I agree that Natalie should change all the mouthing when she dances - for a smile. She loves it, (which is great to see) and she's getting so much out of it - and well deserved.

I wish Ali had a little of Natalie's enthusiasm.

I remember now why I wasn't fussed with Len's masterclass.

Stats man is another valium section.

Highlight of the training though, was Katya in the purple dress. I probably wont notice Phil's Samba.

Jade has some finishing touches to add, and if Ian can get her there by Saturday, I'll be surprised if Ricky W can beat it.

Laila - much better attitude and good to see Anton encouraging her. Its not a Samba, but Laila doesn't have to worry about that, just learn her routine and maybe even teach herself the best way to do the moves ( and maybe Anton too).

Craig - nice stretching.

Jo could actually put a lot more of herself into this routine than ever before. She has to learn a routine though and that could be a problem.

Excellent interviews from Claudia. The director seems to have finally remembered this year that she's good at that.

Were Ali and Brian shown at all?

I can't find any posts about them.

(And the Sun says they're sick.)

She acts loving it at least. Except when she doesn't and seems bland.

I'm glad Ali doesn't put a veneer of acting over everything.

They were shown. It looked OK. Brian says its a bit simpler but still difficult. It will need to look a lot more 'performed' on Saturday.

So you haven't settled on one favourite this year.

I haven't either. I like Ali ( another 'boring' one this year), Natalie, Chris, Phil and Jade.

I haven't warmed to Laila for some reason but she is a nice dancer (at ballroom anyway).

Difficult if she has flu.

I'm keeping my options open

It took me a while to properly take a shine to Rachel last year but she ended up being my favourite contestant to date.

Maybe I will gradually take to Ali although she doesn't have the advantage of being partnered with my favourite pro like Rachel was

Laila & Antons' partnership is a funny one. To begin with, I was tolerating Laila because I liked Anton a lot and desperately wanted to see him succeed. Now it's the other way round!

Brian wasnt well when they appeared on ITT earlier this week, but it looks like he is all over that now. They both looked hale and hearty in the snippets we saw of their their latest training.

Would that be Rowan Atkinson then (aka Mr. Bean)?

She doesn't have swine flu, Veri - see Greytops thread referring to a message from Brian on twitter.

Had to watch ITT on timeslip tonight and then flip straight over to watch Alesha on the One Show!

Was that a fab Len's Masterclass or what?! Claudia was better than any other time for sure!

I loved Team Cola's matching 'Yeah baby!' t-shirts - I want one!

I smile every time I see Jade and Ian! The brother and sister spats were spot on! Ian fans much have been very happy with what they saw of him tonight! I'm really torn between them and Chris & Ola as my favourites.

Worst bit tonight just has to be those vile green tracksuit bottoms Craig was wearing!

The one and only true Strictly fan is on the Friday Panel - Claudia will never get through all the couples with Marian Keyes around - I can't wait to hear what she has to say now Lilia is out!

PS I thought Ali looked great - perfectly healthy?

I was even more amused by 'Team Cola' being written on the back

Thanks. I assume it's the same tweet described in the appreciation thread as saying "Well Brian has just twittered that he doesn't have swine flu, but he does have a chest infection. He also says that Ali is also under the weather, but she's fine."

I thought swine flu was unlikely (though I know people who have had it), but even a lesser flu / bad cold / chest infection would be a problem, especially since so many people already have it in their heads that Ali doesn't "perform" enough.

Looks like Anton has choreographed a lovely Night Fever cha cha for Laila this week. I wonder if he knows the difference between a jive, cha cha cha, and samba - except that jive has kicky bits in it.

Hiya- missed ITT last night- was any comment made on the fact that its not a Samba??

I did wonder when watching ITT last night about whether it was supposed to be a Samba or a Cha Cha Cha?

I remember Kelly and Brendan doing a disco-themed samba (pretty sure it was a samba, not 100% though) and the judges slated it.

Be interesting to see what they say this week.

That's the first thing I thought of when I saw Laila & Anton's training footage. Len hates cheesy disco, so I'm sure he'll have a lot to say

On the other hand, Len is often so inconsistent that he will probably decide that he loves it

That's what I fear will happen!

LOL. Yeah, who knows with Len or indeed all the judges.

I wouldn't cross an angry Mrs. Jordan

Can't wait for Marian Keyes tonight

It will probably be hailed as a wonderful recovery from the jive disaster

Nope, there was no commentary on it, just clips shown. I expect there'll be some mention of it tonight. All we saw in the footage was one series of cha cha steps repeated, and then a bunch of disco moves.

Thanks- am concerned that they will get positive comments after Len's 7 last week regardless of the fact that its not a samba??!!

Will try and watch tonight and see if they are featured on the panel.

I remember that too! From the little of training we saw it didn't look much like a samba. I heard Anton on the radio earlier this week and he said that they'd finished the whole routine by Tuesday and were just workng on perfecting it. He said that he'd made it quite simple for Laila. They are dancing to "He's the Greatest Dancer", which I'm sure will amuse some people!