The moment of truth, dance off, and result

Will my prediction of a Laila and Ricky dance off pan out?

Bottom three as expected, now who have the public gone for?

Yep Natalie & Vincent are saved by the audience, and Laila and Ricky are in the dance-off.

More importantly it's Erin versus Anton!

If Ricky can perform without making any mistakes then we could have a competition on our hands, otherwise I think he's going home.

Laila still stumbles in the same move near the end, which is a shame, and she looks very uncomforable during the final pivots. But not a bad performance, all down to Ricky now.

Looks like a much improved performance on earlier and I really don't know how to call this one.

I think Ricky has been more consistent, though Laila has scored highly in a few of her dances.

On that basis I think it will be Ricky going home.

Just waiting on Len to confirm whether it's 3 or 4-0...and Len confirms it would've been 4-0.

Do you agree with the outcome from tonight? Look out Natalie and Laila, there's no-one below you now!

Leaderboard

Finally they manage to fit the leaderboard on one page - makes it so much easier to quickly jot down!

1. 36 points - Ricky & Natalie
2. 35 points - Ali & Brian
3. 29 points - Chris & Ola
4. 29 points - Laila & Anton
5. 26 points - Natalie & Vincent
6. 22 points - Ricky & Erin

So with Jade gone things are going to get very tough for the 6 remaining couples. I think Laila will be in the bottom two, the other is too hard to call but I think Ricky's luck will have run out.

Ricky Groves & Erin Boag - Tango

So I didn't expect a comical take on a Paso, let's see if Ricky can keep it serious for the Tango.



Emma's not really 'feeling' Erin's dress this week, and I must admit it does look a little weird.

Just loses a little bit of drive at times and his dropped head makes him look a little unconfident. Seems to be making mistakes but can't tell.

It was an ok performance but I don't think he'll score higher than a 7.

Laila Rouass & Anton du Beke - Waltz

Will Laila have recovered from her injury enough to cope with the demands of the rise and fall in the Waltz?



Just needs to make sure she keeps her core strong as still looks a little loose at times.

Shame about the glaring mistake at the end though, I don't think there's any dances this series that she's managed to complete without a mistake!

Even with the mistake, and the posture issues, I think she should achieve 8's.

Ricky Whittle & Natalie Lowe - American Smooth

Ricky was worried during the week about having to do the lifts, and I don't blame him! Nothing against Natalie, but lifting anyone completely off the ground is a difficult task.

Ricky's head still concerns me when he's dancing Ballroom, it always seems to be a little tilted, and he needs to make sure he keeps his bum in.

Amazing lift though, I know Kenny Logan did it with Ola, but there's a significant difference in both Kenny and Ricky's muscle mass and the size of Ola and Natalie.

Still room for improvement in Ricky's Ballroom and i'll give him an 8.

Chris Hollins & Ola Jordan - Viennese Waltz

Chris has been hit-and-miss this series, let's see how he copes with the tricky Viennese.



Not quite sure that Chris' feet were correct during the slow fleckerl at the start.

Nice pivots, although you could see the tension forming in Chris' shoulders every time he dances them.

A good performance and should get 8's.

Natalie Cassidy & Vincent Simone - Samba

When I saw the training videos mid-week she looked a little flat so i'm hoping Vincent's addressed that since.



Len will definitely appreciate them going straight into the dance.

For me i'd have Natalie take slightly more compact steps, this would help with the hip action. The bounce was improved over mid-week but I still think a little work is required.

A little uninspiring at times but ok overall. Only 7's for Nat this week I'd say.

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.

Saturday night and Brucie's back in business

Unfortunately Jade has had to pull out of the competition.

Such a shame as they really looked like they had potential together. Oh well, that makes the final a two (rather than three) couple affair.

Let's see how everyone else performs tonight, and whether Laila has fully recovered.

Strictly Come Dancing Musical Interlude tickets

Join Strictly Come Dancing for a special pre-record on Friday 27th November.

Come and see a performance by Riverdance in its 15th Anniversary Year plus a special guest appearance by Nelly Furtado and James Morrison who will be performing together for the very first time.

PLEASE NOTE: This is a pre-recorded musical segment of Strictly Come Dancing to transmit on Saturday 28 November. You will NOT be attending the live show.

No under 16s will be admitted.

Dress code is glamorous/strictly no jeans.

Tickets are limited so apply now to be part of this intimate and exclusive performance.

Due to the short notice of this recording they are allocating tickets on a first come first served basis.

Just visit the BBC Tickets website to apply for the tickets

We're famous!

Well the BBC have finally uploaded one solitary picture of us from the 'Come Dancing With Strictly' event in Blackpool!

Not the best photo they took of us during the day so i'm sure there'll be more...maybe.

For more photos from Blackpool visit the BBC website.

Tango tips from Katya Virshilas

Katya Virshilas (who danced a sexy and sultry Tango with Antonio Banderas in Take the Lead - which i've also included a clip of), gives us her top three tips when dancing the Tango.

Clip from Take the Lead:

Katya's top three tips:

Joe Calzaghe has claimed that Strictly Come Dancing is fixed!

In an interview with The Daily Mail boxer Joe Calzaghe has claimed that Strictly is fixed.


The former contestant has accused the BBC of fixing his departure from the show, after he made a comment "...worse than a swear word..." about fellow contestant Craig Kelly.

Apparently producers regularly told Joe that he received the highest weekly votes in the show, but then in the week following his comment about Craig he then found himself in the dance-off and out of the show.

Though I do seem to recall that that was the first week when Joe wasn't actually bottom of the leaderboard - and therefore tugging on the underdog heartstrings!

This follows on the back of complaints about Jade Johnson being allowed to sit out this week's show due to injury - but I can't understand the complaints as it's not the first time a contestant has been granted a by. Jimmy Tarbuck was granted a week's break in 2006 after doctors recommended he didn't dance.

Ok so he then pulled out completely (probably the same thing Jade will unfortunately have to do if her injury is as bad as feared) but it's only fair to give them one week to recover if that's what it takes.

I don't believe Strictly is fixed, the only way Joe could have stayed in as long as he did (and Craig too) would be with the public vote supporting them!

Do you agree with Joe, or Strictly's stance on Jade?

Week 9 in 60 seconds

Not got time to watch all the clips from last week, then why not watch the 60 second summary of the weekend's action:

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: