Big congratulations to Kara for winning. She is a lovely, elegant dancer and it would take a heart of stone not to be pleased for her.

But this is to say a huge 'Thank you' to Aliona and Matt for sticking with their principles to the very end and making the showdance fast, energetic, and relevant to the 21st century.

Aliona has been a breath of fresh air to the competition. It has been great that Matt has been prepared to completely endorse her choreography, and their American Smooth remains the abiding memory of the whole competition. In fact one of 'the' dances of any SCD series.

If in the end the audience prefers Kara's graceful elegance over Matt's energy and intensity, then so be it. But huge respect to Aliona and Matt for giving the audience the choice. And I will miss that red hair!

I completely agree with you.

I have re-watched their show dance a couple of times now and it gets better everytime I watch it.

It felt odd the first time I saw it but that was because it was so different but when you watch it again you can apppreciate how well Matt danced it.

Total Girl Crush Alert

Thought she was fantastic

I think Aliona's been pretty badly done to throughout this series

at least she is trying to do something a bit different with her choreography - and had a partner who could actually move to try it out with

sometimes it doesn't work but that's what happens when you're challenging!

I think the argument that 'matt would have walked it with another partner' is fundamentally flawed

I think Matt and Aliona were perfectly paired. if Kara had not been in this series, he could well have won, although the Pamela clique were very strong. (PS clique in a nice way, as in operas).

Matt trusted what Aliona was doing, and she pushed him way out of the Mr Nice boundary lines. Everybody respected the work they did together, despite his hectic schedules, and I don't think Matt's going to be too sad about the result. His new presenting job is in the bag and he will become even more of a household name now.

Aliona was - and still is - daring and different, so we need her back next year too.

Maybe this wont be a big Society, but I appreciate her. It has been a tough series, having to organise and travel all over the British Isles and train in any space they could find at any time they could get.

They didn't make a big thing of being ill this week and Aliona injured her back on Sunday which affected what they could do for 2 days. She is different, fearless, funny and other good things.

From the VT's we have seen, I think she is a good teacher. Matt thinks so.
Her choreography is hit and miss. The AS I loved, apart from the knees bent runaround bit. The Samba, Charleston, Jive all were very entertaining and memorable. Not everything worked, and I hope she has learned from that and will continue to take calculated risks.
She does need to adapt her views of the judges. Three of them are very inconsistent, but they still matter and they get paid more for entertaining than getting the judging right or they would have been sacked long ago.

On these forums, her choreography splits people down the middle. But I appreciate she has tried something different
But not many people have attacked her personally, which is good because she seems like such a sweetie. Slightly mad, in a good way

She is also the most beautiful dancer IMO
Disturbingly, my whole family seems to have a crush on her, especially my Grandad

She is beautiful. I am going to miss her.

Aliona makes SCD worth watching for me!

I doubt if I would have stuck with it had she gone out early.

I really like Aliona.She has an infectious giggle,sparkly eyes,a gorgeous body and refreshing choreography. Best of all...............she is a custard addict like me!!!

I think Aliona is a refreshing break from the safe and I luvvved that AS. She's cute and feisty and I think Matt was lucky to have her.
I hope she gets a good dancer next year and her choreography lives on!

I'm still laughing at the thought of breakdancing in the Strictly final but I absolutely loved it.

I don't mean this in any derogatory way about the other contestant but the dances that will stay with me are Matt's AS, Samba and showdance - apart from Kara's Paso I would not want to watch any of the other dances again.

Matt & Aliona stayed true to their spirit of pushing the boundaries - they did not play safe.

I wish there had been a camera on Goodmans face throughout - it would have been hilarious.

The Custard Queen certainly made Strictly memorable for me.

Aliona has been a great addition, gorgeous looking a great dancer and dared to be a bit different.

Aliona:- The best thing to happen to SCD since.....custard in a can

I have loved watching Matt & Aliona Loved their Charlston, AS and VW.

Please come back next year Aliona.

For me, Aliona was the best thing about this series.

I hope she reads these supportive threads, because I felt sorry for her on a number of occasions when Len was failing to conceal his dislike for her.

I hope he goes, and the contemporary breath of fresh air that is Aliona, stays.

I like Aliona's sense of fun and she is very good in front of a camera, so when I heard that the showdance had a farm theme, and the song was 'I like the way you move',
I seriously wouldn't have been surprised if Aliona had used this version

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S8dvWiUXr9c

I think it was the contemporary choreography Len disliked, rather than Aliona.

It certainly made this series one to watch, and I hope she comes back. I don't think I will hang around too long next year if we are forced to watch all traditional fare. zzzzz.

I have a sore throat at the moment so struggling to eat much but on the positive side that means I can indulge in soothing foods that I normally restrict because of calorie content - such as ice cream and CUSTARD

I love Aliona My fav pro dancer she is forever pushing the boundries and is just the cutest thing ever She has to be back next year <3 x