The moment of truth!

So it's all down to how the studio audience voted, who's going out first...(I've predicted it to be between Austin & Rachel)

Chris & Ola - unsurprising to be honest as the Foxtrot didn't really allow Chris' personality to come across.

Gethin & Flavia - lacking chemistry so again unsurprising.

Ricky & Natalie

Austin & Erin - shame as I really enjoyed their Paso

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So it's between Ali & Rachel for the title...could it be Ali's retribution for not making it to the final?

Yes it is.

That's it then, 2009 finishes with Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna being crowned the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Champions.

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I'll be attending (or hosting) a variety of Strictly events throughout the year so I'll blog about anything interesting, and I may well blog about So You Think You Can Dance too so watch this space!

How did you vote, and do you agree with the result?

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Viennese Waltz

A perfect 40 in Blackpool, let's see if they can recreate that magical dance tonight.

Ali's elegance always suits the mainly slow Ballroom dances.

A little shaky at times but otherwise faultless and I think this could be the first perfect score of the night.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - American Smooth

A dance that should suit Ali better, although they have chosen quite a fast number.



Not sure about Ali having both hands above her head during her spins, looks a little untidy.

It looks like they've decided to quash any 'are they or aren't they' rumours with those kisses at the end.

A very good performance, not quite perfect for me but i think they may get full marks from the judges.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Argentine Tango

Can Ali pull off the unexpected and actually give us a down and dirty performance?



Incidentally this song they're dancing to is the same one that a couple I choreographed for used in their Christmas party last night, and won!

Hints of passion there, but i'd still like to see a bit more intensity, and it just seems to be lacking a little sharpness.

I'm just not feeling this routine, the most passionate part came in the ending look between them.

Should easily get 8's though.

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Leaderboard

Final leaderboard is as follows:

1 95 points - Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe
2 86 points - Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna
3 80 points - Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan
4 59 points - Laila Rouass & Anton Du Beke

I predicted to Emma last night that it would be a Laila and Ricky dance-off, but I’m going to change that to Ali & Laila as both have really underperformed tonight for my liking, and I think Chris and Ricky will have more (mostly female!) support.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Samba

The bogey dance so far for most competitors, and I don’t think the Samba will prove to be her dance tonight either.

Still looks too ‘nice’ and on a couple of moves Ali doesn’t appear to finish before she’s on to the next step and really needs to dance from the floor.

I don’t think the choice of music helped, I do think Samba really needs to have a bouncy feel to it to really bring out the performance.

An ok performance but should get 8’s.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Tango

Another dance where Ali won’t be able to ‘float’ round the floor so will be interesting to see how she copes with the passion and aggression required in this dance.

Slight slip in the spins at the start and they appear to be incorporating rising into the dance at points.

Ali is looking quite unsteady at times.

An ok performance but I wasn’t too impressed so far, will have to say 8.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Charlston

Yet another injury has hit the current series of Strictly, one really has to start wondering if this series really is cursed!



So far Ali appears to be coping with her injured ankle well.

Another energetic performance although the exit from the first lift looked a little messy.

Preferred this performance to Chris' so I'll give it a 9.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Foxtrot

Away from the sexy requirements of the Latin Ali should perform a great Foxtrot tonight.



Like the Viennese the other week, Ali looks a little shaky at times but overall another almost faultless performance (a little hard to tell whether she was correctly releasing the toe when moving backward - good old Strictly camera angles!)

Personally I'd give this a 9.

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Missed Saturday night's show - catch up on the clips here

Haven't got time to watch the full show on iplayer? Then see the short clips below:


Natalie Cassidy:



Ricky Groves:



Laila Rouass:



Phil Tufnell:



Ricky Whittle:



Ali Bastian:



Chris Hollins:



The Result:

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Cha Cha

A perfect dance last week, sadly I don't think they'll perform quite as well this week - Ali hasn't performed well in the fast Latin dances so far.

The fringing is hiding the inadequacies in her hip action, and an obvious mistake in the middle.

Didn't really float my boat, but then pretty much what I was expecting from the performance.

Should score ok though and probably 7-8.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Viennese Waltz

Ali really suffered with an injury last week, but this should be very good and could finish top if all goes well.

Ali really does pull off elegance with aplomb, it looks a little skippy at points but excellent nonetheless.

I can't really fault the performance, it looked a little shaky at times but this should really get top marks.

Judges scores: CRH 10, LG 10, AD 10, BT 10.

Fully deserved - do try not to cry though Brian!

