep (The Beatles)

Cute dance, great energy, and interesting look. Do feel like when he took the jacket off it should have been something else underneath but quite enjoyed it. Good one to end on.

Like I said last week, it’s getting harder to know who is the weak link of the bunch at this point and it’s going to come down to what happens on the day. The top three remain JB, Sarah and Tasha in varying order, and at the other end of the table, Pete, Chris and Sam.

I predicted that it would be Pete and Wynne in the dance off - Pete not having a very good week with mistakes galore, and Wynne a bit over the top (and does the Strictly audience care about Shirley Bassey?) Completely wrong. Montell and Sam had to dance off against each other and it ended up being Sam who went home. A shame as she’d made such great progress.

A normal week next week but it can’t be long before they start mentioning the B word, right?