There have been some amazing routines over the years - Jill and Darren's jive, Ramps and Karen's salsa in particular spring to mind. No tricks, acrobatics, props etc. Just brilliant choreography.

To be fair it just reminded me of something out of Dad's Army

Although- I can probably see the workings in Len's mind there- the fact he probably has about 15 years experience on Craig- who has just provided a low mark, which- coming from a genuine sense of believing it was worth more, having seen, danced and judged the plethora of quality and like of throughout his life, is completely absurd. It's one of the few times I don't think a judge was doing it out of media publicity- I think that's genuinely a disgusted impulsive reaction from Len- one which I humbly agreed with.

I would like to point out- perhaps something for Aliona to consider.

Think of all the memorable dance choreographies we've seen over the years- the ones that have gone down in Strictly folklore.

Jill and Darren's Jive
Darren and Lillia's Quickstep
Zoe and Ian's Tango
Mark and Katen's Salsa
Alesha and Matt's Cha Cha
Matt and Flavia's Waltz
Tom and Camilla's Freestyle
Rachel and Vincent's Argentine Tango
Chris and Ola's Charleston
Ricky and Natalie's Quickstep
Kara and Artem's Rumba

None of the above were made great by any nouveau stylistic choreography, by any tricks or gimmicks (With the exception of the freestyle and the Charleston, which were meant to have them in...), or by anything wild and funky.

They were made great by the atmosphere they created, by the technique of the celebrity, by the story told through the dance and by a partnership where celeb and pro were joined in perfect unison and looked almost like a true professional competition pairing.

Aliona needs to look at these pieces of choreography and relationships-- You saw how Zoe and Ian were when they were reunited together on ITT on Wednesday- she needs to look at these, and learn how to make greatness, not reinvent it!

Exactly this, and when Aliona does get it right, I really do think she's on the money. For the poster who commented that Aliona's choreo went down really well on tour, I think the reason for this is because the dances they performed (Samba and Tango) were two dances in particular in which Aliona got it exactly right with the choreo in that she had the right amount of showy stuff and judge pleasing technique An example of this would be her removing the backflips in the Samba to after the routine in order to have less 'faffing abaht' on tour, which got them higher marks from Len.


I wasn't really a Kartem fan, and I'm not really a Jason fan either, but so far, he has got a higher score than her for both weeks and also, I don't really think Kara looked like the clear cut winner or infallible in the early stages either. However, I do agree that there's probably more open competition for the final bunch of celebs and you can't really who the final 3 are going to be for example and on that basis, Aliona should be aware how she could be damaging to Harry in the long run if she doesn't try to resolve this situation now.

She may not like the judges or whatever, but when their marks can place you in danger (i.e by being middle of the leaderboad) this is when she needs to just bite her tongue and get on with things. It's kinda like joe bloggs in a normal job, I'm sure they've come across a manager/boss they don't like but it's a job at the end of the day so you just need to bite your tongue and get on with it, keeping your head down.

Kara was technically (minus the stumble in week 1, which contributed to her getting lower scores than Jason this time around) very very good early on. Jason, tonight, looked a bit wobbly, his footwork wasn't quite so crisp and I'm not sure the Foxtrot was his dance- it was very good compared to some of the others, but I think that's what I'm getting at- Kara looked technically better than Jason at this stage, if not the finely polished gem of a champ she eventually proved to be.

But you are right- Harry was 5th after the last 2 weeks? And that's behind people like Anita and Chelsee who people would not naturally assume to be frontrunners. Whilst those and the likes might fall away as their fan numbers vastly shadow Harry's (so we're lead to believe by the screaming fan girls) The likes of Holly and Jason may well disappear into the distance given half an chance- and the Flavant roadshow will keep trundling for many weeks to come if history is anything to go by. Harry and Aliona may find themselves in trouble- not by any disadvantage Harry has on Jason, Holly, Anita et al, but because Aliona could cripple him, which would be a chronic waste, and unforgivable on Aliona's part!

Too bad his 15 years of extra experience didn't teach him some manners.

Quel surprise - I agree with you, Buddy!

