Well well well! What a difference a week makes. Many couples struggled to find chemistry with their new partners this week, leading to some major shake ups in the top 8 handicapping.

1. Jakob. No surprise that he totally rocked this week — if anything, he was even better with Ellenore than Ashleigh. Jakob is an amazing dancer, and yet seems to lack the arrogance of Season 3 Danny and the blandness of Season 5 Brandon. Could this be the rare season when the actual best dancer takes the trophy? The screaming girls in the front row say, “YES.”

2. Russell. Second only to Jakob in girl-screams, Russell confirmed his status with the fans and the judges this week. I have to admit I really liked him a lot with Mollee, and felt they had by far the best chemistry of any of the new couples. I totally agree with Nigel — had they been paired from the start, it could have made a big difference to both of them. As it is, his solos are fantastic, the people love him, and he’s a sweetie pie — a recipe for triumph.

3. Ellenore. How silly of me to think the people did not love her as I love her! She was great this week with Jakob. Since she’s unlikely to be paired with Ryan again, she’ll be with either Russell or Legacy this week — both good omens for her status.

4. Legacy. I still think the people love Legacy…but it certainly was a shock to see him standing with Nathan in contention for one of the bottom two slots. Perhaps that jolt will motivate the voting public to support him. Perhaps he’ll be just like Season 3 Dominic — super popular, but going out in fifth/sixth spot, just shy of the top four (as do all my favourite dancers, it seems). In any case, he was not that great this week, although I didn’t really like his choreographers, so next week I think he has a good chance of rebounding.

5. Mollee. Mollee really did what she needed to do this week — break free of her cutsy-cutsy partnership with Nathan and do some serious dancing with a serious partner. She’s still on probation but her quick bump to safety on results show night does bode well for her, if she can keep the good dancing coming.

6. Ashleigh. Again, some love her, some hate her, but DAMN, what a good back story. I totally skipped over most of the backstory montages (snooze!) but I was glued to the screen for any news of Ashleigh’s history. At last, some juicy info about her “illness” and a whole “triumph over adversity” story that brings a tear to the eye. She could really work it if she dances well and gives some warmer interviews.

7. Kathryn. Oh, how it saddens me to see Kathryn down here. Love her, love her dancing, but being paired with Nathan did her no favours. Let’s hope she pulls Jakob this week and really blows our socks off, or — oh dear, I don’t even like to think about it. In fact, let’s analyse the remaining couples:

Jakob must be with Kathryn or Mollee (to avoid past partnerships)
Russell must be with anyone but Mollee
Legacy must be with Ellenore or Mollee
Ryan must be with anyone but Ellenore, and I don’t think they will put him with Ashleigh, more because they are the same style than because they are husband and wife.

So I’m going to predict:
Jakob with Kathryn (only because I really HOPE for this matchup)
Russell with Ashleigh
Legacy with Ellenore
Ryan with Mollee (warning: MISMATCH.)

Hm. I am absolutely terrible at predicting the couples like this, and looking this list over, I have to admit, poor Kathryn will probably be put with Ryan, in order to avoid the dreadful horror of the Ryan/Mollee pairing. (Don’t let the “pull names out of a hat” garbage fool you. There’s a very small subset of names in that hat available to be pulled, I know it.)

8. Ryan. Definitely the weakest man left, and likely the least popular — he’s a sure bet to go home this week unless he really pulls a rabbit out of a hat.

In other news, did you see The Legion of Extraordinary Dancers on the results show last week? That was so awesome, I’m going to have to get all street on you and say it was SICK. My love knows no bounds. You want to go to there!