That means that the couple leaving us is...


As far as memory serves, this is the first time an Our Way first elimination has matched up with the Strictly equivalent which is almost an achievement.

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15. Melvin O'Doom and Janette Manrara (/Melvin O'Doom and Janette Manrara)

I am so sorry! I fell asleep at half 7 and woke up now (blame Freshers Flu); I can however confirm that Melvin was doomed no matter what.

Can I judge again I enjoyed that

Another great show, the scoring on some of them were very wild, I LOVE IT!

Ooh i love this game and glad to see it back. May I have an available judging spot please?

I do hope so, you are the most sensible judge!

Awwww, that's so nice of you to say. Thank you.

Most definitely! Earliest I have is 19th November.

Ooh yay, thank you!

Very interested to see what my fellow judges thought this week. I must say I was quite fortunate in the dances I was able to comment on all being amongst the most notable- so got to have a bit of fun with it this week

Thank you as always, Izzie, for letting me take part x

Show in five.

Last weekend Melvin and Janette were double ejected from the series becoming the first couple to suffer that fate in the first vote of the series. There was also some ‘controversy’, but I think that’s been dragged through this website quite enough now.

This week it’s Movie Week! A particular favourite of mine after that stunning tribute to Travolta last year. The man I speak of is Daniel O’Donnell, of course. This year we’ve got a few Strictly ‘sequels’ as Strictly rip off their own past movie weeks. Wouldn’t be Strictly without a bit of discussion about reused songs and themes though…

Opening at the box office were Daisy and Aljaž…

Daisy Lowe and Aljaž Škorjanec dancing the Quickstep to ‘A Spoonful of Sugar’ (Mary Poppins)

Craig – 7
Darcey – 8
Len – 8
Bruno – 8
Total: 31

Was that a deliciously sweet Quickstep for our judges?

Danny – 7
Izzie – 7
Queenie – 8
Stuart – 7
Total: 29

Stuart: Great start to the show. It wasn't quite outstanding, but definitely not bad either. I'd call it understated, but in the most delightful way.

A flip of the scores leaves them with…

THREE MARKS FEWER

Appearing in the death slot (I can’t think why…), it’s Anastacia and Brendan…

Anastacia and Brendan Cole dancing the Viennese Waltz to ‘A Thousand Years’ (Twilight)

Craig – 6
Darcey – 7
Len – 7
Bruno – 7
Total: 27

Did that dance give our judges something to get their teeth into?

Danny – 7
Izzie – 6
Queenie – 5
Stuart – 6
Total: 24

Izzie: This is another of those brilliant Strictly partnerships that don’t exactly work when it comes to Ballroom routines. At one point, your right arm was at a right angle as it strained to meet Brendan in hold. It was a decent first attempt at Ballroom, but I think the height difference will always be a problem.

A bit more range amongst our panel gives them…

THREE MARKS FEWER

The first of two masked performances tonight comes courtesy of Danny and Oti…

Danny Mac and Oti Mabuse dancing the Paso Doble to ‘The Train/El Sombrero Blanco’ (The Mask of Zorro)

Craig – 9
Darcey – 9
Len – 9
Bruno – 9
Total: 36

Will our judges derail Danny’s train to the final?

Danny – 8
Izzie – 8
Queenie – 9
Stuart – 9
Total: 34

Queenie: Another week, another brilliant dance from Danny and Oti! Honestly Danny I am constantly flawed by the technique and flare that you show in all of the dances and the Paso was no exception! We've seen you do sexy, we've seen you do classy and now we've seen you do strong and angry! You're able to portray every character brilliantly and make it look so easy! I do think you should have channeled Ben Cohen/Gavin Henson/Scott Maslen and done the dance without your top on though. For purely selfish reasons.

Something tells me Queenie quite liked that (take that to mean either the dance or him…

TWO MARKS FEWER

Parading onto the dance floor, it’s Lesley and Anton…

Lesley Joseph and Anton Du Beke dancing the Quickstep to ‘A Couple of Swells’ (Easter Parade)

Craig – 6
Darcey – 7
Len – 7
Bruno – 7
Total: 27

Did our judges consider that to be a swell performance?

Danny – 8
Izzie – 6
Queenie – 6
Stuart – 6
Total: 26

Queenie: When I'm 92 or however old you are these days Lesley I hope that I will be as sprightly as you! Honestly you threw yourself into that dance so hard I'm surprised you were still able to breathe by the end! Lots of energy - well done.

An Anton routine harking back to the good ole’ days, of course Danny was going to love it!

ONE MARK LESS

Following them are Will and Karen…

Will Young and Karen Clifton dancing the Salsa to ‘Jai Ho! (You Are My Destiny)’ (Slumdog Millionaire)

Craig – 8
Darcey – 8
Len – 7
Bruno – 8
Total: 31

Is it their destiny to fall foul of our judges also?

Danny – 6
Izzie – 6
Queenie – 5
Stuart – 7
Total: 24

Izzie: God, I hate it when I agree with Len. There wasn’t enough Sawlsa for my likin’, turn up shut up etc. I might have added on an extra mark on had you not backtracked on your sniping at Len.

The biggest tumble in scores of the round so far…

SEVEN MARKS FEWER

They were in the Our Way bottom two last weekend, it’s Naga and Pasha…

Naga Munchetty and Pasha Kovalev dancing the Tango to ‘Theme from Mission: Impossible’ (Mission Impossible)

Craig – 5
Darcey – 6
Len – 7
Bruno – 7
Total: 25

Will avoiding the bottom two be an impossible mission for these two this week?

Danny – 5
Izzie – 5
Queenie – 5
Stuart – 6
Total: 21

Izzie: I will forgive you the incident at the beginning because I can’t imagine either of you opted to spend the opening of your routine titting around with a harness, but yeah…I think it’s confidence combined with lack of natural ability and lack of chemistry in this partnership. It just isn’t working for me.

The trend of diminishing scores continues with gusto…

FOUR MARKS FEWER

With their stone age Charleston, Robert and Oksana…