I agree its not that easy to work out a Holly house style and she does seem to have been against going down the Hollins play it for votes route, but Holly can play funny and a range of roles and there ought to be one there somewhere. There's also the more obvious familar vote winning cinematic route taken by Tom Chambers by the time you get to the Charleston. Her problem is that if you don't work up a style, you are out voted by people who have. Harry has fallen into his destiny of boyband heart throb. Chelsee has run with her imposed tag of ladette to lady- and done a good job of coming from behind and being bubbly but acting ladies well when needed. Jason has been himself - earnest and hardworking - and had the same effect as he has on stage - some people love his acting, others think its terrible and dislike the intensity. Alex got as far on a journey story and the emerging swan theme by doing simpler more traditional dances. Not sure what Holly has been other than Holly and not looking desperate enough and not having a show story may be an issue .

I think cell block tango was the missed opportunity, pre Charleston, of the weeks where Holy could demonstrate she could play other roles . It wasn't the right piece from Chicago except for the word tango in the title. The lyrics are not written for one dancer and n so far as they fitted anything it led to acting coldness in the relationship when we needed more drama or fun or romance - or anything else. Robbing from Vincent's list of suitable music might have been wiser, and if it had to be from Chicago and could be fitted , something from Velma (tall, long legged, high kicking) or Roxie (Holly could play her character as is) might have had more chance of a break out. I agree it might have been risky but it would have been a clearer role to play and more obvious to the voters.

I agree Artem gave her gaps with not enough going on , but they were interspersed with massively complicated bits of high intensity. The result of that is that you risk scoring less when recovering and run more risk of making mistakes in the intense bits.Calmer, steadier with a few really dramatic impressive moments worked for others - although the girls can't hide as easily behind their male celebs as much as Kristina Ola and aliona could take distracting action to shield their celeb.

I agree we know very little as we don't see training any more in VTs or get to see as much of their characters outside ITT - but from what we have heard on air Holly seems to have been working hard and to be tired (although thats been said often too of Jason and Chelsee) The supposedly funny VTs manage not only to conceal whats going on but presumably mean there's even less time to train and more things to do in a week. Its been notable they look more tired doing less dancing this year and even more dances for the Sf and final may show..

So, the music was terrible Euro-pop and her outfit was ghastly ?
As you confirm, it was always going to be "Taxi for Miss Valance"
Surely much of this must be down to Artem. Despite what some people say, dances always look better when danced to the appropriate dance music. All competent social dancers will tell you this, and so will the majority of the general public. The professional dancers ignore this basic truism at their peril!

Did he choose that music though? Sometimes they choose it, sometimes it's foisted upon them.

And this time there was a change of music a few days in - and, if there ever was any explanation why, I missed it.

Oooooh, another conspiracy theory I hadn't considered.

But seriously, you can usually tell the difference between chosen and foisted. Usually chosen is appropriate to the feel of the dance, traditional or the correct speed.

If it's foisted it's inappropriate to the feel of the dance, completely the wrong speed or beat, usually contemporary or quite poorly performed and almost always a dog's dinner of a dance.

Is there no-one on this forum who can confirm if some of the music is foistered onto the dancers by half-baked producers whose knowledge of ballroom dancing is next to zero?
It seems this must be the case in some instances, especially when tangos and suchlike are danced to ludicrous pop music. It's hard to believe that professionals would choose the wrong music for teaching pupils as it makes their job so much harder. And if dance-bands played this stuff at any social dance they would be thrown off the stage. However, the 'judges' never seem to notice - but that's par for the course!

The pros know which side their bread is buttered and so don't tend to say too much, but they usually say things like "the music we were given" or "when my music was changed". You have to listen quite closely to ITT, but sometimes the clues were there and as Artem's music was changed last minute, I wouldn't assume it was on his say so.

Think Holly would have struggled with any interpretation of the Charleston because by that point she was pretty much running on empty. The high energy stuff has always been a bit of an issue for her and given her uncertain fitness levels dancing twice on Sat was a big ask. It was unfortunate that they couldn’t get the Charleston out of the way earlier in the competition while people like Lulu and Nancy were still there to divert the flak from her.


