After this series’ first elimination at the weekend, our fourteen remaining couples are sure to be feeling the pressure. Excitingly, every single pairing is dancing a different style this week – so unless you’re a foxtrot fan, you’re bound to see your favourite genre on Saturday night.

Now, when I say no foxtrot, I’m bending the truth a little. Bethany and Nancy are dancing an American Smooth this weekend, to Sara Bareilles’ Love Song, and the timing of this track makes me think it’s likely to be foxtrot-based. The American Smooth permits a lot more out-of-hold work than the classic version of any ballroom dance, as well as lifts. Nancy loves to get creative with her choreography, so I’m sure she’ll take these slightly laxer rules as an open invitation!

Sarah and Julian are going to be dancing the paso doble, known for requiring passion, drama, and some very uncomfortable shaping. The track they’ve been given for this is California Dreaming – specifically Sia’s arrangement. After their cheeky Charleston last week this is bound to be a very different kind of challenge for the pairing.

Our second Charleston of the series will be delivered to us by Melanie and Aljaž, who are currently this year’s lowest scoring couple, on only 30 points for Week One and Week Two combined. I hate to say it, but I can’t say I’m optimistic for this to be the dance that changes their fortunes: the Charleston is fast and energetic and often includes daring lifts, so if Melanie was making mistakes in a slow waltz guided by the best ballroom dancer on the show, it may all be too much for her. They’re dancing to Ooh Aah… Just A Little Bit.

Another very upbeat draw is the jive, from Graeme and Lauren. The judges seem to love Graeme so far and I can see why – he’s a strong, technical dancer and Lauren’s challenged him with some tricky choreography. He’s spoken about finding Strictly physically taxing so far, so the speed and energy of the jive may be tough, but I’m sure he’ll wow us, especially since they’ve got a great classic jive song – Reet Petite!

Delta and Kai will be dancing the salsa this weekend, to Chaka Khan’s Ain’t Nobody, mashed up with Always There. This is a really fun, cool song choice for salsa and I’m sure Delta will do a great job, particularly after she brought so much energy, style, and technical prowess to the samba in Week One. I can see it being a real showstopper!

Speaking of the samba, Lacey and Vito will be taking it on this week, to the well-used Strictly samba tune Bamboléo by the Gipsy Kings. Samba is notoriously a hard dance, but the music should help Lacey, and she did well with Latin in the first week. Plus, Vito is probably a pretty safe pair of hands to be in for the samba – he and Fleur East were one of only three couples ever to get a perfect forty for this tricky number.

John and Katya are also on Latin again, which for them is the first time this series, after elegant ballroom in the first week and a raucous couple’s choice in the second. It’ll be interesting to see how John adjusts to the straight legs and fluid hips of the cha cha. It’s actually one of Katya’s lowest scored genres on average, and it may be that John is more of a ballroom boy. Either way, I’m excited to see how it goes, and I’m sure Katya will come up with some of her trademark creative choreography to go with Justin Timberlake’s Rock Your Body.

Another dance often bemoaned for its difficulty on Strictly is the Argentine Tango, so it strikes me personally as ambitious to give it to Tabby and Mark as early as Week Three. In fact, this is the earliest it’s ever been performed on Strictly! I’m also slightly concerned by the unconventional song choice, hate that i made you love me by Ariana Grande. But maybe Tabby’s background in circus will give her an advantage here, since the genre requires a lot of core strength and often includes exciting lifts and tricks. And Argentine Tango does tend to score highly.

More lifts and tricks to come, I’m sure, in Cach and Maddie’s Couple’s Choice, to Beware… The South London Lover Boy by Raye. After two weeks of telling Cach to stick to the ballroom and Latin basics, Shirley won’t have any leg to stand on if she tries that this Saturday; the Couple’s Choice is an invitation for celebrities to go wild and engage in a genre that’s meaningful to them. I’m confident Cach will draw on his background in hip hop and afrobeats dance and deliver a very exciting performance. I can’t wait!

From Dani and Nikita, we’re going to see a ballroom tango – this is generally considered easier than the Argentinian version, and doesn’t include lifts. They’re dancing to Show Me Love. The tango has been a low scorer so far this year, with both couples who danced it in week one ending up in the dance off in week two. Let’s hope Dani and Nikita have better luck.

Speaking of last week’s dance off survivors, Jaime and Carlos will be hoping for a comeback with their Viennese waltz. Carlos has only danced this genre once before on Strictly, so we don’t have much information to go on in terms of his approach to the style. Their song is Never Tear Us Apart – a dark and moody choice for a Viennese, but one I personally love, because it won’t require any timing adjustments, and because it’s given us some really exciting routines in the past, like this gorgeous showing from 2016.

Another romantic number is to be expected from Lawrence and Jowita, who are dancing the rumba, to sombr’s Back to Friends. It’s often said that the rumba is difficult for male celebrities, because of the fluid, almost feminine style of movement that it requires; plus it’s Jowita’s second-lowest scoring style. And the Queen of Rumba herself, our head judge Shirley, is bound to pick up on any technical issues – and probably give us a demonstration as to how to fix them! But the good news is that the rumba is danced with a lot of out-of-hold figures, which is great for Lawrence and Jowita since their significant height gap makes ballroom-style close hold tricksy.

I’m hoping we’ll see less out of hold figures in Will and Dianne’s waltz to With You I’m Born Again. Their foxtrot last week didn’t feature a whole lot of foxtrotting; there was more of a focus on personality and on the movie week theme. After two fun, performance-heavy numbers from this couple, a simple, elegant waltz won’t go amiss. I’m sure ballroom-loving Anton will be looking forward to Dianne’s choreography, given that the waltz is her second-highest scoring genre over the past six series.

But which dance am I most excited for? Probably Shaun and Alexis’ quickstep! Shaun isn’t the most technically proficient dancer on the show, but the judges praised his performance breakthrough last week in the salsa, and that joy and energy will serve him well in this style. Quickstep has actually often been a high point for the lower-scoring male celebrities in the past, like Mike Bushell and Paul Merson. I can see this being a fun and cheery number that will put a smile on viewers’ faces, especially with it being to the relentlessly positive I’m a Believer by The Monkees.

Lots of variety in store for us at the weekend, then – it’s going to be hard to compare! But we (and the judges) will have to manage somehow, because one of our couples won’t be making it through to Icons Week.