Alexandra Burke totally stole the show with her fast-paced routine in Saturday night’s (30 September) ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ live show.
She and partner Gorka Marquez performed an impressive Paso Doble to ‘Ven A Bailar’ by Jennifer Lopez, scoring the highest number of points so far of the series, being awarded 36 of a possible 40.
Judge Craig Revel Horwood had no criticism to offer, simply applauding the pair, while Darcey Bussell told them: “There is an art within you. You have a wonderful sense of how you express through the music.”
This is the second week in a row that Alexandra has had positive feedback for her routine, after her performance to ‘(You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman’ at the beginning of the series, which she admitted was particularly emotional, as it was one of her late mother’s favourite songs.
But while her debut performance won her praise, it’s her Paso Doble that has truly cemented Alexandra and Gorka’s place as frontrunners in the competition.
Sadly, the same can’t be said for ‘Good Morning Britain’ presenter Charlotte Hawkins, who had something of a rough night second time around.
She and professional dancer Brendan Cole wound up picking up just 12 points for their routine, with Charlotte stumbling fairly on and never really recovering.
Bruno Tonioli told her that she’d had “a bad day”, while new recruit Shirley Ballas confessed: “It was very difficult to find any technical elements that were really well danced.”
Although last week everyone got a free pass, tonight (1 October) one contestant will be leaving the series in the first results show of the series.
Find out who gets the chop at 7.15pm on BBC One.