Double trouble! Strictly Come Dancing's Abbey Clancy and Natalie Gumede tie with the highest judges scores of 35
By MARC ANDREWS
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Saturday night's ballroom blitz of Strictly Come Dancing saw the dozen celebrities battling it out to survive yet another week on the beloved TV show.
Promising that this week the competition would get even tougher and that the gloves are off it was model/TV presenter Abbey Clancy and Coronoation Street's Natalie Gumede who proved to be real contenders.
The two ladies lead the leader board by the end of the programme with an equal high score of 35.
She's tops again! Abbey Clancy and her dancer partner Aljaz were equal top of the leaderboard on this week's Strictly Come Dancing
Dancing up a storm! Natalie Gunmede achieved an equal highest best score of 35 on the night on Strictly Come Dancing
First to take to the floor in Week Five of Strictly 2013 were Coronation Street's Natalie Gumede, who has been nursing a sore back. and her dancing partner Artem Chigvintsev who performed an impressive Samba to the Gypsy King’s ‘Bomboleo’ which won them a standing ovation from the studio audience.
Judge Len Goodman declared Natalie's Samba caused him to be 'perspirating, palpitating and flatulating'.
Fellow judge Darcey Bussell called it 'a lovely opening dance' and 'a great performance'. They scored a combined total of 35, which equalled last week's top score.
Samba Queen! Coronation Street's Natalie Gumede managed some fancy footwork to 'Bomboleo'
Next up were model/TV presenter Abbey Clancy and Alijaz Skorjanec will performed a steamy Foxtrot to Olly Murs’ ‘Dear Darlin’.
The judges, especially Craig Revel Horwood, decided to be picky with the couple because the faults in the dance were so minimal.
When the judges scores came in Abbey and Alijaz also scored a 35.
Perfectly in step! Abbey Clancy and partner Aljaz scored well again this week
Dancing with the stars! Abbey Clancy once again proved that she has what it takes to win over the Strictly Come Dancing judges
Third couple to take to the floor were Dave Myers and Karen Hauer who undertook a crowd-pleasing Salsa to ‘Cuban Pete’ from the theme song to the film The Mask originally sung by Jim Carrey.
Thanks to his energetic performance Dave even managed to score a standing ovation from the crowd before declaring 'dancing makes me hungry' while eating a banana.
'Perhaps you should have remained on the fruit trolley,' was the biting comment from judge Craig, though felllow judge Len called their Salsa 'top quality fun not top quality dancing'. They scored a lowly 17 from the judges, which turned out to be the lowest score of the night.
Feeling fruity! TV chef and Hairy Biker Dave Myers shake things up on Strictly
The hosts with the most! Next week Strictly Come Dancing is promising a special Halloween edition
Fourth on the floor were Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden and Robin Windsor partner who performed a boardroom-inspired Viennese Waltz to James Brown’s soul classic ‘It’s A Man’s Man’s Man’s World’.
Their rather inventive dance, which also scored a standing ovation from the studio audience, was called 'an improvement on last week' by Len, while Bruno Tonioli said 'she was much more confidence and flowing - an improvement.
Deborah said that the standing ovation was 'amazing' and that ten hours of dancing a day had made her feel much fitter. Her combined score from the judges was a middling 27.
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Out of the den and into the fire! Dragons' Den's Deborah Meaden and her partner Robin Windsor scored a standing ovation from the Strictly audience
Chairman of the board! Deborah Meaden's boardroom dance was a knowing nod to her Dragons' Den roots
The fifth couple to hit the dancefloor was Casualty star Patrick Robinson and his dance partner Anya Garnis who undertook a Salsa to ‘Wings’ by Little Mix.
Patrick was something of a casualty himself having injured his right arm during the week and managing to work his exuberant dance moves around it.
Len said he thought Patrick did 'a wonderful job with a routine he could do with one hand', while Craig made not of Patrick's 'natural hips'. They scored an okay 28 from the judges.
The eyes have it! Patrick performed an exuberant and eye-catching performance despite a major injury
At the halfway point in the show, it was the turn of former Bond girl-turned-author Fiona Fullerton and Anton du Beke who did a Quickstep to ‘If My Friends Could See Me Now’ by the legendary Sammy Davis Jnr.
Fiona even received a good luck message on air from former 007 Roger Moore to help her with her performance which was cute and full of necessary bounce.
They too scored a standing ovation from the studio audience, while Darcey noted it was 'finally fabulous Fiona', calling it her best dance yet on the show. When the scores came in they managed to grab a more-than-respectable 30, which Fiona seemed absolutely thrilled by.
