Yes Oksana was on about the little errors that are preventing them from doing better. I think that if the choreography is good and Rob controls his energy and facial expressions then this dance could score well. Bruno loves a story, Len loves technique with lots of rumba, Darcey loves lines and extensions and Craig will love a more serene face! Some of the MF are assuming this dance and song will land Rob in the DO. I don't think so. In fact I think the stage is set perfectly for him to be taken seriously as a contender.

I feel this is the second best choice of music out of this week's batch. It's a good idea. They could have done a romantic rumba, and it might have looked wrong, but an achey, painful, emotionally supportive one works much better for them.

Bill Withers is great

Guys, please explain to me why this song is appropriate for a Rumba because when I read they were going to dance to that I thought that was very a poor choice for a Rumba.
I'm no dancer, I'm as lay as they come, but I just can't see it, sorry. I'm actually a little worried for them.

I'm not a dancer either but I think I have a feel for music that suits the dances. (Hope thinking about my feelings is not an oxymoron!). The song has poignant lyrics, passion - when sung by Withers - and a nice languor that I can see rumba walks and the fan steps bring performed with the music. I hope they keep the vocals par down so that it does not become melodramatic or gospel music.

Feeling cautiously optimistic this morning... Looking forward to WWW.

Thanks for the link, I've been enjoying his talks with Scott Mills--it's a different kind of conversation than you get on the live show or ITT.


Maggie, I think we need you to be Oksana's assistant choreographer.

I'd been hoping that Cry Me a River would be their song, as it was a massive hit and often the songs are what carry people through. I'm worried about this weekend--rumba and a song that many don't seem to care for (I do love Bill Withers). Realistically, the judges would only save him against Ed, so he's going to need lots of votes!

I shall take this as a compliment ...

Interesting that Ian said Robert tends to rush his latin dances. I don't think this will happen with the rumba .
So it may prove to be a good choice for him this week. Fingers crossed

The training footage on ITT looked good today. Along with Danny, I think Robert has the best Latin hips in Strictly this year - and he should get more credit for it!

Agree! I think the dancing is looking very good. Hopefully the whole routine will come across well to the less fervent Robert and Oksana fans. And if not, then hopefully Robert will again say something clever about silly VTs or get into a panto spat with Craig to energize voters on his behalf

...Or just rip off his shirt

That would be funny!

Robert was on GMB yesterday talking about the Rumba. Here's a link to the interview:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MG5J...ature=youtu.be

I really really hope they do this justice tonight. It sounds like a beautiful story that has the potential to move people.

Good afternoon everyone. Thanks for that lovely clip sunshine. Rob is a mix of sardonic wit and earnest joy. I like listening to him.

I'm nervous about tonight as I think it's pivotal for Rob and the pivot is between two extremes; either he will end up in the DO, or his rumba will enthral so many that he secures more support that might make him and Oksana a winning couple. I think these are e competing tensions tonight.

You're welcome Maggie. Fingers and toes crossed for tonight. While we wait for tonight, here's a link to a sad and moving story about Robert's grandad: http://www.mirror.co.uk/3am/celebrit...trauma-9336153

How incredibly brave to allow this story to be shared!

I knew one of his grandparents survived the Holocaust but not which one. I think there remains lots of sympathy for the Jewish victims of the Holocaust so not sure it's bravery to tell the story. His grandfather's tale is one of courage though.

Ah I meant brave in the sense of allowing something personal to the family to be shared. I agree, his grandad was incredibly courageous. What a hero!

(And on a different note, what a cute photo of Robert as a child!)

Yes it can't be easy to tell the story of the food around the house knowing why. I thought it was a lovely photo of Rob too. He has such a glow about him and nice clear skin.

Thank you for the interview and the article sunshine

I enjoyed Robert's rumba. So tricky for the fellas. A good effort. He did well in the cha cha challenge too. I'd have nudged him up at least one place. Fingers crossed for this evening.

Morning all, and thanks Jean. I really enjoyed watching the Rumba last night and thought it was undermarked (although I really don't know enough about the dance's technique to justify that, but I felt there was good shaping, turns and lines).

They were obviously both very disappointed with the judges scores, and I saw a clip on Instagram where they'd just come backstage and Robert had worked out that even if they won the Cha-Cha-Challenge, they couldn't move up to 4th because that would only give them a total of 35.

I'd have put him 3rd or 4th on the Cha Cha too - above Ed and Ore for sure and possibly above Louise (still can't see how she won it).

Agree with all of this. I felt the same disappointment as he obviously did. The judges always go on about rumba technique and content, which they delivered, but to no avail.

I was disregarding all the conspiracy theory posts about the cha cha cha-athon result being a foregone conclusion, and yet it happened exactly so. During their half of the dance in front of the judges I noticed the judges weren't even looking at them at all.

And thanks for the links. I think Rob is doing a good job of getting himself out there (he needs all the help he can get). The article about his grandfather was fascinating, though a bit disconcerting to read amidst naked-lady clickbait pictures.

Sorry chocroute, no semi-nude clickbait on this one I don't think (aren't the red tops awful?)

A short but lovely interview with Robert describing him as this year's breakout star

http://tv.bt.com/tv/strictly-2016/st...11364116180056

Aww. Lovely.

I'm glad I'm not the only one who thinks the cha cha challenge was rather predictable. Just watched it back and there's a lovely angle of Robert & Oksana about mid way. Proper cha cha action. It really shows how much he's improved since week one. I hope the slight bias against them last night won't discourage them..

And now I've just watched it back too, thanks for the inspiration.

https://youtu.be/ZdcueooC07o

Do you mean the bit that starts at about 52/53 seconds where he had really good leg lock and hip movement?

They were also one of the few couples to finish in time with the music and not keep on dancing after the band had stopped.

Poor Rob. Still he returns to dance another week. Loved his goodbye words for Ed and how solemn he was as the judges' votes were read out.

Two improvements I noticed in his DO: He looked at Oksana more and his smile broke through at times. Also, near the end, Oksana does a balance with arm extended towards Rob who is in a lunge. First time around she wobbled a bit, but not this time. Presumably Rob was in a better position to support Oksana. This is one advantage of DOs. Perhaps the only thing!

Well, at least they're around for another week.

Based on tonight's show (so much praise in Len's lens for the remaining couples except Rob and Ed) that I can't imagine two others falling into the DO next week, and we can assume the judges would pick any of the others over Robert.