Strictly Come Dancing 2019, week 9 Blackpool special live: Anton du Beke scores his first ever 10s but Kelvin Fletcher and Karim Zeroual tie at top

• Under the Strictly Glitterball with Michelle Visage: the former Madonna lookalike on how vogueing changed her life

• Strictly a case of foot-in-mouth: Motsi and Claudia stir the pot but why so many celebrity tears?

• Who will win Strictly Come Dancing 2019? Predict the winner

The annual seaside special saw spectacular routines but insane high-scoring.

Here are all the talking points and social media reaction from Saturday night's ninth live show...

Karim came within a whisker of perfect 40-point score

Ooh, Craig Revel Horwood, you big tease. The toughest-to-please judge's '10' paddle has yet to be spotted this series but when Karim Zeroual closed the show with a roof-raising Charleston, it looked for a moment that it might be time.

Karim's technicolour Toy Story-esque routine was fast, flat-out, full-on and packed with that crucial swivel. He'd disappointed last week with his Viennese waltz, getting weepy with frustration afterwards, but was determined to raise his game for the Tower Ballroom, where his pro partner Amy Dowden decided to become a professional dancer at the age of eight.

So he did. It was clean in execution, tight in timing and infectious fun. Everyone held their breath, then booed when Craig raised his nine paddle. His neighbour on the panel, Motsi Mabuse, cheekily held her '10' over it but sadly that doesn't count. Still, joint highest score of the series and joint top of the Blackpool leaderboard isn't to be sniffed at.

Kelvin's jailhouse jive rocked the judges

He hails from 60 miles down the road in Oldham, spend his childhood holidays here and had his grandmother in the crowd. Pro partner Oti Mabuse's mother was also in the Strictly audience for the first time. The stage was set for Kelvin Fletcher to leave Blackpool all shook up with his 'Jailhouse Rock' jive.

He duly delivered with a fast, flicky routine full of lip-curling rock'n'roll moves, sharp retraction, pumping knees and pleasing Elvis Presley tribute touches. Some seriously impressive flying press-ups, too.

In any other week, Kelvin would have been crowned The King but at the last gasp, Karim Zeroual joined him on 39 points. However, the Special Ks will surely be slugging it out for supremacy in the grand glitterball final in four weeks' time.

Anton du Beke was jubilant at his first ever 10s

“Seventeen years, I ask you. This must be how Kevin Clifton feels.” So said stalwart pro Anton du Beke when he finally notched a pair of perfect 10s in his 17th Strictly series.

In typical Tony Beak style, he slightly stole his partner's thunder but EastEnders actress Emma Barton deserves much credit too.  The couple's glossy, graceful American smooth had it all - top hats, tailcoats, glamorous feathered frocks, big band version of an Irving Berlin classic - and smooth foxtrot action, with Hollywood-style lifts for wow factor.

It left them third on the leaderboard with 37 points, surely safe for another week. More pressingly, I suspect it will be drinks on Anton in the hotel bar.

Seaside air went to over-scoring judges' heads

Kiss me quick, score me high. This episode frequently had the feel of a charity special or even the final, with the judging panel gushingly praising routines, rather than critiquing them. At times, it was only panto villain Craig Revel Horwood who seemed to be speaking any sense.

All seven couples scored here between 32 and 39 points which, Karim Zeroual and Kelvin Fletcher aside, was generous in the extreme.  Did Chris Ramsey's salsa really deserve two nines? Of course not. Did Emma Barton and Anton du Beke's American smooth deserve one maximum mark, let alone two? Nope.

With four weeks still remaining in the series, the judges need to leave themselves some room for improvement. We're still waiting for the first perfect 40, sure, but in the meantime, steady on with the eights and nines too.

Vogue-ing Visage looks in dance-off danger again

The Drag Race diva made a shock appearance in the bottom two last time out and looks at serious risk  for the second week running, after a Couple's Choice routine which was better in theory than it was on the Tower Ballroom floor.