Brendan may well have been singled out in the past - but I suspect that's more because the producers know he is prone to throwing a strop - and that kind of 'drama' is very much the lifeblood of shows like Strictly.

I could not believe Aliona was so stupid as to dismiss the judges' comments on ITT. And it wasn't just Len's - it was all of them. She came across as smug and arrogant - because she has a contender as a partner, she thinks she can do what she wants.

Len may well have responded to that tonight - which is his prerogative - but the subtext to all the judges' comments was that Harry has a talent that will blossom with the right nurturing - i.e. Aliona's not doing a very good job at the moment.

One supporter of Matt's last year tried to brand Aliona as 'rebellious', but that's a theory that doesn't really hold much water. At best, she's short-sighted - at worst, arrogant.

If Aliona wants to succeed, she needs to play the game, and give the judges what they are looking for. The judges' scores count on the final leader board - so, by delivering what they want, you can help prolong the life of your celeb in the competition. James Jordan did that repeatedly with Pamela Stephenson last year and got to the final. It's time Aliona wised up - or was shown the door.

Maybe- but then we enter the waters of Craig's borderline critique (I say borderline because a lot of the time he isn't that bad- but last week, James was absolutely right, he was slightly too overbearing)

And then we enter even mirkier waters- may I remind you of Alesha's onslaught of Craig Kelly- rightfully so because the dance was good, but then she did the taboo of comparing him directly to the previously fallen Zoe Lucker, and basically going all out on a personal attack.

Then we have the likes of Brendan and James and their outbursts over the years to judges and their partners! (Brendan and Sarah in series 2! And then his zealous defence vs Craig of Claire King)

Experience and manners are often no match for impulse and emotion in these situations. I think human nature may allow us to forgive and move on

I think we have to call it quits as we're doing a Craig fan vs Len fan conversation.

There's positive and negative to be said about both of them.

James and Pam are a perfect example of how to do well. Pam with anyone else could have ended up like Widdy or Edwina, dismissed and gone by the 4th week. James was fantastic in his choreography getting the best out of his partner, and not trying to hide behind gimmicks or hide their partner behind the pro's natural talents Robin, Erin, Ola and Pasha are doing that brilliantly this year with their partners, Aliona's shortcomings have to be highlighted by those who are clearly working with (arguably) less but producing more!

I'm neither! I'm a judges fan vs. Aliona!! (although, if pushed, I'm defo a Bruno fan!) I said before that between the 4 of them (although, seriously, Karen or Camilla would be far more adequate and appealing than Alesha... but let's not go there again) they make a very good and accurate team. I think they all have their strengths and weaknesses, but they balance and cover each other, and produce, overall, the correct leaderboard. They deserve the respect, and those calling for Len's head are just a bit OTT in my humble opinion

Indeed, Robin has proved the same last year and Erin has proved it in previous years. Ola proved it with Chris.

Oh, they definitely deserve the respect. I would just like to see Len treating Bruno and Craig with the same respect they treat him with. They don't insult Len, so he shouldn't do it either.

I disagree, I wasn't quite such a big Patsy & Robin fan tbh- but he and Natalie have both grown on me this series because I feel they're becoming a bit more Strictly-ish. Natalie's choreography is infinitely better this year than she had with Scott and Ricky, and Robin, I don't know, I think Anita brings out the best in him!

However- totally agree with reference to Cola- Ola is perhaps a bit of an unsung hero but, out of everyone- Chris Hollins has been the biggest underdog ever to win- has to be down to Ola- who I don't think got enough credit amongst their victorious euphoria within the media.

Erin is just a star- and I hope she gets next year's Matt Baker/Scott Maslen/Jaosn Donovan because she hasn't really been in with a shout since Austin Healy, and before that Colin Jackson (you may say Julian but really that was just the Russell factor with jet propulsion!).
The same with Flavia who has really only had Matt Di Angelo! And yet they always seem to do good if not astounding jobs with what's in front of them. Those two are, to me, the paradigms of how the female pros should manage their celebs.

ARE YOU READING THIS ALIONA?!?!?!?

