nor for me either lol.

But do you know any quiet Russian words?
In case you didn't I respectfully offer 3 which Aliona herself also uses:

"закройте f#ck вверх"

^^^^^^^^ wouldn't say Aliona is rubbish, but she has shot herself in the foot a bit for her choreography and teaching. This isn't me being nasty but just telling it like it is. Right now it's safe to say Kara at this stage is going to clinch it, unless fortunes change in Matt's favour.

Same here.

I agree with you, with regard to the title of the thread. That's just descending to the level of some threads you see in the X-Factor forum.
Having said that, most posters seem fair, and have made some good points. I said weeks ago that Aliona's choreography could be Matt's undoing. When she gets it right, it's outstanding,,but she can be rather avant-garde for many peoples taste.
I actually enjoyed this week's performance, and thought the judges were particularly harsh with their marks. I've watched it again, and agree the Salsa content should have been more conspicuous..but I thought it was still a difficult and clever routine, and pleasing to the eye.

I'm really turning into a forum knight tonight, as a result this will be my forum behaviour from now on.

The choreography was brilliant. Matt was over hyped and he totally mis interpreted the dance unfortunately. I love Matt but he has lost his way recently and has allowed his fantastic enthusiasm to run away with him somewhat. I still think he will get through but it may be very very close and if he does get through he needs to relax and let his dancing do the work.

support that post totally.

I don't think Aliona is rubbish...I think that's a tiny bit harsh, but I do see where most posters are coming from - it must be infuriating to see your favourite celeb not fullfilling his potential because of the choreography, s a Kara fan myself, if Artem was like Aliona in the choreography deparment I may have ended up screaming at the tv in frustration many a time by now

I think Aliona seems to be such a sweet girl, I've really warmed to her a lot this year from the interviews on It Takes Two etc. but she does let Matt down a bit sometimes. Because her choreography is so quirky, it is going to divide opinion a lot, for example, I'm not a Matt fan at all, but i LOVED their american smooth, I loved the originality of the routine and the storytelling, the only thing I didn't like were Matt's facial expressions...I do get the sense that I'm probably in the minority though for liking Aliona's choreography on that occasion ...

But yeah on the whole, I don't think she's rubbish...I think she's good for taking risks, wich do pay off occasionally imo...but I do agree she isn't making the most of Matt's talent

Good grief, another Aliona-bashing thread.

Matt's "salsa" dancing was poor. Yes, the salsa choreography was not inspired, but Matt got the low marks he did because his technique was poor. Even though Matt may be the "natural" dancer of the lot, he just hasn't spent enough time in the dance studio perfecting technique.

Matt/Aliona were let down by the non-Salsa music, too. It just was wrong (maybe I'll write more about that later in the morning.)

Len's remarks about Matt's dancing tonight were spot on.

I agree. I think Matt was trying too hard, much like Jimi used to do. The dancing was not good.

Morning everyone.. ooh my first post here

I liked Aliona to begin with - I thought she was quirky and added a bit of life into the show which is looking a bit flat and tired in my opinion. Her early routines looked good in comparison to now because her and Matt were up against some weaker dancers. However, now we have just the good dancers left, gaps in her choreography abilities are showing. The salsa would probably have been ok in week one or two, but in the semi, it just isn't cutting it. The music wasn't much good. Kylie didn't do much for Patsy and RObin either. The right salsa music is crucial otherwise it just falls flat. Also, Aliona flailed aronnd Matt and he looked like he was being pulled off balance all the time.

I think Matt would have come along a lot better with another professional. Someone like Camilla. I watched her foxtrot with Tom the other day and she really pulled the choreography out of the bag there. Smooth, elegant. Perfect. Makes me cry everytime

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8S5SHLP1ZrM

And the thing is, Tom was criticisced a lot for his smug/tense facial expressions but Camilla's routines were so good that I think this was only a minor thing they had to pick up on.

Anyway, hopefully Aliona will have a better Tango up her sleeve. I don't actually know if I can bear to watch it though..

Good grief - how on earth can you label 142 million people with one personality stereotype?
It's like saying all Brits are eccentric and old fashoned!

I don't think Artem seems unemotional and lacking humour? He often seems to be laughing, joking and analyses the feelings between him and Kara and is really honest about their relationship, training and choreographs amazing and beautiful routines!

Not sure it's a 'nationality' thing!

I don't think Aliona is rubbish. I think she is an amzing dancer & I love to watch her in the Pro dances..

However I do feel she isn't suited to SCD.
She doesn't seem able to focus on her celeb & choreograph to their strenghts & to hide the weaknesses.
She seems very set on showcasing herself & her choreography in a way that Ian, Erin, Lilia & Darren have never done.

Well, in that sense, she IS rubbish as a pro partner for SCD. What more can you say? They are all professional so no surprise that they can actually dance. But she just seems to enjoy putting her fingers up the judges' arse with her half-arty-farty choreography (like the AS and VW), or compeletely contentless jive or salsa.

Yes she does.

I believe she's saving that part of the routine for the showdance

I don't know much Russion so thank you for that help

HOwever, I do have a feeling it doesn't say 'Would you please choreograph something suitable for Matt'

I like Aliona. Her custard related comments on ITT have made me laugh and she seems lovely (certainly not lacking in humour or warmth), I have also enjoyed watching her dance with Matthew Cutler.

But she is not grasping what herr role is in SCD. It's not to create wacky dances and weird choreography. It's to look at Matt and decide what his strengths are, because he has quite a lot of them to choose from, then devise a routine that show them off (this does not mean just lumping backflips on at the end ). She also has to look at what he is not so good at but which he could improve and work on that with him each week maybe introducing little bits here and there into the routine.

She should also know exactly what he is not good at (acting etc) and try to have as little as possible of these, if at all. He is not an actor so his facial expressions are never going to be great. So don't give him angst ridden storylines.

I don't think she does 'get it' though which is such a shame.

The problem I have with Aliona is that she didn't get Matt to understand the dance - she appeared to concentrate on getting him to do difficult moves in an exaggerated way, but not spent any time just explaining the dance, showing him examples, spending a couple of hours getting the basics down and the feel right.

I can't believe that Matt couldn't have done this, given the right teaching - it's not rocket science and he's a great mover.

Aliona appears to concentrate on difficult and extreme choreography at the expense of getting the basics down, and showing her partner's talent off in this more conservative but effective way.

Not understanding the basics and 'feel' of the dance precludes getting the emotion right. Matt appears to try really hard, and Aliona to push him in the wrong directions, those that SHE thinks will create something 'flashy' and 'original' and that she likes.

I think it's a shame. After a few ordinary salsa lessons I feel Matt could have done better than he did.

Starpuss

Totally agree, by the way - great post (hadn't seen it when I posted mine).

Hi! How are you?

I agree with your post too (this is sounding sickeningly sycophantic isn't it? ).

He is a lovely dancer, very graceful and agile. As you say, just going to your bog standard salsa classes for a couple of would have given him better technique than last nights effort. Salsa is hardly a complex dance

He doesn't need to emote whatever story Aliona has going in her head. He doesn't need to go crazy with props etc. He just needs to settle down, have fun and enjoy what he is good at.

With Aliona busily jabbing her fingers up the judges, I don't see that happening. So next! Don't want to see them in the final!

I'm fine

And absobleedinlutely

I agree hun, she makes it so overcomplicated he has to constantly think about it rather than feeling it. It's like he's always trying to catch up to the choreography and the beat and doesn't have time to let the music wash over him. You can almost feel him constantly reaching for the emotion but it just being out of reach.

It's such a shame because I think he has the potential to do a completely amazing dance.