With her heart set on paying tribute to her roots on the New York drag scene and gay club circuit, Michelle Visage had spent the week teaching her pro partner Giovanni Pernice for a change.

After an emotional VT about acceptance and diversity, their street/commercial routine to Madonna's 'Vogue' had a Marie Antoinette theme rather randomly bolted on.

It was sharp, stylish and super-sassy but far too static, all arm-ography and more about pose-striking than dancing. It duly got a muted reception, with the judges admiring the sentiment rather than the moves, leaving Michelle bottom of the scoreboard. She'd never been to Blackpool before but might be abut to suffer seaside heartbreak.

Saffron took slight dip but still finalist fodder

YouTuber Saffron Barker and her pro partner AJ Pritchard came to Blackpool as the in-form couple, having topped the leaderboard twice in the past four weeks. Somewhat surprisingly, 19-year-old Saffron has emerged as a ballroom girl, so their Great Gatsby-themed quickstep seemed built in a lab for Blackpool success.

It was jazzy, jaunty and huge flapper girl fun but a few steps were missed and her timing wasn't perfect. A score of 35 points was still very respectable indeed but left her mid-table, neither troubling the top nor in serious danger. It's still all to dance for but Saffron still looks on course to join Karim and Kelvin on the final.

Alex Scott and Chris Ramsey look at risk

Geordie joker Chris Ramsey came into this show as the bookies' favourite for elimination and didn't do much to defy those odds. The comedian's 'Uptown Funk' salsa was speedy, slick and colourful but resembled a wedding disco rather than a Cuban carnival.

Just one point above was the ever-improving Alex Scott, whose girl-powered paso doble was full of power-pouts, fiery attack and theatrical choreography but featured a couple of mistakes.

Could these two be fighting it out to face Michelle Visage in the dreaded dance-off? The results show airs at 7.15pm on Sunday, when one unlucky couple will ride off into the seaside sunset on a dancing donkey of doom.

There’s also music from Oirish boyband - or man band, nowadays - Westlife. Please join us back on the liveblog then. In the meantime, kiss me quick and keeeeeep dancing!

9:40PM

Blackpool action in full

Here’s your routine-by-routine, stick-of-rock-munching week nine recap…

8:19PM

Blackpool bonanza complete

The routines get rewound, the voting phonelines get plugged (they're only open for half an hour, people) and the credits roll.

That concludes tonight’s hot hoofing action. But who’s at risk of a salt-scented knockout? Please stay with us for analysis and social media reaction…

8:12PM

Karim and Amy’s Charleston

Karim Zeroual needs to bounce back after plummeting to third from bottom last week and getting tearful. He has a full-on and upbeat dance to do it. He also turned 26 on Thursday, so will be hoping to celebrate in style. Strange VT based on a grabber machine which is continued into the routine as he descends from the ceiling, then into a technicolour Charleston. Pocket rocket pace, loads of swivel and into the jazz splits. This really is a corking routine. Fizzy, jazzy, quirky, spot on sync in the side-by-side sections. Big lift to finish. A Toy Story romp of a routine. Showstopping.

Music: “Happy” by C2C featuring Derek Martin

Judges’ verdict: Craig says “clean, tight, precise, absolutely burr-ill-iant.” Motsi says “speechless, I'd give you more than a 10, killed it, I'm going to give you my hairpiec/happy/herpes”. Who knows? Shirley says “flawless, you looked like a professional, a star.” Bruno concludes “a young Gene Kelly, a history-making Strictly performance”. Could we be about to see the first perfect 40 of the series?

Judges' scores: 9 (Craig, you swine), 10, 10, 10 for a total of 39 points. Joint top of the seaside scoreboard with Kelvin.

8:01PM

Michelle and Giovanni’s Couple’s Choice

Last week’s dance-off survivors have promised something special for Blackpool and here it is: a street/commercial routine paying tribute to Michelle’s roots in the New York drag scene. She also won a Madonna lookalike competition aged 16, fact fans. The roles have reversed in training this week and she’s been teaching Gio the moves.

