Anyone who frequents these threads knows I'm a fan of that couple. But last weekend was the weekend that Ali had to bring whatever acting skill she has to the dancing, and yet again she didn't manage it for more than 30 seconds in.

I contrast them with Camilla and Gethin. She was oh so not impressed with Gethin in the early rounds; her merely calling him "Partner" spoke volumes to me. So Camilla listened to the judges, took their advice and got in an acting coach. Result: Gethin's performances soared along with his marks, his vote, the breadth of Camilla's smile, and the oestrogen levels of his female fans.

I think that Brian is too in love with Ali. When she dances, he can feel the passion coming at him, but either he doesn't watch their VTs, or when he does he still sees something in her that outsiders don't. Brian is Ali's worst possible critic because he focuses on teaching her the technical side, where she needs little help.

Brian, yes I know the sun shines out of her a**e, but it doesn't shine on enough other people. You're really in the last chance saloon now, only an emotional triumph on Saturday can even begin to loosen Chris' grip on that trophy. Finals night will be too late. So get a second opinion fast, preferably the same person who consulted Gethin Jones.

Perhaps she just needs to gurn more.

If you honestly believe that Chris & Ola's appeal lies solely in his face then I don't know what to say.

That's not why they appeal to me...I like them in spite of the gurning...but I wouldn't dream of 'speaking' for anyone else.

I think you're right. Ali is an actress by day job, but imo, she struggles to 'act' the dance. If she can perfect the performance side of things, it could make a very good dance even better.

Interesting theory, there could be something in that... Certainly the time she seemed to most get into the part was in the Charleston, when (coincidentally?) they had a lot of third party input in rehearsals.

You don't think that maybe an actress might find it a tad humiliating to be forced to consult an acting coach?

I'm a big fan of them and want them to win. But I agree that they need to bring in an acting coach.

Surely that would be the perfect thing for an actress to do? An athlete uses an athletics coach, singers use a singing coach etc etc...

Lol. Although I have to say if she wants to go further in her acting career judging from what we've seen, it is about time!

Acting a "realistic" role for the small screen is based on "less is more". If you overact, it's bad, or it's deliberately hilarious.
Acting a dance role has to be larger than life. It's the same with opera. Great dancers/singers who can also act are worth their weight in gold to an impresario.

I don't see any harm in hiring an acting coach - everyone is always learning in their profession, especially if it's a craft like acting. And there's a difference from acting on the stage or screen or dancefloor.

For a while I've been wondering if Brian has been objective enough to give any criticism. Also, he obviously adores and wants to be with her, and of course any criticism isn't very suitor like...but then again, she's hearing the same feedback from the judges (and the other pros in CC and training reports) as Brian, and when it comes to performance and emotion (the aspects she's lacking because her technical is excellent) it's always down the celeb. Teachers can only take you so far.

I think there is some truth in what the OP says and they are my favourite couple. Although Ali listens to the judges' constructive criticism, Brian only hears confirmation of his own positive impression. That was apparent on Paul O'Grady yesterday. I think there is a problem for Ali as well. She does suffer from nerves and they may be due to a desire to conceal their relationship off the dance floor. Chris & Ola have affections elsewhere but have no problem faking it.

I think she is a competent actress but not used to live stuff at all. If she feels a lot for Brian (and I'm not convinced she does, actually) then showing it on the dance floor in front of millions must be very difficult.

I do think she needs some third party input and I think the Charleston worked because the dance was not together and romantic but pretty separate and fun - more like mates.

I still think she could take the title (from people who only vote in the final and receiving Ricky's votes once he is a gonna). Brian really needs to nail her confidence in the live situation, though. I think they need to just go for it!

I'm a Cola fan but I would vote for her if she upped her game (personality, not technically) . I also won't vote for Cola now if he doesn't hit appropriate faces.

I completely agree with the words I've highlighted and made a similar point on another thread a couple of weeks ago.

I don't mind Ali but I don't think she's living up to her potential - and, for me, that's because Brian is not demanding enough of her across the board. Technically, sure - but, as we saw last year with Rachel, technical excellence alone isn't enough as far as the audience is concerned.

So while her samba may have been technically complex and impressive, it somehow felt flat. I could probably dine out for a week if I had a pound for the number of times I've heard the words 'The samba is a party dance' on Strictly. Brian must know that - so why waste an opportunity to show a different side to Ali's character and instead pour all her energy into technique and not devote any of it to selling the dance?

My guess is that he wanted to play to her strengths - which is fair enough on one level - but this tactic could well turn out to be her undoing.

Gethin needed an acting coach because he'd never done anything like that before. Brian needs to take a step back from Ali - not only is him being besotted with her robbing them of any mystique (there's no 'Will they, won't they?' - we know they will), it's blinding him to her weaknesses, that need addressing if she is to remain a contender.

Actually this is an interesting theory. However I agree with some people on here, that it might be difficult to suggest an acting coach to an actress.

It seemed that with Flavia and Matt, the handling of a growing relationship may get in the way a bit, and you cant be as business like as necessary at times.

Brian is a great dancer, clever, and a great speaker, but an area I have concerns with is his music choices. This year hasn't changed that. I think he has chosen music which is difficult to choreograph to, and sometimes hard to get much drive from.

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So call them a dance expression coach then, or whatever.

I think there's something in this thread too. And I also think the above is very true. Has anyone ever seen that famous acting workshop in which Michael Caine shows theatre actors how to use micro expressions for the big screen?

I said somewhere on here the other day that close ups show Ali really *is* acting the dances. That's not the problem. The problem is that she isn't projecting the performance beyond the tiny space occupied by Brian and herself.

I hadn't thought *why* though, and I think tonydancer is genuinely on to something.

Tom Chambers rather neatly got around the "can't ask an actor to go to an acting coach" problem by doing a set visit, getting into character, and acting out a scene as though it were a dance, and getting a fellow cast member to "help him through it".

I'm not convinced of the value of an acting coach anyway. The Barrowman and Felicity Kendall had no impact last year, Matt Dawson clearly didn't take his acting coach seriously at all (as much as he might have pretended to, we all know he was quite prepared to lie in order to look good for the public ie, the "I'm totally leading Lilia" thing), and Gethin's breakthrough was more to do with having a convenient dance to go out in a mesh shirt and shake his tits through than anything else.

I think that's probably true. Ricky also a small screen actor isn't a dynamic performer either and even him and Nat are involved she doesn't strike as the sort of person who'd hold back her opinion or fall to see what needs to be done.

I dunno he seemed less polite after the acting coach maybe it's a case of attitude. Dawes ballroom got really good and his latin got better after he saw the acting coach from what I remember.

I suspect it is not so much not showing her feelings about Brian rather than pure stage fright which is the problem. On ITT last night Darcy and Alesha were stating how she always holds her breath all through her dances and when out of hold shakes like a leaf. This has been said about her in the past and she does tend to look like a frightened rabbit which makes watching her very uncomfortable. I think she can't let go and perform because she is eaten up with nerves. Not really sure there is anything that can be done for that, especially in the short time they have left.

I think he does hold Ali back and I don't know why. I wanted to believe it had something to do with the Friends analogy whereby the sexiest couples on the stage are the ones who aren't "doing it" but, I do think it's more than that. Ali is an actress with ballet training and yet she often goes onto the dancefloor shaking like a leaf. Last year he was partnered with Heather Small who is used to singing live in front of 10s of 1000s of people and yet she also used to go onto the dancefloor shaking. I don't know what he does/says to them but, it doesn't seem to instil them with confidence when it matters. It could be that he's such a nice guy that they don't want to let him down who knows, but I do think it's more him than them.