OK - I know I said I wouldn't bother to watch, but I did, but generally found the whole show not one of the better weeks. Maybe because the celebs had to learn 2 dances?????

Ballroom -
Shawn - quickstep. This was OK, but didn't light any fires! Shawn was out of proper hold far too much, so it was all a bit of a cheat!

Ty - This was admittedly a better attempt than I expected and he does try, I'll give him that. If it had been wk 2 or 3 of the comp, it could have been classed as good!

Kim - waltz; not her best dance. When in hold there was a lot of gapping which didn't help, but her one foot spin was beautiful. I found Bruno's remark about her being more like a tramp, was outrageous.

Gilles - foxtrot. If this had been judged purely on performance then it was 100%, although I found some of his 'acting' more tango than foxtrot, but his technique and footwork were both poor.

Melissa - VW, this was undoubtedly a beautiful dance, but as a viennese it wasn't good - she needs to stop dancing like a ballerina and remember this is ballroom!


Sorry to sound so negative, but as I said, I didn't think this was a good week.

Shawn - paso; this wasn't a bad dance, but for some reason it made me laugh! Maybe it was her expression, I really don't know. But a good attempt, and a nice routine.

TY - Ty summed this up himself when he said (in the vt) that a "bullrider and rumba don't go together!" I couldn't put it better myself! When he started his excuse for a 'solo' I had to stop watching - if I had been his wife I'd have run and hide with embarrassment! And they did a LIFT!

Kim - fast, sassy and entertaining. Quite an intricate routine which she handled really well.

Gilles - The music seemed very fast, though I believe American Rhythm (rumba) is faster than the International style rumba, so that may be the reason. The beginning - what on earth was that about? It was dreadful. Didn't like the fact he argued back "I did my best" when criticised: news for Gilles - everyone was doing their best! The ending was daft as well, but the bit in the middle was good, and Cheryl is beginning to get him to use his arms/hands better.

Melissa - This samba was easily the best dance of the night. It's a difficult dance to do well, but Melissa coped well with a lovely routine, that incorporated plenty of true samba steps.

Again apologies for the negativity, but as with the main show, I didn't think this was one of the best shows.

Jamie Callum jazzed up a Frank Sinatra number, which was so fast the dancers' quickstep was soooooooooo manic it looked almost like a spoof!!

Dance Centre (or should I say 'center'?) The best thing I can say about this is that it is a good opportunity to make a cup of tea!! Pointless waste of time.

The pro dancers event I thought Anna had drawn the short straw, but it just goes to prove what a good teacher she is! She is my winner of the pro event, with Mayo closed second. Can't take to Afton - she reminds me too much of Lacey (are they related?)

'Circus type' dance act was clever, but think this sort of act needs to be seen live for it to be fully appreciated. It didn't really come across on tv, on a small floor with not particularly good lighting.

The results - well as I said before, I thought it was ridiculous; I think Chelsie's expression said it all - she was clearly not only shocked but embarrassed, and to be honest, I don't think she was particularly pleased either.

Afton is Ashley DelGrosso's sister - she was a pro on the first 3(?) seasons, but left to have a baby and is rumoured to be returning every season since then, but hasn't. She came third with Joe McIntyre in the first season. She also trained one of the pairs in the children's competition. I think that was the season before last, but I can't remember now.

I thought Anna was the best by some way, but I felt a bit bad for Cheryl when Maurice was saying how good a teacher Anna was, compared to Cheryl.

Overall I thought this week was ok. I think they need to plan the dances better, if they continue to do the solo thing in future seasons, as the rumba is not the right dance to do a solo in.

I watched Ty's through my fingers and was still cringing. The AT was better than I expected, but I was expecting it to be sooo bad, it's not saying much!

Didn't much care for Gilles' solo either, but he made up for it. I loved his foxtrot. The footwork was a mess, but so is everyone else's, and it's not like the judges really care, as long as they like the dance!

Kim - the waltz was a bit jerky sometimes, she didn't look at ease. The latin suited her well, but it was a bit too frantic for me!

Shawn - Paso was ok steps wise, but there was no real feeling from them. Didn't like the QS, it didn't seem light and bouncy enough to me.

