Wow Laura looks absolutely stunning as a redhead and her dress is just gorgeous!

I LOVE BRUNO!!!!

They got the 30 I was hoping for.

Admire Laura for how she went for that routine!

Best salsa of the night She looked stunning!!!

Thought Laura did fine considering it's a difficult dance for tall girls.

So pleased Bruno gave it a 9 has made a big difference to where they would be on the leaderboard.

Did Gio go and give Bruno a big kiss? Is that why they got a 9? 😜
It was a big messy imho but it was a much more salsa than Wills.
I'm still waiting for Mick to star in a training VT!

Glad that Bruno gave 9, considering that Darcey and Len gave a 7, the same as Lesley and Anastacia, so it balanced out.

A bit messy for me too. The lifts stopped the flow but she gave it everything and looked amazing. Gio (Goo as the MF calls him) was so so good.

What did they get for their first latin? 30 was a big improvement.

Just realised what I missed tonight... the Cha Cha and the Waltz both had a feeling of connection between Laura and Goo. This routine was so fast and furious that the feeling of interpretation and that shared *something* was a bit missing.

Hope no one minds me saying.

So difficult for tall girls .. but she looked amazing and gave it everything. Think the score was fair. Hope it's enough to see them through. Anxious wait tonight!

Been meaning to post in here for a while!

Love Laura and Gio and I thought they did well tonight, especially considering her height. I'm a bit worried for the DO.

I am a bit anxious about the DO too. Think she is going to be a ballroom girl but everyone says the salsa is difficult for a tall girl so she did well.

Hello Paperdreams

Welcome to the thread!

I'm a teensy bit worried too just because of the stage of the competition... It's easy for middle-tablers to stray into danger while everyone is voting Ed to save him! On the other hand, I think she'd fare well in the DO against most of her potential opponents.

Nervous times though.

(I voted this week, if that's any help. Missed the window last time)

I thought their position overall on the leaderboard was fair, but the multiple ties makes things a bit more risky, so fingers crossed they get through, as she did very well for someone with no training.

I expect Naga, Anastasia or Lesley could be in there too.

I've voted and am going to stick my positive head on! I really love them together and feel like they have too much potential to lose them yet.

Who do we think could be in danger? Naga, Lesley, Anastacia? If Laura and Gio are against one of those couples, I think they'd be safe on merit. If Will or Rob fell into the DO with them it could be harder. Maybe Tameka??

I really don't expect it'll be Ed. Too much feel-good around him at the mo.

Stunning photo of Laura as Satine flying high

Laura & Gio's 'Moulin Rouge' Salsa

Having rewatched a couple of times I'm really impressed with all the Salsa steps, her hips, timing, spins, some raunchy moves in there It's the lifts that were a little awkward. She could not have given that performance more, love this feisty lady, she radiates on the dancefloor! Brilliant music.

Hi paperdreams I'm hopeful they'll escape the dance off, have voted x2.

Agree with your point about Bruno balancing out the scores StrictlyRed, I do think Laura deserved that overall score of 30. It reflected the huge improvement she's made from her Cha Cha and the fair 25 she received for that dance.

I would be surprised if Ed was in the DO.

I just watched Laura and Giovanni again and it was better than I first thought.

EDIT Ochre definitely much better when you see it again!!

Again I think she's suffered because she's had more dance content in her routines than others who've managed to get away with more ''distraction' coreo. I like that Gio's pushing her but that isn't always reflected in the judging and those doing easier but 'showier' routines can get marked higher. It's not just Laura it's a problem in general I think. But hey it's TV!

Hi paperdreams Welcome!

This year it's so tight. So many good dancers and so many popular people with large fanbases. Middle of the table always seems a dangerous place to be .. especially with so many ties as often those near the bottom are seen as being in danger and therefore voted for.
I think Ed and Lesley are popular. Judge Rinder too. Anastacia may get the sympathy (or admiration) vote. After that it's difficult to call. I can see Naga being in trouble but maybe she's popular .. she wasn't in the bottom two last week when she was quite low placed. Eek!! Tough week!

Oh gosh lifts are so difficult when you're tall. I remember Katie's salsa from last year and she had similar problems though Laura was a lot more hip shaking than Katie. Agree though .. she was radiant! She gave it everything she could.

Loved the routine, great party feel (I was on the second glass of prosecco by then!) Laura looked amazing and has definitely gained confidence in her Latin performance. Thought the overall mark and comments were fair. No way do they deserve to be in the dance off so fingers crossed. (Also really pleased for Jo and Ore tonight, was waiting for that and well deserved.)

Could not agree more Huph, each time I watch the dance back I notice something extra I'm impressed by. Laura's a natural mover and brilliant performer. She's worked so hard this week, that really showed.

Did Gio choreograph it all or were there outside choreographers involved as with a few of the other routines? I loved the choreo aside from wondering if different lifts might have looked better but maybe those were the ones that worked! They pulled them off though Gio did get feathers in his face lol.

My thinking is still that plenty of content for the judges scores and challenging Laura so she continues to make these huge improvements week on week is the way for them to go.

She danced brilliantly this week, I thought 7's were a bit low but the 9 balanced it out overall That's 5 points better than her Cha Cha Cha!

I hope she isn't in the D/O.

Janette said the other day that they get help with Salsa, Charleston and AT, not sure if it's the whole routine or just parts. I think Gio probably had a lot of input into this one as I remember that he made a point of crediting the outside choreographers for GG's Charleston.

I'd happily watch a salsa without any lifts to be honest. Mark Ramprakash and Alesha's as examples. But over the years it's just come to be expected that the Strictly salsas have to include lifts.

I guess thats how you play the long game. If she's still there by the end stages, she'll have got so much in terms of getting the basics learned. It'll help then. But it makes the early stage routines harder to sell when they are so complex

TBH I think it's more salsa-y without lifts, they interrupt the fast flow of the dance a bit imho but again it's what looks good on TV that wins out. Salsa isn't part of the tradition 'Latin' line up so I think they do get extra help with it as not all pros may be trained in it to a high enough level.

Excellent point! I really hope she is there as she's done so much!