What did people think of the showdances?

I thought Frankie & Kevin's was gorgeous until they started messing around on the benches, I don't understand why Kevin thought that was a good idea.

Mark and Karen's seemed to be mostly a repeat of his jive (with a few lifts and running up and down the stairs thrown in). Would like to have seen some more original choreography.

Caroline's was the best, but I'm not sure how I feel about a showdance in a ballroom & latin competition with no ballroom or latin in it.

Kristina threw the kitchen sink into that routine with Simon, but to me it looked a bit messy in places.

Marks was a pissed night out
Frankie was forgettable
Simon was ok bit messy
Caroline was sublime

I preferred Frankie's and Simon's as they highlighted just how much they'd learnt, I wasn't keen on Caroline's - too much wafting and carrying around - as for Mark's...I howled with laughter when Craig compared it to an aerobics video because that's exactly what it reminded me of

I thought Caroline's was outstanding, and Frankie's was OK.Mark's was awful and I thought that Simon's was a bit messy.

frankie and kevin, caroline and pasha, both lovely dances, for different reasons, and both flawed. overall, marginally preferred frankie

simon and marks both felt like show laps in the style of lewis hamilton...

Frankie & Kevin - OK but I found myself getting a bit bored which isn't meant to happen in a show dance

Mark & Karen - too much prancing around the stairs & didn't add anything new to what I have seen from Mark before

Caroline & Pasha - I actually cried. It was stunning. I don't need to say anymore.

Simon & Kristina - Totally opposite in style to Caroline & Pasha's yet equally outstanding.

I expect purists will say that Frankie & Kevin's wasn't a showdance but I'm not a purist so that was my favourite.

I do like a bit of contemporary but, although she did a very good job, Caroline isn't the most elegant dancer.

Simon & Kristina didn't make much impact on me one way or the other.

Mark & Karen's was a bit cringe in parts.

Carolines was beautiful so emotional I was nearly in tears
Frankies was good but the benches ruined it
Marks was fun but they shouldn't have ran up the stairs
Simon it was just a bit too much

Mark's was like a competition to see who could run the fastest.
Caroline's was gorgeous.
Frankie's was gorgeous, but would have liked it without those benches.
Simon's was great and had so much in it.

Caroline or Simon to win

Frankie's was my favourite by far, I just loved that elegance
Marks was completely bonkers
Caroline's I didn't like personally but I can see why other people did
Simon's was great

Hello. I only watch the dances each week on YouTube, so have no affiliate to any contestants via the main show.

My winner has been Caroline since the start, but Frankies show dance was so good tonight. I'm still yet to see Simons though.

I hate angsty samey contempory dance but quite liked Pasha in that !
Loved Frankies , so elegant and fab
Marks walkec about a bit
Simons was good but a bit gimmicky really

Ok I just read the thread... I thought Frankies was boring UNTIL the benches. I loved the benches. What do I know!!

Carolines is possibly the best Showdance I have ever seen on the show.

Frankie's was lovely but a bit one dimensional - and the benches were a terrible idea.

Mark's was awful - he could have cartwheeled, leap frogged and run up and down stairs in week 1 for goodness sake.

Caroline's was very accomplished but did not showcase anything that she had learnt - with her background in dance she could've pretty much done that dance in week 1.

Only Simon's dance showed a selection of dances that he had learnt. It wasn't fabulous but, for me, it had the spirit of a Strictly showdance.

Caroline was A-MA-ZING, then Frankie's
Siimon's: It is all about Kristina

Liked Caroline's very much, Mark's onthe other hand was dire. Karen must have a few quid on them coming fourth.

Loved Simon and Carolines one of these should win
Not keen on Frankies
Mark was a little bit to hetic

Frankie & Kevin - gorgeous but lacked the wow factor [not Frankies fault]
Mark & Karen - frenetic but crowd pleasing
Caroline & Pasha - sublime

Simon & Kristina - a real showcase for Simon - well done Kristina

Simon's showdance was really good. I liked that it showed what he had learned. I liked Caroline's and Mark's as well.

what has everyone got against the benches?

I thought Frankie & Kevin's was easily the best, but then it played to her strengths by being ballroom based. I thought it was a class apart from the rest.

I thought Caroline's showdance was a prime example of the dance category known as Contemporary Dance Bollox. I found it all rather cringey. Caroline's good at selling the party dances but lacks the poise, grace and finesse which would have been required to make this dance anywhere near being a good showdance IMO.

Simon & Kristina are my favourites but I have to admit to being a bit disappointed by theirs as well. I was expecting so much more. It was all a bit too frenetic and I think they would have been better going down a similar route to Frankie & Kevin.

Mark's had tons of energy and was fairly watchable, but again was lacking in finesse.

I'd probably rank them:

Frankie & Kevin

Simon & Kristina
Mark & Karen
Caroline & Pasha

I thought Frankie's, Caroline and Simon's were all fantastic in different ways. Marks was meh.

Frankie - gorgeous but the bit on the benches ruined it as it interrupted the flow of the dance and was just a bit awkward. Such a shame it's the only ballroom we'll see tonight.

Mark - clever of Karen to base it on the Jive and Charleston as they were Mark's best dances, and those bits were well done. Confused by the running up and down the stairs though - did something maybe go wrong in rehearsals and Karen had to change it at the last minute?

Caroline - breathtaking, though very little ballroom or Latin in it.

Simon - sadly forgettable - Kristina's choreographed better, but I was happy to see some Quickstep as well as the Latin dances.

nothing in a normal week but not in a showdance .. well for me anyway