Series 8

**Series 8** of Strictly Come Dancing aired on BBC One on October 2, 2010 to December 18, 2010. The series was presented by Bruce Forsyth and Tess Daly, with Claudia Winkleman and Daly presenting the results shows. The judging panel consisted of Len Goodman, Alesha Dixon, Craig Revel Horwood and Bruno Tonioli.

Kara Tointon and her professional partner Artem Chigvintsev were announced as the winners.

## Format

The couples dance each week in a live show. The judges score each performance out of ten. The couples are then ranked according to the judges' scores and given points according to their rank, with the lowest scored couple receiving one point, and the highest scored couple receiving the most points (the maximum number of points available depends on the number of couples remaining in the competition). The public are also invited to vote for their favourite couples, and the couples are ranked again according to the number of votes they receive, again receiving points; the couple with the fewest votes receiving one point, and the couple with the most votes receiving the most points.

The points for judges' score and public vote are then added together, and the two couples with the fewest points are placed in the bottom two. If two couples have equal points, the points from the public vote are given precedence. As with the previous series, the bottom two couples have to perform a dance-off on the results show. Based on that performance alone, each judge then votes on which couple should stay and which couple should leave, with Len Goodman, as head judge, having the last and deciding vote.

## 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.

### Week 1

#### Night 2

The musical guests this week were Robbie Williams and Gary Barlow performing "Shame".

### Week 2

The musical guest this week was Robbie Williams performing "Rock DJ".

### Week 3

The musical guest this week was Peter Andre performing "Defender".

Tina O'Brien was unable to perform due to illness but was granted a bye to the following week.

### Week 4

The musical guest this week was Neil Diamond performing "Midnight Train to Georgia".

Ian Waite filled in for Brendan Cole, who was attending his father's funeral.

### Week 5: Halloween Week

The musical guest this week was Alice Cooper performing "Poison".

### Week 6

The musical guest this week was Bryan Ferry performing "You Can Dance".

### Week 7

The musical guests this week were Annie Lennox performing "Universal Child" and Alesha Dixon performing "Radio".

### Week 8: Blackpool Week

The musical guests this week were the cast of Viva Elvis performing "Blue Suede Shoes" and Duffy performing "Well, Well, Well".

### Week 9

The musical guest this week was James Blunt performing "So Far Gone".

### Week 10: Quarterfinal (Movie Week)

The musical guest this week was Manic Street Preachers performing "Some Kind of Nothingness".

### Week 11: Semi-final

#### Night 2

The musical guests this week were Take That performing "The Flood" and "Back For Good", and Bruce Forsyth and Lance Ellington performing "The Three Little Bears".

### Week 12: Final

The musical guest this week was Paloma Faith performing "Upside Down".

#### Show 2

 37 (9,9,10,9)
 Kara and Artem
 37 (10,7,10,10)