Well, it’s the final to beat all finals with 3D showings and coming live from Blackpool.

My personal favourite is Harry, and I’d love Jason to come second –but what will the British Public think? Here we go….

We open with well, something camper than camp. Words fail me. Gladiator meets soft rock. Oh lord, it just got worse with chariot arrivals. Really?!

Diamond encrusted long line bodice, strapless and champagne chiffon skirt for Tess.

Note: all the dancers outfits appear to be the same as they previously wore, even in the same colourways, so I have taken that out of the details.

Harry & Aliona
Quickstep
Music/Performance .Don’t get me Wrong. Just as good as the first time and better. What an opener.
Technique More power, more poise, more punch, better floor coverage ( and what a floor to cover!) and he nailed the jetes as well. You go my son!
Scores: Craig - 10, Len – 10, Alesha – 10 , Bruno – 10, DTNA: 10 well deserved perfect score to open the show – but is every act going to get a perfect score?

Show Dance
Music/Performance Great Balls of Fire Fab high energy routine which shows Harry’s been down the gym – those lifts are tough! Not over keen on the ending, but loved the routine, and the timing for removing the sleeves of the shirts was lovely. Don’t know how she is moving in those spray on trousers.
Technique loads of lifts with lovely technique for a non-pro (there was one that was horrible to get into but I couldn’t see how anybody could do it elegantly, and some of the transitions were ‘sticky’). Elements of cha cha, rumba, samba and jive (naturally) with beautiful kicks (Chelsee take note). Loved it. It’s a crime if that boy doesn’t lift the trophy.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 9, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 9 Interesting. I can see where they are coming from though, so fair enough.

Jason & Kristina
Modern Tango
Music/Performance I will Survive Same high level energy as the first time. Fun routine, and it was nice to see the judges singing along and laughing.
Technique Not as strong as I would have liked. Jason’s bum stuck out a bit and his knee was a little too bent. However he did have more drive and core strength than the original routine so there was definite improvement.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 9 nice to see 2 judges agree with me!

Show Dance
Music/Performance Dancing Fool How many costume changes?! We were beginning to think about a 3^rd, but there was no where to go surely! Fun routine, packed full of energy.
Technique Lovely quickstep/Charleston combination. Very nice quickstep sequence, liked the Charleston section but the lifts were not as strong. The whole together was somehow a little weak – which is a shame as I really wanted to love this.
Scores: Craig - 10, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 9 Surprised. I didn’t think it was THAT good. Particularly in conjunction with Harry’s performance.

Chelsee & Pasha
Jive
Music/Performance I’m a Believer. It was all going so well then there was a little mistake which threw her and the energy levels dropped. I don’t think this was a good as her first attempt.
Technique It started well but she forgot to keep her legs toned on the kicks and her feet then looked ‘loose’ and floppy on her legs. There was a minor mistake about 30 seconds in and this seemed to throw her and she struggled to get the energy levels back up again. It was good, but not perfect.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len –10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 9. It wasn’t worth 10’s. Judges will have their favourites though. Nice to see Craig agreeing it wasn’t perfect.

Show Dance
Music/Performance One Night Only. Very Beyonce outfit.
Technique what a mess. The entrances/exits to the lifts were appalling. Clumsy and awkward. The dance bits were actually ok but the mess of the lifts was just putting me off. I’ll be annoyed if that gets 10s.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 9, Alesha – 9, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 8 So pleased Alesha didn’t give that a 10.

Totals

Chelsee categorically didn’t dance as well as the two boys. I hope the public see that.  See you in a little over an hour!

Tonight we loose 2 couples - as discussed last night I think it should be Holly and Alex.  However, you put anything in the hands of the voting public and anything could happen.

Opening the show is Painted Black and some strange outfits on the grils for a paso/modern tango type inspired routine.

Tess in a sequined dip pillarbox red floor length dress which looks like a modest version of the dress made famous by Jessica Rabbit - love it.

Aloe Blacc is either miming or an excellent singer with a very good sound crew.  Natalie and Brendan add some colour with a samba/cha cha/rumba based routine.

So going through are - Chelsee and Harry.  No suprises so far.

Doing a show dance are Craig and Natalie.  As always this is more acrobatics than dance.  Very impressive but not what we can expect in the anything goes show routine that the celebs get to do. Incredibly physically demanding stuff is competition level show dance and Craig makes tossing 9 stone around look easy, and she makes it look like it's normal to be thrown around.

The military wives sing while Vincent and Flavia do an American Smooth style dance with lots of Argentine Tango elements.

So we have our final three, but there is only one space left (assuming the producers haven't pulled a swift one...)

going home are... Alex and James (as predicted) - but who is joining them?  It's.... Holly and Artem - so I called it right for once.  Sorry to see Holly go, but delighted Jason has made the final as he has been so great throughout.

