It was a big night for our enormo-juggernaut reality TV favourites. Over on ITV1 The X Factor was shuddering towards its climax, while Strictly was moving into the final straight. Before I go any further, I must say how nice it was to see both the main show and the results show in the same evening. The whole carrying the results over to the Sunday night has been rubbish, so thank the reality Lord for Sports Personality. Anyway, shall we discuss last night’s excellent dancing? OK then…

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It was semi-final time last night and the deal was this – Bruce would crack a few rubbish jokes and the three remaining couples – Lisa and Brendan; Tom and Camilla; Rachel and Vincent – were to go head-to-head with an Argentine tango and a dance from their back catalogue, remixed and re-choreographed.

Lisa and Brendan
It was revealed that Brendan had never danced the Argentine tango before. Is that true? Well, of course it is because he said it and he was obviously nervous during training (Lisa was helping him (almost) as much as he was helping her).

When they arrived on the floor, they both looked gorgeous. Lisa’s pins were on full show and she was wearing a skirt that revealed lots of, well, lots. They certainly looked the part and I thought they did a really excellent job. Some of the lifts, the turns (the ochos and gauchos as I later learned from Len) were very nifty, although I must say some of their steps weren’t as precise or staccato as they could have been. And that seemed to be what the judges thought as well. Len thought it was great, but Arlene, Craig and Bruno had slight reservations. Craig: 8; Arlene: 8; Len: 10; Bruno: 9. 35.

For their second dance, they decided to revisit the quickstep. The last time these two attempted the dance, the judges thought there wasn’t enough body-to-body contact. They certainly managed to sort that out and they hopped and skipped around the floor with great energy and, more importantly, synergy. It still didn’t blow me away, but the judges absolutely went wild for it and gave it the Big 10s all-round.

Tom and Camilla
With his best mate Austen now relegated to a place in the audience (along with Matt Dawson, Johnny Vegas (?!) and Nick Frost (?!!)), Tom was feeling the pressure as the only chap left in the competition.

Their first dance was the jive, and they both came out and really attacked it. Lots of energy there, and Tom was smiling and over-acting like he normally does when he feels under pressure. I did feel that his kicks and flicks were a little off and they dragged a bit as the routine went on, but in his defense I was knackered just watching the routine, so fair play to him. The judges picked up on this and they all felt that his energy levels visibly waned as the routine went on. Craig, meanwhile, had problems with the routine itself, but Arlene enjoyed it, saying it was more exciting than the 50 per cent Woolworths sale. Bit of a misjudged simile there Arlene; I’m sure the people losing their jobs at Woolies laughed heartily at that one. Craig: 8; Arlene: 8; Len: 9; Bruno: 8. 33.

For their Argentine tango, Tom and Camilla told a real story – an illicit affair. This aspect of their dance was very good, but I felt there wasn’t too much content to go with it. Camilla admitted that this wasn’t her dance, but I thought she looked amazing, and some the angular shapes she was creating were lovely. The judges agreed with me – amazing story but not too much content. Craig: 8; Arlene: 8; Len: 9; Bruno: 9. 34.

Rachel and Vincent
As the weeks go by these two have become my firm favourites. They just have great chemistry and they look perfect together. I was really looking forward to their Argentine tango (Vincent’s speciality) and, despite alluding to the fact that Rachel was struggling in training, their routine was amazing. Really, really amazing. Obviously Vicent’s flicks, wraps, ochos and gauchos were on the money, but Rachel was utterly terrific. How she learned that super-difficult routine in a week baffled me – there were so many technical bits and pieces I found my eyes glued to the screen. I’m happy to say that this was the best tango I’ve seen from a celebrity in the history of the series.

I’ll gloss over the fact they danced to a Prince tune instead of a traditional Argentine number, and the judges seemed to love it. Bruno even went as far as to say that if their legs could talk it could tell a thousand secrets, to which Bruce said, “Easy Bruno, easy”. Rachel’s fiance looked on in the audience. I thought this was a nailed-on all-10 score (it got a standing ovation), but no. Craig: 9; Arlene: 10; Len: 10; Bruno: 10.

Next up was the American Smooth, a dance oozing with class. And, as ever, this pair delivered. They didn’t go for Hollywood glitter, but instead went for enchantment and gorgeousness and romance. Len had a problem with this dance. He said that it wasn’t a foxtrot and it looked like they were waking around doing a few steps. Arlene and Craig went wild for it – Arlene said that Rachel was her Ginger Rogers and Craig told everyone not to listen to Len because you can do whatever you like in the American Smooth. Craig: 9; Arlene: 9; Len: 8; Bruno: 10. 36.

There was the usual excellent and entertaining dancing from the professionals in the results show, but there was a twist – as they stood under the spotlights waiting for the results, it was revealed that… all three couples would compete in next week’s final and that all votes cast this week would be carried over. Weird. Wasn’t expecting that one. What happened?