I'm a celebrity, Ghadami outta here

Week 11: Top 6 Results (Musicals Week) - 3 December 2017

We open with the promised Dreamgirls number, as the current (I assume?) West End cast perform 'One Night Only' while Janette rumbas mournfully in front of the camera and Gorka comes along and picks her up while wearing some exceptionally high-waisted trousers. As the song discofies, it erupts into a full scale production number featuring all the pros similarly attired, and in my role as impartial observer of the facts I should just state that those trousers definitely highlight the male pros' asses. It then transitions into 'Listen', as Anton and Amy and Brendan and Nadiya get their own showcase spots, before eventually being joined by the other pros. I'm very pleased that the choreography between Effie and Deena here also requires them to hold hands from across the divide as a sparkler curtain goes off above them, directly replicating Alexandra and Beyoncé in The X Factor final 2008. Then we go into 'Dreamgirls' as everything just kind of goes off everywhere and it's all a bit hard to see what's going on. Exciting though, innit?

Tess and Claudia return, with Claudia now in a red dress with star-and-moon patterns on it, and Tess in another asymmetric monochrome number, with a strange white diagonal stripe across the front that makes it looks like she rode her bike to the studio and forgot to take off her reflective gear. The judges vamp in again, and Darcey is wearing some seriously vertiginous heels, though I suppose when you've been a professional ballet dancer for as many years as she was, you're probably fairly used to cutting off all the blood flow through your ankle anyway.

Let's have another walk through of last night, shall we? Kevin is our initial guide backstage, and I imagine it must have been quite strange for him not to be professionally competing on the show for the first time ever this week. Davood tells us that this is a big week, and Debbie says that every single number has the wow factor. Mollie tells us that she likes how they all have a character to embody this evening, and Joe says he's planning to channel the Emcee. Gemma says it feels like they're all in a West End show, and Alexandra says they have to just have the best time out there because nobody knows how it's going to go this week. Janette says that Musicals Week is her favourite week, and then we're into the recap of the show itself. In terms of additional backstage info, Joe is relieved that they thought his acting was good, Ed Balls thinks Katya's choreography "is always genius" (I beg to differ), Mollie and AJ both insist that the other is the most hard-working person in the world, and Aljaž thanks Gemma for a lovely quickstep. Davood is gutted he didn't do a better Argentine tango, Gorka says that the three 10s were for Alexandra and the nine was for him, and Giovanni meows a lot at Debbie.

The cue cards of doom are out, and the numbers are thinning so we're only going to get two people named safe in this spot. Those people are Debbie and Giovanni, and Joe and Katya. The first couple in the dance-off is...Davood and Nadiya. As they walk over, Tess tells them that nobody ever wants to be stood there next to her [but maybe not for the reasons she thinks they don't want to stand next to her - I suspect it's mostly a case of 'back off Daly' - Rad], and that certainly doesn't get any less true with time. Davood says he expected it, considering where he was on the table, but it's a great dance to do again. Shirley advises Davood to hold his core and not fidget on his feet, and that should help him with his balance this time around.

There's just a small celebratory crowd in the Clauditorium, but they're pleased enough for a cast of 20. Giovanni says that he and Debbie are thrilled to be here, and Debbie says that to be through to the semi-finals feels incredible. Claudia asks how they feel about having to do two dances - the jive and the foxtrot specifically - and Giovanni says they'll work on them together but the jive's his favourite so they'll probably make a start on that one first. Joe tells Claudia that he'd rather do a heart surgery and a brain surgery scene on Holby City rather than two dances next week because you get another go if you mess it up, and it's not actually live. Claudia congratulates Katya on making the semi-final for the first time (in her... two years on the show), and Katya says she thinks the level of Joe's progress over the course of the show will help them in the semi-final. [And the lack of other male competitors, plus his evasion of the 'ringer' label that's dogged Alex and Debbie - Rad]

Next up, our West End leading ladies - that's Amber Riley, Beverley Knight and Cassidy Janson - singing 'I'm Every Woman'. Obviously I'm thrilled to see these three very talented ladies in a supergroup, but seeing Cassidy Janson just reminds me of how absolutely stunned I was by her rendition of 'Getting Married Today' when she was in Company at the Southwark Playhouse, and I kind of wish she'd just do that instead, though of course I appreciate it's not exactly the sort of thing that goes down well on BBC1 primetime. [Also, standing ovation for Beverley Knight's voluminous hair - Rad] Kevin and Karen get to be the featured dancers for the first bit, and then AJ and Chloe tag them out halfway through. Sidebar: I know it's a classic and iconic song etc, but am I the only one who doesn't particularly enjoy the last minute or so of 'I'm Every Woman' when it just becomes a load of shouting, regardless of who's singing it?

