Erin MUST win!!! Her choreography is much undervalued and they are a fabulous couple. (Anyway, she has to do it for Anton, now - his bottom lip quivered, Bless him).

For weeks she's had the title in her sights. What's different is that she's managed to bring him with her. I think he believes it might be possible. Hope she doesn't try too hard. Could be a problem. The pressure's not on them, it's on Zoe/Ian. We'll be subjected to another week of him pushing, her crying. Can't cope with that.

Erin just needs to keep her steady as she goes. Basics well done will produce good marks from Len and a relaxed performance from Colin. Sure she needs some fireworks for the judges and the public. Trick is in the balance. Thought the Amrican Smooth was excellent, but not too flash - just well done.

On Sat Colin's hands in the rumba were great. He had what Arlene's been banging on about for weeks with Darren. Sometimes Colin's heel leads can be a bit iffy and his standing spins are to be avoided at all costs. He was so much more relaxed and it showed. Darren and Lilia relax as well.

Zoe's tango (that people seemed to like) was way too tense. Came from trying to characterise the dance too much. Her posture was grim, her shoulders were up over her ears somewhere and at one point (in the corner) she completely forgot the routine. Yes it was the best on the night, NOT the best ever as people would have you believe.

Erin MUST win. Lilia a good second. Zoe's brownie point bank from week one should be bankrupt by now. Possible that Dougal may slip off James' head and he won't see out. He certainly can't see how bad he is. Saturday was DIRE. What's more freightening is that he thinks he can dance or worse still has a right to be there!

LOL

Sorry for backing someone else to win, but I will admit to believing that Colin & Erin deserve a place in the final.

They have proved to be masterful, in ballroom, on the dancefloor in the balroom dances (I'm not so keen on their latin, but I make allowances for Erin specialising in ballroom here) & I give Erin full credit for taking the judges to task over the marking. This was a very brave decision which could have backfired, but one of the pros/celebs had to do it.

At the end of the day &, in the spirit of sportsmanship; & bearing in mind my own favourites, can I just say, may the best couple win.

Glen

As long as Erin/Colin and Lilia/Darren are in the final I'll be happy.

Colin and Erin were amazing last night. I still want Darren & Lilia to win, b ut I want Colin to come second, and I wouldn't be to upset if he won instead! And Erin really deserves it, bless her!

Great great thread. Completely agree with most of the (very eloquently) expressed opnion here.

I have always ackowledged Colin's skill and hip action and have also seen him improve - this is a hard thing to do when you start off so well - but look at his ballroom and even his latin. He's gone from being a better than average celeb to actually looking like a pro. And while I did use to look forward to his latin (especially his samba) I was never thinking - wow I wonder what we're gonna see tonight.

But... yes, a lightbulb has gone on and I know that I cannot WAIT to see what they come up with. Ian and Zoe have some real competition for that top spot with the judges and the arguably need the spot more after the audience vote this week... Ian might be pulling all the stops out now and the game is going to be so raised that I'm so so looking forward to next week. Lillia won't be beaten either.

I don't know what happened with Colin and Erin but they combined the skills with some real panache, some sex on the dancefloor and excellent music choices - great execution and a great performance. I hope they're going to now have the confidence to go for some real showstoppers - Erin knows she can really push him and play with her choreography as they've broken that 10 barrier and he has that respect from the judges confirmed.

I am a big supporter of watching quality dances - technically and entertaining too - my top 3 should be really raising the bar next week - and perhaps the judges will now be considering in their heads how do we mark an outstanding female versus an outstanding male... perhaps more credit to the leading aspect of the male performance will finally be reflected in the judges scores.

I'm excited - I'm a neutral usually and anyone can win from those three and I wouldn't feel hard-done by... bu secretly, of Colin and Erin turn it on - even better than last week... i might be dialling for them

Watch out for them on ITT tonight! Hopefully the editting team will be a little bit kinder to them today and give them more than 30 seconds of footage

Well, ITT was good for Colin tonight - he seemed totally loopy, all that talking to himself (come on CJ!!!) - he seemed much more human than we've seen before.

he is definitely getting better coverage now. i find myself quite liking him, which is rather unexpected.

