Tonight’s songs and dances
If Aljaž can keep a straight face, then his and Tasha’s rumba to What Was I Made For? from Barbie will be one to watch – otherwise, this isn’t the most thrilling Movie Week line-up that Strictly’s ever compiled.
The prospect of Nick Knowles dressed as Paddington Bear in his little duffle coat has gone some way to assuage my disappointment at a great number like Poor Unfortunate Souls going to Toyah and Neil who, if last week is anything to go by, look likely to spend a full two minutes playing with the set rather than dancing.
Montell and Johannes: Tango – One Night Only (Dreamgirls)
Punam and Gorka: Couple’s Choice – Bole Chudiyan (Kabhi Khushi Kabhie Gham)
Sam and Nikita: Paso Doble – Elevation (Tomb Raider)
Sarah and Vito: Viennese Waltz – Hedwig’s Theme (Harry Potter)
Tasha and Aljaž: Rumba – What Was I Made For? (Barbie)
Toyah and Neil: Samba – Poor Unfortunate Souls (The Little Mermaid)
Chris and Dianne: Jive – Wayne’s World Theme
Jamie and Michelle: Quickstep – I’m Still Standing (Rocketman)
JB and Amy: American Smooth – Pure Imagination (Wonka)
Paul and Karen: Cha Cha – The Magnificent Seven Theme
Pete and Jowita: Samba – George Of The Jungle Theme
Shayne and Nancy: Viennese Waltz – If I Can Dream (Elvis)
Wynne and Katya: Cha Cha – Papa’s Got A Brand New Bag (Mrs Doubtfire)
Read Chris’s Strictly Diary
Watching Chris and Dianne dance is the living embodiment of that old joke: “How do you get to Carnegie Hall? Practise, practise, practise.”
These two are practising like nobody’s business. “Dianne’s trust in my abilities is immense, and my trust in her is likewise,” Chris writes in his latest Strictly diary. “I would honestly try to catch her from a great height whilst riding a unicycle if she asked me to, although I really hope she doesn’t.”
It’s completely fascinating seeing how they work around each other, and with each other – Chris writes about reading the shifts in Dianne’s bodyweight so he knows when to step over her legs, and here’s a great insight into how much work went into that amazing guitar leg moment last week.
“We messed it up a lot at the beginning… We both ended up on the floor a few times, sometimes she would miss me entirely, or she wouldn’t handstand far enough and I would have to wrestle her leg out of the air. And there was also that one time that she cartwheeled towards me and kicked me straight in the face.
“I joked about this on the show with Claudia, because often people might think that I have some useful vision, but I have nothing – and the proof of that was my complete lack of anticipation or avoidance of the foot, I just stood there and took Dianne’s foot right in the face like a man… a blind, blind man.”
You can read Chris’s Strictly Diary in full here