It seems that a heap of praise and a top three placing on the scoreboard is no guarantee in Strictly Come Dancing. And that's exactly what Carol Smillie found out. The one-time Changing Rooms presenter was voted off the competition by viewers, despite some of her best dancing yet.
The five remaining couple danced two dances this week! Firstly Ballroom and then Latin!
First up were Carol and Matthew dancing the Viennese Waltz to Breakaway. After a graceful performance the pair went to face the judges and despite the odd criticism (Arlene described Carol as "a little bit like a science teacher", their reaction was overwhelmingly positive. Len described Carol as a "great big red swan" due to her beautiful red gown, whilst Bruno said "the lady has surpassed herself tonight". Carol was hoping to beat their previous highest score of 30 and she wasn't disappointed. [Craig: 8, Arlene: 8, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 34]
Next up were Matt and Lilia, performing the Quickstep to Walking On Sunshine. Once again, the judges had a few minor criticisms with Craig accusing Matt of occasionally being pigeon-toed, but generally the response was good. [Craig: 8, Arlene: 8, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 34]
The third couple to perform was Emma and Darren, they danced the Waltz to The Way We were. Craig kicked off the judges' comments by saying he was "absolutely mesmerised". Arlene criticised Emma's balance to boos from the audience but Bruno topped off the comments by described the performance as "the perfect example of the story of dance." [Craig: 9, Arlene: 8, Len: 10, Bruno: 10 = 37]
Mark and Karen were next with the Foxtrot. They danced to California Dreaming but unfortunately their performance turned out to be a bit of a nightmare. Len told the pair he was "bitterly disappointed" by their performance with Bruno complaining that Mark's footwork was "all over the place". [Craig: 7, Arlene: 7, Len: 7, Bruno: 7 = 28] The music was all wrong - I have never heard "California Dreaming" at such a strange tempo!!
The last couple to take to the floor were Louisa and Vincent who performed the Viennese Waltz. Louisa wore a stunning silver gown but did the performance sparkle for the judges? Well it certainly did for Bruno who said: "It's like watching a darling little debutante." However, there simply wasn't enough Viennese in this Waltz for Arlene and Len, Arlene even suggested she thought that Vincent had let Louisa down with his choreography. [Craig: 7, Arlene: 7, Len: 7, Bruno: 7 = 33] Louisa was daunted by having to learn two dances this week - the Viennese Waltz and the Cha Cha Cha. The former is supposed to be elegant, while the latter is cheeky. Two dances and two very different styles - but still not much material to wear! Bruce said she has the skimpiest waltz outfit ever!!!
With the Ballroom behind them it was time for each of the couples to dance a Latin piece with Carol and Matthew first up with the Samba. After a disappointing reaction from Arlene to their Viennese Waltz, her response to the Samba couldn't have been more different. "At long last you know what your hips are for!" she exclaimed. The other judges were equally impressed with Bruno stating, "finally the lady's a tramp". [Craig: 7, Arlene: 9, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 34]
Matt and Lilia were next to perform, their Latin piece was the Rumba. Unfortunately the judges were unimpressed. Bruno described the performance as "the seduction that never happened", whilst Craig felt it didn't have enough flow. Arlene stated plainly, " I really disliked it". [Craig: 6, Arlene: 6, Len: 8, Bruno: 7 = 27] Lilia was reported during training to have said "Come on move your hips... wake them up... there are some in there" whilst training for the Rumba. Wake the judges up too - his ballroom was better than Louisa's but his marks were lower!!! Wear less next week Matt!!!
Emma and Darren's Latin piece was the Paso Doble. Stunned by the performance, Arlene enthused: "this went from the bull ring, to the ballroom, to the bedroom". Craig said the performance gave him goose bumps, whilst Bruno praised the couple saying: "That was grand opera on the dance floor. [Craig: 9, Arlene: 9, Len: 9, Bruno: 10 = 37]. Two dances in one week was a factor that is worrying Emma. But Darren has a secret tactic to put Emma in the Paso frame of mind. "My philosophy is to annoy Emma in the Waltz so that she's so annoyed she takes the aggression out on me in the Paso," he explained. This worked because their Waltz was beautiful - then Emma came up looking very annoyed for the Paso Doble!!!! WOW!
Next, Mark and Karen were hoping to impress the judges with their Samba after a disappointing Ballroom performance. Fortunately for them the judges loved it, with Arlene exclaiming: "The swinging, swirling, swivelling hips are back!" [Craig: 9, Arlene: 9, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 36] Yes but they didn't have the WOW factor that Emma and Darren had!
Finally, Louisa and Vincent performed the Cha Cha Cha to Rescue Me. Not that anyone needed rescuing here. Bruno described the performance as "bootylicious", whilst Craig said, "That has to be the cutest Cha Cha Cha we've ever had." [Craig: 9, Arlene: 9, Len: 9, Bruno: 9 = 36]
The show ended with Emma and Darren at the top of the leaderboard, and Matt and Lilia at the bottom.
"It Must Be Love" was performed by Madness and Erin Boag and Anton Du Beke (just like Dance Riviera) showed that dancers can dance to all sorts of music. Then it was time to announce the tenth couple to leave the competition.
Firstly, Tess and Bruce announced which of the couples had definitely made it through to dance another week - and in no particular order, the first couple through was Louisa and Vincent, followed by Matt and Lilia, then Mark and Karen. This left Carol and Matthew and Emma and Darren in the bottom two. Sadly, despite receiving their best scores (and comments) of the series from the judges, Carol and Matthew became the next couple to hang up their dancing shoes. Judges Len Goodman and Arlene Phillips congratulated Carol's two performances, with Len telling her she was "like a great big red swan gliding across the water". But before she hung her up jiving shoes, Carol - who's reportedly lost half a stone from training for the show - found time to thank her dancing partner, Matthew Cutler: ""He's absolutely brilliant - number one in my heart, apart from my husband obviously."
I cant understand why Emma and Darren were in the final two again!!! Come on people - make sure you vote for your favourites!
VOTE FOR MATT - a rugby player, masterchef winning cook, rugby player, dancer, rugby player! Ok so I am biased!!!
Christine
