Aliona sure seems to be playing it safe these last few weeks - kinda miss her wacky routines.

Guess it's no breakdancing in the final then?

Is Harry standing up to her or is she just playing the judges?

I think she's just learned her lesson from last year (and earlier this series), so fair play to her.

No, I doubt very much she's changed. She may even be dancing through gritted teeth (ouch) - but she wants to win!

I hope not, her zany stuff made things more interesting. But she does seem to have made a decision to play by the rules..for the time being.

Well in that interview of Harry in one of these gossip papers that I can't remember, It said that Aliona doesn't follow the same strategy of other pros to teach Harry. Other pros get the routine and steps out of the way first and then tackle the technique. But Aliona apparently teaches technique as she teaches the step, and the interview said sometimes they don't have the full routine as late as Thursday.

Now I don't know how accurate these articles are, but this would explain a lot regarding what we've seen of Harry. And it matches what Matt said last year that "Aliona teaches the steps as they should be danced". It explains why we saw half routines from Harry and the full half was danced brilliantly. And now that Harry has become more competent it takes her less time to teach him technique, so they can get through more steps in a week. And woalla! A full 1.5 minute routine.

And don't forget, Aliona choreographed a lot of full routines for Matt last year, who I guess could learn the technique faster than Harry, given his gymnastic background.

As for the wackiness of her routines, I just don't think Harry is a wacky kind of a person. They suited Matt well (though they didn't sit well with the audience, apparently). But Harry's routines have been quite conventional in comparison!

But if Harry makes it to the final, they'll have to do the American Smooth, and we all remember the weirdness that was Aliona's AS last year (and I personally loved it!). She'll also be out of the scrutiny of the judges (more specifically Len). So we'll have to see if the wackiness takes over again!

I bet she's itching to bust out some glittery wellies/emerge from a giant bowl of custard/whatever else goes on in Aliona's mind* (delete as appropriate).

She's calmed down a lot and last night's VW was pure content - she's reaping the rewards of the quieter choreography IMO.

Blackberry

I loved that AS - could never understand the judges reaction.

I also think Matt's Charleston was better than Harry's but the judges think otherwise.