Marie Antoinette styling, she's wearing a bustle and wig. Fan-work and striking freeze-frame poses. Owning it. Regal lifts. Might be a little static for the judges but serious sass and attitude. Bringing all the ball culture realness but too much walking through it and lacked a big moment. Ooh and, if you will, la la.

Music: “Vogue” by Madonna

Judges’ verdict: Bruno says “the House Of Michelle rules, a great tribute to the mother of all divas.” Craig says “needed more definition but loved the high stylisation and sentiment.” Motsi says “so on-point, it's like watching a story with you, love the message, shantay you stay, girl.” Shirley concludes “you used the music to its fullest, a spectacle of armography, plenty of details”.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 8, 8 for a total of 32 points. Bottom of the leaderboard so far, Dance-off danger again.

7:56PM

Saffron and AJ’s quickstep

Last week’s leaderboard-toppers are keeping it ballroom for a Great Gatsby-themed routine which should suit the Tower Ballroom. It's set to Beverley Knight’s cover of the Noel Coward classic. Fast, upbeat and energetic Charleston-style start. Loads of content as they hop, skip and glide around the floor. Jazzy and bouncy on the balls of her feet.  Frothy, fantastic styling and huge Hollywood-ish fun, if a little too challenging at times.

Music: “Marvellous Party” by Beverley Knight

Judges’ verdict: Shirley says “put the quickity-quick in quickstep, shifted your weight well at high speed but there were one or two missed steps.” Bruno says “Cotton Club, Jazz Age spirit, a couple of not in-sync moments but overall brilliant.” Craig says “timing mishaps, elbow dragged towards the end but loved the routine.” Motsi concludes “you've cleaned it up and look like a ballroom queen”. Eights and nines ahoy?

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 9, 9 for a total of 35 points. Mid-table so far.

7:48PM

Kelvin and Oti’s jive

A homecoming party dance for the Oldham boy from 60 miles down the road. Cages and striped prison uniforms like the film but will he leave the audience all shook up? Primary coloured set and clip-on quiff for Kelvin, then into a fast, flicky and kicky jive with press-up tricks and lip-curling Elvis attitude. It's more John Travolta than Elvis at times but he's seriously rocking the footwork. Pumping retraction and timing on-point. Big finish. Uh-huh-huh.

Music: “Jailhouse Rock” from Smokey Joe’s Cafe

Judges’ verdict: Motsi says “you made my life, not my day, I'm speaking German here, you killed me, look at this guy, out-of-this-world energy.” Shirley says “speechless, contra-body co-ordination superb, great action, I was impressed”. Bruno says “the judge and the jury finds you guilty of a jive in the first degree, professional standard.” Craig concludes “loved that flying push-up, strength, stamina, agility, absolutely for-mid-able”. Tens coming, I suspect.

Judges' scores: 9, 10, 10, 10 for a total of 39 points. Top of the pops so far.

7:45PM

This scoring is far too generous

The judges are throwing around nines and 10s too easily. With the four best celebrities still to come, they're leaving themselves nowhere to go.

7:39PM

Alex and Neil’s paso doble

The former Lioness is getting fierce. In a Strictly first, there are seven all-female backing dancers, leaving Ginger Neil as the token male. Alex is a huge Beyoncé fan and has seen her in concert four times. Swishy skirt-ography and moody opening. Flames belching on the dancefloor. Lots of attack, intent and grimaces from Alex, but lacking in Spanish flavour and curved shaping. Huge fun, though. Bold, creative choreography with Bollywood accents. Bravo.

Music: “Run The World (Girls)” by Beyoncé

Judges’ verdict: Craig says “I thought the hair would be the star but actually, darling, you worked better - powerful, theatrical, a modern take, great.” Motsi says “proud of you for letting go and attacking it.” Shirley says “a pure girl paso, you led the pack, held your own, beautiful twist turns, well executed footwork.” Bruno concludes “Queen Of Sheba leading a posse of Amazons with imperious power - apart from that small mistake, amazing”.