Melissa - the VW was good but didn't seem to have that much VW in - although to be fair it's hardly the first one this season. The samba was fab, and honestly, I've never been a fan of Tony before, but he's coming over so well this season, I can't help but be happy for him!

Love Jamie Cullum, and the pro dancers were amazing. I like Dance Center - it's silly, but it makes me laugh! I didn't get the star thing at all, and I want Anna to win the pro competition, but it will probably be Mayo.

I think it's shocking that Kim has gone before Ty - whilst I see how he could have appeal to lots of people, usually common sense kicks in before now on these shows!

Thank you for that - I thought I heard that she was related to someone in the show, but didn't know who.


I have always loved Cheryl's dancing and choreography, and I must admit I watched her face when Maurice was saying how good a teacher Anna was etc etc. But to be honest, he was only telling the truth, and I had the impression he and Cheryl didn't get on that well.

Also, with Gilles, I find Cheryl's choreography lacking - he has often been criticised for being too frantic, but that has been choreography faults - no light and shade. And what was she doing allowing him to make a fool of himself with his rumba "solo"?

She's done a lot of series now, and without doubt she is a very good dancer etc., but maybe she should take a break. No matter how good the job, boredom can set in, and that is what I see with Cheryl at the moment.

Lots of competitive coupls start their rumba with 'introductory' steps danced out of hold, and rumba is actually the easiest of the Latin dances to highlight a solo - so many lovely basic steps are danced without hold.

Agree about Shawn - I expect she would use to excuse that she is only young, but I don't find she puts any feeling into any of her dances - no personality

I'd agree with that for some of the dances, but i think their AT was amazing - she really showed what she can do there. Sometimes the music doesn't help either. I know there's some debate about whether the pros get to choose it all or not, but some of the choices this year have not been the best.

I think out of hold is ok, but the solo, when there's no sign of the partner just doesn't work so well for that dance. It's good in the paso for example, but I don't think it worked in either rumba this week.

Having said that, I don't think Gilles' solo was well thought out, I think he is capable of a lot better than he did. I think Ty's was about the level he's capable of, it was just cringe-makingly awful to watch! So, maybe, if they had out more thought into them, it could have worked.

I just don't seem to get Shawn's appeal. Possibly the fact that she's dancing with Mark is putting me off, as I'm not a fan of his, but she just leaves me cold. She always sounds as if she's reading from a script in her VTs as well.

I'm going to miss next week, as I'm away (will have to watch via other means on Wednesday ) and I'm kind of dreading the fact that the final may well be Ty and Shawn.

The rumba solos didn't work because of lack of (Ty) and really bad (Gilles) choreography - a bronze medallist could have done better choreography (what's up with Cheryl?)

Agree about Shawn, but not about Mark! But admit to being a bit biased. He used to dance with a girl who lives near me, (before he danced with Julianne) and we used to practice at same venue, so got to know him - and just adore his mum Shirley!

I have the same dread for the final (:yawn::yawn - if right, who do you think would be with them Gilles or Melissa? I love Melissa's dancing, but think perhaps more females vote than males, and therefore Gilles will get the edge!!!

I really don't know which one would make it through. Melissa seems to provoke strong reactions in people, and it would be nice to see Tony go right to the end, but personally I want to see Gilles there.

I'd love to see the two of them in the final, that would be my ideal. I think that would make for a very close run competition.

On Gilles' solo, I wonder if they got a bit over-confident, knowing they were up against Ty, and his was going to be pretty bad whatever happened, so they didn't work as hard as maybe they should have done? Anyway, I hope they are back on form this week!

You could well be right, but if so they were very silly, because he still had to compete with Melissa etc even though a different dance, and viewers tend to see "silly" as "silly" no matter who.

Do you think Gilles has improved very much? I thought he was great at the start of the series, but - maybe expectations are just too high - but to me he seems to have plateaued and not improved - thought his AT and Paso were wonderful (if a little manic in places) but that was down to Cheryl's choreography rather than Gilles dancing) but since then he has seemed much to same.

