Yes then- and then again when they marked him!!

My Mum has just been moaning about his marks even!

Although putting the dancing to one side for a sec, I think the partnerships this year are great - esp chelsee and pasha and flavia and russell. even holly and artem looked like they liked each other tonight!!!

Just watched Harry on iplayer. He looked awkward. There may be some recognizable samba steps in his routine, but he didn't do it very well. No flow, that's the only way I can describe it. It looked jarring. So I really think he should not be getting more than 8 (8 is generous, 9 is ridiculous).

I think on this occasion she was actually protecting him. There are three separate sections of 8-bars of standing on the spot. When he does move, he's slightly awkward. I can forgive her this time but i agree it's been infuriating in the past.

Denise and Ian's Samba is yet to bettered. Keep trying Aliona.

Aliona did a lot of dancing around him, but I'm pretty certain its because of how nervous he's been about this dance. He's struggled so she's tried to cover for him a bit. Thank goodness that ones over for him.

The Samba didn't seem to me to be a dance Harry would find easy to learn and that's the way it turned out.
They worked as hard as they could as usual and that was as good as I expected it to be.

Based on Harry having no previous dance experience before Ola's week teaching him the Paso Doble and the level of that Paso he produced, and the level he has reached being taught by Aliona, I think he is doing well. He has potential to dance very well in Ballroom and maybe Latin, but it seems to me he has to work very hard to achieve a high standard and a week is a very short time to learn a full dance to a high level.

Me! Me!

I watched tonight's show with somebody who is not a Strictly fan (such nobility to sit through it) and said, 'Aargh - he's just standing still and posturing while she gyrates around him! No bounce! Just watch though - it will be stupidly praised and overmarked because Harry's chest is very adorable.' Yup.

To name two off the top of my head....

Matt and Aliona
Zoe and Ian

Also Jill and Darren's was better in the same series.

Anyway....

The Samba is my favourite dance on the show and I was quite pleased when I seen Harry was getting it, as this years offerings of Samba so far have been below parr (Russell and Lulu, although decent and better than some).

But I was very disappointed. If Harry doesnt like something, he puts no effort into it and walks about with his face tripping him like a little school boy, and thats what happened tonight. he needs to put as much, if not more, effort into it when its not his favourite.

And for once I defend Aliona and her 'fluff' as she had to attempt to hide Harry's lack of ability. His bounce action was fake (like he was literally bouncing, when he remembered to, it wasnt coming from toe/knee/hip actions), even Russell had a decent natural bounce.

I loved that samba too, and I had hoped Aliona would have produced something similar tonight with Harry. Unfortunately, it was a very static and disappointing samba that got more points than it deserved. It pains me to say it, because I'm a Harry fan, but one has to be honest and say it wasn't that good a samba.

You know I think one of the reasons a lot of the celebs - especially the guys - find samba (and rumba) so difficult, is because everyone - the judges, Bruce, whoever happens to be on ITT, etc., keeps telling them how difficult it is!

To learn all the necessary technique can take years, but the celebs are not learning the dances as such, they are simply learning a routine; they only have to master the steps in that routine, parrot fashion. And if everyone would all just stop telling them they are so difficult, the celebs would probably just relax and get on with it.

Agree, tonight perhaps showed that Harry is not the great dancer everyone keeps saying he is, so Aliona is actually covering this very well if this is the case.

Well over marked tonight & I now am not looking forward to their Rumba whenever that may be.

Agree - the judges' scoring this year is becoming painful to watch ... especially Craig, whom I would normally trust, yet fawns over a routine with so little going for it. Harry scowled his way through it and spent way too much time standing still - yet nobody says a word. If other celebs had pulled the same stunt, they would have been slated. Harry, however ...

The favouritism is becoming ever more apparent. Unfortunately.

There may be something in them always saying its the hardest making people dread it, but the Samba IS truly difficult. Its by far the hardest to deal with out of the ballroom and Latin dances because of the bounce action and changes in rhythm and timing within the song (more so than any other).

I liked when the Samba was always the last latin dance to be done, as the celebrities by then were used to different rhythms.

Also I think if they introduced the mambo as an actual proper dance, it would help with the samba, as the mambo introduces certain aspects that would be beneficial later when it comes to the samba. The mambo incorporates most of the latin basics and to a lesser degree than the samba, introduces multiple rythms/actions in the one dance.

Also, fake bounce action is easy to include but it looks dreadful when placed next to a natural bounce.

So maybe Aliona isn't that bad a teacher and choreographer, considering she gets such high marks for no so well danced routines.

I dont think he is a great dancer - I think he is a drummer who is learning each week from a position of having no dance background other than trying to learn 6 different dances in the 7 weeks he has been dancing.
The Samba is very different from all the other dances he has tried, so on Monday he probably hadn't a clue how to do a Samba and almost zero relevant background to help make it easier.

That's just the way I see it.

I do think Harry has the potential to dance most of the dances very well, if he had enough time to learn them to that level.

I couldn't help comparing it to JRs on DWTS

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FsCCZ-3G1n0

It was sadly lacking for me.

Nope. I don't believe Aliona being that good. Harry is just much better with his ballroom than his latin, that's all.

ALL THE MORE Aliona should have created choreography that showcased how fantastic Harry's ballroom hold and posture is with content-rich waltz and tango. Instead we had showdances.

If Harry doesn't improve on his hip action (non existent in cha-cha, forced in samba) real soon, he's only going to be completely slated in their rumba when everything is SSSLLLLOOOOWWW. No, things are NOT looking good for Harry. If he has all the hours of training while Chelsee had to work a full-time job and still couldn't master the latin like he did with his ballroom, then he isn't as natural a dancer as Len made him out to be... Harsh, but true. take it like a man and START working hard for your latin, dude!

Very well out. I completely agree with you It's nice to see someone doesn't blame Aliona for every one of Harry's failures!

Finally, someone says it. Harry is just better at ballroom full stop. Why do we all expect him to be fabulous at Latin? We accept from other celebs that they are better at the one than the other, but Harry seems to have to be able to do everything well?

Aliona did well with the samba. Harry was not good at it and she created a dance that showed off his best. Some people might say he didn't dance enough, but maybe that was the point. There were no samba rolls, and maybe there's a good reason for that, and Aliona left them out purposely.

As for Aliona not showing off Harry more in ballroom, that criticism I underscribe. With Harry being more natural at ballroom, and having great posture, she should do more ballroom dances in hold instead of doing show dances.

Len said Harry was one of the best Ballrom dancers he had ever seen.

I'm hoping he meant on SCD.

That's because it IS the most difficult latin dance. I get your point, that people telling them it's difficult creates a mental block. But it's technically very very frustrating, and to do it in a non-cringeworthy way (and I'm talking in SCD level, not world championship level) they need to have a certain amount of fluidity in their bodies and most poeple, specially guys, lack that. The hip action is also very foreign, it's not the kind of hip action most people are used to because of dancing in clubs, watching/doing music videos, etc.

I don't know if you've ever tried it yourself? Or if you are one of those lucky people who's just natural at it and hence don't get why it's so awkward for others? I recommend you go to your nearest dance club and watch beginners have a go. A samba done badly looks much worse than pretty much any other dance done badly.

My mum isn't a fan but was plonked in front of the TV and even she commented that all she could see was Aliona.

Denise had the Samba down. Matt and Aliona's was very good but he lacked machismo and it was a bit mincey. Jill is overrated. Zoe's was exceptional. Denise was still better. *snaps fingers in a Z formation*

I like Aliona, but she's only gone and proved her denouncers right by choreographing a routine that was ALL about her.