Look - it was weak by their standards but I love watching them & they deserved to stay .... (just). To think I get mad about XF voting & Jedward - to me the voting in SCD is far worse!

I do think Ali is very hit and miss she just isnt consistant enough but im pleased she is staying, their paso was pretty dull last night

I thought it was good considering she was in pain, not her best though.

I thought that she made LOADS of mistakes in the dance off - it was embarrassing to watch.........not the best actress.......in fact considering that she is an actress why can she not act?

I could barely watch it because it was obvious she was in agony. Ali didn't seem to capture the feel of the dance but technically, she was very good.

Yeah, why can't she act? In training she is SOOOOOO lame. It's like Craig thinking he can dance. Ali seemed to think she had got the spirit of the paso. She really seemed to believe it.

Actors get cast in the roles that suit them, which is why Ali's usually ended up in sort of idealistic ingenue-type parts, which suit her fine....lots of looking pretty and not too much emoting.

The paso was never going to be her dance and it pretty much lived up to my expectations, i.e. lots of elegance but no fire.

Brian did his best by not making it a storytelling-type paso, more a Spanish-style one trying to capture the flavour through the steps, but the feeling just wasn't there.

This sort of blandness is what lost Rachel and Lisa the final last year, and it will leave its mark on Ali's chances too.

It was beautifully choreographed and she did dance with that air of serenity she has and she did it well the first time; she is a very graceful dancer but as has been pointed out the Paso is a character dance that needs fire and spirit put into the movements, which she simply didn't do.

Ali is starting to appear to be a one dimensional dancer, it feels like she is dancing every dance style as if it is a foxtrot. Flowing and graceful does not always suit and as an actress she should be able to harness her natural grace to a powerful movement when required.

Being an actress by profession does necessarily mean you are a very good one. Perhaps she is like many soap actors, they can only play one part. Have to say I am starting to feel disappointed with her and wish she would stop playing the fragile flower and show us something gutsy.

I like Zoe off the dancefloor but can't take to her on it, bit like Ricky W. Don't know why. I don't cringe at their dances like i do Craig but i just don't feel them i guess.

Ali is a favourite of mine but as the competition goes on i do wonder at her staying power and improving, she does seem to lack the performance factor in some of the dances and that is worrying. Having said that i am glad she was saved in the dance off and i hope her toe gets better quickly. I dropped bottles on my big toe 2 Xmas's ago and was in agony for days, had to go round in big fluffy boots as nothing else would get on my foot.

Absolutely loving Ian and Jade

shame because I would love to see Brian do an argentine tango.......

Brian might do a mean AT but I just don't think Ali has the gumption to pull out a "fierce" (C) performance.


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She just didn't get the mood right for me which was disappointing. Surprising as she's an actress. Why was she smiling? Everything she does is ballet style which is nice, but it's not right for latin IMO. Give her credit for doing it with an injury which must account for the ballet pumps, but Phil had a knee op, and Jade popped a rib! We heard nothing of that. Injuries are down to bad luck and not sure the judges should have made allowances personally. Let the voters do that if they want to.

her smiling was wrong in this dance - having said that my husband said it may be masking the pain (????) -

Really ?..Well, I'm not going to cross swords with someone who has your number of posts, and someone who may also be an expert.
So, I respect your opinion but find it quite baffling.
I thought Ali did well "in the circumstances", but I did not find the routine entertaining.

To me it looked more like a grimace of pain than a smile.

I thought it looked as though she was in a lot of pain. But she is a beautiful dancer and I always enjoy her performances. She didn't deserve to be in the bottom 2, unlike Craig who is surviving on sympathy votes.

To be fair, it is virtually impossible to dance with damaged, painful toes. You can often carry on dancing better with pain in other parts but with the feet there is nowhere for a dancer to hide.

I do agree with this. I stubbed my big toe a couple of weeks ago and I could barely walk. So I do credit Ali for trying to carry on, I know I couldn't have done it. However, both Phil and Ricky damaged their knees and very little was made of it, and I felt both should have been commended by the judges. And as for poor Ricky G and Ian competing with the flu, how they managed to get out of bed, let alone dance was beyond me. This isn't a pop at Ali, because it was clear for all to see that the poor woman was in pain but, I think what irked a lot of people was the fuss that was made about it when we know that other competitors have been injured whilst dancing.

Lets put cards on the table.

She danced it but she didnt perform it......I didnt get cape or bull or even Spain. She didnt look stern or aggressive or haughty she just looked slightly miffed and then she was smiling ......smiling in the Paso. I think Ali is a lovely dancer in the pretty ballroom but she only has one look and thats Bambi

I read it as pain , I could see pain written all over her face .I worked a while in A+E and was amazed that she could stand never mind dance ./

When I watch Ali, sometimes I feel that Brian is just throwing her around like a rag doll. To be honest neither Ali or Zoe upped their game in the dance off as couples usually do!

Please dont't make me laugh.... so funny and I'm a fan.

IMO I thought both Ali and Brian's paso and Zoe and James' samba were overmarked and un-exciting. Perhaps they didn't deserve to be in the dance off but neither did Ricky Groves nor Craig Kelly deserve such low marks. That was the first time I was able to watch Craig dance without placing a hand in front of my face and Ricky's rumba certainly didn't deserve such a hammering.

That being said... Craig should definitely have gone.

Ali's paso was beautifully cihoreographed. Hats off to Brian. It may not have appealed to those who like the more posed type of paso but I prefer mine to be more lyrical and dancey.

As for the smile I saw it as a grimace of pain. The photos of her foot are painful to look at. To have to dance twice must have been agony.

Now don't be silly. A stubbed toe is clearly far more serious than knee surgery.