Series 7

## Series Chronology

Series 7 of *Strictly* commenced on 18th September 2009. 16 celebrities competed in the series.

Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly returned as presenters, with Claudia Winkleman returning to present *It Takes Two*.

Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli and Craig Revel Horwood returned as judges, joined by Series 5 Champion, Alesha Dixon, who replaced Arlene Phillips. Darcey Bussell joined as a guest judge from the Quarter-Final onwards.

Camilla Dallerup, Karen Hardy and Hayley Holt left the professional lineup ahead of the series, and were replaced by Aliona Vilani, Katya Virshilas and Natalie Lowe.

The series was won by sports presenter Chris Hollins and his partner, Ola Jordan.

## Couples

The official celebrity lineup was revealed on 25th August 2009.

## Dances

The Charleston and Rock 'n' Roll were introduced as new dance routine styles, which the celebrities performed during the series.

## Scoring Chart

*Red numbers*  indicate the couples with the lowest score for each week.
Green numbers  indicate the couples with the highest score for each week.
"-" indicates the couple(s) that did not dance that week.
     indicates the couple that was eliminated that week.
     indicates the couple who was in the bottom two but was not eliminated.
     indicates the couple withdrew from the competition that week.
     indicates the winning couple.
     indicates the runner-up couple.
     indicates the third place couple.
* *From Weeks 12-14, the couples were scored on a 50-point scale.*

### Average chart

*This table only counts dances scored on a 40-point scale (in which scores from the group Viennese waltz in Week 11 are not included). The scores from Weeks 12-14 were weighted to work on the same scale.*

## Dance Scoring

* The highest and lowest performances for each dance, according to the judges' scores:

### Couples' Highest and Lowest Scoring Dances

*The highest and lowest performances of each couple during the series.*

## Weekly Scores

*Unless indicated otherwise, individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Craig Revel Horwood, Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli.*

*In Weeks 1-2, the celebrities were split into two groups of eight, each performing one routine of Ballroom and Latin dance.*

### Week 1

Group 1: Ali, Chris, Jade, Joe, Lynda, Martina, Rav and Ricky G.

* Group Dance: Merengue (performed by Celebrity Group 2)
* *Featuring musical guest Katherine Jenkins, with a performance of her song, "I Believe"*

**Night 1 - Ballroom**

**Night 2 - Latin**

**Dance Off:** Rav & Aliona, Martina & Matthew

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Martina & Matthew
* Dixon: Martina & Matthew
* Tonioli: Rav & Aliona
* Goodman: Rav & Aliona

**Eliminated Couple:** Martina & Matthew

### Week 2

Group 2: Craig, Jo, Laila, Natalie, Phil, Richard, Ricky W. and Zöe.

* Group Dance: Merengue (performed by Celebrity Group 1)
* *Featuring musical guest Jamie Cullum, with a performance of his song, "I'm All Over It"*

**Night 1 - Ballroom**

**Night 2 - Latin**

**Dance Off:** Craig & Flavia, Richard & Lilia

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Craig & Flavia
* Dixon: Craig & Flavia
* Tonioli: Craig & Flavia
* Goodman: *did not vote, but would have saved Richard & Lilia*

**Eliminated Couple:** Richard & Lilia

### Week 3

* *Featuring musical guest Andy Williams, with his cover of "Moon River"*

**Dance Off:** Lynda & Darren, Rav & Aliona

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Lynda & Darren
* Dixon: Lynda & Darren
* Tonioli: Lynda & Darren
* Goodman: *did not vote, but would have saved Lynda & Darren*

**Eliminated Couple:** Rav & Aliona

### Week 4

* The celebrities performed either the Foxtrot or the Salsa for their routine.
* *Featuring musical guest Dionne Bromfield, with her cover of "Mama Said", accompanied by Amy Winehouse*

**Dance Off:** Lynda & Darren, Craig & Flavia

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Lynda & Darren
* Dixon: Lynda & Darren
* Tonioli: Craig & Flavia
* Goodman: Craig & Flavia

**Eliminated Couple:** Lynda & Darren

### Week 5

* The celebrities performed either the Jive or the Viennese Waltz for their routine.
* *Featuring musical guest band, Spandau Ballet, with their hit song, "Gold"*

**Dance Off:** Zöe & James, Joe & Kristina

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Zöe & James
* Dixon: Zöe & James
* Tonioli: Zöe & James
* Goodman: *did not vote but would have saved Zöe & James*