Right. last week is the final - I'll see you there!

Just 5 couples left, in the semi final and this weekend we lose TWO couples, to give us our normal three remaining couples for the final in Blackpool next week. For those of you with 3D screens, or a local participating cinema, you’ll be able to watch it in 3D! I’m ok watching in 2D thanks.

We also have our first time that all our couples dance two dances – previously done much earlier in the series.

Black shiny mini tube dress with sheer net ankle length skirt. Elegant but looks a little insecure on the topline.

Harry & Aliona
Charleston
Outfits: blue sort-of naval inspired outfits. Not much to her’s!
Music/Performance .Wild about Harry. Quite an unusual choice for a Charleston – I would have done a quickstep. Nice tidy performance though a touch too contained for me.
Technique: A routine that showcased Harrys fabulous sense of timing and contained a really difficult set of moves. Fabulous swivels and good hands, nice level of energy. Would have loved a slightly faster track for Harry to really get his teeth into. He did make one footwork mistake which cost him a little bit of timing, and there was one messy transition after the ‘over the head’ throw and the final lift almost went wrong. So close to perfect!
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 9 Well deserved 10’s there, great score.

V. Waltz
Outfits: powder blue and gold full skirt and plunge neckline. Very pretty.
Music/Performance .This year’s Love lovely v. waltz beautifully performed by Harry.
Technique That’s the first genuine 10 we’ve seen. Gorgeous rotation, handled the spinning very well, lots and lots of content, fabulous top line, perfect timing, gorgeous lines, body contact, head work, body sway…. Well done Harry, that should get a perfect score.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 10

Alex & James
Waltz
Outfits: gorgeous peach pink and silver bodice with sunray pleated angel floats.
Music/Performance . Natural Woman. Nerves have got the best of her. There was a little tiny stumble early on which threw her but she recovered. Elegant, graceful and no dress malfunction this week!
Technique. Lots of complex stuff in here. It’s just a shame she more or less started on the wrong foot and the first few figures were clumsy as a result. She did sort herself out though and recovered quite well. Nice flow, nice foot rise. Didn’t like the bent wrist on her left hand at all but good headwork.
Scores: Craig - 7, Len – 9, Alesha – 9, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 8

Salsa
Outfits: red bodice and powder pink lace and feathered skirt.
Music/Performance . 1,2,3,4 . Nicely danced salsa from Alex with lots of energy and nice personality even though this was obviously outside her comfort zone.
Technique. I wished she would have straightened her knees occasionally – it’s a softer knee than the other latin dances but not as mushy as that. Certain figures looked untidy and unpolished but she gets points for the very difficult ‘dirty dancing’ lift and for the shoulder hike at the end. Her drop spin and exit was also very well performed. The whole she was a little uncomfortable with though and it showed in a reserve in her steps.
Scores: Craig – 7, Len – 8, Alesha – 8, Bruno – 8, DTNA: 8

Chelsee & Pasha
American Smooth
Outfits: gorgeous pastel sky blue satin and chiffon confection with see through panels on the skirt and at last a bodice that doesn’t do strange things to her bust. Very pretty.
Music/Performance . Time after Time more a rumba to me, so difficult to do a foxtrot based routine. Pretty routine though that Chelsee maintained character throughout.
Technique I can see the judges giving this 10’s, but for me there were a couple of points where her body lines weren’t as good as they should have been, and the drag splits move was awkward. I also think I counted 4 lifts? Her top-line, arms, timing, headwork etc… were all fabulous though. Beautifully danced.
Scores: Craig - 8, Len – 9, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 9

Paso Doble
Outfits: Unusual blue and white dress with lacing.
Music/Performance . Traditional track I can’t name. Great to have a strong trad track for Chelsee to get her teeth into for her performance, I think this really helped her. Great choreography from Pasha.
Technique This was very very strong. Great arms, good timing, there was a heel caught in her dress and she dealt with that very well. I didn’t like the ending, it was a little stumbly somehow, and there were one or two spots where her line wasn’t quite strong enough but I’m being very picky. A great performance of a very hard dance. I can see this (with Chelsee being the judges favourite) getting a perfect score, which I feel unfair on Harry if it does.
Scores: Craig - 10, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 9

