Ultimate Strictly

Only three sleeps until Christmas, so the BBC are whetting our appetites with a tasty morsel of festive greetings from the filming of the Strictly Come Dancing Christmas Special.

MERRY CHRISMTAS!

The BBC News website has reported that Bruce Forsyth has flu and doctors have ordered him not to present this weekends Strictly Come Dancing. Tess Daly will take the helm as the main presenter of the show for the night, but no announcement yet on who, if anyone, will take over her role talking to the contestants backstage before the judges scores are announced.

I'd love to see either one of the professional dancers who've been knocked out already this year take on Tess's role backstage - James Jordan would be top of my list after his excellent showing on It Takes Two this week - or perhaps a someone like Karen Hardy or a former contestant could be drafted in - after all, there's always plenty of them in the audience!

I wish Bruce well, but I can't deny, there's quite a division between those who love Bruce and those who would like to see someone else take over the main presenters role, so this could be a very interesting time in the Strictly forums, websites, blogs and messageboards, and I can't wait to check out all the gossip and opinions this weekend!

I've updated the series averages including the week seven dances, and the only change on the leaderboard is that Ricky & Erin have dropped a place moving Chris & Ola higher up the leaderboard.

The following table shows the couples ranked from the highest overall average to the lowest, with the couples who have left the competition in italics.

Just a quick roundup of who will be dancing what this weekend ...

Not content with competition on the dance floor, James and Ola Jordan have headed out to Buenos Aires to take part in one of two special celebrity editions of the BBC game show Total Wipeout to be broadcast this winter.

The pair will be competing in the first episode in the hope of winning the £10,000 prize for the children's charity Demelza House in East Sussex, which they are both representing.

No idea what Total Wipeout is all about? Check out this preview clip for the second series of the show:

James is extremely competitive and insists he would prefer to die than lose, while Ola's motivation is simply to beat James!

Source: BBC Press Office

With six dances under their belts, it seems like a good time to have a look at how the celebrities and their professionals are shaping up this year.

The following table shows the couples ranked from the highest overall average to the lowest, with the couples who have left the competition in italics. All couples have danced three ballroom and three latin dances, except Ricky & Natalie, who have danced two ballroom and four latin dances.

Not satisfied with simply returning to Blackpool for a special edition of Strictly Come Dancing from the Blackpool Tower Ballroom, the BBC are also hosting some special dance events in the Blackpool Winter Gardens on the same day.

There's the opportunity for beginners and those who maybe haven't danced for a while to attend one of two dance sessions with Karen Hardy, as well as a chance to view Strictly on the big screen as it is broadcast live to the nation.

For more details, and details of how to apply for tickets, click here to take you to the news item on the official BBC Strictly Come Dancing website.

I know I can't be the only one who loves a good statistic, so here's a look at some facts about the week six dances, the American Smooth and the Samba, including all competitive dances in the first six series of Strictly (excluding Christmas Specials):

AMERICAN SMOOTH

Number of dances: 31
Number of female celebrity dances: 15
Number of male celebrity dances: 16

Average score: 31.5
Average female celebrity score: 32.5
Average male celebrity score: 30.5

Highest female celebrity score: 36 (Zoe & Ian, Series 3, Week 8; Rachel & Vincent, Series 6, Week 13)
Highest male celebrity score: 38 (Gethin & Camilla, Series 5, Week 10)

Lowest female celebrity score: 27 (Carol & Matthew, Series 4, Week 6)
Lowest male celebrity score: 17 (Andrew & Ola, Series 6, Week 5)

Interesting fact: Although the statistics above don't include dances from the Christmas specials, the American Smooth has been danced twice on Christmas Specials, and on both occasions, the couples who danced it won the competition - Darren & Lilia in Christmas 2007 and Jill & Darren in Christmas 2008.

SAMBA

Number of dances: 50
Number of female celebrity dances: 25
Number of male celebrity dances: 25

Average score: 27.9
Average female celebrity score: 30.2
Average male celebrity score: 25.7

Highest female celebrity score: 38 (Zoe & Ian, Series 3, Week 10)
Highest male celebrity score: 36 (Mark & Karen, Series 4 Week 9, Mark & Karen, Series 4 Week 12)

Lowest female celebrity score: 16 (Kate & Anton, Series 5 Week 4)
Lowest male celebrity score: 15 (Chris & Hanna, Series 1, Week 5)

Interesting fact: No male celebrity has ever been awarded a 10 for a samba in the history of Strictly Come Dancing.

We already know that the two dances for week five are the Viennese Waltz and the Jive. From what we've seen on It Takes Two this week, we know what nine of the couples are dancing, but with twelve couples left in the competition, assuming there will be six of each dance, we should be able to predict what the remaining three couples will dance. If there is an even split of dances, the couples will be dancing (unconfirmed dances in italics):

Jive:
1. Joe & Kristina
2. Craig & Flavia
3. Chris & Ola
4. Zoe & James
5. Ricky & Erin
6. Ali & Brian

Viennese Waltz:
1. Natalie & Vincent
2. Phil & Katya
3. Jade & Ian
4. Laila & Anton
5. Ricky & Natalie
6. Jo & Brendan

If this is correct, then it will certainly cause some discussion on the Strictly message boards and forums around the internet, as this will be the third ballroom dance in a row for Laila & Anton, which will probably be interpreted as favouring the couple with Anton being a ballroom specialist and is often discussed as being a weaker latin teacher, choreographer and dancer.

I'm looking forward to tomorrow nights It Takes Two to confirm whether my assumptions are correct!

ETA: well, after It Takes Two tonight, we know there will be seven Jive's and five Viennese Waltzes, and the final line-up looks like this:

Jive:
1. Joe & Kristina
2. Craig & Flavia
3. Chris & Ola
4. Zoe & James
5. Ricky & Erin
6. Ali & Brian
7. Laila & Anton

Viennese Waltz:
1. Natalie & Vincent
2. Phil & Katya
3. Jade & Ian
4. Ricky & Natalie
5. Jo & Brendan

If it does, you'll be delighted to see the newest feature on the BBC website, the Strictly Surgery, and get Matthew Cutler's top three tips for a sensational rumba.

If you are viewing this through an RSS reader, you may need to access the full article on the Ultimate Strictly website, to view this video.

A little treat from the BBC for all those Matthew Cutler fans who are missing their favourite professional dancer already ... watch him as backstage roving reporter!

If you are viewing this through an RSS reader, you may need to access the full article on the Ultimate Strictly website, to view this video.

After tonight's It Takes Two, we now have confirmation of this weekends dances:

After last weeks "Thank you" video from the first batch of professional dancers who competed last weekend, it's the turn of the other eight to express their gratitude and love to their fans ... Enjoy!

We've had two main Strictly Come Dancing programmes and our first edition of It Takes Two tonight, so it's time to remind you of the Series 7 Reviews page on Ultimate Strictly.

Here you'll find for each main programme, a summary of the judges comments and scores for each dance, a recap of any other musical guests and information about the professional demonstration dances. Plus, for each It Takes Two, there'll be a review of each edition, including details of the guests on the show and any video segments, along with a summary what was generally discussed.

A last minute teaser before it all kicks off in TWO AND A HALF HOURS - a little "Thank You" video from the professional dancers competing this week, aimed at their online fans ...

The waiting is almost over ... not long now ...