I ended up watching this show late, picking it up on Sunday instead of the usual Saturday night party. It was weird, but did mean that I could go straight from the live show into the results show, so that was fun! This was the final time we’d see all fifteen couples competing, with the first vote, the first dance off, and one person facing leaving the competition at the first hurdle.

La Voix & Aljaž - Jive

La Voix continues to be hilarious, the character in and out of the dance is fabulous. The timing was great in this dance and started out with good kicks but it felt like there was a lack of energy towards the end. A few fumbly bits and mistakes, but a lot of fun. La Voix is a riot in the interviews, and hopefully the dancing can improve to keep this pair in for a good while yet.

Karen & Carlos - Tango

Karen’s posture has come under plenty of scrutiny and criticism, including here, but now we understand a bit more about what’s going on there. This dance was a bit of a weird one - the timing and moves were all good, but the intensity wasn’t really there, although I’m sure acting doesn’t come naturally to the footballer. The comments from the judges were very technical, which is a good sign.

Jimmy & Lauren - Cha Cha

At one point in the VT, these two did the saddest high five ever… but I don’t know why because the dance was, once again, surprisingly good. Hips were there, not a lot of straight leg, and it did get a bit stompy in places. But the timing was great, he looked like he knew what he was doing and was enjoying it.

Lewis & Katya - Viennese Waltz

Good instructional VT, more of these please. Is this the first time we’ve seen a fleckerl by a dancer on their own? It was a very dramatic and creative Viennese Waltz but it just didn’t grab me at all. Is it that he’s just annoyingly good, or is it something a bit off in the dancing? The judges think it’s too attacking, we’ll see as the next few dances play out.

Alex & Johannes - Samba

I was a bit worried about this one, but it was fantastic. Great bounce! You can tell that Alex learnt the technique, studied the intricacies and drilled it. Lots of smiling and joy but maybe still a tiny bit reserved. The character was there but we could do with seeing Alex let loose a little. But I loved it.

Ellie & Vito - Waltz

The butterfly when it landed on Vito’s hand, my heart! The song annoyed me because it’s not really a waltz, but they made it work. Fab dance from Ellie again, beautiful and light and with great connection. If last week was a little stompy, that was ironed out this time. Great comments from the judges too.

Thomas & Amy - Salsa

Just awful, and not just the dancing - the song choice, the costumes, the lift-heavy choreo. It definitely seems like they spent a whole week working on the lifts, which were pretty clunky, and forgot about the rest of the dance.

Harry & Karen - Quickstep

The quick change at the beginning was impressive, it’s rare people put more clothes on in Strictly, they’re usually being ripped off. The first part felt like Harry was being dragged a bit but it got better, and he’s an absolute natural out of hold. Overall good with maybe just a few timing issues.

Ross & Jowita - Waltz

Super simple dance, this one, but very effective because of it. I feel like there were some low-key balance issues, but Jowita looked amazing and that’s in part down to Riss’s efforts. He seemed more relaxed than last week, anyway, and it was definitely much improved.

Amber & Nikita - Samba

To me, this samba felt a bit uncontrolled. Amber was having a great time and really into it, there was loads of sass and personality, and a lot of steps. It just lacked the refinement that the judges have been banging on about… although they seemed to really like it, Craig in particular!

Vicky & Kai - Foxtrot

Again Vicky seemed pretty nervous but managed to control it for long enough to put in a great performance. The bouncy bits were maybe a bit too bouncy, but to my untrained eye this was a great dance, and this pair are really growing on me.

Chris & Nadiya - Viennese Waltz

This was better than last week, but it did feel like he was concentrating or counting so hard that he may or may not have been enjoying it. It was nice and floaty though, slow steps in the right direction.

Stefan & Dianne - Cha Cha

I wanted this to be good but it really wasn’t. It’s got personality, but there were too many mistakes and the timing went wonky multiple times. It’s a shame because he’s got great moves for a man of 66, and you can tell he wants to (and probably can) do better.

George & Alexis - Paso Doble

“You have no idea how angry I am,” he says, with a huge giggly smile on his face. Bless Stefan for popping in to give him some acting lessons. George definitely managed to get through the dance without smiling, although he looked more bored and grumpy than intense and passionate. Not a classic, by any stretch, but competent and crowd-pleasing. Hopefully back to happy dances next week.

Balvinder & Julian - Charleston

I’m always in awe that people can dance a Charleston already in week 2, it seems ridiculously difficult. Balvinder was massively up for this though. Some of the lifts were a bit of an effort, and the steps seemed to get more laboured towards the end, but great timing and character, and a heap of fun to finish off the show. (Already loving Julian’s efforts, too.)

So, the scoring definitely seems to be a bit more realistic and reflective of what we’re seeing. No 10s this early in the competition, thank goodness. At the top of the leaderboard, Amber, Lewis and George. At the bottom, Chris, Tom and Ross.

I found it hard to make any proper predictions this week, because all hope was on Tom going out. Which he did! Hooray! (Although boo for losing Amy so quickly, roll on next year!)

Now we can focus on the dancing properly, and we’re heading straight into a themed week next time out - movies! And having watched the show on Sunday, that means it’s one less day to wait for the show to begin again.