As the celebrities and their partners made their way down the stairs to open the show, it was evident that the Strictly costume, hair and makeup teams have exceeded all expectations and really gone to town. Amazing work indeed!
Judi and Graziano who survived the dance off in week 2 opened the show with the first dance - a Charleston to the movie Chicago. A solid 24 points were well deserved from the Loose Women presenter. The icing on the cake though was waiting for her upstairs when presenter Claudia Winkleman played a video tribute from the man himself, Sean Paul thanking Judi for her excellent performance in last week's show to his Get Busy' tune.
Dan Walker and Nadiya did a foxtrot to Sleeping Beauty, followed by a samba by Sara and Aljaz to a song from the movie Shrek, and then an American Smooth to a Whitney Houston number in The Bodyguard from AJ and Kai. The couples scored 21, 28 and 35 respectively. With 35 points in week 3 and 31 points in week 2, AJ is emerging as one to watch to go all the way.
Robert dressed as Kermit the frog and Dianne were Miss Piggy were next with a quickstep to the theme song of the muppet show which scored them 25 points.
Greg and Karen exploded onto the dancefloor with a tango to the Bond theme song and they were followed by Tilly and Nikita doing a jive to a song from the film and hit West End show 'Hairspray'. They scored 26 and 27 points respectively.
Rose and Giovanni scored a huge 36 points for their foxtrot to the theme song of the Titanic. Four nine's from the judges was the highest scores so far in the series, but there were higher marks to come.
Ugo Monye and Oti win the award for best costume in their couple's choice dance to a song from the hit animated film Moana. Ugo wore was decked out in nothing more than a skirt made of leaves and a wig that came down to the middle of his back. Epic! 31 points scored which should guarantee them a place in week 4.
Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden made a comback after missing week two due to testing positive for Coronavirus. The couple had to sit out week two but they were back with a bang and scored 32 points for their dance to the theme tune of the hit 80s movie 'Back to the Future'. In the VT before the dance, Tom explained that Back to the Future movie was the inspiration behind the name of his band. McFly is the name of the main character in the movie.
Adam and Katy performed a rumba dressed as characters from Avatar. Unlike the huge success of the animated film, the couple found themselves langusishing at the bottom of the table after only picking up 20 points. To be honest, I think they should have scored better but i'm not a judge so there.
The judges gave Katie and Gorka 24 points for their dance to the movie Cruela leaving them in second to last spot and in danger of a dance off place in Sunday's show.
The very best of the night was saved for last with a marvelous couples choice dance from Rhys and Nancy to the theme song of Spiderman. Rhys was jumping around the dance floor and spinning webs like his life depended on it. The judges loved it and rewared him with 377 points, which knocked Rose and Giovanni off the top spot.
Rhys and Nancy's spot at the top of the leaderboard was short lived because the final dance of the show was a powerful pasodoble from John and Johannes to the theme song of Pirates of the Caribbean. According to the judges it was an exceptional ending to the evening of dance action and they were handsomely rewarded with 39 points - an almost perfect performance and one that was well worthy to top the leaderboard.
Strictly Come dancing Dance Off - Week 3
After all that fun, on Saturday night, Sunday is dance off day at the Strictly Come Dancing Studio and one couple is going to have to have a last dance.
Judi and Graziano were the first couple voted by the public to dance again for their place in the show. I thought they were great so a bit baffling why they ended up in the dance off. On the plus side, we get to see her raise the roof again. Bring it on Judi.
The other couple in the dance off was no surprise really. Katie and Gorka were second to last on Saturday night and failed to secure enough public votes to dance in week 4 without first proving themselves.
Bothe couples danced well as they normally do to try and secure their place in the next round. The both danced so well that it was a split decision and head judge Shirley Ballas had the final say. She decided to save Judi and Graziano, which meant Katie and Gorka were eliminated from the show.
Strictly Come Dancing 2021 Leaderboard - Week 3
- John Whaite and Johannes Radebe = 39
- Rhys Stephenson and Nancy Xu = 37
- Rose Ayling-Ellis and Giovanni Pernice = 36
- AJ Odudu and Kai Widdrington = 35
- Tom Fletcher and Amy Dowden = 32
- Ugo Monye and Oti Mabuse = 31
- Sara Davies and Aljaž Skorjanec = 28
- Tilly Ramsay and Nikita Kuzmin = 27
- Greg Wise and Karen Hauer = 26
- Robert Webb and Dianne Buswell = 25
- Judi Love and Graziano Di Prima = 24
- Katie McGlynn and Gorka Marquez = 24
- Dan Walker and Nadiya Bychkova = 21
- Adam Peaty and Katya Jones = 20
You can also revisit Strictly Come Dancing 2020.
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