Anton and Leslie - I liked this, they seem to be getting the hold together so her shoulders come down, and I actually recognised it as a tango. Was a bit of gapping and lost the tango faces occasionally.
Judge Rinder - was fun, he tried to point his feet in the kicks and flicks, he can move his hips, but probably shouldn't high kick as he bends his back when he does them.
Greg- didn't see much quickstep, are they supposed to be that far apart? Why was she smiling and he wasn't? It was OK
Anastacia - I liked that, was fun, not so much gapping, she tried to point her feet, and mostly kept up with Gorka. She's better in hold than on her own, leans forward when on her own.
Louise and Kevin, not much connection between the two, Louise didn't have much hip action, unfortunately the only time they showed her footwork properly she stuttered a bit.
Ed, tried hard, if they hadn't gone for lifts it would have been OK, there was some recognisable footwork there. Didn't like the comedy bit. Show me the way to Amarillo isn't very smooth, is it?
Ore - this had a nice intensity, but there were a couple of stumbles, one in particular on the pivots. He still isn't doing spins - is he finding that difficult? The song was made for spinning, with emphasis on the 'I i I i I' in the hook and they didn't pick that up, which made me a bit grumpy.
Daisy - this was a good idea, but for me she seems to lack drive. She has got very long legs, but doesn't extend them and she looked a bit tentative in places. Good landing from the lift and I liked the last sequence.
Danny and Oti - Isn't Oti fab? But Danny's 1970's shirt didn't do him any favours, as it covered his bottom and although there was some hip action it was hidden. He was very stiff and didn't, for me, capture the sinuosity of the dance.
Cloudia and AJ - What is it with climbing on the judge's desk this week? Actually I liked this, Cloudia is tiny but they really cover the floor and drive into the dance. She looked a bit uncomfortable but had loosened up a lot from the training footage - there was one amazing shot where you saw the muscles in her back just rippling.

So 1, 2,3?

I like a journey, so Cloudia, Ore, Danny

Rob Rinder (jive) - I think that if he had had those two extra days, this could have been very good. As it was, it was a bit stompy and he didn't have the technique down. However, lots more straight dance content than in his other routines, making it much more enjoyable. Far and away his best yet.

Lesley & Anton (Tango) - She has at least managed to get her head held up a bit further, but she needs to go still further back and those shoulders way, way DOWN. She got a lot of the Tango atmosphere, but made mistakes so looked skippy (not that we could see what they were because her feet were off camera most of the time) and I think that put her off the drama as well. Not her best. She might drop to B2 this week

Greg & Nat (Cha cha) - he had clear problems with the technique which I'm not going to bother to go into. HOWEVER, I thought a lot of this was redeemed by the fact that, unlike a lot of the beginner bloke cha chas, he focussed a lot on Natalie and really presented her, and was a very masculine presence on the floor, complementing her feminine one. I saw partnership, which is something I love.

Anastacia & Gorka (QS) - Gorka is a much better match for her physically than Brendan. She danced really nicely BUT you could have driven a truck through that gap. I'm surprised Len did not comment. We're not just talking 'not quite in contact', we're talking 'miles apart'.

Louise & Kevin (rumba) - to my very great surprise, and perhaps against the opinion of some, I actually liked this one!! It was sweet and tender, and for once Kevin seemed to be focussing on her rather than himself. Okay, so it won't set the world on fire, but this is the only routine of hers that I would watch again. Again, her shoulder can sometimes come up. This is not a random thing I keep banging on about - with the shoulder raised like that, she could not extend her arm as far (in one case, she really foreshortened the reach because of this), so the line was not as good. Gorgeous dress too - thank heavens Louise has stopped insisting on sacks. But Darcey is right - Kev has really got to push her until she breaks out of 'good'. So she may go wrong in one routine, but if she doesn't let it out, she won't make it to the end.

Ed & Katya (AS) - it was all going so well, until Katya put in a lift that was just too difficult for him. She'd obviously intended it to be a vote-catching spectacular, but it went horribly wrong and he wasn't able to recover. It really wasn't necessary - what they had was enough. Hopefully he'll stay out of the B2.

Ore & Joanne (waltz) - a bit on and off. Jo has done wonders with his posture in hold, but it looked to me as though his musicality suffered and it wasn't smooth. Still not seeing any partnership there and I tend to end up just watching Jo. Predictably, overmarked.

Daisy & Aljaz (charleston) - a charming dance, but they weren't truly in sync. I fear they may get lost in the middle here and find themselves in unexpected B2.

Danny & Oti (rumba) - boy, I missed J here. I think Danny is actually slightly pigeon toed. I am beginning to find all of Danny's dances the same. I did not look at this and think 'rumba'. I just thought 'MT'. They had been talking in VTs about not wanting Danny to look too feminine, but they went too far the other way, and Danny was flinging his arm out really strongly and without shaping. After coming together in the QS beautifully last week, they again look very separate on the dancefloor. Both he and Ore have yet to jump that 'partnership' hurdle.

Claudia & AJ (samba) - she still performs like a gymnast, not a dancer. There were parts that were really good, but I think perhaps it was just too fast for her, and she was rushing to be in place for the next move (kind of like you might do in gymnastics).

So not a vintage evening. And unbelievably, my favourite dance was.... Louise!!!