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By JODY THOMPSON
Stepping out: Pamela Stephenson and James Jordan start their perfect Quickstep routine on Strictly's second semi-final showPamela Stephenson did an astonishing double tonight by scoring straight 10s on Strictly for the second week in a row.
After straight 10s last week for their elegant waltz, this week, Pamela and her dance partner James Jordan landed perfect marks again for their Quickstep.
Even Craig Revel Horwood didn't have a bad word about the comedienne-turned-psychologist's performance, saying simply: 'One word, three syllables, starts with "f". Fab-u-lous!'
Faultless: Craig Revel Horwood declared their performance simply 'fabulous'Pamela, 61, and James, 32, took to the floor wearing matching top hat and tails and brandishing canes.
But soon into the routine, she threw off her hat, flung away her cane and removed her jacket to reveal a sequin leotard with a pink skirt.
Flying around the floor to the strains of Irving Berlin's classic Stepping Out With My Baby, Pamela's faultless efforts also earned her a standing ovations from the audience - including her husband Billy Connolly.
Straight 10s: Pamela and James were delighted when they swept the board with the judges' marks
In a chorus of praise from the judges, Len Goodman said 'You are a class act and that was brilliant' while Alesha Dixon gushed 'I just want to say you're an inspiration for so many women and for me, that makes you a winner.'
A grinning Bruno Tonioli added: 'The Broadway babe! It was a beautiful correct quickstep, pure cinematic joy.'
Chemistry: Kara Tointon and her dance partner Artem Chigvintsev were nearly perfect in their raunchy rhumba
Sensual: Kara gets lost in emotion before the judges in her smouldering RhumbaKara Tointon, 27, meanwhile replicated her success in last night's live show - the first of three Strictly semi shows over the weekend - with a near-perfect score of 39 for her Rhumba.
The dance sizzled with chemistry between the former EastEnders star and her dance partner Artem Chigvintsev, 28.
Unusually dancing to an instrumental, the pair showed off the sizzling chemistry that has led to speculation about their relationship off screen.
Emotional: Kara and Artem seemed almost oblivious to the fact they were being watched by an estimated audience of 14 millionLanding another standing ovation from the audience, Alesha said the dance had been 'mesmerising.'
She added: 'It was pure magic, I really loved it.'
Bruno meanwhile gushed: 'That was ravishing darling, you are a goddess of love. The quality of your dancing is of a standard that's professional. This was brilliant' and Len agreed, saying: Len: 'You're not supposed to dance that well! It was knockout, well done!'
But typically, there was a note of caution from Craig, who said: 'Almost perfect. If you hadn't put that lift in, I may have dusted off my 10.'
The pair remained on the top of the leaderboard, ahead of Pamela and James.
Elsewhere, Matt Baker landed a score of 38, Gavin Henson managed 38, Scott Maslen 35 and Gavin Henson getting the fewest votes again with 31.
The two couples with the lowest totalled points out of the five pairs remaining will leave in a double elimination Sunday night ahead of next weekend's final.
Current EastEnder's star Scott Maslen, 40, was first to dance on the show, taking to the floor in a sailor's outfit accompanied by dance partner Natalie Lowe, 30.
Crest of a wave: Scott Maslen and Natalie Lowe landed a high score for their chirpy Charleston
Hello sailor: Scott and Natalie finished the show in the middle of the leader board
Dancing the Charleston, the pair bounced around the floor to Cole Porter's Anything Goes.
They landed a high-marking thumbs-up from the judges - with a few quibbles.
Len was positive, saying: 'It was such good fun and high energy, well done', as was the ever-chirpy Alesha, who grinned: 'That was good old fashioned entertainment and it was nice to see the goofy side of you coming out, Scott!'
Meanwhile, Bruno quipped: 'After seven months at sea, you found the flapper and you were ready for action! It's all about entertainment, exuberance and comedy and you did that very well.'
Predictably, Craig had some criticisms, however. He chided: 'The opening sequence was a little bit nebulous and you overbalanced on the dip. But overall, I thought the whole thing was rather cute and quirky and I rather enjoyed it.'
Red hot: Matt Baker and Aliona Vilani ignited the floor with Latin passion in their TangoNext up with Countryfile and One Show presenter Matt Baker, 32, who was hoping to make amends for his worst-ever score of just 28 out of 40 on the semi final opening night.
Dancing the Tango with partner Aliona Vilani, 26, he said in the rehearsal video shown before their routine: 'Every single part of my being is committed to winning this thing' - and his determination and passion shone through.
Dancing to Madonna's Hung Up in a gangster-style pinstriped suit, he landed yet another standing ovation from the audience.
It takes two: The pair more than made up for their disappointing scores in the first semi final showBruno enthused afterwards: 'Strong, powerful with a hint of arrogance - you were like a South American dictator! This dance suits you, you've done very very well.'
Craig was impressed too, though he said he felt the lifts were unnecessary. But he added: 'I thought you danced that with military precision. Wonderful.'
Len however couldn't find fault. He said: 'Tonight, you were cooking on gas! You have come out on fire, I loved it. Great job, fabulous.''
Alesha added: 'Powerful, driven, determined, you did take a beating last night, Matt, but you've come out and proved you deserve to be in the final.'
An out-of-breath and sweaty Matt said afterwards: 'It's been a difficult day to keep my head focused. I'm just so happy to have got through it not to have messed up.'
However, there was loud booing from the audience when the judges gave their marks and Craig and Bruno failed to give him top marks and awarded him nine points each.
Graceful: Gavin Henson, with partner Katya Virshilas, landed praise from Len for the footwork in his Viennese WaltzNext up was was rugby player Gavin Henson, 28, who was looking very smart in white tie and tails, to dance the Viennese Waltz with partner Katya Virshilas, 27.
Floating around the floor to Robbie Williams's You Know Me, Craig slated Gavin afterwards for being out of time.
Len vehemently disagreed and said that actually, Gavin was his 'hero'.
Smooth: Gavin was praised for his improvement week by week on the showThe head judge insisted: 'Good footwork, you had it, good posture, you had it. You lost a bit of musicality but overall it was very good. You have been the underdog over and over, you are my hero, you come back strong week after week.'
Bruno concurred, saying: 'Very elegant very smooth, yes there were little issues but you should be proud, you've done very well tonight.'
Fighting spirit: The rugby star was also praised for taking knocks but coming back stronger every weekThe discrepancy between Craig and Len was displayed in their marking - with Craig giving Gavin six and Len nine.
It meant Gavin was firmly cemented at the bottom of the leader board following the departure of its permanent fixture, Anne Widdcombe, last week.
Take That meanwhile closed the show with a live performance of their recent hit single The Flood - before Robbie Williams raced away from the studio to perform She's The One on The X Factor live final with One Direction.
Sunday's Strictly results show, when this year's finalists are revealed, is on BBC1 at 7pm.
source: dailymail
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