Judges' scores: 8, 8, 9, 9 for a total of 34 points. Her highest score yet.

7:30PM

Emma and Anton’s American smooth

Swapping last week’s bowler hats for kiss-me-quick ones, it’s a Fred ’n’ Ginger-style routine to an Irving Berlin classic which should suit the bigger floor. Top hats, canes, dapper tail suits and a glamorous red feathered frock for Emma. Slow stately start, then into hold to foxtrot around the floor. Lots of travel and rotation but footwork and frame wobbles at times. Lovely Hollywood lifts provide the requisite wow factor and nice change of pace towards the end, followed by a run of pivots and another lift.

Music: “Let's Face the Music and Dance” by Ella Fitzgerald

Judges’ verdict: Bruno says “glamorous, glossy, like watching a 1940s movie queen, wonderful finish great job.” Craig says “graceful movement, hit some fantastic lines but face like a china doll.” Motsi says “divine musicality, your best dance yet.” Shirley concludes “beautifully executed, gorgeous footwork, by far your best so far”.

Judges' scores: 8, 9, 10, 10 for a total of 37 points. Anton's gone bonkers for his first ever 10s. Her highest score yet, obviously.

7:25PM

Sooty on the Ts and Cs

The glove puppet reads out the voting smallprint in the Clauditroium. I was always more of a Sweep man.

7:19PM

Chris and Karen’s salsa

The Geordie joker has played comedy gigs in Blackpool but can he dance here? It’s a fast, colourful and fun routine to a party-starting tune. Set on a rollercoaster. Karen in a hot pink outfit and Chris in a preposterous pair of pink trousers. Takes way too long to get into the salsa content. It's bit disco dad and seriously lacking in hip action but his rhythm is decent and partnering skills respectable. They've thrown choreography at it but not much salsa spice. Over-celebrating a tad at the end, bless him.

Music: “Uptown Funk” by Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars

Judges’ verdict: Shirley says “opened the show in style and brought your groove.” Bruno says “infectious fun, it was salsa spiced up with hip-hop, your hips are starting to unclog and get much more serpentine.” Craig says “lacked flow and rotation but upped your game and timing not bad.” Motsi concludes “slick , fun, confident, I wanna go partying with this guy”.

Judges' scores: 7, 8, 9 (really?), 9 (again?) for a total of 33 points. Madly over-marked.

7:15PM

Our Strictly stars

They've clearly transported several truckloads of sequins up the M6. And a clip-on quiff for Kelvin Fletcher.

7:13PM

Frockwatch

Time for a seaside edition of our weekly fashion face-off. Claudia Winkleman is in a gold sequin tuxedo trouser suit. Tess Daly's in a full-length, thigh-split gunmetal silver gown. Claudia wins

7:11PM

Group dance opens the show

We begin with a big production with 36 people on the dancefloor - the seven remaining celebrities, all the Strictly pros and extra dancers, swapping partners for an epic group number.

Kevin Clifton is playing the maestro, conducting the dance orchestra. Elements of jazz, tap, house and northern soul. Musical instruments as props. Old-skool razzle-dazzle.

7:09PM

Roll clapalong credits

Go on, give a jaunty seaside wave to the eight celebrities who have departed the dancefloor: Mike Bushell, Viscountess Emma Weymouth, Will Bayley, Catherine Tyldesley, David James, Dev Griffin, Anneka Rice and James Cracknell.

7:09PM

Rollercoaster VT

Anyone else reminded of those boy scouts on Jim'll Fix It?

7:07PM

Aaaaand we’re off!

Roll Blackpool-themed montage and commence that count of how many times the B-word will get mentioned tonight.

My personal prediction: more times than there are pebbles on the Pleasure Beach.

7:03PM

Overuse of B-word and I-word

The words 'Blackpool' and 'iconic' are both likely to get flogged to within an inch of their lives tonight.

I'd recommend taking a drink each time they're mentioned but you might not see the end of the show.

Just a couple of minutes until we go over live to the Tower Ballroom...