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Evening Show

A packed theatre in Blackpool's Winter Garden Opera House was the setting for the evening screening of Strictly Come Dancing.

There was an almost feverish party atmosphere in the theatre, and even though they were re-showing the highlight reel that we'd been subjected to earlier in the day, people were in the mood to cheer (Mark Ramprakash's Argentine Tango, Jill Halfpenny's Jive) or laugh (John Sergeant's Paso Doble, Fiona Bruce's Jive) at the various scenes.

Dominic Littlewood and Karen Hardy returned to host the evening show, we were told that the videos and pictures that had been taken throughout the day would be appearing on the BBC website during the coming week - none of us yet though!

We were shown a highlights reel of the morning dance sessions (we were on the afternoon session) and this was pretty much the same video you'll have seen on the live show.

Rav Wilding and Mark Foster were re-introduced onto the stage and we were shown some highlights of their appearances on the show before they had to duck out to head over to the Tower, but not before Mark put his arm round Karen and commented on how great she looked, how she should still be in the show, and 'You're my favourite'.

Dominic then introduced highlights of Karen's appearances on Strictly, including Gary Rhodes Cha Cha (receiving a lowly 1 from Craig) and Mark Ramprakash's Salsa. Karen talked about how much she loved dancing, which she'd being doing since the age of 5, and had been so honoured when Strictly had convinced her to come out of retirement after her 6 year break (and a baby).

Matthew and Aliona made a surprise visit to perform an elegant Viennese Waltz

Matthew talked about how everyone at the Tower was so excited, and due to the significantly increased audience numbers there was a really great atmosphere.

Aliona talked about how this was her first time visiting in Blackpool, and how much she was enjoying it.

Before the live show was due to start Karen gave her comments and predictions on the show to follow:

Ali Bastian was still suffering from her injured foot, and with a dance such as the Viennese Waltz - heavy on technique - she could find it difficult to perform.

Craig Kelly would most likely be going out as it was definitely his time to go.

Ricky Groves started as a clown but is now taking it seriously and could be a real dark horse in the competition.

It was then time for the live show, Karen told us she'd be sticking around to comment on the show at intervals, and I settled down ready to make my notes on the evening performances...

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Weekend Videos

In case you missed Strictly at the weekend you can see the weekend's performances below:

Actress Zoe Lucker tonight became the seventh celebrity to be voted off the seventh series of BBC One’s Strictly Come Dancing.

In week seven of the competition, all 10 of the remaining celebrity contestants and their professional dance partners took to the floor to perform a variety of dances.

After Saturday’s performance, the combination of the judges' scores and viewers’ votes left Zoe Lucker and her professional partner James Jordan in the bottom two and facing the dance off with Ali Bastian and her professional partner Brian Fortuna.

Zoe and James then performed their Samba to Boogie Nights and Ali and Brian performed their Paso Doble to El Gato Montes for a second time for the judges' deciding vote.

Handing over to the judges, Bruce Forsyth said “All I can say is I wouldn’t like to be a judge tonight”. Making their decision on who to save, the judges said.

Craig Revel Horwood: “Well what a heinous dilemma, I have to say, both couples mucked up and timing was out, for both couples that is, but I am going to save Ali and Brian.”

Alesha Dixon when asked who she would save: “Both!....Zoe and James.”



Bruno Tonioli: “They shouldn’t be there either of them, it’s ridiculous because whoever we are going to save, it’s not fair for the other person. Based on what I saw, I have to go with Ali and Brian.”



Len Goodman: “I’m sorry I know the viewers can do what they like and it’s a popularity contest and all that, this is ludicrous, it’s nonsensical that either of these are in the bottom two! There are five couples that are worse than these, but I’ve got to make a decision and as somebody said they both did go wrong, and I’m having to save Ali and Brian.”



On tonight’s show, Zoe Lucker and James Jordan were awarded 32 points for their samba by the judges.

On leaving the competition, Zoe Lucker said: “I’ve had an amazing time, James is the best teacher I have to say. I’m so sorry I couldn’t get him to Blackpool but thank you very much for the opportunity, it’s been brilliant.”

James Jordan said: “Can I just say, winning that Strictly trophy ball means everything to me, but I would never swap this wonderful lady for that ball. She’s brilliant, she’s brilliant.”

Tonight’s show saw musical legends The Bee Gees perform their disco classic You Should Be Dancing and viewers were treated to a Hip Hop Samba and a Latin Medley from Strictly’s professional dancers.

