But he did have a tense face - and if he was acting the angst, he's a bad actor.

I think the judges made fair comments, I thought at the time that he looked as if he was concentrating on the steps and I didn't think it was part of the dance. Sorry.

That sort of judgement is probably why she was fired.

I was in the audience on Saturday, and despite us all being encouraged before it started to give all the dancers standing ovations, and the floor managers urging people to stand after every dance, people didn't, Matt's and Aliona's dance was the only one where everyone stood to applaud, a few people stood for some of the others, but for M & A it was genuine and spontaneous it was, along with Pamela and James by far the best dance of the night.

Pam and James are the best dance of the night, but so not deserving of tens. There was an obvious error from Pam half way through the routine. Silly Alesha and Bruno. They have themselves to blame for scoring a dire dance from Scott a nine.

interesting
thanks for that

Just as many of us suspected - thanks so much for confirming!

Avant garde is the right word. too avant garde for the expectations of three of the judges. Watch Singin' in the Rain if you can, it's on Film 4 occasionally at the moment. Look beyond the title dance, especially at the dream sequence dance. I swear Matt started to remind me of Gene Kelly there, but he still needs to get the "smile that's always fighting though the pain".

Matt felt something special, the audience felt something special, draw your own conclusions about why Len, Alesha and Bruno didn't.

Isn't it just possible that those 3 judges thought it a tad ridiculous like some people (eg moi) did? This is a good example to me of a contempo piece.
I felt embarrassed watching Matt.

Matt & Alionas dance was ambitious and contemporary, it may not have come off completely and some parts were slightly ungainly - that said the responsibility that Matt shouldered in those solo sequences was terrific and he really put his heart and soul into that dance.

Aliona has a tendency to pack too much into a routine and the dance may have been better as a spectacle with a little less content.

If you take risks, as Alesha laughingly claims she wants people to, then sometimes the routines will divide opinion.

It appears that some of the judges cannot makes their minds up - both Matt & Kara who are the two most ambitious and entertaining dancers are falling foul of these inconsistencies.

I applaud both Matt & Kara for wowing the audiences - if that does not go down well with the judges lets hope the people will reward the couples.

I argee - even Kara admitted her jive wasn't her best effort which is why I like Kara. I'm worried about Scott and although he's produced a lot of the best dances this series - it's a real question mark as to if he can find the energy or there's a let up in his work schedule that will allow him to perform to the best of his ability - it's a pity if that can't happen but over-marking him won't help him - it will just get backs up and decrease his support.

cymrugirl, in that audience you'd have been in a tiny minority.

But then that's been the fate of you Welsh since 1282, hasn't it?

Gethin am byth!

Except I'm not really welsh...I'm an Aussie!

Or maybe it's why she's needed? Isn't it good if the judges's have differing opinions? Especially if they are informed ones?

Extract from this blog: http://womanwhotalkedtoomuch.blogspo...blackpool.html

Next it's Matt and Aliona. Rescue me, Matt. In the VT, Matt says, "There's no doubt about it, Aliona and I are a great team, to be honest." Thus I conclude that he HATES her. Aliona says "Our secret is that we understand each other very well without talking to each other." Yup. She hates him back. Much as I love watching Matt and Aliona dance, there is a little part of me - well, a medium sized part of me - oh OK, I basically am dying to see them crack and start trying to kill each other on the dancefloor. First Matt would pull her by her My Little Pony pink hair. Then Aliona would gouge her talons down his happy farmer face. Come on, admit it, it would be AMAZING.

Instead they perform an American Smooth. (I can't help but notice that the producers - the same producers that make Scott look like an arrogant, self-satisfied cock in the VT each week - are also giving him the same dance as Matt each week, as if to say to the audience, "Look at these two identical dances, and see how much better one of them is." Who did Scott shag and never call back?) It's clearly been designed to be incredibly romantic - flowing garments, glorious lifts, do I detect rumba-influence choreography? - and yet the whole thing is immeasurably improved for me by imagining the two of them spending the entire dance thinking about how much they loathe each other and devising elaborate revenge scenarios in the manner of Kathleen Turner and Michael Douglas in War of the Roses. "When I watch you eat, when I see you asleep, when I look at you lately, I just wanna smash your face in."

Alesha says that she's disappointed, because she didn't feel relaxed watching it, and Matt's face looked "tense". I have to agree, if by "tense" she means "you looked like you wanted to bite off one of Aliona's ears". Bruno genuinely mentions the words "American Psycho" and "murder". Apparently, I am not alone.

Scores: 8, 8, 8, 9 and 9 from me, though I'd have given another point for bloodshed. Tell you what, I have massively perked up.

I agree with http://whymissjones.blogspot.com/201...and-other.html. I think Aliona needs to encourage Matt's joyful side.

"Next up are Matt and Aliona, who are dancing the American Smooth. Now, let's imagine you're a professional dancer and your celebrity partner is graceful, muscular and gymnastic, with a twinkly old-fashioned appeal. You'd be channelling Gene Kelly for all you're worth, right?

Not if you're Aliona.

