Matt's my favourite, but it's clear that something is missing from his dances that shines through for the judges in Kara and Scott's performances.

I finally came round to the view this weekend that it's because he isn't 'letting go' and giving of himself in his performances. I didn't feel the same 'emotional presence' in his rumba (which I'd been looking forward to all week) as I did in Kara's AT or Scott's jive.

So - do others agree with this or is there a different explanation? Does someone need to point this out to Matt so he works on it? And is it going to stop him from winning if it isn't remedied?

I agree with you about him not letting go but how can he remedy it. He has had acting training so it is not that, he has had dance/gymnastic training so it cannot be that either. He has danced on TV before in Blue Peter.

It is a mystery.

Tom Chambers' lack of 10s until the latter stages did him no harm, ultimately seeing off the premature Double Digiters, Healey and Stevens, with ease.

The judges move in mysterious ways, but justice is ultimately always served. Except when it isn't!

No, I don't agree. Nerves, maybe, could be a problem but that's all. I loved the rumba and wouldn't have changed a thing. I love his and Aliona's dances just the way they are (but preferably without the occasional mistake). I wouldn't want him to change into something he is not just to please the crowd. He doesn't do flamboyant (not counting the acrobats) he does subtle, and I love it.

When I see him presenting, I always think he seems like a nice enough bloke but on the dance floor I really can't stand his dancing. It's a combo of the distracting hands, the jerkiness of his movements, and his facial expressions. I think Aliona is a fab dancer but her choreography is really not my cup of tea.
In some dances it looks like he's hating every minute of it. Or he's concentrating so hard and it shows. I'm never comfortable watching him as I always feel some tension in the way he dances.

I have no idea how he can attack it though.

I don't really buy into that 'it's anyone's game'. I think it's fairly obvious Matt will win and they'll be handing out the 10's like sweets come quarter finals. Not getting 10's now will work in his favour to try and project a 'journey' story onto him and make people forget that actually, there's not much difference in how he started to when he lifts the glitterball.

The judges' manipulation can only take us so far though. This year they may not be able to stop Ann from winning it whatever they do.

I think I agree.

He's technically fantastic - the chacha on Week 1 was amazing - but the performance / acting bit is missing I think.

He needs to get that performance working somehow.

I doubt Ann will win. But I have a bad feeling she'll be doing her showdance.

Matt will win. He's got most of the bad dances out of the way and he's got good scoring dances to come up: Waltz, Smooth, Tango, Jive and Paso. If he gets the samba over and done with this week, then it's pretty much smooth sailing. He may even score quite highly with the samba to get his momentum going again.
This year - it's good to be a Matt fan

Blimey I wouldnt call Aliona's coreography subtle I will give you the VW and the Rumba were more understated but the rest of them have been frantic and 'full on' (Matts favourite description of the dances) The only one of their dances that has entertained me in any way was their Charleston which suits frantic and full on and which I think had it been done later in the series might have got a higher mark.

Matt looks less comfortable now than he did at the beginning IMO. He needs to at least look as though he is enjoying the experience which at the moment he doesnt.

Heh, yes - it's almost as if he's on a reverse journey...

I would agree with all of this, even the cynical bit at the end...like you I believe he will win it no matter that there are two much better dancers, Kara and Scott....heck even Patsy and Pamela give out more passion and charisma, I am really quite bored of his dancing now.

Yeah - Aliona and subtle don't really mix. She also choreographed that hoochie dance to Robbie Williams performance. I like her a lot but she's bonkers.
But she's heading in the right direction after last week as the rumba was less frantic and gimmicky.

In no way is Scott a better dancer than Matt.

Matt's dances have been fairly marked so far because they haven't been perfect but Scott has been severely overmarked on even 9s.

I think choreography is the problem (if there actually is one).

Compare Scott's simple, straightforward jive - it wasn't the most difficult choreography, but he was able to perform it full on.

