Throng

Hello dance fans! This week our couples are dancing either the samba or American smooth. Nice.

Jade and Ian up first with a samba. Jade performs better in the latin dances, as she has the stamina to keep up with the energetic pace. She also gives it more attitude. Her samba looks great, and it has a fab ending with Ian swinging her round, then her swinging Ian round and then posing resting her leg on him.

Len thinks she had good control and rhythm throughout the dance. Alesha thinks that Jade had good movement around the floor and she had "the wow factor". Bruno was a little scared of Jade as she looked like she was driving Ian. Craig thought it was great, full of energy and confident.

SCORES: 8, 8, 8, 8 = 32/40.

Next up, Chris and Ola. They're dancing the American Smooth.

OH! A LIFT! IS THAT ILLEGAL? We'll see. Well I think Chris thinks he is a smoothie. Hmm. It's not bad, but nothing extraordinary.

Len thinkks Chris has improved from the last few weeks, but he might have been a bit too careful. Alesha thinks he was worried and overthinking it too much. Bruno thinks it was more Ealing than Hollywood.  Craig - surprisingly - thinks he did fantastic. Though his hands were not great.

SCORES: 7, 7, 7, 7 = 28/40.

Phil and Katya now, dancing the samba. From Phil's tweets this week, he doesn't seem to have liked the samba and possibly found it hard, though he may be better tonight, who knows.

He's not bad. Better than I imagined. More like a diso dancer. He's giving it more energy than I had exp ected. They'v e done s ome under-leg turns which should impress the judges.

Bruno thinks he was "daddy well oiled" and he was messy and flat-footed. He thinks he can do better. Craig didn't like the pumping and grinding, and he thought it missed hip action. He thought he moved well and fast though. Len loves Phil's attitude. He thinks he comes out full-on. Alesha tells Phil that he cannot rely on his buttocks and he needs to count in his head.

SCORES: 6, 7, 6, 6 = 25/40.

Dancing the American Smooth now is Zoe and James. Last week they were undeservedly in the bottom two. They were saved by the judges, however.

Looking glamorous seems to come easily to Zoe in the ballroom dances, and she looks fabulous tonight. Ended slightly funny because of a dress problem - part of her outfit came apart.

Craig thinks it was a well balanced routine full of sophistication. Len loved it, as it Alesha. Bruno thinks they make a good pair and are compatible as dancers.

SCORES: 8, 8, 9, 8 = 33/40.

Craig and Flavia are dancing a samba. Craig has been near to bottom or at the very bottom of the leader board from the beginning. Can he imrpove tonight?

Holy moses he is stiff. Oh why can't he loosen up? It's like he is skipping.

Alesha is sorry to say, but his body has a mind of his own and he is awkward to watch. He has not improved. Bruno says he is like the Royal Mail - he cannot deliver. He has had it. Craig thinks he was forcing his hips into submission and he was stiff and awkward. Len admires Craig as he gets abuse but he returns and keeps trying. Bless Len's politeness.

SCORES: 3, 6, 4, 5 = 18/40.

Ricky and Erin are dancing the American Smooth now. He puts his all into it, whatever dance he does.

He is acting a bit too, playing the smooth guy and being all graceful. He is making more of an effrt with the steps and technique rather than relying on his acting charm.

Bruno sees vast improvement this week though he has to watch his top. Craig thought it was a most enjoyable routine, like musical theatre. Len thought that he has to hold better, but he had a good routine. Alesha thinks that he made a good compromise between personality and dance this week and he improved.

SCORES: 7, 8, 7, 7 = 29/40.

Ricky (Whittle) and Natalie are dancing the samba.

This may be the best samba of the night by a male so far. He's proved he is good at other dances, though I kind of expected a little more. He's standing and vibrating now.

OH, aparently he injured himself.

Craig thinks he was late to the floor and missed his timing but he was electrifying. Overall effort: extraordinary. Len thinks he attacked the dance well but he went wrong. Alesha wants to see him soften up more and relax, but she thinks he had good rhythm. Bruno thinks he is a "sexy beast" but he has to start doing the routines right all the way through and he shouldn't be getting it wrong and relying on sex appeal.

SCORES: 8, 8, 8, 8 = 32/40.

Natalie and Vincent are dancing the American Smooth.

It looks okay but the others tonight have done better. She doesn't look totally comfortable and it's all a bit forced.

The judges seem to agree that she has improved but it could have been better in areas and it needed a bit more finesse. It didn't look much like anything special.

SCORES: 7, 8, 7, 7 = 29/40.

Jo and Brendan are dancing the samba tonight. Last week Brendan stormed off from the judges verdicts when he didn't like what Craig said.

It wouldn't surprise me if Jo goes tonight. It's not good to watch. Maybe people will vote to keep her in through pity. I hate saying it.

Len thinks Brendan needs a special award because he brought her through the dance and showed her off the best he could. He's right. Kudos to Brendan. Alesha thinks she needs to work on her hands. Bruno thinks Jo dragged Brendan into samba hell. Craig thinks it was a dance disaster.

SCORES: 2, 5, 3, 4 = 14/40. OWW, The lowest ever samba score on the show.

Ali and Brian are now dancing the American smooth.

Yeah it's nice. Like Alesha remarked last week, Ali is good, but you wait for her to do something better. This may be the time.

Bruno reckons so. "I HAVE WAITED SIX WEEKS! THIS IS MAGIC TIME!" Craig called it stunning. Len says it was her best dance. Alesha thinks it was a simple, well-executed dance, the best of the night.

SCORES: 9, 9, 9, 10 = 37/40. THE FIRST 10! And the highest score of the series so far.

Leila and Anton are our final dancers tonight with a samba.

It's the most polished samba of the night - they both look great together, and have good musicality. Doesn't seem to be any unease either. Kind of vanilla though.

Craig thought it lacked any sort of WOW because it was slightly too disco. Len thinks if it was going to be a colour, it would be beige. Hmm. Alesha thinks she did better than last week and seemed more focused at least. Bruno thinks "okay is not good enough for now". "A wasted opportunity." He isn't satisfied.

SCORES: 7, 7, 7, 7 = 28/40.

The two couples with the lowest scores and so will be in the dance-off, are:

Jo and Brendan    and     Jade and Ian

Both couples will dance again. I don't mean to be rude, but this is a bit of foregone conclusion.

Craig chooses to save: Jade and Ian

Alesha chooses to save: Jade and Ian

Bruno chooses to save: Jade and Ian

Jo Wood and Brendan Cole are out.

Well that's that. Goodnight folks, see you next week! Now check out our amazing X Factor live blog.