Sunday Service: Week 9

The competition is getting hotter.

It looks likely that we'll have a two-handed final again, so making it to the final is going to be tough, and someone will miss out.

I thought Matt & Flavia's tango was fantastic. I liked the unusual choreography. Matt was commanding, dominating and he had a great face. The routine was slick and well-rehearsed.

Their rumba was also brilliant. Matt has beautiful lines. His performance was masculine but tender. He had the look of love, and the interplay between them was moving. I thought it was one of the best rumbas I have seen on Strictly Come Dancing.

What a change in Gethin Jones! Gethin & Camilla's waltz was graceful and smooth, yet it had an intensity about it. Although Gethin was pulling some odd faces at times.

Their salsa was Gethin's best latin by far. He had bags of performance. But has it come too late?

I disagreed with the judges about Letitia & Darren's quickstep. I thought it was springy and light. I liked the opening and closing choreography.

The cha cha was always going to be a struggle for them. Unsurprisingly, hip action is still not there, but Letitia has tried endlessly to get it, and no-one can say she hasn't worked on it. She also lacks movement in her spine, though. She's just not a latin dancer. To win the competition, you have to be an all-rounder. But in reality, very few dancers are. However, I have to give Letitia a lot of respect for pulling out two high-energy performances when she should have been home in bed. What a pro! Well done, Letitia.

I didn't like the opening of Kenny & Ola's foxtrot. It looked like he was walking a dog or something. He still needs to watch his timing in places. He looks much more comfortable in hold and that's where it became more pleasant to watch. Kenny's foxtrot did bring a smile to my face.

Ola's choreography was very clever on the rumba - Kenny barely moved his feet. Shame the judges spotted that too. However, as Craig noted, Kenny's characterisation was fantastic, and there was great interplay between them.

Alesha & Matthew kept the tango traditional and it worked. It was driven, passionate, striking and the ending was brilliant. It was the first dance of the series that got my heart-rate up just watching it. It was a 10 in my opinion.

I have to compliment Matthew's musicality on the samba. Putting samba rolls on the line "Reach out" was inspired. Alesha needs more hip on her samba walks but that is being really picky - I can't get the hang of samba hips. I think they are the hardest thing to learn as an adult. I agreed with the judges that the samba could have been a bit tighter.

The bottom two should be Letitia and Kenny. But who knows? Surely Gethin would have got a shed load of votes for improvement last night, and people have to be voting for Alesha and Matt, surely. I think if any of those three in the bottom two it will be a huge shock.

Matt & Flavia - Tango



Matt & Flavia - Rumba



Gethin & Camilla - Waltz



Gethin & Camilla - Salsa



Letitia & Darren - Quickstep



Letitia & Darren - Cha cha



Kenny & Ola - Foxtrot



Kenny & Ola - Rumba



Alesha & Matthew - Tango



Alesha & Matthew - Samba