Hmm, in case you hadn’t realised, next week is Blackpool. I tried to count the mentions during this episode and got to 27 - half of which were within the first ten minutes of the show. A very good job I didn’t go for the drinking game I was considering! On with the pre-Blackpool show, then.

Balvinder & Julian - American Smooth

The technique seemed to have improved, there was good footwork and it felt nice and gentle. The lifts were either wrong, or just lacking in confidence, but the performance was good and fitted the song perfectly.

Amber & Nikita - Paso Doble

The VT had some very useful information about the dance itself, good to know what to look out for. The shaping was great but a bit placed for my tastes. Great drama and incredible song to fit with it, excellent staging, just a powerful and impactful performance.

Alex & Johannes - Waltz

At first I thought this was going really well, but then it seemed to go wonky in a couple of places and I lost confidence in it. The judges seemed to like it though, I guess it’s just more evidence of waltz not being my favourite.

Vicky & Kai - Jive

Vicky dancing to more Cheryl! This seemed like a really tricky song to jive too, and it wasn’t as bouncy as you’d hope. There was good energy, but a few mistakes here and there, so just a bit of a disappointment after the highs of last week.

Karen & Carlos - American Smooth

You could definitely tell that occasionally Karen’s free arm had nothing to do, but when she was doing choreographed arms they were great. A good performance, nice style, definitely improvements in the posture, but it all still needs work. I loved it though. Carlos was in pieces afterwards!

George & Alexis - Rumba

Emotional back story so I feel like that put a lot of pressure on the dance. It was lovely, though, nice and sweeping and really bringing you into the story. I was wondering why it didn’t feel like a cringey rumba and Craig was right, it’s because it was really more of a contemporary couple’s choice.

Lewis & Katya - Tango

This was exceptionally good - I’m back to not having too much to say because it looked like two professionals dancing together. Worth noting the judge’s comments about their being fewer tricks and that making it even better.

La Voix & Aljaž - Couple’s Choice

Hollywood glamour, nice dance, good personality, lots of fun. But probably the weakest dance of the night for me, and we’ve definitely seen better couple’s choices. But always great performance from La Voix, and I barely noticed Aljaž was there. The judges seemed to like it though.

The top of the leaderboard is very close, but you can see a few couples are starting to drift slightly towards the other end.

I predicted it might be Balvinder and Alex - I think Balvinder’s dance was just less memorable than the others and suffered from going first. And Alex’s waltz just didn’t sit right with me. But in the end it was the bottom two on the leaderboard that ended up in the dance off. And having scored the same points, it couldn’t have been closer!

So sad for Vicky to be voted off this week - from a personality point of view, she brought a lot to the show, but the nerves definitely got to her in the dance off and it’s the right decision ultimately. Such a shame! On to next week, though, I wonder where it’s going to be?