We’ve reached one of the biggest weekends of Strictly Come Dancing 2023 – the Blackpool Special!
The show has taken over the iconic Tower Ballroom and last night our seven remaining celebrities and their professional partners hit the world-famous sprung floor to deliver their biggest performances yet.
Presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman were on hand as usual to take us through every moment of the evening, whilst judges Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse, Anton Du Beke and head judge Shirley Ballas shared their views on the couples’ flicks, fleckerls and footwork.
Blackpool has given us some iconic Strictly Come Dancing routines over the years – could any of this year’s cast join them? Find out with our latest top five list…
1: Ellie Leach and Vito Coppola – Charleston to ‘Love Machine’ by Girls Aloud
Well this was just a joy to watch from start to finish. Ellie is great at bringing her acting skills to her routines and she delivered in spades here, with a fun, playful routine and a smile that could have powered Blackpool Illuminations. She had great swivel, handled the lifts and tricks well (particularly that incredible catch!), and her movements were sharp yet light throughout particularly in the side-by-side sections with Vito. It was such a cheery, entertaining performance and I hope we’ll be seeing it again in the Strictly Come Dancing 2023 final!
2: Angela Scanlon and Carlos Gu – Argentine Tango to ‘Back To Black’ by Amy Winehouse
Wow! This routine really showed a different side to Angela. She fully leant into the drama and intensity, and I loved her control throughout the performance, particularly in the spins. Her leg action was sharp throughout, she had great timing and musicality, and her footwork caressed the floor beautifully. She also handled the tricks and lifts absolutely brilliant, particularly the catch/spin midway through – I actually gasped out loud at that one! There was a real power about this whole performance and I’m so pleased she got rewarded for it with her highest scores yet.
3: Nigel Harman and Katya Jones – Quickstep to ‘It Don’t Mean A Thing’ by Duke Ellington
It wouldn’t be Blackpool without a Quickstep and this performance from Nigel felt like it could have been clipped from a classic movie. I love how he brought in the theatrical showman elements with his leaps early on and there was a real suaveness about the whole thing I enjoyed a lot. He also had great speed across the floor whilst remaining light on his feet, with plenty of spring and good synchronisation in the side-by-side sections, and I was impressed by his clean arm lines and the improvement in his posture in hold too. It seems like he’s peaking at just the right time and I’m hoping he’ll be back on the dancefloor next week.
4: Annabel Croft and Johannes Radebe – American Smooth to ‘Unchained Melody’ by Benedetta Caretta
Annabel is proving to be something of a dark horse in Strictly Come Dancing 2023 and this unusual take on an American Smooth demonstrated exactly why. I loved the soft, dreamy feel of the performance and thought she hit some absolutely gorgeous lines through, particularly with her arms. She also flowed across the floor beautifully in hold and handed the spin and lifts very well. It took me back to the Disney movie ballroom scenes of my childhood and there was a tender, heartfelt feeling about the whole thing that truly set it apart last night.
5: Bobby Brazier and Dianne Buswell – Jive to ‘Wake Me Up Before You Go-Go’ by Wham!
Bringing a ray of sunshine to the Tower Ballroom, Bobby pulled off a fun, lively routine with plenty of sharp kicks and flicks and some great lines in his arms. I thought he did a really good job of leading Dianne around the floor and coped well with the tricks and extra dancers. There were a couple of moments where he got slightly out of sync with Dianne and I felt it could have done with slightly more bounce, but overall he did a great job – especially as Jive is notoriously hard for taller Strictly Come Dancing contestants – and provided a really entertaining opening to this year’s Blackpool Special.
The leaderboard for the evening was:
Layton and Nikita – 39 (9, 10. 10, 10)
Ellie and Vito – 39 (9, 10, 10, 10)
Angela and Carlos – 38 (8, 10, 10, 10)
Bobby and Dianne – 35 (8, 9, 9, 9)
Annabel and Johannes – 35 (8, 9, 9, 9)
Nigel and Katya – 31 (7, 8, 8, 8)
Angela and Kai – 28 (6, 7, 7, 8)
But who won’t be heading back to Elstree next week? Find out when Strictly Come Dancing returns this evening (19th November) for the Results Show at 7.15 PM on BBC One and BBC iPlayer…