I do think Robin got the best out of Patsy last year. She got further than one would have expected.

Erin and Flavia are indeed true professionals and have been dealt some rough cards over the last couple of years.

I think Aliona was extremely ill advised to say what she did on ITT, suprisingly enough this show is not all about her and what she wants to do its meant to be about Harry and whats best for HIM so on ITT she should learn to be a little more diplomatic and think about her celebrity. We may not always (if ever) agree with some of the judges comments but they are there to do a paticular job and if they dont give you the scores you need it will eventually come back to bite you on the bum.

I thought it slightly ironic that this happened tonight when for once I thought the coreography was rather lovely and Aliona certainly looked beautiful.....I just think personally that Harry isnt connecting with her and he is a bit dull on the dancefloor so it didnt have the wow factor that it might have had.

If she doesn't take the judges' comments on board (meaning she doesn't listen to them) then do you think she'll listen to small fries like us?

One can only hope! And it's not necessarily us, but just learning to be, as her title suggests, professional- like the examples given before of Erin and Flavia! Difficulty is the fact she was given 2 contenders in a row means she thinks she can do what she likes and the votes will keep coming in anyway... I think she needs to be given someone slightly less talented to give her something to think about when the judges scores may make all the difference- it's worked with the likes of Natalie, hopefully it will work again :S

Harry, contrary to his 'wild' Mcfly persona, actually appeared to be rather shy. Did you see him looking bashful right at the very end of his foxtrot, as if he couldn't believe he just danced it?

I thought Harry was doing a fantastic job of what he was given (like Matt was doing a fantastic job of what he was given to him last year), and Aliona will do well and take the judges' criticisms on board, such as sorting out Harry's posture, his hand/thumb/chin placement etc.. Harry looked like he was leading Aliona in that dance and appeared to present her really well. Now if this was a pro male dancer showcasing the female celeb it would have been an EXCELLENT routine choreographically speaking. But Harry IS the celeb here, and Aliona could learn from Ola by choreographing some solo bits to showcase Harry like what Robbie had done with that umbrella (I am usually not a prop man but Robbie's umbrella lark actually drew attention to himself, in a good way, a gamble that paid off).

Perhaps Aliona was going for a romantic angle and the routine appeared to move the audience to have made them stood up and clapped at the end, but why did she make Harry half-kneel down with his back facing the camera towards the end, looking at her woman-bits? If she wanted Harry to see her woman-bits there shouldn't she at least place Harry in such a way that he was facing the camera instead? Bizarre choreography, no?

Nah, I won't hold my breath, Rav is a clear example. She'll still do what she wants.

I think many of you are forgetting one thing - Harry wants to win too - she may not listen to the judges comments - but he's already said he does.

To win this both sides need to work together and listen to each other. If Harry takes on board the comments and tells her he wants to do x and y will she alienate him by ignoring his requests or will she try to accommodate them?

At the end of the day, choreography plays a huge role in this competition.For the moment she might think that because of Harry's fan base she has a guarantee place in the final(well the top 3) but if she continues down this road they might never get there.
I think that her choreography is a bit of hit or miss.

Rav was her first entry though- she didn't really have anything to judge herself by SCD wise- having been on a few series now, she may have to consider herself. But when she gets the 1s 2s 3s from Craig, she may have to rethink her game plan. That won't happen this series, Harry's just too good, but it's something to think about...

Aliona already said in the VT on the first week that 'I have one word of advice for my new dance partner: don't fight me, because there's no point to it (*silly girly giggles*, the same giggle she did when interviewed by Zoe during ITT about judges' comments)' or something like that, meaning she won't listen or care what her male celebs wants, it's either her way or the high way. Not a good start, is it? If you don't believe me, then watch the Week 1 Saturday show and you'll know what I mean...

I think though in competitions like SCD and DOI fan bases only really make a huge difference in the first few weeks - as the weeks go on viewers start to judge on personalities and performances - so the couples will either gain or lose voters.

Also it remains to be seen how big the McFly fanbase really are and also how inclined to repeat voting - money's tight these days.