I've given up watching Strictly Come Dancing live on Saturdays. It's on for too long, it moves too slowly, there are no particularly good or bad celebs to love or love-to-hate, and the lack of advert breaks is actually a bad thing in Strictly's case. I don't think I'll defect to X Factor, but I find you can watch the iPlayer replays of the dances (see below) and pretty much get your fix in 10 minutes flat. Anyway, we're approaching the halfway point of the show, so let's see what the dancing diva's were up to this week:
Natalie Cassidy & Vincent Simone
American Smooth: I appreciate she puts the effort in and really performs, but there wasn't much sex appeal about this. A long, boring, strawberry red dress and a stern face. Bland.Zoe Lucker & James Jordan
American Smooth: She's good to watch, even in the ballgowns, because Zoe's clearly having a great time. Elegant and refined beauty.Craig Kelly & Flavia Cacace
Samba: Finally, we have a long overdue breakthrough! Flavia was back to her sexy best in a sparkling blue dress that was basically two offcuts sewn together across her iconic abdomen. Lots of body shape, hair down, great fun.Ricky Groves & Erin Boag
American Smooth: Custard yellow dresses aren't really my thing, but I guess Erin made it work with the open-back and ample bosom. Quite light and air, very pleasant.Laila Rouass & Anton Du Beke
Samba: Laila's probably the best at looking great in dresses that actually hide a fair bit, and this pure white outfit was pretty groovy. The lady version of John Travolta's iconic suit?Phil Tufnell & Katya Virshilas
Samba: Katya has that excitable schoolgirl vibe to her, don't you think? The sea green dress was hot – fluffy skirt, long blonde locks, slender legs, lots of those quick waist twists the ladies tend to do, and booty shaking. Sizzling and fun.Jo Wood & Brendan Cole
Samba: As older women go, Jo probably raised some blood pressure in nursing homes across the country. You could see hints of the '60s sex-kitten here at times, I guess.Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe
Samba: Awful colours threatened to make Natalie look like a trifle, but when you have legs this long and know how to move your body, I think all men go colour blind. Of all the new pro dancers, Nat's making the best impression – really fast, fun, enjoyable, sexy stuff.Jade Johnson & Ian Waite
Samba: Wowzers! Jade certainly impresses this week with a silvery web-like dress that looked like it had been drizzled over her body by a giant spider. Lots of leg and plenty of gyration.Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna
American Smooth: I think Ali's a good match with Brian because both have a funny mannequin look to their features, don't you think? Anyway, Ali's dance was again very good, and she somehow even made a tangerine orange dress look quite hot.Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan
American Smooth: As Brucie said, this was a rare week where Ola covered her body, but she still looked great in that silvery-pink ballgown that hugged her waist.The Result
It came down to Jo & Brendan vs. Jade & Ian, and was there any doubt that Jo would be walking straight out the door? No, not really. A good result.