Bond girl done good! Fiona Fullerton even received a good luck message from former 007 Roger Moore
The seventh couple of the night were Countdown presenter Rachel Riley and partner Pasha Kovalev, who managed to survive last week's dance-off. They performed a somewhat aggressive Paso Doble to Nelly Furtado's ‘Maneater’.
Unfortunately the judges didn't find their performance 'compelling', despite 'how hard you have worked', as Darcey noted. Bruno said it was 'the vegetarian option' and that Rachel was no maneater.
When the scores came in from the judges Rachel and Pasha scored only 22, which might see them in another dance off tomorrow night.
She's a maneater! The judges complained that Rachel Riley's routine didn't have enough bite
Stage and screen actor Mark Benton and his partner Iveta Lukosiute were next up with a lovely Waltz to ‘Apologize’ by OneRepublic as the evening's eight couple out on the Strictly floor.
And, yes, the studio audience were up on their feet yet again. 'You transported me,' Darcey told the twosome, 'and overall I liked it'. Len found it all 'easy on the eye'.
When it came to score time, Mark and Iveta earned themselves 28, which was their highest score to date.
Strike a pose! Yorkshire native Mark Benton recently played the role of Edna Turnblad in the musical Hairspray
Ninth couple of the night were Hollyoaks' star Ashley Taylor Dawson and Ola Jordan who chose a sweaty Jive to the rock ‘n’ roll classic ‘Johnny B Goode’ by Chuck Berry.
With a lively terrific effort they won the judges over with Craig declaring that 'you have to be aware that you do have feet at the end of your legs but I did love it'. Darcey even went so far as to call the routine 'brilliant'.
When it came to the judges' scores handsome Ashley and his sexy partner Ola earned themselves a better than middling 31.
Dancing on air! Ashley Taylor Dawson and his partner gave a very energetic performance on the night
When it came to the tenth couple of the night, BBC Breakfast presenter Susanna Reid and dance partner Kevin Clifton, performed the American Smooth to Tony Bennett’s ‘Sunny Side of The Street’.
Susanna said that 'week by week I am loving dancing more and more and that is down to Kevin'. Their performance had more than a hint of old Hollywood to it with shades of 'Singing In The Rain' before they worked the entire dancefloor in bright sunshine yellow and purple outfits.
For their fancy footwork, Susanna and Kevin were told by the judges 'it was always sunny Susanna land', as Bruno insisted. Craig had only one word for the routine - 'gorgeous', while Darcy said she thought there was a filmstar inside of Susanna. Their tally on the scoreboard was a sunny 32.
Sunny side up! Susanna Reid was a vision in not-so-mellow yellow on Strictly Come Dancing
The penultimate couple for the night were hunky footballer Ben Cohen and Kristina Rihanoff who got to do a Quickstep to the Friends theme tune ‘I’ll Be There For You’, which was originally by The Rembrandts.
'Big Ben', as host Sir Bruce Forsyth calls the retired rugby star, gave the crowd a cutesy and well-rehearsed performance, dressed in a muscle-hugging waistcoat and tight black trousers.
Darcey said she wasn't expecting Ben to be so light on his feet, with Len agreeing and saying 'what you did, you did well'. On the scoreboard Ben and Kristina earned a tidy 27.
Big Ben strikes again! Rugby hunk Ben Cohen was light on his feet and scored a tidy 27 score from the judges
The final couple of the night were pop star Sophie Ellis-Bextor and dancing partner Brendan Cole who got to shake a leg with a Cha Cha Cha to Michael Jackson’s ‘PYT’.
Sophie was all turquoise razzle dazzle with lots of sashaying with style, as Bruno later made note of.
'Lively, slick and with attitude and you gave a lot of those things,' Darcey told Sophie. Lee disagreed saying he felt that Sophie didn't get into the dance at all. 'It's a little bit brittle throughout,' he said. Their combined score was a still rather good 30.
It#s murder on the dancefloor! Sophie Ellis-Bextor kills it on Strictly Come Dancing with her usual razzle dazzle
The show finished with a bang with the next couple to be voted off the show decided on the Results Show on Sunday night. Next week Strictly Come Dancing promises a special Halloween show.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-2477566/Double-trouble-Strictly-Come-Dancings-Abbey-Clancy-Natalie-Gumede-tie-highest-judges-scores-35.html#ixzz2irVqUenh
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