I like kara and love to watch her dance but I thought that she has danced better than she did last night.
For me it was messy and did not flow and I hated the chair- she doesn't need the props, I would have preferred the chair to be in the opening sequence and them removed so they could dance.
I believe that the judges scored Pam as her best dance yet- sometimes a simple dance looks better than a dance with a high level of difficulty.
I think that the judges expect more from Kara and want to be totally blown away- which I think she is absolutely capable of!
That is why I think she scored lower last night- just my opinion

Thanks for saying what I have been saying in my head as reading all theses posts. Also it really is not an easy or comfortable dance fir a female, particually if like me you feel sick on a kids round a bout . You have to lean back and out to one side , whilst going round andround really fast. You can not spot as you have to keep you head in that position. Most females will have tensed up a little by the end of it. Except the pros who have been practising this for years and got used to the sensation. I personally find it the hardest of all the ten dances.

I thought this was fantastic and much better than Ali & Brian's that got the same score.

I very much enjoyed it. A proper dance and in the spirit of the dance.
Kara? Too much stage-business. Give me a proper tango. Tango beats VW all ends up. But NO props!!!

I was round at some friends last night and at the end of Pamela & James' dance we all thought they deserved 4 tens and were ecstatic when Craig finally dusted his off. But equally, we thought Kara & Artem deserved 4 tens as well as that was a magnificent Tango (although still not quite as good as Zoe & Ian's from a previous series IMO) so we were disappointed that Craig and Len scored 9s. None of us are dancers so maybe we don't see some of the footwork mistakes that others have noticed - we see the obvious ones, but didn't notice any last night in Pamela & James' dance. Just telling it from a non-dancer's point of view!

Pam got the 4 10's because it was a perfect dance, 'nuff said.

I had Kara and Pamela in joint top position on KP - they were always going to be the strongest performers of the night with the dances they were doing. I've finally got a positive score on KP after getting hit with the Points Destroyer FIVE times , so I don't want to go backwards!


Kara is this year's Alesha, but Alesha was better over all than Kara as you could feel the emotion in every dance when she danced with Matt C. It still comes over in old YT clips.

Alesha's Tango - fantastic story telling.
Alesha's AT - so subtly sexy.

It was tough because Pamela's dance was lovely - and then Kara's was better! They needed 11s! I can't understand why no 40 for K&A??

I don't think this dance should have received 4 10s. There was a long lead in, her neck kept disappearing, there was a definite stumble or sticky foot, the choreography was full of the 'Jordan's' trademark pivot turns (lots of show but not much content), and there was a long closing sequence. Think she only actually danced for about 10 bars of music.

All credit to her for the work she has put in but it wasn't a 4 10s dance.

With respect, no Buddy. Alesha emoted well but that tango is littered with toe leads and otherwise flabby foot/leg work as the youtube clip amply demonstrates. Kara's footwork was much better technically as well as being a good performance.

Technically I agree Kara is probably techinically better than Alesha.....but...Alesha had about ten times more stage presence and charisma, that wins. And indeed it someone can convey the emotion and passion better along with this, that should affect the scoring.

Kara is lovely, she's just not hugely charismatic.

kara deserved 4 10s noit pamela

I think this series has been one of the most overmarked so far.

Personally I've not yet seen a Ten-worthy dance from any of the couples.

A ten, for me, has that extra special X-Factor. Like Karen & Mark's Salsa, or Chris & Ola's Charleston.

I've enjoyed a lot of the dances and I think Kara dances beautifully but I haven't yet had the "stop eating my dinner/talking to the hubby/rewind it and watch it again straight away" magic that I've had in previous seasons.

missfrankiecat, sofacat has backup up what I meant when I said Alesha was better overall than Kara. It was the same situation with Ali Bastian. Kara and Ali are technically superior, but not the whole package. The reason Craig never gave Alesha a 10 was her feet.

I've only felt a 10 was truly due for Scott's and Pamela's VWs.

I can't even remember Scott's VW

But that's the thing about 10s - because they should have that bit of magic, I think they're also subjective. Everyone gets excited about different things. I'm not a big VW fan so its unlikely that I'll ever think one was really magical.

It's that star quality, the indefinable something isn't it?

Someone can be seriously good at something but unless they are 100% watchable, have heart and demand your attention they are not a star.

For me Kara has it more than Ali did...just not quite enough of 'it' as yet to get the 40. She may get there though.

Totally agree.

Buddy, I misunderstood your post. I can totally live with those who prefer Alesha's personality/performance skills as that is a very subjective call but I do get riled with the canonisation of her technique. I had the privilege of being in the studio three weeks in Alesha's series and can say the extent of her footwork deficiencies was often concealed by the camera work. She has an engaging personality to many but I will always regard her as a very over rated (and lucky!) winner.
(BTW I don't think Ali Bastian was in the same league as either Kara or Alesha)

I like Pamela and love the way that she has defied the expectations of what somebody who isn't young and thin can do. I have also felt that some of the criticism she comes in for is a bit unwarranted. She is, of course, aware of how potentially silly a sixty-something woman performing romantic or sexually-charged dances with a thirty-something man could look so she plays on it, jokes about it and hams it up; a classic defence mechanism - rather than be the butt of the joke make the joke yourself. And yes, she does reference psychology a lot but that is her day-job and it's not as if the other contestants never mention farming, acting, rugby etc.

She is not my favourite in the competition, I think there are others who perform more naturally, but I wouldn't be too unhappy if she were in the final. As for her VW, I thought it was danced well but that her top-line was too forced and stiff to deserve a 40. Props aside I think she has also benefitted from James's choreography this year, as unlike other professionals, he has managed to retain the essence of each dance.

Kara is my second favourite in the competition but I just find myself ever-so-slightly bored during her performances. I think Artem's choreography is a bit one-note, suited to the drama of the Tango and the Paso but lacking the charm or lightness needed for other dances. I want her to be in the final but I can't imagine going onto Youtube to watch any of her routines again.

Did think she was the best last night though, but that Matt had no chance to shine with what he was given to do.

You know, I think you have hit it there. I have been regarding Artem and Natalie's choreo (until three weeks ago) as the best ones this series, but I do think that considering their partners ability and state, I think James has done much better choreo than Natalie and even Artem. That is not to say that I personally have liked it more, just that I think like you that he has maintained the essence of the dance plus considerations of Pamelas strong and weaker points.

Just a quick question. Tom was my favourite that year, but I hear everyone saying that he was technically so inferior to Rachel. Do you think they are equally good technically?

It isn't easy is it? I'm doing tango and VW exams this term and I thought VW would be a doddle with hardly any steps to learn, but in fact I've had to spend the same amount of time on VW as I spend on tango and still my tango is better. As you say the problem is keeping the upper body in position and not tensing up as you try and keep the rotation going.

(Because Pamela obviously works out a lot, she doesn't have the best neck/shoulder line for ballroom - tthere is a limit on what she can do about that though. I was never that keen on Jade's topline for the same reason although Jade's shoulders were not quite so pronounced.)


Well at least someone is doing well this week on KP. It is a disaaaaarster for me and will probably be a negative score (although hopefully won't go negative overall)
Last edited by Vivacious Lady : 05-12-2010 at 14:45

I think Rachel was technically better but Tom was more of a natural. Rachel always gave me the impression she was a practicer - someone who does the step over and over and over, making sure every toe is in the right place, a perfectionist. Whereas Tom had that (dare I say it) Fred Astaire quality of slight messiness - that feeling of he just did it, it came out, sometimes it worked, sometimes not. They were different, but equally watchable in my opinion. Hope this helps