The battle to become Britain’s favourite dancer continues, as Cat Deeley (in a funky bright yellow dress) welcomes us back to So You Think You Can Dance.

And our top 10 dancers come on stage – I love this bit where everybody comes on and busts a few moves while they’re being introduced! Cat really shouldn’t try and dance among the competitors though, hasn’t she learned anything from the example of Tess Daly?

First up is a group dance from the girls, to my favourite Pussycat Dolls song, Jai Ho! How good is it to have such a sexy routine straight off? I’m sure its got flaws here and there, but I’ll rely on the judges to tell me what they were!

Important! Cat warns us that the voting numbers have changed, so they’re not the same as last week’s contestants. Don’t make the mistake of redialling last week’s numbers!

Lizzie and Drew

New dance couple Lizzie and Drew go out on a ‘date’ to get to know each other better. And this week, they’re dancing disco coached by Karen Bruce who warns that she’s “broken many shy girls” and is gonna make Lizzie a sex kitten tonight!

They start the routine on two giant silver blocks, Drew wearing a black outfit and Lizzie wearing a sexy gold bra and hotpants combination. The routine is red hot, readers. They’re working well together and the two have bags of attitude. Nigel: I guess you stopped being a child when you put that outfit on! It’s like something Arlene and I would have done in Studio 54 in New York. You got the feel of it, you got the whole funk, it was very Saturday Night Fever. Arlene: Disco is like a heartbeat. Drew, you embraced every style. Sometimes you work a little too hard, but a little more at the gym might not go amiss. Louise: I’m loving confident Lizzie. That routine was tough because there were a lot of difficult lifts in there. You danced impeccably together. Sisqo: Karen gave you mission impossible and you did an amazing job. Lizzie, this shows how versatile you are.

Solo routines

Charlie does a solo routine, and shows just how flexible she can be in a very short routine. Fun stuff! Robbie – one of my favourite dancers in this series – shows an amazingly lithe performance. That guy has amazing control over his body. Are you guys voting for Robbie?

Mandy and Mark

Mandy and Mark are teamed up for an interpretive dance to Maria McKee’s Show Me Heaven. I always find these types of routines quite weird and a bit artsy – dance boffins correct me in the comments please! I just find it hard to appreciate, but I’m sure it was good. Nigel: I think there was a certain lack of chemistry. Mark, if you stay in the competition I want your friends and family to say to you “Mark, point your feet, son!” You must think about your extremities. Mandy, you did. Your toes are wonderful and you’re a brilliant dancer. Arlene: I didn’t care about your toes. Contemporary dance is more about just doing sets and to find a way of telling a story. Mark – as the song says, you left me breathless, you gave in to the song. Louise: This is a hard week for you Mark – from hip-hop to contemporary are worlds apart. Mandy, this was your style and I don’t think it was your strongest performance. Sisqo: Mandy – don’t listen to them. You were in your element. You did brilliantly. Now Mark, it’s obvious this is not your world, but your extensions were poor, you had crow hands all the way.

Solo routines

Another solo routine from Hayley, and she rivals Robbie for a fantastic, gymnastic performance and some feats of bodily dexterity that impressed me. Alastair is next – shirt off for the ladies – and doing a flowing, graceful ballet routine. A short but stunning number. The guys are amazing!

Janet and Tommy

Gorgeous Janet is next with martial arts fanatic Tommy. Janet is in her element with a Salsa routine, but takes Tommy to a Salsa class for extra practise. A lively routine is the result, with Tommy slipping effortlessly under Janet’s legs at one point, and even drumming in time on Janet’s stomach! A fun routine and both dancers look like they’re enjoying themselves immensely.

Louise: Janet, Salsa is your thing, but Tommy you held your own. You gave it your own twist, your own style. Arlene: There’s a salsa explosion in this country and when you dance, you can see why. The partnership – who could have imagined that this hip-hop dancer and this cuban motion girl could have worked together. Nigel: She really is an alpha female. But for all that, she’s got a heart of gold. Tommy, you’ve got a great deal of warmth about you, and you’re growing every week. We’re watching you grab hold of these new genres and new styles.

Solo routines

Lizzie is next up with a solo routine, a gentle affair starting out like a music box puppet, and becoming a little more lively as it progresses. Cute. Drew comes back dressed in a silver suit with a musical theatre routine.

Hayley and Alastair

Ballet dancer Alastair gets hip-hop chosen for him this week, and it’s totally outside of his comfort zone. Hayley also feels out of her depth “It’s just like I’m doing gymnastics”. Their routine is a bit daring, they can’t actually see each other due to a blind partition down the middle of the stage for the first bit. Still they remain more or less in synch and come together in front for the remainder of the routine. As a layman, they cracked it in my opinion!

Sisqo: The claws are coming out. One thing I can’t stand  Hayley – that was a bad approach to the genre, you were complaining about it. Saying that, it was a good job. Alastair, very impressed. You gave it 110%. Arlene: That is body breaking stuff – you find out what you’ve got to do on a Sunday and in five days, she’s throwing herself into it. Nigel: I understand what Sisqo’s saying. They were worried about hip-hop. You can’t go into these routines with any worries. I think you did a really good job and Hayley had to do some quite hard men’s steps and on wheels!

Solo routines

Mandy impresses us with another acrobatic routine and a funky track. Mark comes along next with a short, but quirky performance.

Robbie and Charlie

Highlight of tonight’s show – Robbie’s local butcher spelling Vote Robbie in sausages! Fantastic! Probably the best reality TV support campaign I’ve evern seen! Well played butcher woman!

Their routine is incomprehensible to me – graceful as you might expect, but pretty imaginative at the same time. It was only after the judges explained what the story behind the dance was that I understood and could appreciate the dance properly. Nigel: Charlie, you’ve been asked to express all the emotions that a woman goes through and then the complete collapse into his arms. For someone as young as you to do that was a hell of an ask, and you did it brilliantly. The complete irony in all of this is that your choreographer had to rush back to New York because his mother has pancreatic cancer. Arlene: Robbie, I’ve seen you dance before but never pour your heart out onstage. But Charlie, I have to say, I was last of the judges that wanted you in this competition and thank goodness everybody fought me, because I never, ever dreamed that you had so much inside of you and so much to give. Louise: You brought me to tears, literally. Charlie, you went from being a 19 year old jazz dancer to a woman in my opinion.

Solo performances

Janet gives us a blast of Latin goodness. I’d like any dance she was in anyway, because she’s gorgeous, but it helps that she’s a fantastic and sexy dancer! Tommy is next with his solo performance, and energetic street dance to Madcon’s Beggin’. Fun stuff from Tommy – but the street and hip-hop stuff is so much more accessible to people like me!

Boy’s Group Performance

The guys are dancing to a routine from West Side Story, Gutter Cats vs The Jets. I’m less enthusiastic about this than about the girls’ group performance at the start of the show. Is it because the guys aren’t very convincing as a ruthless street gang? Maybe they should have had some tougher looking costumes to beef them up a bit…

Results

Stay tuned for the So You Think You Can Dance results later on tonight right here – I’ll update this post as the results come in!