Not so much this year, to be fair. Choreography-wise, she's easily my favourite professional.

Agree, never understood the bashing she gets, i think shes fabulous.

Very good point, as ever Ignazio.

I think she is an exceptional dancer, a hard worker and clearly a great teacher. It's such a shame that because of her ability and brilliance her talents attract so much resentment.

Ricky was known as a good dancer before hand, I knew that and I don't watch hollyoaks, so producers must have known. Scott, I expectected him to be a regular dancer but maybe not a good as he is.

Natalie delivers arguably the best choreographies with good music choices. That i am totally in agreement. Yet I can't warm up to her. I am not sure what it is but there is something about her persona that I find deeply uninspiring. And seems always in the interviews to be very ohh ahh, we are so lucky, he is doing all, she is the choreography... There is no much meat in that!

Aliona, in the other hand, I don't like her choreography nor her choices of music, yet I find her much more likeable and inspiring. More passionate character, more fiery. More personality i guess you feel that you know her better. Weird.

I don't know understand how Ricky could have been known as a good dancer. A footballer turned model/actor who was told he might not be able to walk after an injury and still has a metal rod in his tibia from it? And he's tall, you know, it's sooo much harder to dance when you're taaaaaall. You could tell from that?

I think there's an argument to say that if you get a bloke who's reasonably young and reasonably fit, with a decent work ethic, then you should be able to get more out of them than someone with obvious physical restrictions such as being older, overweight or with characteristics that go with their job, such as Peter Shilton's 'goalie shoulders'.

Natalie's had two reasonably young and fit blokes in a row, which could be seen as being an advantage.

On the other hand, I suppose you could class Craig Kelly and Jimi Mistry as RYARF as well, and poor Flavia didn't eem to have much luck there

I just read it somewhere that he was a good dancer, that he had been doing some choreographed dancing routines, as soon as he was announced as participating in strictly. I know I knew before he even step one foot on the set, so if I knew, for sure the producers knew.

The only choreographed routine I can think of is the comic relief one he did with hollyoaks...and I remember thinking...that's some bad dad dancing right there.

Totally agree with you.

Natalie works very hard to get her partners up to scratch,

Well, I didn't even know about that. I read somewhere he was good dancer, obviously you didn't know/read it. That is ok. The point is I knew he was a good dancer, and I am not involved in tv industry (apart from Qvc), so producers had to know it too. Actually now that I think of, it may have been one of the people working at Qvc that also works for stricly who told me before the program started.not sure though.

I can't say I have been that impressed with what Natalie has done with Scott in the last couple of weeks. I may speculate myself on how Aliona or Flavia would have done with Scott.

I don't really think you can blame Natalie. Scott refused to shake his hips during his Samba and he was like the walking dead yesterday.

Yes, it seems Natalie is never to blame, while Aliona is to blame for everything

It's not Natalie's fault that Scott is exhausted or unwell.

She has shown Scott to his best advantage & he looks totally comfortable & relaxed with Natalie.

I can,t take to Natalie at all, the size of her head is huge..........

I like Scott when he is not whinging...........but when she is on, I want to turn over or fast forward

Maybe, but Matt is working ridiculous hours too, yet Aliona seems to kop the blame when there was very little wrong with their dance last night.

People cope differently with tiredness,

IMO there was very little right with Matt's AS last night.
Aliona let him down badly when he the potential to blow everyone away.

I really didn't like Aliona's choreography last night, and I don't think Matt executed it particularly well.

I thought Kara was good last week, but I didn't like the Paso elements in her AS. Why can't they just stop messing about with everything?

The point is that Natalie choreographs her dances as each dance SHOULD be done, according to the ISTD/IDTA descriptions of each dance and this is what competitions go by - this is the format of dances Strictly used when the programme first began, so it is a benchmark by which to fairly judge the dances.

Aliona does not always do this, and this is why she comes in for criticism.

In the show, despite it now being an entertainment show, the entertainment medium is that the celebs are learning to dance so you have to know pretty much the rules for what each dance should contain, so it can then be fairly judged by that benchmark, in order to give comparative marks.

Then it's left to the public to choose their favourite whether based on dance or personality, or whatever other reason.

Aliona is obviously a talented dancer, but she tries in my opinion to be too different in the dances, making them more like dances you would do in a show like Burn The Floor or other dance shows, rather than a judged competition like Strictly's format (and I AM aware of the changes this year but they are still being judged on their dances) which does not fit the description of each dance. With the dances she choreographs, some are beautiful, but they are more like showdances, throwing the kitchen sink into them so you can't always tell what they are supposed to be - and for example, last night's interpretation of the AS did not fit the mood of the dance.

She is talented yes, but not in the way she needs to be for Strictly - it's not about showcasing her, but tailoring choreography to her celeb and allowing him to feel comfortable with it and shine, rather than having to match her.

The best pros of the past as well as some of the current ones e.g. Artem and Natalie, are the ones who have not showcased themselves but allowed their celebrity to look good by choosing suitable choreography and music which will fit the dance itself, and which their celebrity can actually do. We all know ALL the pros are fantastic dancers - but it takes a different skill to be a good teacher as well, and for me therein lies the difference between Aliona and Natalie. Natalie teaches the solid basics of each dance whereas I feel personally that Aliona goes for the flashier approach - a more showdance approach to her teaching.

Very often, less is more and I think Aliona just doesn't understand this concept - her way is to be eyecatching and out there, rather than being suitable for her partner.

My opinion only but this is why I don't enjoy her, whereas I DO enjoy Natalie because her choreo represents accurately the dance in question and is beautiful and traditional.

Is personal taste, but since Strictly started in this traditional way, it is what made people fall in love with dance, and when they are now faced with someone who choreographs things they cannot recognise, this is when they begin to criticise.

Is my view as to why you say she is "always to blame" but Natalie never is - Natalie's way just seems to fit the Strictly format much better. You as a pro can do your own thing in your own shows - this show is about the celeb learning to dance, not you showing what you can do as a pro.

Is not a "blaming" thing, just that a lot of people who watch Strictly and who have watched it for the dancing, do usually prefer to recognise the dance which is being performed and seeing the celeb grow, and shine.

Aliona did let Matt down and I hope she realises that. I am sure she is a wonderful choreographer for pros but that is not what is required here. She has to choreograph to Matt's strengths. I am not sure why she doesn't grasp this simple fact.

I am not as keen on Natalie but this year her choreography has been fantastic. Scott is limited in some areas (as are they all) but you would never know when you watch him dance the ballroom dances.

You only have to look at the audience reaction, Matt and Aliona's AS was outstanding, and Aliona did not let him down in any way shape or form. The scores were what let Matt down.

As most said,i also didn't expect scott could improve this much and dance better,so it is definitely down to Natalie. She is so great. I think Aliona can learn some teaching abilities from her. Because Aliona is also great pro dancer,but she just owns herself.

But Scott hasn't improved in recent weeks

This.

The audience do a standing ovation and cheer like lunatics for Ann every week so that is no indication of excellence

Aliona is letting him down badly.