Strictly Come Dancing: week 10 – live

Dianne Buswell’s jet-lagged parents have arrived in the UK from Bunbury, Perth and are in the studio tonight, giving her an adorable intro. She’ll want to wow them. It’s off with the Blackpool tailcoat and on with the bull-fighting bolero jacket for her partner Chris McCausland. However, Chris admits he’s been having trouble with the paso all week in training. He needs to play the powerful and serious matador but says “That’s not me, I’m a child in a man’s body”. He’s also been finding the paso’s curved body positions and unnatural posture tough to master. Traditional red outfits. Dramatic and intense attitude but not sure he’s got the footwork and frame. Straining at times, visibly counting and hurrying to keep up. Good knee-walks and aggressive stamps but lacking Spanish line. Improved as it went on and strong finish but for me, not his best. Raucous reception in the studio. Olé!

Song: El Gato Montes by Manuel Panella. A song from the Spanish opera whose title translates as “The Wild Cat”. A big favourite of tenor Plácido Domingo. It has soundtracked previous Strictly pasos by Caroline Quentin and Natalie Gumede.

What no giant sparkly ketchup bottle? It’s been four weeks since Jamie Borthwick did ballroom and he’s enjoyed being back in hold with Michelle Tsiakkas in training this week. The storytelling for this classic foxtrot is a tribute to the couple’s support from their nearest and dearest, hence the song choice. The judges will be picky about details (and they tend to be tough on his anyway), so he needs to keep the footwork clean with heel leads on the slow steps. Vintage cinema styling. Nice posture and long neck. A bit safe, maybe. id I detect a couple of balance wobbles and a mid-routine footwork fluff? Graceful glide around the floor and otherwise gaw-jus.

Song: Stand By Me by Ben E. King. The gospel-influenced 60s soul song became a hit again in the 80s when it featured in the coming-of-age film of the same title and soundtracked a Levi’s black denim ad – the one where handsome stuntman Eddie Kidd beat the bouncers by getting into a nightclub with a “No blue jeans” policy.

JB Gill’s form dipped slightly with the last week’s Blackpool quickstep, falling to mid-table after two weeks of being joint top. This Roaring Twenties-style Charleston is ideal to bounce back. With dapper art deco-style styling, it’s pretty traditional Charleston fare, packed with content. Fast and physical, with bags of musicality and characterisation. Entertaining lifts and tricks. High-energy and keeping up the pace well. Nice pendulum swing of the arms and plenty of that all-important swivel. A clunky lift but solid synchronisation. Swagger and style. He looks understandably shattered by the end. Did it well.

Song: Yes Sir! That’s My Baby by Firehouse Five Plus Two. The 1950s Dixieland version of the 1925 standard. The band comprised members of Disney’s animation department who discovered a love of jazz and began jamming during their lunch break.

Sarah Hadland notched her highest score with her Fosse-esque Couple’s Choice in Blackpool, a near-perfect 39 points. She has now scored six 10s during the contest. Can she add to that? A rumba is a technically tricky dance to do it. She needs to rein in her trademark bouncy energy for the slow, sensual dance of seduction. Moody solo works to start. Nice romantic mood and connection. Sarah showing control from feet to fingers. The keys to the rumba are rhythm and hip action. Sarah’s seem pretty good to me. Spins, floor slides, turns and drops. Lots of poise, perhaps lacking a little sizzling passion but otherwise truly terrific.

Song: Chains by Tina Arena. The 1994 power ballad reached number six on the UK chart. The Melbourne diva also made it to the final of Australia’s version of Strictly in 2013.

Back to the balcony this weekend, after Blackpool’s “commandeer a corner and pin up a glittery curtain” improvised Clauditorium. La Winkle welcomes the new Radio 2 breakfast DJ as this week’s VIP guest to read out the voting smallprint. Lobster hands ahoy.

Pete Wicks has peeled off his pink pleather trousers (presumably with the aid of talcum poweder and Vaseline) and donned a sharp suit. He’s the bookies’ favourite for elimination but he prefers ballroom, loves this song and looks far more comfortable than he did in Blackpool. The characterisation of the tango should suit him, too. Monochrome styling. Sexy and passionate dance with stalking promenades and snapping turns. Some gapping in the close hold. Lacking a little cleanness and staccato action. Decent synchronisation and lifts but perhaps a little robotic and he’s walking about too much rather than dancing.

Song: Easy Lover by Philip Bailey & Phil Collins. The pop-soul duet, co-written and performed by the singers from Earth, Wind & Fire and Genesis respectively, topped the UK charts for four weeks in 1985. Craig Kelly and Flavia Cacace danced a cha-cha to it 15 years ago and were eliminated. An omen?

Our magnificent seven pro-celebrity pairs are introduced. Not much fancy dress. Smart suits, lots of grey, matador jackets and Montell Douglas looking fab-ew-lous in pink.

The judgely quartet sashay into view, having removed their sparkly seaside stetsons. Motsi Mabuse in a Pucci-style disco minidress. Shirley Ballas has a massive corsage thingy. And possibly some tiny dance shoes beneath her desk.

Here come our autocue queens, so time for the traditional couture comparison. Tess Daly is in a red tuxedo suit. Claudia Winkleman is in black Chanel-style chic with white trim. Tess wins.

More than half these couples have now departed the dancefloor. Remember Toyah and Tom? Halcyon days, my friends.

Roll the industry standard dramatic montage. Cooking doesn’t get tougher than this! Oops, sorry, wrong show.