**Eliminated Couple:** Joe & Kristina

### Week 6

* The celebrities performed either the Samba or the American Smooth for their routine.
* *Featuring musical guest, Harry Connick Jr., with a performance of his song, "The Way You Look Tonight"*

**Dance Off:** Jade & Ian, Jo & Brendan

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Jade & Ian
* Dixon: Jade & Ian
* Tonioli: Jade & Ian
* Goodman: *did not vote but would have saved Jade & Ian*

**Eliminated Couple:** Jo & Brendan

### Week 7

* *Featuring musical guest band, the Bee Gees, with a performance of their song, "You Should Be Dancing"*

**Dance Off:** Ali & Brian, Zöe & James

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Ali & Brian
* Dixon: Zöe & James
* Tonioli: Ali & Brian
* Goodman: Ali & Brian

**Eliminated Couple:** Zöe & James

### Week 8: Blackpool Week

* This week's episode was broadcast from the Tower Ballroom in Blackpool.
* *Featuring musical guest, Rod Stewart, with a performance of his cover of "It's the Same Old Song"*

**Dance Off:** Ricky G. & Erin, Craig & Flavia

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Ricky G. & Erin
* Dixon: Ricky G. & Erin
* Tonioli: Ricky G. & Erin
* Goodman: *did not vote but would have saved Ricky G. & Erin.*

**Eliminated Couple:** Craig & Flavia

### Week 9

* *Featuring a special performance of "Beggin'" by the Cast of Jersey Boys*.
* Ronnie Corbett stepped in as guest host for Forsyth, who was unwell this week.
* Jade did not perform due to an injury in rehearsal, and Laila performed only half of her routine due to a minor injury backstage.

**Dance Off:** Phil & Katya, Ricky G. & Erin

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Ricky G. & Erin
* Dixon: Phil & Katya
* Tonioli: Phil & Katya
* Goodman: Ricky G. & Erin

**Eliminated Couple:** Phil & Katya

### Week 10

* *Featuring musical guest, Dame Shirley Bassey, with a performance of her song, "This Time"*
* Jade & Ian withdrew from the competition, as her knee injury had not recovered.

**Dance Off:** Laila & Anton, Ricky G. & Erin

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Laila & Anton
* Dixon: Laila & Anton
* Tonioli: Laila & Anton
* Goodman: *did not vote, but would have saved Laila & Anton.*

**Eliminated Couple:** Ricky G. & Erin

### Week 11

* *Featuring musical guests, James Morrison and Nelly Furtado, with a performance of their song, "Broken Strings"*

**Dance Off:** Ricky & Natalie, Natalie & Vincent

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Ricky & Natalie
* Dixon: Ricky & Natalie
* Tonioli: Ricky & Natalie
* Goodman: *did not vote, but would have saved Ricky & Natalie.*

**Eliminated Couple:** Natalie & Vincent

### Week 12: Quarter-Final

* *Featuring musical guest, Bette Midler, with a performance of the song, "The Rose"*

*Individual judges scores in the charts below (given in parentheses) are listed in this order from left to right: Craig Revel Horwood, Darcey Bussell, Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Bruno Tonioli.*

**Dance Off:** Laila & Anton, Ricky W. & Natalie

*Judges' votes to save: (in event of tie, Goodman, as Head Judge, has deciding vote)*

* Horwood: Ricky & Natalie
* Bussell: Ricky & Natalie
* Dixon: Ricky & Natalie
* Tonioli: *did not vote, but would have saved Ricky & Natalie.*
* Goodman: *did not vote, but would have saved Ricky & Natalie.*

**Eliminated Couple:** Laila & Anton

### Week 13: Semi-Final

* *Featuring musical guest, Lily Allen, with a performance of her song, "Not Fair"*
* The couples performed a dance choice by the Judges and the Argentine Tango

**Eliminated Couple:** Ali & Brian

### Week 14: The Final

* The finalists performed four dances: their highest-scoring Ballroom, a Group Lindy Hop, their highest-scoring Latin and their Showdance.
* Featured a special musical performance of "Something's Gotta Give" by Alesha Dixon and Bruce Forsyth.

**Final Part 1**

 Chris & Ola
 Chris & Ola
 Ricky W. & Natalie

**Final Part 2**

 Ricky W. & Natalie
 49(10,9,10,10,10)

**Strictly Champions**: Chris & Ola