Dancing With the Stars seaon 7 week 10: the grand finale

It’s finally here- the star-studded conclusion to the most sequinned series on prime time TV. Three celebrities must battle it out in a samba smackdown and a freestyle showdance, but before that, they decided to revisit their favourite ballroom and Latin dances from the series, complete with clips to remind us of why their dancefloor antics ensure they deserve the crown.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 9

In what feels like the blink of an eye, we’ve come to semi-final week- the last leg on an intense road to getting a shot at that mirror-ball trophy. Who could pull it out of the bag, and who would be forced to hang up their shoes just one week short of the grand finale?

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 8

The competition steps up a notch this week with everyone having to perform both a ballroom and a Latin dance- with a solo section in the Latin! Who would thrive under the pressure, and who would crack under the strain?

Ballroom round

• Cody & Edyta (foxtrot): After a shaky switchover to a new partner last week, Cody pulled it back together with his foxtrot, delivering a smooth and elegant that proved he wasn’t ready to back down just yet.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 7

This has been a season of firsts, and this week was no exception. As well as seeing Edyta replaced Julianne as Cody’s partner whilst the lovely Ms Hough recovers from surgery, our remaining six couples all have to compete in a team dance- three couples doing paso, three doing cha cha, for extra marks to add to their individual scores.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 6

Grumpy, jet-lagged Len was certainly in need of a break, but when the powers that be decided to bring in Michael Flatley as a guest judge for this week, you can’t help wishing he’d made the effort to stay on.

SEVEN!

• Maurice & Cheryl (Viennese waltz): Given that Maurice hasn’t done a ballroom dance since week one, anything he did here could only be an improvement on that, and indeed the steps were there, and at times the routine came together

Dancing With the Stars season seven week 5

Dancing With the Stars introduced four new dances this week- the hustle, the jitterbug, the salsa and the West Coast Swing. For a ten dance purist like myself, stretching to salsa and Argentine tango was one thing, but is this a step too far? Let’s see how the celebs fare with these new challenges.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 4

With Misty withdrawing due to injury last week, all of the votes and judges’ scores have been carried over to this round- but this time around no one can escape the possibility of elimination.

Samba vs. tango: A carnival in Rio or a night with a gaucho

• Maurice & Cheryl (samba): After last week’s jive, Maurice seemed to be on the road to improvement, but I found this samba rather disappointing- he may have got the fun element in place, but the technique was generally lacking. It may have been due to the choreography, but Maurice just didn’t seem to be doing much, or doing it all that well.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 3

Bad news this week- whilst practising the Friday before the show, Misty-May Treanor ruptured her Achilles tendon and is therefore out of the competition. Here’s wishing her a speedy recovery.

From Austria to America: jive vs. Viennese waltz

• Susan & Tony (jive): It may have been because she’d suffered an ankle injury earlier in the day, but Susan didn’t quite give it her all in this jive- the kicks and flicks were very good, but for the more basic steps the footwork wasn’t up to par. I was left with mixed feelings overall.

Dancing With the Stars season 7 week 2

Apologies for being so behind, what with everything else going it’s been an effort just to get access to these episodes, let alone watch them. Still, we’re vaguely back on track now, and this week saw a Latin double-whammy, with stars performing either the slow and sensual rumba or the intense paso doble.

Dancing With the Stars season seven week 1

Thirteen new stars, three new pros, two dances in the first week- if there’s one thing DWTS knows how to do, it’s big it up. But who would be big in the ballroom, and who would just be too big for their dancing shoes?