Next week, the show comes live from the world famous Blackpool Tower Ballroom and the remaining 9 couples will dance to stay in the competition.

Strictly Come Dancing is available on BBC One and BBC HD. Tune in to the next episode live from Blackpool Tower Ballroom on Saturday 7th November 2009, 6.25pm.

Don't forget you can get all the up-to-date gossip on Strictly Come Dancing’s sister show It Takes Two, weekdays at 6.30pm on BBC Two.

For more information and gossip, visit bbc.co.uk/strictlycomedancing or follow Strictly on Twitter: bbcstrictly.



The Result:



Natalie Cassidy:



Zoe Lucker:



Craig Kelly:



Ricky Groves:



Laila Rouass:



Phil Tufnell:



Ricky Whittle:



Jade Johnson:



Ali Bastian:



Chris Hollins:

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The result

Such a tough one to call, and you could tell that Alesha was finding it difficult.

Out of the two of them, and based on all their performances over the series I do believe the right couple have been sent home.

I don't vote myself (as I do want to be impartial!) but I hope the audience start voting based on the quality of the dancing. Whilst both these couples under-performed this week Craig is not, unfortunately for him, a good enough dancer to have made it to Blackpool. Though credit where it's due - there was significant improvement this week.

How do you feel about the result?

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The dance off!

So who can impress the judges enough to make it to Blackpool?

First up Ali with her Paso Doble...and what's this no shoes? Which straight away results in a slip.

However I would say a much better performance than earlier on in the night.

How will Zoe reply to that?

No real improvement on her earlier dance, I didn't like it that much earlier and I think Zoe will be going home this week.

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The moment of truth!

With a chance to dance in Blackpool at stake who's going to be fighting for their place this week?

Are we going to see any shocks this week...

As predicted Craig has been saved for Blackpool (though it's likely he may go out in his home town unless there is significant improvement!)

Well done Jade & Ian, I bet that's a relief after last week.

Again as predicted Ricky Groves has been saved by the audience, though obviously I was wrong about Natalie potentially being in the bottom two. I still think Phil will be saved so this could be a shock week ahead.

...and there's the confirmation.

So a definite shock in store with Zoe and Ali both ending up in the bottom two. Based on scores earlier in the night I think Zoe will be going home, though it's a shame either of these were in the bottom two.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Paso Doble

A slower Latin American dance (generally), Ali should fare better than her last outing in Jive.

Body shaping in training is looking really good, let's hope the stubbed toe doesn't affect the performance, though she looked a little 'off' coming down the stairs.

It's not a confident performance I feel, though the steps are generally looking pretty good - and there's no way i'd be able to do the splits!

Overall it just lacked energy for my liking, 7's again I think.

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Leaderboard

Leaderboard this week is as follows:

1. 37 points - Ali & Brian
2. 33 points - Zoe & James
3. 32 points - Jade & Ian
3. 32 points - Ricky & Natalie
5. 29 points - Ricky & Erin
5. 29 points - Natalie & Vincent
7. 28 points - Chris & Ola
7. 28 points - Laila & Anton
9. 25 points - Phil & Katya
10. 18 points - Craig & Flavia
11. 14 points - Jo & Brendan

I don't think there was much between Zoe and Ali tonight and I don't think Ali was 4 points better than Zoe, but still think that top spot is accurate - shame Zoe had those couple of slips. Also still surprised that Chris is so far down the table...

The bottom of the table looks as expected and I do think this week will see the bottom two in the dance-off, with Jo likely to be the one to go.

How would you have scored it?

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - American Smooth

I expected Ali to struggle with the Jive last week and unfortunately was proved correct. Back to Ballroom should see Ali return to form.

Impressive leg lift in the middle of the routine, shame that there just appears to be a few issues occurring throughout the routine.

Definitely back on track, just a shame that a few errors appeared to creep in, should be looking at 8's though.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Jive

Looked a little awkward in training and I've been waiting to see how Ali copes with these faster Latin American dances.

Looking good up until the mistake with the American spins, dance seemed to lose it as Ali's confidence dropped.

A good start but let down by the second half.

6-7 rather than straight 7's that I predicted before.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Salsa

I've been waiting to see Ali perform a quicker Latin dance as I think this is where she could fall down, however she has got Brian as her teacher and he knows a thing or two about Salsa.

Ali needs to push through the floor to generate the hip action and she looks a little uncomfortable. A very complicated routine though that she is pulling off with style.

I thought it could be 7's earlier, not so sure now so i'm going to say 6-7.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Quickstep

Very good Waltz last time they danced ballroom and should have the elegance to pull off a good quickstep.

