Strictly Come Dancing celebrities will tonight compete for the chance to dance at Blackpool Tower as the series nears its halfway point.
Nine pairs remain in the competition as the show enters its eighth week which will see one celebrity fall agonisingly short of appearing on one of Britain’s premier ballroom venue as the series heads to Blackpool next weekend.
On Monday it was announced Strictly professional Amy Dowden will not be returning to partner JB Gill for the rest of the competition after she collapsed backstage three weeks ago.
Follow our live coverage of Strictly Come Dancing week eight below
JB goes joint top of the leaderboard
37 for JB and Lauren takes them joint top of the leaderboard with Tasha and Aljaz
JB stands for ‘Jolly Brilliant’…
Anton said: ‘I am stunned!’
JB and new partner Lauren danced the Samba to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes and recieved high praise from the judges.
Craig said JB means ‘jolly brilliant’.
Motsi said JB was ‘right up there’ with some of the best ever Samba’s on the show.
Shirley gave praise to Amy Dowden for ‘setting JB up’ for this kind of performance over the previous weeks.
Can they get another high score?
JB and Lauren up now
Can JB and his new partner Lauren get close to their incredibly high score last week?
Scores are in for Pete and Jowita
Pete and Jowita scored their highest score of the series so far with a 36.
Shirley also gave a ten to the couple.
Pete’s tribute to his nan leaves no dry eyes in the house
Pete was on the edge of tears after his performance, as was his mother in the audience.
Anton said: ‘It was so natural, you did that beautifully.’
Craig added: ‘I loved the story, loved the sentiment, however I would have liked a bit more flow in your transition work’
He also said it was ‘beautiful’
Motsi said Pete gave the audience a ‘peice of his heart’
Emotional moment for Pete as he dances as a tribute to his nan
Pete Wicks’ dance this week is a tribute to his nan, the person that he says meant the most to him.
Tracy Wicks, Pete’s mum said he ‘absoilutely adored her, and she did he’.
He is dancing his Couple’s Choice to Simply The Best – her favourite song.
Scores in for Sarah
Sarah and Vito recieved a score of 33 after getting 8,8,8,9 from the judges.
Sarah and Vito given constructive criticism from the judges
Craig said: ‘Your hands were bothering me’ after Sarah and Vito danced the American Smooth.
He added: ‘You are extremely talented and the cartwheel was spectacular’
Shirley also said she saw ‘issues with gapping’ and wanted ‘neater smaller details’
Anton, however, said the other judges were being ‘nitty gritty in the week before Blackpool’.
Anton also told Vito to ‘point his toes in a cartwheel’.
Shayne and Nancy perform the Rumba. Could it be their last?
This week’s favourites to leave the show Shayne and Nancy performed the Rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper.
Motsi said it was not one of their best dances.
Shirley praised the ‘chemistry’ between the couples which she said was improving.
Craig said there was a ‘dead space’ but did give the couple a ‘well done’.
They recieved a score of 30 from the judges
Tasha and Aljaz recieve mixed reaction from judges but set a high score early on
First up tonight was Tasha Ghouri and her partner Aljaz Skorjanec, who took huge applause from the crowd after their quickstep.
Criag however, said he thought it was ‘a little bit safe’, leading to boos from the crowd.
Motsi disagreed, saying she thought the dance had ‘everything tonight’.
Shirley and Anton both said the dance should be enough to take them to Blackpool
They recieved a score of 37 (8, 10, 10, 9) from the judges, the highest quickstep score of the series.
A tribute to Amy Dowden
Tess just announced to the audience that Amy Dowden will not be returning to the show and will be replaced by Lauren Oakley.
Claudia said: ‘Amy everyone at Strictly is sending you so much love and we can’t wait to see you back on this dancefloor very very soon.’
No theme this week – just make it to Blackpool
The theme tonight… ‘I want to make it to Blackpool’, says Claudia.
After Halloween week and Icons week, there is no overriding theme for the dancers
Five minutes to go…
Get the kettle on, pour a glass of wine, whatever your routine is, you have five minutes to get comfortable.
Week eight of Strictly Come Dancing will begin in five minutes on BBC One.
