Stricly Come Dancing - Genuis Charleston Move

So having Charleston and Rock n' Roll week proved to be a genius move for the bosses at Strictly. I love most of the ballroom and Latin dances the couples have been tackling but this week's offerings really injected some fun into the competition with Chris and Ali impressing on Saturday night.

It was also nice to see some of the pro dancers tackling new challenges as well with some proving more successful at it than others. I don't think Vincent will be keen to revisit his dance anytime soon!

It was sad to see Natalie leave but it was obvious that she was the next in line. The dance really did not suit her and she appeared very leaden legged throughout. Perhaps it was just all the weeks of training catching up on her. I suspect the Strictly bosses will be scouring Britain for another superfan celeb to take part in the show next year as they bring enormous enthusiasm to the training room (if they search as far as Ireland it would be fun to see Marian Keyes give it a whirl - although she would have to dance with Lilia and that would just be silly). Natalie's going to find working back on Albert Square a little dull after the excitement of the last few months and certainly the wardrobe is going to be a let down.

Yet again for me team Cola stole the show with Ola seeming to want a win even more than Chris. They are a great partnership and watching Ola in full flight with hen-pecked Chris is hilarious. Her choreography was spot-on and going slapstick proved an enormous crowd-pleaser. What a shocker they were marked low again! It should have been nines across the board but Craig was playing favourites as always and held out. They seem to have great public support so let's hope that carries them to the final.

Hats off to Ali - she played a stormer and despite injury performed a great Charleston. She was over-marked in the group Viennese waltz and didn't deserve a ten. She and Brian collided with other couples so their dance was far from perfect. I enjoyed the group dance - it is helpful to see the couples side by side but it does seem like the dancefloor is smaller than it would be at a pro comp.

Ricky has had a bad week personally and perhaps the stress of events caught up with him on Saturday night as he had a litany of mistakes in his rock n' roll. He is not exactly the king of the clean routine and while he is an amazing dancer I am not getting the impression of improvement and polish that we have seen from others. He will have had a wake-up call after being in the bottom two so hopefully we will see him back to form next weekend.

Laila and Anton were grand this week but I am sure they realise that their time is nearly up and I would be surprised if they survive next weekend as they are likely to be in the bottom two with either Ricky or Ali unless the judges mark Chris so incredibly low that the public can't save him. Surely they would not be so mean!!!

Bree Treacy