In the early stages Artem could do a bit of camouflage while the also rans were being picked off. But as the numbers reduced and the front runners started to up their games, unfavourable comparisons between the real contenders and the rest were inevitable. Once it got down to the final five there was no safety in numbers for Holly – or Alex.


Agree, except BIB. I think he’s been only too aware of Holly’s fitness levels and has designed their routines with that in mind. All their dances have been performed at a sedate pace and none of them would have provided much of an aerobic workout – except for the QS and the Charleston – and they proved to be major stumbling blocks.

It didn’t help that Holly was lumbered with the ‘favourite’ tag before anyone had danced a step. I think it’s been a millstone around her neck and led to high expectations that never quite materialised, and while the Paso gave her a lifeline it was too little too late. On the other hand Chelsee wasn’t on anyone’s radar before the series started so she had nothing to lose – and benefited from being the surprise package.

If that's the case then it seems a a diabolical liberty and open to serious abuse. It's fair to say that the judges also know which side their bread is buttered, otherwise they would surely speak out against some of the more ludicrous music choices. That's assuming that three of them have any idea of what appropriate ballroom and latin dance music is all about!

Artem did say on ITT it had went better in the rehearsal and Holly indicated she lacked the necessary energy on the night. She said how mentally the contest had been taking its toll on people, they were starting to get run down, had been getting colds and that they were "dropping like flies" . She said "I dropped like a fly during the Charleston - Live". She also talked about how nervous she had been beforehand and I think that all tends to back up your point, ie. that things hadn't went quite right on the night and Holly found herself lacking in energy.

its the same result on most shows involving music though. The ALW singing shows have repeatedly deployed known killer songs and dull songs for some people's exit weeks.Xfactor is probably shaped the same way. Even if the contestants choose a list of suggestions, they may be turned down or given low choices on unsuitability to the arranger or singers, or on grounds of rights or repetition, Dancing with the Stars on a quick look has used all sorts of epic film music for tangos and it works but here it seems to veer between traditional and not working. .The question, as you say, is who is responsible for some of the more dysfunctional choices and, on the other side, some people not getting the well known traditional vote winners and others getting them.

We also learnt she had a bad knee, to add to the bad back problem she's had for weeks and Artem's bad back. In that sense it s a bit like dancing on ice - a war of the just walking wounded by the end.

I loved the choice of music and their outfits but she simply didn't dance it well. She looked leaden about the legs and the timing was well off. Overall she is a stunning girl but I never liked her partnership with Artem, I really don't think they gelled at all - IMO

So to sum up the girl had a bad back, a bad knee, a cold coming on , was dancing a dance that did not suit her,either her physique or personality, to music that had been changed mid week.

She did all this despite having produced a stunning AT earlier in the programme , is it really any wonder that it was at times leaden footed. It was a combination of things going wrong and well done to Holly to pulling it off so well as she did.

Was it Artem's fault I cant think how? Except had he produced a simpler, slower dance if he had known about all these problems before hand and many of the problems seem to have been last minute problems.

Holly appears to have loved working with him and appreciate his work ethic and commitment, I dont think she was a naturally gifted dance and I think he did well to get her to the semis and make her such a good dancer as she became.

People say it would be interesting to see how he would cope with a not so good dancer , I think this year showed us that, he worked them both hard and taught her so that she produced some stunning really elegant dances that showcased her to the best of her ability and made her a worthy finalist , but due to an unfortunate set of circumstances she did not get there.

Was his first year on pro-celebrity dancing the one with Kara? Looks like he did not adjust his expectations downwards a little. Brenda has always pitched his dances a little above his celebrities hoping they'll rise to it. When Artem did it he danced at his natural pace and made his partner look like she had less pop, which she did. She appeared to lose no weight, but if she were the preposterous 15 stone that has been quoted Artem might as well have danced with Chewbacca. I still say her usual way of ignoring Artem during questions was unusual for anyone else and their relationship was unusually distant.

