Did it disappoint anyone else ever so slightly?

It had been hyped up so much beforehand.

And whilst it was jam packed full of tricks, Ali never really captured the mood of the dance properly and looked like she was struggling to keep up at times.

I thought it looked a bit flat in training, but hoped she'd really go for it on the night because I'm a big fan of Brian Fortuna's choreography (particularly when it comes to the Salsa).

I didn't think it was overmarked by the way, I just had higher expectations.

No I wasnt disappointed at all

I thought she did brilliantly with some very very tricky choreography

Loved the whole dance

I loved it.

imo best salsa of the night was Jade and Ian.

Errrm, yes and no. It didn't disappoint me, per se... I was wondering whether or not she could bring more to it - and by and large it was better performed than I expected, yet it wasn't as well performed, as it could have been.

I prefered Jade's even though it was less well done technically. If Ali had brought the same performance that Jade had, I think Ali would have been top tonight.

Yes I just said elsewhere that Jade's was a bit more grabbing.

Ali's was technically probably much better, but I wasn't captivated by it.

Coooey Iganzio - just left you a message on the Favs Poll thread!

it was good but she needs to get more personality into it, she doesn't sell it for me

I love jade and ian best

That's what I was thinking Sid. She seemed to be chasing the routine, so couldn't get the extra oomph into it. It was a very difficult routine, and she did complete it just about on time. I think if she knew it well enough to dance it without having to think about it, she would have nailed it.

That's exactly what I was thinking, Sid - technically she's great, but she doesn't really sell the dance (in my opinion, of course). Maybe Brian's choreography was too ambitious? Maybe she just didn't feel confident enough? I don't know, she's just a bit too 'vanilla' to really do the dance justice. Again, she does seem to have a natural talent, but I can never quite warm to her.

It did, yes.

Loved Brian last year, but for me hasn't really done anything special with Ali so far. Two slow dances - Waltz and Rumba - and then a slow and fairly tame quickstep, I was hoping the salsa would be the turing point. I agree with your summary Sid.

Agreed. I'm wondering if she's capable of bringing personality to any dance.

I liked it

Sorry to be dense, but are they an item or what? Hubby reckons they are, but I haven't a clue.

Thanks.

Ali really is the ultimate girl next door and this dance just did not suit her. Jade had the spirit of the dance much more. I think Chris was just as good as Ali, and he was quite undermarked tonight. I also think that Brian is s superb Salsa dancer and that it would be pretty hard to keep up with him and look anywhere near as good.

She was just lack lustre and self concious tonight. Looked shockingly good in her dress though.

It was great in some ways, but the main problem is that Ali is a wet lettuce. She's never going to wow anybody until she gets a bit more oomph.

Thats just how I feel. I can see that the dance is technically brilliant but I just find myself sitting there watching it and waiting for it to end.

Whereas for me Jade and Natalie I just wanted to get up and dance along with them. Its a shame because I adored Brian last year I loved him to bits but even though I can SEE that Ali is doing well I just can't get into the dances. Don't get me wrong I know the dance was brilliant but it just didn't make me want to sit and watch it. And it wouldn't have made me want to vote for them either.

I liked it, imo she danced the steps very well indeed, she was so quick - but I do think that she didn't sell the dance completely and she still held something back. Despite the sexy photographs, she seems to fail to let herself "go" completely when she dances.

However it was still the best salsa of the night for me.

To my extremely untrained eye that dance was too complicated and too busy , it didnt allow her let go becuase she was too busy

yes I think it is to do with her personality or rather lack of it

I have never watched her as an actor , does she play quiet shy drippy giirls or does she play someone with oomph

so far her strictly performances as performances rather than dances have been realy quite underwhelming !

well it didnt dispoint me i loved it she perfomed so well in my opion she brought lots of fire and passion to it personally my fav salsa of the night it was undermarked

In terms of wanting the dance to end - I've felt like this about a few dancers, generally the ones who have bags of talent but whose personalities seem a bit... bland, for want of a better word. Brian seems to choreograph according to Ali's talent but not to her personality, whereas Ian f'rinstance knows what Jade's defining characteristics are and plays up to them. Which is odd, because I think Brian did a good job with Heather last year.

I think Brian made the choreography too difficult. (One sign of that is that you talk of "tricks".) Ali could do it, but getting the moves right required too much concentration for her to "really go for it".

It's the same mistake that Vincent's been known to make, and it irritates the heck out of me because Brian (and Vincent) ought to know by now that neither the judges nor the audience reward difficulty -- at least not to anywhere near the extent that they reward "performance".

I agree with something Alli-F said in the thread about tonight's show, that "sometimes the pros are so excited to get a good dancer that they give them such complicated choreography that the celebs forget all about performance just trying to remember the steps in the right order."

I'm not saying Ali forgot all about performance. I think there was more there than some noticed. But I think that at times she was having to think too much about what she had to do next.

That said, some people are simply not going to see her personality as "personality" unless she did something that would seem to me an over-exaggerated "performance" rather than a natural expression of the dance. (And she's not the sort of person who will do that.)

That's fine, different people have different tastes and see things in different ways. But it does mean that some people will always see Ali as a bit bland or flat, they won't be able to warm to her, they'll think she lacks personality, and so on.

While I will continue to think the likes of Natalie are over-acting an unconvincing "performance".

(I do however like Jade, who is energetic without being theatrical.)

I thought Natalie over-performed slightly, Ali under-performed and Jade got the balance just right.

Like Rachel Stevens (who I supported passionately), I just don't think Ali will be suited to the fast-paced Latin routines. She'll have to be exceptional in the other dances to make up for it though.

Natalies face and mouth were nearly up there in Karen Hardys league , so OTT and off putting
I am not getting the love for her at all
Jade is loving it and it showed , how fabulously camp and full of the joys . Ians trousers made the night for me . LOL ,

I don't think anyone expects Ali to come ahht and be the larger-than-life type, but just going through the steps isn't going to work either. 'Sexy' obviously isn't something she's comfortable with, but there must be something to her other than 'nice'. Again, I think it all comes back to Brian and the routine he gives her.