It may be a good thing that she has this crisis in confidence now. It's still very early days and something that can be worked on in order for her to get to the finishing post. It's unlikely that they will be in a dance off, not at this early stage I seriously doubt it, so it gives them time to work on these nerves so she can give the routines more performance.

I think Ali is a naturally gifted dancer who dealt brilliantly with the intricate arm choreography. I enjoyed watching her and think she is great - she is very watchable and I hope she goes a long way in the competition.

Ali better in training? We must be watching different highlights. ITT showed a woman who could barely bring herself to loosen up her body at first, and the show version was way, way beyond that.
If you thought Ali was concentrating too hard, take another look at Jade. Her face was a mask of concentration when the camera wasn't close. Ali's salsa was 2 x 4 = 8 marks better than that.
The other salsa dancer who overcame massive inhibitions was Chris. Well done him and to his partner Ola. He was surely undermarked.

She is and she's very pretty but IMO she's not very sexy. Am dreading a rhumba. Sorry

She did the Rumba in week 1. Scored 30!

Don't be sorry - shes already done the Rhumba (and scored the highest marks of the night )

D'oh! Must've been so traumatised I blanked it out

I saw early in the week training, I think either tuesday or wednesday. They showed primarily the arm choreography and from the bit they showed it looked very good. I was surprised by the bit they showed on SCD (where Ali walked out) because the ITT training looked quite strong. To be honest I thought Jade & Ian's Salsa was ok, it certainly had a lot more energy and Jade danced it well but it didn't make me feel in the party mood. None of the Salsas I saw did. I agree with you about Chris and Ola, I thought he was undermarked. I thought he did very well despite his lack of confidence. I want him to get his confidence back!

I dont think any of the female contestants have it in them to get down and dirty. Not even Jade really.

I do think the awful camera work last night did take away some of the punch of the performance.

Ali seemed raunchier in the rehearsal footage they showed before the actual dance begun. The difference was that the camera was up close and personal for the rehearsal.

I saw this comment on the BBC forum and couldnt agree more

I would say that the routine was a little fast for Ali at this stage, it didn't seem to me to allow her time to fully connect with the floor and push through to straighten her leg and give the correct salsa movement, it really is a very difficult part of salsa to get, but it is the main part, if you don't have the cuban movement for salsa it can look a bit awkward.

Ali may not have nailed it, but it was by far the most difficult Salsa of the night and she got close, so she was still the best Salsa dancer of the night.
She was getting the hip movements when she was on her own and I'm sure she can do 'sexy' in the near future. The hairstyle moved a bit weirdly during the dance, which didn't help.

She should be happy enough with it, and I think it could be good enough to use in the final, when she will be ready to perfect it.

Talking of the hairstyle, I thought it was poor, it looks thin and dry. Which it probably is, so they should have given her a style to disguise it.

parthena