I don’t think it was the music. I thought the music and the steps that Artem put into the routine were good. It was the dance itself, she was just poor at it and it wouldn’t have mattered what music or routine Artem would have chosen nothing would have changed that. The Charleston was always going to be the most difficult dance for her. I don’t mean to learn it but pull it off to a high standard. It‘s a pity she didn‘t get the Jive to go with her Argentine Tango instead of the Charleston, her Jive routine was good and she danced it well.

For me she was competing with Jason for the third spot in the final. The Charleston, doubled with Jason doing his Argentine Tango second and then getting perfect 10’s for it are more likely reasons that Holly is not in the final than anything Artem did or didn’t do.

Anyone who thinks that Brendan's choreography is better than that of Artem is blind.

Holly's last dance did suffer, though not from the music but that she just did not have the energy left in her to dance any style of Charleston.

I still think she should have got to the final after that supreme AT.

I think Holly's Charleston only suffered from lack of energy. I think Artem pitched the routine, including the music, really well to suit Holly's cool, quirky personality - she would not have suited a traditional flapper girl Charleston.

If she could have kept the energy up, that routine would have been amazing.

It is a shame, I think they are all starting to look tired at times. I think the series is too long really - everyone was visibly shattered by the final last year, but that's when you really hope to see the mind-blowing performances.

I hope this final doesn't look like everyone is crawling across the finish line!

Bottomline is that Holly is simply just an average dancer with very few and far between exceptional moves (only to go almost flat towards the end of the routine).

Her problems were mainly she's too lacklustre both her lower body & esp those feet & sometimes legs & then combine with expressionless face...she just can't keep up with the emotional aspect of a dance.

Shame because as always Artem's choreos were brilliant throughout the competition & Holly was just not able to carry them out with her partner.

IMO Holly lost the competition for Artem this series.

I think this is the best summing up of the situation.
rewatched it all on HD on my PC screen and my feeling is that Holly knew as well as Alex did that she had got as far as she was going to go. Trouble is, every time she said she was surprised at how long she'd lasted, nobody would believe her.
Holly started with about as much talent as Edwina Currie, so why should anybody expect her to "dance beyond her skill set?"
Holly only teared with emotion during the video highlights, just seeing how good she had got. Not tears of disappointment, just of emotion.
I loved the group lift in the last dance section. They seemed to be pretty OK with the result, and how nice not to be the only couple eliminated so close to the end.


I still have to catch up on the ITT Monday show, so will see if I'm right then.

Exactly my thoughts, Holly seemed a different person on the week she was with Brendan.

What an incredibly insightful and interesting post, all of which I agree with. I have come to like Artem a lot now and his strength is his innovative choreography, but it is a bit of a one size must fit all - and of course it doesn't. Having said all that, I think Holly still wouldn't have won but I think she might have made it to the final which would have been nice because I have so enjoyed them. But she and Brendan would have been a much better pairing. Holly has a divine figure but she is statuesque compared to the waif-like Kara Tointon and I always felt uncomfortable when Artem was lifting Holly. There bodies were not in proportion and I think the BBC were wrong to pair them together, putting possible PR value ahead of a good match

Interesting take. It is meant to be the professional who wins it for the celebrity, rather than the other way round.

I think that is plain daft. I think women like Holly a lot. She is beautiful and funny and laidback. Not needy like Chelseee....diva like Lulu, deluded like Nancy or Lulu or vulgar like Ann Widdecombe.

You keep saying that hun and I genuinely can't see it. I think that was a dance she was always going to be ok at, it can be done a lot out of hold, it was slow and doesn't take a huge amount of acting skill, I think she would have scored quite highly if she'd done it with Artem and it was his choreography anyway.

I thinkthe Artem and Holly partnership was fantastic and they balanced each other's strengths and weaknesses really well. I honestly think he got her much further than most others would have because she just wasn't that good a dancer.

But hey, that's the fun of a discussion board, we all have different views.