Strictly Come Blogging: Sunday Service: Week 12

I can't believe we're at the quarter-finals of Strictly Come Dancing already. It's funny watching the opening credits and seeing all those names we'd almost forgotten about.

This has to be the most exciting Strictly ever. And that's not just a Tess Daly opening monologue. It's actually true.

Austin & Erin's American smooth was a great start to the show. If there's one thing Austin does well, it's ballroom. The lifts were great. I'm afraid I had to agree with the judges though, it could have had more pizazz, but technically it was good and Austin's arms have improved. Erin has worked very hard.

Any pizazz that was lacking in the smooth was totally made up for in the salsa. It was hot, it was fun, it was fast, it was exciting. I loved it.

Lisa & Brendan's waltz was wonderful. Brendan has really excelled with his choreography at times this year, and I have never seen Brendan do such a beautiful waltz on Strictly. It is wonderful to see Brendan have such an amazing partnership. Lisa has just been phenomenal over the past couple of weeks. She had beautiful rise and fall and glided across the floor. Absolute class.

Their jive was good. Lisa controlled her long limbs well, and the choreography was lovely. It didn't have quite as much wow factor as her cha cha last week, but it was a good job on what was always going to be a difficult dance for long-limbed Lisa. She looked far more comfortable than her first latin performance.

I loved the Hollywood feel of Tom & Camilla's foxtrot. It was warm and smooth. They covered the floor well, and Tom had plenty of performance. It was fabulous.

Tom & Camilla's rumba lacked something for me. I liked the choreography, and I liked the way Tom danced, but I didn't buy the relationship between them. There was no storytelling, no connection. Tom seems to abandon his acting skills when he is on the floor. He could have also had more hip action, which was lacking too. He has lovely lines, though. I agreed with Len and Bruno's comments about it.

Right from the opening, I was drawn in by Rachel & Vincent. I loved the little Argentine elements that Vincent threw into the tango. Rachel had all the staccato rhythms so sharp and clipped, it was brilliant. I loved the musicality. Fantastic.

I really liked the cha cha. It was fun and cheeky. And Rachel has upped her game so much in the performance stakes. I would love to see her go back and do the jive again, because I think she could nail it now. She has beautiful technique, and now she has the performance to match. She should be proud.

It's so painful to choose the bottom two now. As Lisa said, there is a 50/50 chance of being in the dance-off, and they are all so good.

For me, the girls are now edging the boys. I would have to grudgingly put Austin and Tom in the bottom two. I'm convinced that the only reason Lisa wasn't ahead of Tom was because she had the jive, which was always going to be a challenge. And I liked her jive better than Tom's unconvincing rumba.

I can't wait for the results show. I have a feeling my heart will be pounding when it comes to the dance-off.

Here are the videos...

Austin & Erin - American smooth