Sunday Service: Week 2

With someone leaving the competition this week, the pressure is now on for the couples. Some rose to the challenge, others faltered. The enduring memory of this week will be some odd choreographic choices.

My concerns with Stacey & Kevin's cha cha were similar to last week. She brings the performance, she brings the attack, but she needs to control her limbs. The whole thing is a big gangly. She needs to straighten her legs more throughout. However, Stacey has loads of potential. She has great timing, and didn't miss a step last night. I can't wait to see her do ballroom.

Charles & Karen's quickstep was clean and light. The routine was packed with steps, and Charles danced it well. It was a shame that he was ahead of the counts on the Charleston section, but otherwise I thought it was a very confident performance. The splits was a nice touch.

I so wanted to enjoy Katie & Gorka's paso doble. I was willing Katie to do well. Her attitude was better, she seemed to have shaken off the nerves. But sadly, she was out of time quite a lot, and didn't really have the technique. It was a lot of uncomfortable walking and not much else. One of the weakest in the competition, sadly.

Like the judges, I found Graeme & Oti's American smooth very confused. I usually love Oti's choreography, but last night's didn't work for me. I loved everything in hold, but not the parts out of hold. Aside from the choreography, I thought Graeme did well. His footwork looked good. His posture needs work. He was leading with his left arm, and started to hunch over.

Kate & Aljaž's tango was passionate. It had great drive, good footwork. I thought Kate's facial expression was a bit severe, and her shoulders dropped slightly in a couple of places. But that's being picky. For week 2, it was a brilliant performance. After such high praise from the judges, I thought her scores would be higher.

I wasn't a fan of Joe & Dianne's Charleston choreography. Perhaps it was the Cotton Eye Joe track, but it just wasn't as much fun as Charlestons usually are. I also thought it was just too quick and overly packed. However, Joe danced it very well. How he kept up with the speed I'm not really sure. Perhaps he's related to Tigger. And can we take a minute to admire their shirts, please?

When the 'King of Ballroom' can't get a foxtrot to look good, you know you're in trouble. Susannah & Anton's routine started off well. It was all good until they got into hold. Then it was a disaster. She was out of time frequently. She made lots of mistakes. They lot body contact because her posture was so poor. I don't think I've ever seen a heel turn done on the balls of the feet before. Total disaster. The best part was Anton's grimace about two-thirds of the way through. You could see the moment when he realised that his competition was probably over for this year.

I quite enjoyed Lee & Nadiya's jive. I liked the Elvis styling. The routine had lots of choreography, and Lee managed well. There was a small mistake in the middle, and Lee is still a bit pigeon-toed, which is really apparent on the kicks. He has bags of potential, though. I'm looking forward to seeing more.

I found Danny & Amy's cha cha a bit sharp. Danny hit all the positions and didn't miss a step, but it all felt a bit jagged. He needs to smooth things out a bit. His leg action is nice, and sometimes his hips and arms are on point. But it just wasn't quite there. I'm confident that Danny will go a long way, though. What I love about Danny is he finishes his lines - his arms are never left dangling.

I loved Vick & Graziano's waltz. It was smooth and balletic, elegant and engaging. So much better than last week.

Another upbeat routine from Ranj & Janette. Their salsa was hot and energetic. Props to Janette for continuing no matter what. I'm very interested to see how Ranj will get on with something a little more sedate like a waltz or rumba.

Faye & Giovanni's Viennese waltz was totally captivating. I loved the slightly darker interpretation. It was gorgeous. The rotation on the turns in hold was fantastic. Fantastic fleckerl, too. I was surprised that Shirley was so down on Faye. Faye looked quite upset at the negative feedback. Unfortunately, it looked like Shirley might have been right about the footwork. It's so hard to see from home when the cameras cut their feet off. But to be honest, I didn't care. I loved it anyway. If Faye makes the final, I think we'll see that routine again, with all the heel leads in place.

Lauren & AJ's Charleston wasn't quite as confident as last week's waltz. Lauren looked a bit tentative in places, although not surprising when there are all those lifts on her mind throughout the routine. It's a shame she got a little lost on the side-by-side section at the end. I liked the choreography better than Joe & Dianne's, but I don't think they executed it quite as well.

I'm Still Standing should just be retired. No-one else should be allowed to dance to it. I guess the saving grace is that Seann & Katya's jive was so bad, it hasn't tarnished the memory of the Ha'penny in any way! There were lots of points were Seann was off time, and even did extra steps to fill the music because he was so far ahead. But in other places he was on time. He remembered the whole routine, though. And there is something quite watchable about Seann.

My husband walked in while I was watching Ashley & Pasha's cha cha. "Is that the ringer? The Pussycat Doll?" he asked. "Is it that obvious?" I replied. It so was. Ashley looked like a professional. Probably because she is a professional dancer. Her arm placement, leg action, hip action was all on point. It was a fantastic performance. I think the only reason she didn't get more 9s was because it is week 2, and the judges don't want to give them out yet. In my opinion, that dance was a 10.

My favourites of the week were Faye and Ashley. But there were so many good performances it feels unfair to single anyone out.

There is no question in my mind that Susannah should go home. Both of her routines have been woeful, and the general public don't like her enough to save her. I'd probably put Katie in the dance off with her, but it felt that Katie had put more work in.

We'll find out tonight.