I thought the quickstep should have been Matt's dance: he's got a perfect frame and he's very light on his feet. But in the end, he had horribly advanced steps and the verve was just lacking.

I agree with all of this , spot on.

Scott has done better dances; whether he is a better dancer is a different story. If he's not, it says something about the relative merits of the choreography done by Aliona and Natalie.

Scott hasn't been overmarked at all.

I hope you're right. T'would be the first time my favourite wins if so. Certainly if the poll on this forum is anything to go by then he's managing to keep his head above water. But I have to point out that he's been scoring "quite highly" all along, but still seems nervous.

It's just annoying that Matt's clearly as capable as Kara and probably more capable than Scott, but seems happy enough not to want to work out what's stopping him achieving the scores they're achieving.

I'm unsure whether he's genuinely not competitive (which I'd be surprised by in someone who's a former highly trained sportsman and in a profession where 'cut-throat' hardly describes the jostling for jobs), or whether he simply feels there's nothing wrong with what he's doing. Either is bad for his chances of winning...

Well it all comes down to opinion, and of course judging, Scott has the whole packag, energy, persona, skill wheras Mattt only has technical ability, ........you can learn that but I think you have to be blessed with the other attributes.Scott and Kara are much better all round dancers.IMO of course.

I think he is quite competitive. He just seems to be going through the motions, and that is the problem. He's not connecting with the choreography but I think the choreography is to blame not him.

Matt is a better technical dancer than Scott but Scott has more presence on the floor. And Scott's style of dance is much more appeasing to my tastes. I think I would have come round to being a Matt fan had he had a different partner. But I live in hope Aliona will turn it around for him.

But there's no need to feel his chances are ruined. He's got it in the bag.
I would be gobsmacked if he didn't win this. He's basically Tom all over again.

I am wondering if Matt's gymnastics background is actually part of the problem.

My vast knowledge of gymnastics, garnered from watching and listening to the commentary on the Olympics on TV every four years, tells me that in gymnastics technique and precision are everything! Getting the angles, the rotations, the height of jumps, etc, spot on is vital.

With perhaps one exception, this leaves very little room for self-expression and emotion. It is all just so clinical.

I see this coming across into Matt’s dancing. Whilst the technique is often exactly as it should be (or pretty darn close), it all lacks a bit of warmth, or heat, or joy – passion!
So much so that I haven’t yet been able to watch one of his dances right through from go to whoa. None have actually grabbed me, so I go on to the next performance that some kind soul has uploaded to Youtube.

It really depends on how strong Matt's support is. I get the impression it's quite strong and not having a dance off this year works in his favour. Mark didn't get 10s until the semis and Tom didn't get any until the finals I think so I wouldn't worry too much. The judges always have their favourites as we know and more often than not the public disagree with them. It's probably not doing Kara or Scott any favours in the public eye to be dishing out all these 10s so early, sadly.

I thought the scores on Sat were reasonably fair in comparison to each other, but generally too high (in other words, Matt third was fair). I said to my OH, even before they'd danced, about Kara and Scott, "they'll be a 39 or 40 - guaranteed" and I wasn't far off. In fact, it may work in Matt's favour to let the others take the limelight for a bit, his time will come I'm sure.

I think thats a matter of opinion....Scott is getting something right that Matt isnt......I think its the performance and the coreography myself.

Could be something in what you say, sometimes partnerships hit it off just right.....if the teacher is good and knows the strenghts of their pupil then playing to their strengths is going to be a positive, its a bit hit and miss I suspect, both Scott and Kara seem to have good teachers, we can only imagine if Matt would be better given a different partner, would he respond better or worse, maybe he has the right partner and is as good as he is ever going to be, there does not seem to be any improvement from week 1 to now though.

Is it the fact that Bruno clearly wants scott in his pants so he can never do wrong in his eyes?

I think with Matt he has a busy work load, I think if he took a week off and jsut trained his performances would be great.

He was working extra hard last week with both countryfile and the one show, and he still got 3 nines.