Next we're with the judges for the dance debrief, and Shirley and Darcey are so close you couldn't slide a chopstick between them, which gladdens my heart. Shirley gets another look at Debbie's splendid dismount from the look-ma-no-hands lift, while Darcey reviews Gemma's quickstep so we can see her upper body bouncing around when it isn't supposed to be. Craig is asked why Alexandra didn't get a 10 from him, and he says that she wasn't always in synchronisation with the others and her barrel turn was shit. Come on Alex, just press Z or R twice, even I can do that. Bruno wants to talk about Joe's vivid characterisation and how it didn't overshadow the samba content, and says "it's not cheating" in such specific terms that it makes me hmmm quite loudly. Finally, we're shown the moment just before they went live, when Ed Balls did 'Gangnam Style' with Tess and Claudia and *fast-forwards*

Who's joining Davood in the dance-off? Well, not Mollie, who absolutely screams the place down when Tess announces that she and AJ are through to next week. That leaves just Alexandra and Gorka and Gemma and Aljaž waiting for the news, and you can kind of see it on Alexandra and Gorka's faces already that if they've been left this late, it probably isn't good news. Gorka pops over and gives Aljaž a tap for good luck, which is sweet. Sure enough, it's Alexandra and Gorka in the dance-off again, and the look on Alexandra's face here is heartbreaking - it's one thing to have slipped into the bottom two when you were mid-table on the leaderboard, but it's quite another to be down there again the very next week, when you were joint-top of the judges' leaderboard, in what was supposed to be your big comeback - mathematically it means she was either last, or second-to-last in the public vote, and that has to be hard to take. Even Gemma and Aljaž look more guilty than pleased to have survived.

Alexandra paints on the best smile that she can and walks over to Tess. She says "we're gutted", and then giggles to Gorka that she hopes she can say that on his behalf. Given how pissed off Gorka looks, I think you're fine on that one, hon. She says they're going to try their best again, and that's what matters. Craig says he cannot believe that she's in the dance-off again, it's crazy (probably not helping, babes) and he wants her to go out there to dance for her life and dance for her mum and oh my god Craig stop trying to be helpful, you are really bad at this. Alexandra gets overcome once again at the mention of her mum, as well she might. Gorka is staring at the floor, possibly thinking "I can't believe I wore this fucking ugly jacket for nothing, from now on it's TITS OUT ALL THE WAY".

Back to the Clauditorium, and Gemma says that she'd said to Aljaž they needed to go over the routine again before the results show because she was convinced they would be in the dance-off. She's thrilled that people have voted to keep her in. Mollie can't believe she's a semi-finalist, and Claudia reveals that Mollie has trained over 300 hours so far. Mollie thanks everyone who voted for her, and AJ says that her dedication is outstanding because she's willing to train for 300 hours. Claudia: "And only half that time is spent kissing." I don't think I've been less convinced by a showmance since that time we were supposed to believe Alesha Dixon might be having secret dates with Matthew Cutler.

After the It Takes Two trailer, it's time for the dance-off. Davood says that it could be their last chance (lol "could"), so he's just going to go out and give it his all. He goes to get ready, and Alexandra says that doing this show has brought her great happiness, and she loves Davood to pieces and she just wants them both to have fun.

Davood reprises his Argentine tango and it looks even more like the funky chicken in the opening than it did the last time - Vincent Simone, I love the vast majority of your choreography but we seriously need to talk about that bit. Davood does his best throughout but it's about the same standard it was before [I thought it was a bit worse but it's not like it was going to matter - Rad], and it's not really like there was any way he was going to best Alexandra in this dance-off unless both of Alex's legs spontaneously fell off during the barrel turn this time around - and even then I suspect she might still have just edged it. Alexandra and Gorka reprise their routine and again, it suffers from a lot of the same problems as the first time - a little laboured, not always in sync, that damn barrel turn - but she's obviously streets ahead of Davood either way.

The judges agree, and don't particularly dilly-dally about it, unanimously saving Alexandra and Gorka and putting them through to the semi-finals. (Well, Darcey saves "Alexander and Gorka", but I assume that still counts.) Tess tells Davood that she won't ever forget the bum lift or him being James Bond on a parachute, and I'm so pleased she remembers so much of his actual dancing. I mean, I know there weren't that many standout moments but his American smooth was genuinely good and there was more to it than just a bum lift. Davood's cool about his exit, saying he never expected to get this far anyway, and it's been lovely to meet everyone here. He does seem to be an absolute sweetheart, bless him. He says he's going spend the next couple of weeks at home dancing with his daughters instead, and thanks Nadiya for doing such a great job in her first year on the show. Nadiya says she was a lucky girl to have him as her partner, and it was a privilege to be part of his incredible journey. She's very proud of him.

Davood and Nadiya do their final dance to 'So Long, Farewell' from The Sound Of Music - Davood attempts the bum-lift again but something goes fairly seriously wrong with it this time and Nadiya comes crashing back down to earth rather sooner than anticipated. He catches her, luckily. Over the credits, Alexandra says that dancing off against anyone would've been hard, but being up against Davood was really difficult because he was so lovely and supportive. Debbie and Giovanni and Joe and Katya reflect on the hard work ahead for two-dance week, Mollie squeals that she's "got chills, they're multiplying" (<3) and Gemma and Aljaž race out to get practising.

And that's it for another weekend! Join Rad next week for what is apparently the final elimination before we crown the winner...