6:56PM

Partying ban for Strictly couples

As the Strictly charabanc heads north, the celebrities and professionals have reportedly been ‘banned’ from post-show partying out and about in Blackpool, due to concerns for their safety.

Security has been stepped up but to soften the blow, they’ve instead agreed to throw a behind-closed-doors bash at the hotel where they're all staying. Phew. It wouldn't be Blackpool without the traditional messy after-party.

Ten minutes until that ba-ba-daa theme tune...

6:50PM

Everyone's raising their glitterball game

We've entered the final month of Strictly 2019 and last weekend saw the highest standard of hoofing yet. Karim Zeroual is the only celebrity who didn’t improve. Our magnificent final seven are training hard, honing their technique and polishing the dance details.

They'll be stepping it up another notch for the Tower Ballroom tonight. Will anyone tempt out judge Craig Revel Horwood’s perfect “10” paddle, which is yet to be sighted this series? Fifteen minutes to wait...

6:39PM

Towering routines to look forward to

Last week’s dance-off survivors Michelle Visage and Giovanni Pernice perform this week’s Couples’ Choice, which promises to be a crowd-pleaser: a street/commercial routine to Madonna's pose-striking anthem “Vogue”.

The steadily improving Alex Scott will perform a paso doble to Beyoncé’s empowerment anthem “Run The World (Girls)” and, in a Strictly first, will be supported by all-female backing dancers - with pro partner Neil Jones as the token male.

Kelvin Fletcher is busting out Elvis move for his “Jailhouse Rock” jive, Emma Barton and Anton Du Beke go old-style Hollywood for a jazzy American smooth to an Irving Berlin classic, while Karim Zeroual looks to bounce back from last week’s disappointing Viennese waltz with a fast, flat-out Charleston.

It should be a coastal cracker. Just 25 minutes until showtime...

6:34PM

Saffron Barker setting the pace

The in-form pair are Saffron Baker and “miracle worker” AJ Pritchard, who have topped the leaderboard twice in the past four weeks, last Saturday moving head judge Shirley Ballas to tears in the process.

The contest's youngest couple are keeping it ballroom tonight and will skip across the famed sprung floor for a Great Gatsby-themed quickstep.  It could be a showstopper. Half an hour to curtain up…

6:19PM

Will it be a Blackpool goodbye for Chris and Karen?

Following dad-dancing Mike Bushell’s elimination last Sunday, comedian Chris Ramsey is the lowest-scoring celebrity remaining in the contest and the odds-on favourite with bookmakers for elimination this weekend.

The Geordie joker is delighted and somewhat surprised to have got this far. So could his party-starting“Uptown Funk” salsa with pro partner Karen Hauer prove his last hoofing hurrah? It's 45 minutes until we found out…

6:12PM

Strictly goes to the seaside

Getting paired up. First live show. Movie Week. Halloween Spooktacular. First compliment from Craig. Remembrance Sunday.

Yes, the milestones along the road to Strictly glitterball glory have been zooming past but now we’ve reached the big one: the 518ft tall feat of Victorian engineering that is Blackpool Tower.

Strictly’s annual trip north up the M6 is upon us. At 7.05pm on BBC One, our magnificent seven surviving pro-celebrity couples will make their dance debuts in the prestigious surroundings of Tower Ballroom.

As this year’s contest enters its climactic month, expect even more glamorous costumes, glitzier sets and risk-taking routines that push the celebrity hoofers to their limits - not to mention extra dancers to help our couples fill that far larger, sprung wooden block floor.

There have been 96 dances so far this series and Blackpool is likely bring up Strictly 201'9's century in style.

We'll be liveblogging from 6.05pm, providing build-up, rolling coverage, recaps, analysis and Blackpool-based sarcasm. Please join us - and join in too. You can email me on michael.hogan@ telegraph.co.uk, tweet me on @michaelhogan or leave comments at the bottom of this blog. I'll keep an eye on them all and report the highlights here.

Nearly time to staaaaart dancing beside the seaside, beside the sea…