Ben doesn't really dance very much, which is the reason why his dances haven't been as cringeworthy as Rachel's or Fiona's. I don't think his technique will be very good, but no doubt he'll get another 9 from Len for havin a go. The Jive us a hard dance for tall people and men ya know (like every dance according to Len).

Ben doing jive?! That means in 7 weeks, he's done 5 latin and only 2 ballroom. I know sometimes it gets a bit lopsided, but that's ridiculous. If he stays in, he'll have to do 3 ballroom in a row to even out.

Surprised Ben's got another latin, it'll mean he's only done two ballroom dances in seven weeks. Given that they're trying to sell him as the 'dark house' despite barely dancing a step, I wouldn't be surprised if they're getting all the latin out of the way so he gets all the dances he might be halfway decent at when it matters.

I'm hoping that Abbey has a Latin number this week. Better get it out of the way now and she'll probably get a bottom 2 bounce next week so she will still be safe. I worry about her getting a fast latin later especially because of this weekend.

Ben has a very good dance. The jive will really suit him.

I expect Sophie to be 2nd or 3rd on the leaderboard because I'm pretty sure she'll have a ballroom this week.

As usual whatever dance Natalie gets, she will top the leaderboard .

With Ben getting most of his Latin out of the way now, it bodes very well for his chances of making the semi or the finale imo

Brendan doesn't seem to be happy with Darcey's comments, saying that in Jive, there is barely a straight leg. Kicks and flicks ' = myth', and the 'standing leg does most of the work'. (from his Twitter)

I'm really confused about jive now - are lifts allowed or not?

I think one of Ben and Kristina's real problems is the height difference in hold, so I'm not convinced that keeping all the ballrooms for later is helping him. I mean, I think he will get to the semi-finals if not the finals whatever he dances, but I don't think storing up the ballrooms is necessarily helping. His big asset will be lifts, so I think keeping all the dances with lifts for as long as he can is wise.

He doesn't specifically mention Darcey or any of the judges in his tweet, and prefaces it with "people", so I think that's more in response to people tweeting him with comments about his choreography. He tends to respond to that sort of thing quite a lot, such as after his paso with Victoria last year he was very clear that the song and flying bike were foisted on him by production.

Brendan's personality has improved with age but he still needs to learn when to leave things alone. Sophie handled the situation with dignity; acknowledging that she messed up, thanking the public for supporting her and promising to do a better job next time. I doubt she'd be thrilled with him arguing with the judges or random people on Twitter on her behalf. Unless, as cwickham says, he's responding to tweets about his choreography then that might be why he's being so precious.

They're not allowed. Len and the other judges let the lift in Sophie and Brendan's Jive slide at the time but Len brought it up, along with an illegal lift in Ashley and Ola's Tango, during Len's Lens. Brendan did say on ITT earlier in the week that he had choreographed a few little tricks that he wouldn't normally put in a Jive because of the Halloween theme. The lift did seem a bit pointless and underwhelming so I'm not sure why he bothered to include it, although it was the most Sophie's feet left the floor during that Jive...

Which is effectively a fix.

As an addendum to the first post, Dave actually should have ballroom having just done two latins. Gives him the options of foxtrot, quickstep, tango and viennese.

I don't see jive as a good dance for Ben, particularly now we're done with theme weeks - nowhere to hide there. He's also got argentine tango, charleston and samba to potentially contend with, plus in ballroom as said he's going to be affected by the height difference. I suspect a few weeks down the line the judges' marks are going to be knocked down a notch coinciding with one of those dances to try and nobble any momentum he might be getting.

I agree Eddy

Sophie will make it to Blackpool if she gets ballroom which she probably will as she had 2 latins last.

Mark & Iveta Rumba - Marks twitter.

https://twitter.com/markbenton100/st...17082762600449

Updated with Marks & Iveta included,

Abbey & Aljaz -
Ashley & Ola -
Ben & Kristina - Jive (Ben's Twitter)
Dave & Karen -
Fiona & Anton -
Mark & Iveta - Rumba (Mark's Twitter)
Natalie & Artem -
Patrick & Anya -
Sophie & Brendan -
Susanna & Kevin -

Dam it all Holmes !! 2 wrong, been on the funny stuff again

Think rumba might be quite good for Mark as we already know he can emote. Hopefully Iveta choreographs something better for him than the paso - I really like her but was disappointed by that.

Right music & clothes Mark will pull off the Rumba. He won't be hampered by embarrassmentlike some male celebs. I think this will be a good one as long as Iveta doesn't get talked into nonsense again

eek

Mark won't be able to get the hip action for his Rumba. I'm expecting another Lisa Riley type Rumba.

I actually think the producers are setting Ben up for a fall later in the competition, he's so much better at Latin from what we've seen (Salsa, Rumba, Paso Doble (according to Len)).

no

lifts are allowed in the salsa, AT, AS and charleston (dont think I have missed any out)

I can't see ben jiving and I doubt whatever he does will be as bad, or entertaining, as Michale Vaughan's attempt. Not a good draw. I think he'd be 'better' at samba.

Rhumba for Mark ... mrmm, interesting draw. He can move so will hopefully be able to caress the floor and move his hips. I agree that he won't feel the same level of self consciousness performing the dance with feeling. I'm keen to see what he might do.

Sophie will make it to Blackpool, whatever dance she gets, I reckon. It was interesting that Bruce made a mention of her being 'popular' on the live show. She has a very easy journey vote if she can perform an uninhibited later dance (think like Louis' supposed breakthrough), and really can't do much worse than that Jive this week anyway.

~

I'm thinking Iveta will be able to craft a fairly tender Rumba - going on the Waltz - if a little light on the technical content. I agree that her choreo for the Paso was poor, but I think quite a lot of the choreography for the Hallowe'en night was poor*, so she wasn't alone there really.

As for Ben, I'd predict he'll place around 6th. Like Gavin Henson/Nicky Byrne. The Jive probably won't be good, but it may entertain nonetheless. And, actually, it'd be quite nice to see him actually do some dancing. He won't be able to just pose and frame Kristina this time.

* I am not necessarily blaming the pros for this entirely, as I suspect some of the (bad) songs and themes were foisted on them...

Edit: On second thoughts, I doubt Ben will move a lot even in the Jive, so it probably won't be that entertaining...