If you're Aliona, you choreograph an incredibly bizarre 'story' dance that - unforgivably – makes you think of the rumba when it's NOT EVEN A RUMBA. You will make Matt wear a terrible 'blousony' shirt that matches your hair, and have him pull excruciating 'I'm in love! I'm in pain! I'm in love!' faces throughout. Matt starts and finishes on the floor, which makes me think he's meant to be dead. I wonder if this is what he was wishing for when Aliona first showed him the steps. At the end, he bangs his fists on the ground in anger/pain/frustration/it's anyone's guess really. I'm not sure if that's actually in the choreography. Aliona says the dance is about 'a struggle in New York'. Aliona, finding a nice hotel room in Manhattan for under £100 is 'a struggle in New York'. This dance is not.

Matt looks deeply embarrassed during the judges' lukewarm comments, like he just wishes he was in a field in the dark in County Durham birthing a sheep, even if it is -10º outside. Matt's lovely wife in the audience has a face that says 'You! Red! Why are you making my husband look like a TOTAL moron?'

Should they make the final, I can only imagine the interpretive car crash of their showdance."

I bet Matt and Aliona are astonished to find that they are so important, that so many devote so much time to them

Oh no Teeswolf, Miss Jones isn't singling out Matt and Aliona the blog features everyone else too. Here's Kara and Artems -

Kara and Artem are on first. Artem is clearly feeling better because he has a hat on again. All is right with the world. Not the fashion world, obviously. But, you know, the Strictly world, which a remarkable number of people confuse with the real one.

Kara and Artem are dancing the jive. It doesn't go entirely according to plan. It's a bit unfocused and there seems to be something missing. Maybe what's missing is two days' training which they had to skip as a result of Artem's shocking Neck! Injury! But still, Kara is just great at dancing. I'm sure she could pick her nose and wipe it on the judges' desk in a way that looks elegant and well-placed.

In a week in which Alesha's judging plums new depths, she tells Kara and Artem that they are on a journey. Let's recap. They started off being really good. They're still really good. They got off with each other a bit and then Artem hurt his neck. That's hardly the Trans-Siberian railway, Alesha.

I "agreed with" (I should say "appreciated") both those blogs, Noone, but didn't like to push my luck quoting both of them - so thanks for adding No2

yep that blog is bang on imho. I think Matt is good and I like him he but could be bloody brilliant IF he had the likes of Natalie for example as a partner. Instead she's got deadman walking and matt's got Aliona who makes Flavia's moon choreography look positively safe and dull

oh god don't - please not a bacofoli style car crash - you just know it would be some weird interpretation of the miracle of life as told in thye stylee of a mad Twilight fan

I spent the whole routine wondering if it was meant to be a parody of contemporary dancing, it's a shame, I think Matt could've pulled off an amazing traditional AS.

I found this clip from sytycd to the same song and with a different sentiment behind the routine (similar to this one), he could have actually pulled a modern routine off. It was the smell-the-fart gazes and the poncy running steps that made it look bad.

My opinion is the judges are deliberately tailoring their marks each week to favour different couples so there is no runaway leader and it keeps the tension going to the end.

For me if I was a judge -

Kara - she was great at the start and has been getting better - certainly the most consistent performer. This week was perhaps a bit low key and I would have given her an 8

Matt - for me he has come on the most - his rate of improvement by far the highest, perhaps let down by some strange choreography. This week was a bit weird in places and I would have given him an 8

Scott - potentially the best dancer. When he gets it right he is fantastic - but you have to be able to deliver on the night to win it. This week he might have been great at the bits he got right but there was so many mistakes - I would have given him a 5 - you can't get around the fact he was being dragged around by Natalie, at one point by his neck!

Pamela - the most surprising. She is way better than I thought she would be but she hasn't improved as much and now is performing below my expectations whereas at the start she was above them. This week was ok but the transitions were jerky, some of the steps were stompy. I would have given her a 7.

I would have given Ann a 2, Patsy a 6 and Gavin a 4

They might be harsh but the range I think would be a fair reflection on the performances and content.

If Scott could find the time to practise he could walk away with it as the best dancer. I don't think he will though so I think it will be between Matt and Kara.

I am amazed that you think Scott could possibly deliver elegant Latin, I cannot see him as an all-round dancer. Great for foxtrot, waltz and QS, that's it.

What really upsets me is that it's looking most unlikely that we'll be allowed to see Matt dancing at his best - Aliona seems to be deliberately over-stretching him and inserting elements into the routines that look ungainly and stressful.

It seems to me that most of the Pros consider themselves to be dancers but Aliona, who I like as a person, seems to think she's more of an artiste, you can tell by the way Matt talked about the AS that he thinks she's one too. Which is all for nice for the two of them.

However, I don't think this approach is doing him any favours because if you watch other free dances or interpretive dances Aliona's choreography is pretty mundane by comparison anyway. But basically, it's not her dream she should be following and she should be choreographing to highlight Matt's strengths and not is weaknesses (he can't act - sorry).

And I am very sorry to have to agree with you