Holly & Artem
Argentine Tango
Outfits: Lipstick Red with silver stripe detailing. Mesh and satin with high slits gives a great tango feel. Pinstripes for him.
Music/Performance . Por una Cabeza is one of my favourite tangos. Great use of a barstool, if overused very slighly in this routine. Nice characterisation and story telling. What great legs Holly has for this dance.
Technique Very tough routine as a lot of it was very slow (which is harder to do). With all the lifts and drops she did it was tempting to think that Holly had it easy with this one, but in order to do those moves she needed very precise and strong legs. Her gancho’s were considered and done from the right place for the most part and the timing and musicality was impeccable. A lovely strong routine which definitely wasn’t easy. Would have liked a bit less of the barstool though and a fraction more dancing. I hope it gets 10’s from the judges but for me it was just short of perfect, and if I’m going to mark down Harry I have to mark down Holly.
Scores: Craig - 9, Len – 9, Alesha – 9, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 9

Charleston
Outfits: fun pale yellow and grey hotpant combination in a nod to the 30’s but a modern twist.
Music/Performance . Il fait tu Americano fun tune with the hip-hop twist made this a funky routine, but Holly wasn’t at all sure of what she was doing and lost her steps and her energy throughout. Such as shame.
Technique Nice swivels, nice arm work but the whole lacked energy and one of the lifts was a right mess. Such as shame as I wanted this to be really, really strong. I’m not sure that’s enough to get her through to Blackpool
Scores: Craig - 8, Len – 8, Alesha – 9, Bruno – 9, DTNA: 8

Jason & Kristina
Samba
Outfits: Coral all the way with this. Coral shirt for him with wired hem for her multi level skirt which is barely held on by 3 straps
Music/Performance . Blame it on the Boogie not one I would have picked for a samba but it works. Great fun performance from Jason with loads of energy.
Technique. Not so hot on the technique for this one, it was all a bit light and fluffy to get the strong ‘down’ action bounce needed. He was getting the bounce through his toes rather than his knees. Good arm work but his feet were a bit panicked and rushed and not quite as precise as they needed to be which resulted in a bit of an odd hip action occasionally – hip has to come from the feet, not stuck on top. Great mix of steps though and nice range of changes of timing which Jason coped very well with.
Scores: Craig - 8, Len – 9, Alesha – 9, Bruno – 8, DTNA: 8

Argentine Tango
Outfits: black lace mini dress – sort of a tango dress that shrunk in the wash.
Music/Performance . another unfamiliar track that was working right up till the music change. The story got a bit convoluted/non-existent at that point. Nice characterisation from Jason though with strong personality.
Technique This was a dance of two halves, loved the sequence down the steps which was intense and well choreographed – though you shouldn’t be able to see light between the knees on a gancho, there were a couple of minor foot clashes (see, happens to all of us!) and it was strong and powerful. Then the music changed and he did this whole almost paso sequence and the lifts were very difficult, technically very well performed but somehow wrong for this dance. I want to love this and was disappointed. I’m struggling with the score for this as technically it was very demanding and very well done, but at the same time the whole didn’t work for me
Scores: Craig - 10, Len – 10, Alesha – 10, Bruno – 10, DTNA: 9

Total Count:

By my own scoring we are saying goodbye to Holly and Alex. I’m sorry to loose Holly but unfortunately she wasn’t quite as strong as Chelsee tonight and it’s a very tough call between them. On to the results show!

So last night I thought it might be time for Robbie to go home, purely on the basis of being the weakest dancer.  Does the Great British public agree with me?

Opening with a pro charleston routine.  Nice storyline and humour.

Tess has changed into a gold tube dress.

First in the red spotlight is:  Jason & Kristina - what did I say? ;-)  (Alex genuinely shocked to be through, Chelsee is hardly a surprise given she was top of the board - it's impossible to be in the bottom two from there).

Alfie Boe does a trilogy of Bond songs  - live and let die / nobody does it better / all the time in the world (with his own dancers and violin players).  I'm never convinced by classically trained singers doing pop tracks.  It always sounds a bit weird to me.  I mean the man can sing, but it just sounds odd.  Anyone else think the gorgeous black dancer had a look of Grace Jones about her?

Next to be drenched in red is: Robbie & Ola  (Harry  - pleased for him, Holly is through - but the BBC made her wait for that one).

Of Jason & Robbie it is Robbie without question to go home.  He's developed and progressed over the weeks beyond all expectations, but he is now the weakest of the group.  Am I confusing my shows here?

Hollywood musical routine from the Pros.  Cheek to Cheek is the 1st track for a foxtrot.  Next up a quickstep - Who wants to be a millionaire.  Foxtrot for The way you look tonight and the big finish.

Going home is Robbie, which is as it should be and the order of the universe is restored.

We are now down to Jason, Chelsee, Alex, Harry and Holly.

I think the final should be Harry, Jason and Chelsee or Holly.  I'd prefer Holly - but I'm not convinced the public agree with me.  However that does mean that I think Alex and Chelsee should be going home next week - and I don't think that's going to happen unfortunately.

At this point I think Jason or Harry should win.

But, time will tell....