(remember the opinions are mine as a viewer I have no actually knowledge in terms of the technical side of the dancing)

First this is a little late as those of you following my FB page know I had been rather ill last week and have been very lethargic and feeling sorry for myself thankfully I had a few post scheduled ahead so it did not effect my blogging as badly this time as illness has previously.  I also then had a busy week this week with it being half term, I have just posted this months review which you can go check out here and please feel free to join my on FB or Twitter as there are lots of things I post and share there that are not really the sort of things you blog, including a daily song from my own music collection and final thought of the day I also share at least one blog I have read once a day you never know when it might be yours lol.  Anyway on with the dancing…

  Celebrity; Ashley Taylor Dawson, soap actor

  Professional; Ola Jordan

  Dance; Jive

  Judges Marks; 31

  What I thought; I was really surprised at how little I enjoyed this, the best thing about it was the music, I felt although he through himself into it he forgot half the basics.  Not pointing toes in flicks and kicks then blaming the boots, at times he seemed a little bit slick rather than gritty, he gave it his all but I really just didn’t get into it I am wondering if I am being unfair and judging him on his TV character rather than his own personality at times but today I just didn’t feel it, maybe it was the fact the only had ten hours to learn it all but if that is the case he needs to find more time to practise.

  Celebrity; Mark Benton, Actor (starred in Doctor Who)

  Professional; Iveta Lukosiute

  Dance; Waltz

  Judges Marks; 28

  What I thought; Loved they took him for deportment lessons lots of us could do with them, and I think they did help a little with his stance however his size does count against him at times in this dance.  I know as a bigger person it does effect your positioning and it also effects the shape of your dance interms of how you hold your partner, I have said it again he is great at ballroom, fun at Latin but I fear eventually he will lose out because of the limits his size places upon him sadly.

  Celebrity; Susanna Reid

  Professional; Kevin Clifton

  Dance; American Smooth

  Judges Marks; 32

  What I thought;  I really really enjoyed this, it caught the Hollywood musical theme perfectly, I will confess to being slightly worried that the fact Kevin is so tiny would be an issue when it cam to lifts but in this dance they were perfect, should they get to the final and need a show dance it may be a concern and I really do expect her to be a contender for a place fighting for the glitterball.

  Celebrity;  Sophie Ellis-Bextor, Singer

  Professional; Brendon Cole

  Dance; Cha Cha

  Judges Marks; 30

  What I thought; This is the first dance that I have seen Sophie do that I have felt I really didn’;t enjoy,  her ballroom is gorgeous but her Latin is another story, I think part of the problem is that she is not really built for these dynamic dances, she has long limbs and moves more fluidly which does not translate well to Latin and the laid back approach just can’t be used for all of them, I think she could win this competition if she could sort out getting some fire in her hips.

  Celebrity; Natalie Gumede, Actress, ex-dancer

  Professional; Artem Chigvintsev

  Dance; Samba

  Judges Marks; 35

  What I thought; Okay I am going to leave my comments on the outfit for a later section and concentrate on the dancing.  The choreography was good, music choice perfect and her feet work was sharp and crisp, decent hip action but overall it bored me.  I didn’t feel like she was really enjoying the dance and her constant overacting facially made me think of a gurning competition.  It should have excited me but left me shouting ‘next’.

  Celebrity;  Ben Cohen, ex rugby-player

  Professional; Kristina Rihanoff

  Dance; Quickstep

  Judges Marks; 27

  What I thought; I have to agree with Len they did spend too long getting into the dance but once they did I really enjoyed it, Ben could very well be the journey of this series as watching him each week come out of his shell and really begin to enjoy his dancing is a joy to see.

  Celebrity; Fiona Fullerton, Actress and Bond Girl

  Professional; Anton Du Beke

  Dance; Quickstep

  Judges Marks; 30

  What I thought;  I really enjoyed this and thought it was Fiona’s best dance so far, instead of looking scared she looked like she was really enjoying herself.  Technically she is not the best dancer but she has the perfect partner in Anton who is excellent at laying to his partners strengths and this dance really suited her.  It was also great seeing Anton’s reaction to getting 8’s given his recent partners.

  Celebrity; Dave Myers, Hairy Biker Celebrity Chef

  Professional; Karen Hauer

  Dance; Salsa

  Judges Marks; 17

  What I thought; What can I say, it is car crash TV but I love it, what Dave misses out on in talent he makes up for with enjoyment and enthusiasm.  It is impossible to watch him without smiling unless of course you are Craig, in theory his days should be numbered but I think his popularity may see him remain for a while longer.

  Celebrity; Rachel Riley, TV presenter and Maths Whizz

  Professional; Pasha Kovalev

  Dance; Pasa Double

  Judges Marks; 22

  What I thought; Oh dear, I feel so sorry for the poor girl because really her partner should have told her that her ‘Pasa face’ was horrible and then the make up artist made it a hundred times worse with the make up. This was really not her dance she is just not the right type of person to get into character for this dance and so I really did not enjoy this and felt how uncomfortable she was for her.  I fear the dance off my beckon again.

  Celebrity; Deborah Meaden, Businesswoman and Dragon’s Den Investor

  Professional; Robin Windsor

  Dance; Viennese Waltz

  Judges Marks; 27

  What I thought; Hmmm this is a tough one I did actually enjoy it but the choice of music and choreography for this dance is either very brave or very foolish.  This is the dance which screams romance and instead they danced it more like a Tango or a Pasa infact if they had done this as a Tango I would have been standing myself but as a waltz not sure it really worked and I fear they could be in trouble.

  Celebrity; Patrick Robinson, Actor

  Professional; Anya Garnis

  Dance; Salsa

  Judges Marks; 28

  What I thought; Okay so Patrick injured his hand which did lead to having to change things round a little to accommodate what he couldn’t do but I did feel his foot work was a little stompy at times it is hard to know if this was just because he was thrown mentally by his injury or if he can be a little heavy footed at times, hopefully he will get the chance to come back next week without being impaired and really show he deserves to keep his place on the show.

  Celebrity; Abby Clancy, Model and Footballers Wife

  Professional; Aljaz Skorjanec

  Dance; Foxtrot

  Judges Marks; 35

  What I thought; I absolutely loved this, the outfit was perfect and I hadn’t heard the song before but I really liked it, they looked stunning together and the dance was performed with real elegance and grace.  What more can I say Abbey is becoming a real favourite as far as I am concerned and lots of other strictly fans I speak to at work agree.

My Dance Of The Week

Costume of the Week

Not sure I really need to say anything pure elegance.

Frocky Horror Picture Show

I can’t decide what was worse the colour or style of this dress, they style really did not flatter her figure but the colour really made her look washed out I have noticed certain people do tend to get better outfits than others and I hope that she gets better dresses as the numbers shrink.

The Dance Off

Really was unsure who would be in the dance off this week but was slightly surprised to see Patrick and Deborah there, they both danced better in the dance off but we had to say goodbye to Deborah which surprised me.