A real moment of shock crept into last weekend’s Strictly Come Dancing when Ricky Whittle, whom I have expected to see in the final from the outset, found himself in the dance-off. It’s still inexplicable to me, watching his performance with Natalie, but I’m glad that justice was served and they remain in the contest. Perhaps it was because of Natalie’s nasty yellow dress for the cha-cha that they failed to attract a viewers’ vote which reflected their fantastic 95 out of 100 from the judges.
As I predicted, Laila has reached her limitations, as proven by the low score she achieved with Anton of only 59. Although she has come a long way since the beginning, I think she was fairly eliminated on Saturday.
The remaining couples will have to keep themselves in with a faultless Argentine tango on Saturday - and I’m encouraged by the fact I’ve already seen Ricky and Natalie dance a fantastic Ballroom tango earlier in the competition. All the contestants will have to go a long way, though, to perform a tango with all the passion and technique the professionals, Vincent and Flavia, demonstrated on Saturday night.
At least next week’s contestants won’t have to worry about being upstaged by Bette Midler, who totally stole the last show!
Here’s my view on all last Saturday's performances:
Chris and Ola
They are now the favourites, thanks to the fact they are the only couple who have never been in the bottom two - and what’s called
Chris’s “likeability” factor. But while Alesha thought Chris looked confidence and composed, for Bruno his waltz was “constipated” and Craig criticised him again for not smiling enough.
Ricky and Natalie
For me, this was the couple that shone, even though their first
dance was not liked so much. I stil think Ricky is the best of all
the male contestants, and a fantastic dancer. As Len said of their
foxtrot: “Too marvellous for words”.
Ali and Brian
Like Ricky, Ali is also technically better than Chris, but Alesha spotted moments of insecurity in her performance, and Len actually called her “a bit of a one-trick pony” - not good when he was commenting on her tango, and they have another version of that to dance next week.
But Craig called her samba “magnificent” and Darcey Bussell predicted the couple will definitely make the final.
Laila and Anton
Although she has improved technically, Laila has remained somewhat
wooden and uninspiring, and finally her performance failed to move the judges any more than it moved me. Her “sloppy, floppy” salsa, as Bruno called it, was the final nail in her coffin.
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.