Let us know your reaction to tonight’s performances by joining in the conversation in our comments section.
Who are the favourites to be eliminated this week?
Former X Factor winner Shayne Ward with his partner Nancy Xu are favoruites to leave this week.
Odds suggest Shayne and Nancy are unlikely to make it to through to next week’s Blackpool special after their odds were slashed to 10/11 to be voted out of the competition.
Shayne Ward is unlikely to match his X Factor achievement and is now favourite to leave the show, closely followed by opera singer Wynne Evans, who has odds of 9/4.
Nicola McGeady of Ladbrokes said: ‘As far as the odds and punters are concerned, it looks like Shayne Ward’s Strictly journey will come to an end this weekend.’
William Hill also has the same odds of Shayne being given his marching orders, with Wynne next in the firing line.
Week Eight dances: MIKA, Mariah Carey and The Arctic Monkeys
Here is something to warm you up for tonight – a glimpse of what to look forward too
Here is a list of dances that will be performed this evening and the numbers accompanying them.
Tonight’s dances (may not be in order)
Chris McCausland and Dianne – Couple’s Choice to Instant Karma! (We All Shine On) by John Lennon
Pete Wicks and Jowita – Couple’s Choice to The Best by Nicotine Dolls
Montell Douglas and Johannes – Paso Doble to Lola’s Theme by The Shapeshifter
Jamie Borthwick and Michelle Tsiakkas – Argentine Tango to Do I Wanna Know? by Arctic Monkeys
Shayne Ward and Nancy Xu – Rumba to Time After Time by Cyndi Lauper
JB Gill and Lauren Oakley – Samba to Mas Que Nada by Sergio Mendes
Tasha Ghouri and Aljaž Škorjanec – Quickstep to Fantasy by Mariah Carey
Wynne Evans and Katya Jones – American Smooth to Grace Kelly by MIKA
Sarah Hadland and Vito Coppola – American Smooth to Proud by Heather Small
Five professional dancers ‘facing the axe’ in ‘ageism row’
Another big story this week is new that some of the show’s biggest professionals could be at risk of being axed in a huge shake up.
Sources are claiming that bosses plan to bring in a new generation of young dancers, with up to five professional dancers at risk.
Among those at risk are thought to be Nadiya Bychkova, Neil Jones, Karen Hauer, Gorka Marquez and Katya Jones, four of which have already been eliminated from this year’s competition.
A representative for Strictly Come Dancing declined to comment.
Amy Dowden OUT of Strictly for the rest of the series
The big story this week is that professional dancer Amy Dowden will not be returning to the show this series.
The Welsh dancer, 34, who is understood to be in remission from breast cancer and has Crohn’s disease, was forced to pull out of last weekend’s show after collapsing backstage.
Fellow professional Lauren Oakley was drafted in as her replacement to perform with JLS star JB Gill for Saturday’s night’s show.
It was confirmed on Monday’s episode of It Takes Two that Amy will not return for the rest of the series, as she recovers from a ‘foot injury’.
Lauren Oakley will continue to step in as JB’s dance partner for the remainder of the series.
The singer and Lauren soared to joint top of the leaderboard with their couples’ choice performance to a Bruno Mars Medley, scoring a near-perfect 39 out of 40.
And as the pair were revealed to be safe for another week, JB looked to the camera and mouthed ‘For you, Amy’ as he dedicated the performance to the Welsh dancer.
But can JB and Lauren find themselves at the top end of the leaderboard tonight?
Good evening!
Hello and welcome to MailOnline’s live coverage of the Strictly Come Dancing live show.
It is week eight and now nine pairs will battle it out on the ballroom floor to try and book a place in Blackpool.
Last week JB McGill and Tasha Ghouri were the stars of the show, both scoring 39 points.
JB recieved the impressive score after dancing for the first time with new partner Lauren Oakley, after Amy Dowden had to pull out of the show.
And on Monday she announced she will not be returning this series.
Montell Douglas was saved by the judges as Sam Quek became the latest celebrity to exit the competition.
Follow our live updates throughout tonight’s show and let us know your thoughts in the comments!
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Latest updates from Strictly Come Dancing week eight as nine pairs take on ballroom battle to earn spot at Blackpool Tower
