I think it's defensible for someone like Paul, but Matt's dance was far too twee for my liking

I dont hate Aliona but I was concerned about her wardrobe and coreography choices in the last series but gave her the benefit of the doubt as she left so soon.........

Tonights awful awful outfits do not fill me with optimisim.

I would put up with props if they worked. It shouldn't count as part of the dance, but it might influence the home audience. Len was quiet, so the producers may be backing the idea. Once again - change to be different, not better?

Ola's might have worked better if it had been faster.

Aliona's I thought was a waste of time and resulted in them being badly dressed.
The cartwheels - I havent seen anything like that which actually worked (eg. Darren's caterpillar)

The answer was: we don't.

So the initial question was somewhat, as you might say, simples-ly wrong.

Clear?

Good question.

I mean, you can see the need for it with Paul Daniels, but when she has someone who's clearly the best dancer, what's the point?

Why not?

The costumes were an homage to Countryfile - is that obvious?

I actually thought she was very Lilia-esque last night in her dancing style and warmed to her a lot. I think Matt is lovely - a very warm individual who is self-deprecating and not too serious, but doesn't want to let anyone down.

All in all, for a first persormance they were brilliant - well done Aliona (and I didn't like her last year!)

I like her a lot.
I hope Aliona and Matt do well.

I haven't seen any hate about Aliona. i know she was criticised last year by the judges, for making the routines too much about her and not making enough of whatever potential Rav had, but that was the judges. She seems fine to me, lots of fun. I am glad she has a good partner this year.

Well I like Aliona, I thought she and Matthew did some really amazing pro dances last year. She loads better than that awful Natalie with her simpering and crying Yuk!

The main thing about last night's routine is that it had the WOW! factor and made sure everyone noticed them for all the right reasons from the start - and it worked.

I hope that Matt and Aliona will carry on WOWing us!

PS AND Aliona's hair was under control!

I'm a big fan of aliona.

i wasnt very keen on aliona last year on strictly but when i saw and meet her the pro tour i changed my opinion of her and she is so nice and kind and i totally love her and so is funny on twitter

It wowed for the wrong reasons - Matt's gymnastics.


I got why they had those costumes but I didn't think it worked, the costume should help the dance those distracted from it.

For me too ,and what people tend to forget that this is not the World Championships or the UK competition , its an entertainment show for the ordinary man .And I enjoyed Matt and Aliona for that very reason , the entertained , put a smile on my face and that is far more to me than perfection .

Yes it was obvious, I just didn't think it worked. And as a Lilia fan, I can't say I agree that Aliona is at all similar (or indeed, anywhere near as good- sorry PasoHardly, another reference to departed pros!)


For me it's not about the standard of the show. I just find gimmicks like that distract from a routine. I don't think it should be done unless you're dancing with someone so bad that you need to distract. I don't think it gave wow factor- I thought it was just silly. I don't mind the gymnastics so much- but no to wellies and fake grass.

I have to agree with that , that was a bit OTT and needless .But i loved the rest of it and it entertained me on a Friday evening .

I think the fake grass was there to hold the wellies, which was cut in the front so that Aliona can get out of it once the faffing is over and done with. And yes, I do think it's completely unnecessary and doesn't really tell the story, just looked tacky and Blue-Peter-ly.

Shame about the hair colour. I mean, it's like she accidentally fallen into the cotton dye factory or something. And was that ivy on her hair?!

Why Hate Anyone

Do people hate her? I don't get the impression anyone is inordinately fond of her but she hasn't attracted a lot of venom as far as I know....

Matt's gymnastics were 10 seconds of the routine and I actually thought it was better after that, they certainly weren't the highlight of the routine for me.

At the end of the day it's an entertainment show, and it was fabulous entertainment. AND Aliona put quite a lot of basic cha cha in that routine that showed she has taught him some technique. The only other person to put a decent amount of basic cha cha in a routine last night was Ola.

Len and Bruno both also praised Vincent for the amount of cha-cha steps in their routine.

I thought it was good, but no wow, except for the gymnastics.

Love her. She was my favourite last year as well, and I remember the judges being really harsh on her for things other profs were guilty of (choreog.-wise).

Aliona or Kristina to win this year please.

I don't hate Aliona but she is my least favourite of the female pros, so sorry Aliona fans.

In terms of dancing, she's obviously amazing, but as a teacher I find her very hard to warm to. I agree that Rav can't have been the easiest guy to teach last year but she didn't seem to choreograph to his needs and she comes across as somewhat impatient in her teaching. The gimmickry for Matt last night was, in my humble opinion, horrendous. Really put me off, and this coming from someone who was absolutely blown away by Matt's dancing. There was just no need for it, further backing up my opinion that she doesn't choreograph for her partner. I feel that Matt has a great chance of winning, and if anything gets in his way it'll be Aliona's abilities. However, I hope I'm proved wrong because I'd like to see him go far!