Me too H4NNAH, he laughs at himself a lot, but manages to combine that with really hard work. Plus did you see that gorgeous little nephew? - a secret weapon!!

I've written before about how I've found Colin and Erin technically good but how their dancing hasn't really done anything for me. I'm starting to warm to them now. Not as much as I've warmed to Darren and Lilia, but Saturday's dances were great and Colin came over really well on ITT tonight. And so did Erin - she is just so lovely.

i didn't catch all of ITT but i saw yet another musical montage tracking darrens progression through the series that kind of brain washing will make you warm to darren more than colin, we all know about darren's progression yet we get musical montages every week i don't think i've seen that much about how colin has improved so how can you warm to him all we hear is about how focused he is its very unfair

I thoroughly enjoyed saturday's performance and am fully behind Colin now. The choreography was excellent.

You're finally seeing what made those of us who followed his athletics career warm to him so much.

Yes Annied i see what you mean - i feel up to now the coverage of him in SCD has been a bit bland, whereas in the last week he has suddenly been portrayed far more warmly. I love Darren in every way, but I do now feel that Colin deserves to win....

That's why some of us were getting so frustrated at the coverage he was getting. We were seeing a person we didn't recognise. More importantly, those who didn't know him prior to SCD, were getting a false impression.

By the way, I'd never heard of Darren Gough before SCD, but he too comes across as a very likeable guy.

I think Colin won a lot of fans with his great performance last Saturday and has a more assured place in the final than was previously thought.

That's the power of editing. I think it would have been more unfair if Colin had gone out and had not received more coverage on ITT. Thankfully, they are doing something to redress the balance. Not only did the "CJ Self-Motivation Vignette" add some insight into what makes him tick, but it also imbued him with a little eccentricity - little quirks that present him as more real, as opposed to a two-dimensional "I want a ten, I'm competitive"character that athletes unfortunately seem to be saddled with.

It might sound like a cynical ploy to some, but I was actually touched by his relationship with his God-daughter, which aired on Saturday and was shown in the ITT closing credits. The fact that we can see more of his family life and also how he is a role model for others, especially children makes him appear so much more human and approachable. I wanted to see more of this aspect rather than this emphasis on competition and tens. He has dreams and aspirations like anyone else. The fact that he has succeeded where others have not may seemingly place him on a pedestal, but finally we are getting a more balanced perspective on the man behind the athlete persona.

My first post ! Lovely to hear of the support for Colin and Erin who I admit have been my favourites from the start. Both their routines were outstanding on Saturday, great choreography (I had to turn the heating down !) So glad that at least ONE judge has now awarded them a much deserved 10. They seem to get less "air time" than most and even with their best routines, when the judges say how good they were, they still don't seem to be given top marks.

Although an avid fan of Claudia's show, was I wrong in not even seeing them shown dancing during the "alternative judges panel" section when members of the public comment on the Sat show ? Saw everyone else, but not them : I may be wrong !

This has to be one of the most entertaining shows on TV and what will we do on a Saturday night (or even Mon to Fri) when it finishes.

I know we all have our favourites and all the dancers deserve high praise for their comittment but ...

I would love to see Colin and Erin win : he was a wonderful athlete, is a great commentator, still an ambassador for sport working hard in Cardiff and what a dancer !

Maryjay

Like many on the forums, I've really warmed to Colin and Erin over the past few days. They were BRILLIANT on Saturday. And on ITT yesterday, they were great. So much more likeable than Zoe and Ian, who I'm afraid are coming across as just TOO desperate. My ideal final will be a nailbiting dance off between him and Darren. I'm backing Darren, but whoever's best on the day, I don't mind who wins

I feel the same way, I have always liked Colin but did feel he was overshadowed by some of the bigger personalities in the show but is now coming into his own, along with Erin, I don't actually have an allegiance to any of the remaining couples and will be voting for the best on the night but I do hope they do well