Nice classic music choice.

Floaty and elegant beginning.

Good movement and control, though the top line looks a little nervous and she looks almost like she's leaning.

Shaming about the slight mistake there.

Fast and accurate footwork mainly , needs to stand up a little more at times.

7-8

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Leaderboard

So combined leaderboard is as follows:

Couple	Score
Ali Bastian and Brian Fortuna	60
Chris Hollins and Ola Jordan	56
Jade Johnson and Ian Waite	52
Ricky Groves and Erin Boag	47
Martina Hingis and Matthew Cutler	46
Lynda Bellingham and Darren Bennett	44
Rav Wilding and Aliona Vilani	41
Joe Calzaghe and Kristina Rihanoff	32

So Joe sticks to the bottom as I predicted and Ali manages to remain on top (although I think Chris' Rumba was better than Ali's she would still take top place over both dances in my book).

I'm afraid Joe that based on this weekend's performances I think you will unfortunately have to leave early, I just think there's more potential in the other dancers.

What does everyone else think?  To comment/reply just click the comment link below this post.

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Lynda Bellingham & Darren Bennett

Not sure if i'd have marked 8 for Ali & Brian's Rumba, but then that's why i'm writing a blog and not judging!

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So a cheeky Cha Cha in store hopefully!

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Unfortunately no real hip movement, needs to use the floor a little better (hip movement is generated by pushing into the floor).

Should be dancing on the balls of the fleet and seems flat at points.

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Admittedly not as good as Ali's Rumba so I suppose I might have under-marked, but I think this will be a 5/6

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna

So Rumba, a chance to be elegant but how are her hips going to perform?

...

Lots of throwing arms out, is she trying to hide something in the beginning?  Looks unsure and really needs to finish her hips (Rachel Stevens was very good at this).

A little too much posturing and not enough basic but good acting at the end.

Think this'll be a 6

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3 hours to go

So 3 hours to go before the contestants are back to dance Latin, what am I expecting? (Please note that all pictures below are property of the BBC and links will take you direct to the couple page)

Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna - Very nice and elegant Waltz last night, could struggle if she's been given a Cha Cha, might be able to pull off an acceptable Rumba but I think she's too shy at present to really use the hips.

Lynda Bellingham & Darren Bennett - I hope for Lynda's sake she has a Cha Cha tonight as I think she could perform a very cheeky Cha Cha, with the Rumba it would be interesting to see how Darren choreographs another (mature-ish) celebrity routine - after failing with Gloria Hunniford in Series 3.

Joe Calzaghe & Kristina Rihanoff  - Disappointing performance last night (though I must admit it always surprised me that he was the bookies favourite).  I think his Latin tonight will be clunky and awkard - sorry Joe, please don't hit me!

Ricky Groves & Erin Boag - Good performance just suffered from nerves and tightness in the shoulders, however I think Ballroom will be his forte.

Martina Hingis & Matthew Cutler - If she'd just stood up straighter (brought the rib-cage up and strengthened her core muscles) her Waltz would've been a lot better.  I think she could do quite well in the Latin but she will need to perform more.

Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan   - Poor Chris, second on the table last night but I think his flat-footed approach to the Tango will spill over into whichever Latin dance he does tonight, I'm afraid i'm not expecting good things - let's hope i'm wrong.

Jade Johnson & Ian Waite - Tall is always good when it comes to Ballroom but most people find it a hindrance in Latin - there's just too much body to move around, not that that's ever stopped Ian!  Jade, I think, will struggle with controlling her body during the Latin, and needs to avoid flicking her hands once extended.

Rav Wilding & Aliona Vilani - Too muscly I think to portray either Latin dance effectively, but could be wrong - just look at Austin Healey last year.


My prediction for tonight is between Ali and Martina for top spot (dependant on dances allocated to each) and Joe to stay fixed to the bottom and I think he'll be relying heavily on audience votes.

But as always we will just have to wait and see how the dances get allocated tonight, and i'm sure there will be at least a few surprise performances in there.

Do you agree with what i've said above, or how do you see it going?  Please feel free to leave your comments below by clicking on "comments" and posting your message there.

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Ali Bastian & Brian Fortuna

Not a fan of the lounge jacket as opposed to tails (except for Tango where I thnk it works quite well) but i'm here to comment on the dancing, not the dress sense!

...


Nice so far bar one little slip up.  Well performed, floaty and elegant.  Little bit jumpy at the start.

Another 7

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