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Five dancers, ten dances, Tess's legs wearing a veil and the judges giving out an inexplicable perfect score? It can only be THE STRICTLY SEMI-FINAL.
I really enjoyed the judges continually telling lovely Alex that she really deserved get to the SEMI-final, leaving it up to the public to infer whatever they wanted from that statement. Sure, she's not the best dancer, but if you compare her awkward, stiff cha-cha-cha from week one with her messy but fun semi-final salsa, you can see that she really has improved a lot. And her sweet, elegant waltz was a testament to the quality of her ballroom, and certainly worthy of the semi-final. Cause she deserved to be there. YES, SHE DID.
What a week for Holly of all people to get the Charleston. The gurning version of the dance that the show favours was never going to suit her, and Artem's modern take was a good stab at making it work. While she started well, Holly got a bit lost in the middle and it never really took off. Following her amazing paso doble last week, I'd hoped she would bring that same aggression and passion to her Argentine Tango, but the chair bit just baffled me – instead of sultry, she just looked a bit ungainly. Once she started properly dancing, though, it did come together and look pretty great.
Jason wants you to know that he was having a really good time during his salsa this week. HE WAS, LOOK AT THAT FACE. THAT'S THE FACE OF FUN. I think his body was mostly doing the right thing, but the intensity of it all had me literally recoiling from the TV in horror, so I can't be sure. That must be the pinnacle of his facial gymnastics, I foolishly thought after his salsa. I defy anyone to look at Jason's serial killer face throughout his Argentine tango, then look at his perfect score, and then tell me that “Craig's 10s are the only 10s that count”. A 40/40 for that dance clearly ranks amongst the most ridiculous perfect scores in Strictly history, up there with Lisa Snowdon's 80/80. Remember when Lisa Snowdon got 80/80? Strange, strange times.
I'm also not convinced that Chelsee deserved her perfect score, but watching her paso again, I decided it was pretty wonderful – fiery, intense and passionate, and she manages a much better connection with Pasha than she did in her Argentine tango. But, for me, my joint favourite dance of the night, and possibly one of my favourite dances of the series, was her American smooth. She had obvious issues with her running splits, but I don't care, because it was beautiful apart from that. Fluid, gorgeous arms and quite simply breathtaking.
After about half a series of mild interest, which has recently grown into proper intrigue, this week I decided I was indeed wild about Harry. Oh, come on, if Len can do it and Aliona can do it, I can do it. His Charleston was never going to be a classic dance, but he managed to balance a sense of fun with nailing the technique. No stupid fake swimming moves for Mr Judd, thank-you-very-much. And his Viennese waltz was an absolute wow moment for me. I love a sweeping Viennese waltz, and this swept with the best of them.
When it came to the double elimination, the right two people went. Alex (brilliant-face-making, self-deprecating, lovely Alex) and Holly (laid-back, witty, surprisingly sweet Holly) were my favourite celebrities personality-wise, but it was their time to go, and they both knew it, although Holly seemed surprisingly moved by her whole experience. Sniff.
So, that leaves us with a final three of Jason, Chelsee and Harry. Check back on Saturday for my take on the three finalists, their stories so far and their chances going into the final. In the meantime, I'll just be here, imagining a world where all paso dobles are Pasha dobles. Ah, yes, that's the stuff.
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