I tend to agree - he hasn't improved a huge amount, but he has been pretty consistently good. I think the way the dances have fallen hasn't helped either - he did improve some from the first couple of weeks, and showed this most when they pulled off that amazing AT, but then he got the Lindy Hop, which I don't like at all - it lets them focus on tricks too much instead of developing the dancing more.

I think he has coped well with some tricky choreography from Cheryl, but I also think that he is going to have to pull something special out of the bag this week. They've got good dances for it, but now he really needs to show what he can do.

What dances have they got this week - does anyone know? Or is there somewhere I can find out?

Shawn and Mark - Argentine Tango and Jive
Gilles and Cheryl - Waltz and Salsa
Melissa and Tony - Quickstep and Cha-Cha-Cha
Ty and Chelsie - Viennese Waltz and Samba

They were posted somewhere on Facebook I think, one of my friends sent them on to me.

Some interesting combinations there I feel!

Hope Shawn remembers that she is meant to be dancing, and doesn't put too much gymnastics into the jive (as she did with her Lindy hop or was it jitterbug?) And she needs to put a lot more genuine feeling into her AT than she did her pd!

And Ty and Samba? Well, you never know!

Melissa and Tony might well have the easiest combination - both dances are fast and sassy so not too difficult to change from one to the other.

Can anyone tell me when Ty did the ballroom Tango (apart from the group dance) as I'm sure I haven't seen it and I've watched the series right the way through (might just be having a blonde moment though).

I think Shawn will struggle with the AT as it's supposed to be quite a sensual, sexy dance.

I watch Dancing with the Stars on a Sunday afternoon - so here's my opinion. (Just using the celebs names).

Shawn - I like her but she seems quite 'samey' now to me.

Gilles - this man is too sexy for his own good - I love him and he certainly cheers me up.

Kim - again a bit 'samey' and her comment when asked about Derek winning last year surely went against her.

Ty - a real bloke dancing real bloke dances. I like him and it said a lot when the audience were shouting his name during the elimination.

Melissa - a bit too 'arty' for me - I think she is okay.

I seem biased towards the male dances - no way!!!

I wasn't surprised when Kim went (although I'll miss Derek, he was fabulous last year - I didn't feel there was a great rapport between him and Kim and maybe the voters couldn't either).

It's totally different watching the dancers without having a favourite (I only know Belinda this year). I actually think I prefer it.

(My favourite celeb of all time on the USA show - Christian de la Fuente - fabulous).

No arguments from me there

The only ballroom tango has been the group dance, it looks like that and the mambo have been dropped as individual dances, to make room for the AT and Lindy Hop. Unless the finalists will have to do them?

I also think Shawn will struggle with the AT, but she'll probably get told it's ok, because she's young, and it will be considered 'age appropriate' or something

Shame they dropped the ballroom tango in favour of the AT - I'd like to have seen both as they're both relevant.

I agree about Shawn - there's bound to be some age appropriate comment made.

They should make Shawn (& any other younger celebs they have) go to a decent dance studio and watch the real youngsters dance - juniors are aged 12 and above, and you'd never hear them comment that they were "too young" to do any of the dances!!!

Second thoughts: they should perhaps make the judges - Bruno and Carrie Ann anyway - go and watch the kids! (Len will already know as he's taught them for years!) as to be fair I've not heard Shawn comment on her age .... she just acts about 12! (Bless!)

Shawn brought up her age a couple of times in the VT for rumba week, as did Mark, then the judges made a big thing about it. I'm not sure how Len is going to cope - his comments for the AT are usually a bit risky.

I don't think Carrie-Ann and Bruno need to go anywhere - they've had the junior competition as part of the show for the last couple of years, they ought to be well aware that in real competition the kids have to doo all the dances, and they do them well.

On the subject of Shawn's jive, my biggest concern is that it's bound to involve Mark having those glasses on again

I noticed that Watch didn't show the 2 pro dances choreographed by Louis, from the main show. I only tune in because I like to see the dances on an TV as opposed to youtube. There's a been a lack of pro dances this series so I was looking forward to watching those!

Just watched Maks and Anna's quickstep - FAN TAS TIC - wonderful to see Maks dancing to his full ability