There's A Famous Seaside Place Called Blackpool, That's Noted For Fresh Air And Fun.....

I have danced in this hallowed ballroom.... oh, all right then, I've walked across the dance floor. You're so picky! My Mum & Dad have danced here though. In 2010 we went to stay in St. Anne's for the weekend to celebrate Mum & Dad's 50th Wedding Anniversary. We stayed in a lovely hotel and we ate, drank and made merry. On their actual Anniversary, we had a day out in Blackpool and up the tower we went. The beautiful ballroom was quite busy with tea dancers, some of whom were taking it very seriously. I'm sure I took photo's of Ma & Pa dancing but I haven't found them yet. (Sorry!) I'll keep looking.

The week they all want to make it to, kicked off with a dance that included children and other ordinary folk taking to the dance floor along with professionals, judges and celebrities. Several of the female celebs were dressed as giant flower petals for some unknown reason. Hmmmm! It was great seeing the children dancing, they looked so professional.

Click here to watch opening number

And so to the competition......

Sophie & Brendan - Quickstep - 34 points

Sophie's dress (although lovely) was very plain by Strictly standards but this was a lovely dance and it was nice to see her with her hair loose as it seemed to soften her features. Sophie is a gorgeous girl but when she has an up do, her face can seem quite angular. Brendan's choreography was top notch as always and Sophie looked like she was enjoying this dance.

Patrick & Anya - Samba - 35 points

Patrick is still irritating me, but now he's irritating me for a different reason. At first I didn't warm to him because I didn't think he was as good as he and the judges thought.... and now that he's improved, he seems to have gone all cocky with it. However, this was a good dance for him and went well apart from a hideous wardrobe malfunction that took Anya several hops to get her shoe out of her feathery bits!

Ben & Kristina - American Smooth - 32 points

Is anyone else getting fed up of Kristina's constant insistence that Ben is working sooo hard, as if no one else is? Ben is getting better week by week but Kristina is such a whirling dervish that her dance partners could stand completely still for the allotted time and we would probably think they had been dancing up a storm. Don't get me wrong, I love Kristina and I really wish they would give her a celebrity she could lift the trophy with, but I'm not sure it's going to happen this year.

Ashley & Ola - Paso Doble - 35 points

I thoroughly enjoyed this 'Carry On Cowboy' themed Paso Doble, but should there not have been bulls and matadors. I'm getting confused.... Ashley came across very macho and when there were two other male dancers with him, you'd have been hard pressed to pick him out as the 'non dancer'. The judges seem to think Patrick is the best male celeb, but I think Ashley is better.

Fiona & Anton - American Smooth - 29 points

I'm afraid this American Smooth was a little bit American 'rough around the edges' and I'm not sure it was good enough to keep her out of the bottom two. Anton looked rather suave in his uniform and Fiona's frock was delightful. Over all the dance was good and enjoyable, it's just that others are better now.

Abbey & Aljaz - Quickstep - 37 points

Er...not sure about the giant bucket and spade, slightly superfluous to requirements. The cardboard cut-outs and the deckchairs were the right size so why the giant bucket? This Quickstep did what it said on the tin...it was quick and had a lot of steps, but even I could see there was too much gapping for most of the dance and really Abbey should be better by now given that she started the competition so well.

Mark & Iveta - Jive - 29 points

Once again a fabulously enjoyable routine from Mark and Iveta. The Hairspray theme was perfect for the jive and the giant hairdryer didn't seem quite as intrusive as the giant bucket and spade in Abbey's dance! It's easy to see how much Mark is enjoying himself and Iveta is fast becoming my favourite female professional dancer. They seem to have such a good relationship. I hope they stay in, but not at the expense of one of the better couples.

Susanna & Kevin - Paso Doble - 39 points (Woo! Hoo!) 
Highest score of the series so far

Absolutely bloody marvellous. Loved it, loved it, loved it. They are still very much my favourites. Kevin is brilliant and seems to tailor the dances to Susanna perfectly. They have a good combination of taking the whole thing seriously and having a bloody good time. This is the second week in a row that Susanna has performed the stand out dance for me and I really want to see them in the final. In fact...I want them to win.

Natalie & er.... Artem was there, honest! - Charleston - 
39 points (joint highest score of the series)

Slightly disappointed in this but can't quite put my finger on why and I didn't like the wig at all. Natalie so suits her naturally wild hair that it was disconcerting to see her without it, made her face look a bit odd. This was the highest scoring Charleston of the series so far, but I don't think it was anywhere near as good as Sophie's, so for me it was over marked I'm afraid.

Can't have a Strictly post without a pic of Artem!

Results
The results show opened with a brilliant pro/celeb group dance and was an excuse for Tess and Claudia to wear 'Kiss Me Quick' hats with Claudia armed with the obligatory stick of rock. As far as Tess's dresses go - I give up. Tonight's effort was awful. Sorry Tess, but you need to sack your dresser.

I thought this might happen. Mark & Iveta and Fiona & Anton in the bottom two. Craig opted to save Fiona, but then Darcey and Bruno saved Mark, which left Len, as head judge, with the deciding vote ....and he chose to save Mark & Iveta. So there you have it....it's goodbye to Fiona & Anton. Fiona had a good run considering she wasn't as good as some of the other female celebs and it was nice for Anton to get someone who could actually dance this year.

                                                                                                             Tracey