That's my fear that she will be given another good partner because the producers want to milk the controversy angle......imo as I said before it's been done to death and is just boring now - when you think about even controversial 'bad boy of ballroom' Brendan has had his abilities as a pro tested with different sorts of celeb partners......so why she would warrant special treatment in getting contenders year after year just for the controversy angle is beyond me........I personally would find it very sad...........it would be far more interesting to see her with a less talented partner now.

Sorry! I'm still relatively new to all this I'll improve.

And I suppose to bring the tangent back to Aliona's partner rather than her, I reckon if she gets someone a little bit older she may not be able to get away with as much stuff. I mean, thinking back to Widdy pretty much saying "I'm not doing THAT!" whenever Anton suggested something a little raunchy. Now not saying anyone could be quite as forceful as Widdy (Or Aliona for that matter) But someone who's old enough to stand up for themselves and have the life experience to be not be quite so intimidated may force Aliona's hand to do some proper choreography. May be the way forward.


Aliona's entertaining and her partners have natural talent. Her choreography was what stopped Harry being at the very top of the table above Chelsee/Jason/Holly until Quickstep week. Only by a few marks from Craig and, predominantly, Len, admittedly, but any pro would have won with Harry last year IMO. Aliona getting another contender who'll walk into the final just won't be fair, fun or a well received idea.

Why would any pro have won with Harry?

If it's a case of who has the biggest fan base, then we might as well ascertain that at the start of the series, give them the glitterball and do away with the contest.

If it's because Harry was the overwhelming favourite, well he certainly wasn't by my recollection. If I remember correctly Jason was so far ahead after 3 weeks, there were threads on here declaring him the winner already.
Didn't quite work out like that, thanks to Harry AND Aliona!

People got bored with Jason's personality (or lack of) even though he was always nearer the top of the scores even until the final. Let's be honest, competition or not, Harry had by far the biggest fan base, certainly compared to Chelsee and Holly, he and Aliona/any other pro could have sat in the middle of the dancefloor doing nothing for 90 seconds, I'd still have a fiver on him winning.

Another suggestion for Aliona's next partner, someone who's a relative unknown and has to make a good first impression in their first dance (Trying to keep it relevant! haha)

There was at least one thread last year where it was posted that the voting figures showed Harry winning the vote every week bar one and that info has also been confirmed to me from a source I would trust.

Just to recap- Who should partner Aliona:
[LIST][*]Ageing [*]Obscure celeb, or reduced fan base[*]Strong character to force traditional choreography[/LIST]
Would think someone in the same league as Jimmy Tarbuck, Willie Thorne and Paul Daniels in previous series would fit the bill

Of course, Paul Daniels didn't really do any serious choreography, but he didn't take himself seriously either, so maybe that can be the reverse option, see if Aliona can do an Anton and show a sense of humour on stage!

Exactly.

IIRC it was said that he was topping the vote by quite a large margin too.

Agreed and just to add some more challenging celeb types that have been given to other female pros and I think Aliona should be given similar - starting of with one I mentioned earlier

Dom Littlewood
Gary Rhodes
Brian Capron



Yep Harry would have won regardless of which pro he had been partnered with.

More celeb types for Aliona

Mature sports men like Richard Dunwoody, Peter Shilton

Affable mature actor types like Brian Capron mentioned earlier, Dom Warrington, Phil Daniels.

In contrast I seem to recall Chelsee was leading the weekly poll on this forum by a large margin too. Interesting there was such a difference.

a Don Warrington type would be fantastic - Don had great rhythm

DS represents a small percentage of the actual voting public and has rarely been accurate in predicting the actual winner... Kara being an exception. It also fails to take into account the people that multivote. The figures that myself and Sara are talking about is the actual voting figures. It was discussed on another thread by a poster who has access to the figures due to her job. There was also a tabloid story shortly after that said much the same thing.

Agreed. I think I heard afterwards that Harry was topping the figures by such a distance that the voting figures for Chelsee and Jason could be put together and they wouldnt have beaten him.

I made mistake I meant Don Warrington not Dom in my post

Yes I think a mature well respected actor like Don Warrington would do Aliona the world of good and she'd be lucky......a sort of father/ uncle figure.....Lilia had a great time with him and it was understandable that she got so upset when they were knocked out. As Damahepa said earlier this type of celeb would be persuasive enough to hopefully make her put aside her rebel behaviour and force her into more traditional choreography which we know she's capable off........she might only 3 -5 weeks with said type of actor put at least we'd get to see a completeley different side to her.

If she gets a Dom Littlewood/ Gary Rhodes difficult character type she won't be so lucky......put I think most of the female pros at one time or another have had difficult celebs to challenge them!

Then again, Jason didn't improve a lot technique wise during the series and Chelsee a bit more than Jason but nowhere near as much as Harry improved, so you could expect he would pick up a lot of votes.

You could have matched Matt or Harry with Erin or Natalie - both very good teachers and they will produce routines that will suit Len down to the ground.

With Aliona we saw many more aspects of the kind of guy Matt is - very adventurous, likes to have fun, did have hidden sex appeal that Aliona brought out. You're an ex-gymnast? - we'll bring that in a few seconds into the first routine. Second dance - Alesha "I didn't think you could do sexy, but you've proved me wrong". Wanted to be a stunt man? we'll have you doing a back somersault off the top of the judges desk. You can ride a unicycle? - we'll have a strongman theme for the charleston and start with the unicycle. You've seen them doing flick-flacks during the carnival in Rio? - we'll finish the Samba with them. Choreography based on Matt that showed many interesting aspects of who he was. That's why I think they were one of the best pairings ever on the show.

Harry - got a youngish following but a very serious young man. Put him with the youngest and liveliest pro. Again they got on like a house on fire and Aliona taught him to be a very good dancer and began to get him performing.

That's why the producers like Aliona IMO.

I think she did a good job with Harry and Matt but I really don't believe she did anything extraordinary with them that other pros couldn't have done just as well if not better.....and I still maintain that Harry would have won with any pro and Matt might have won with a different pro no matter how good Kara was!

However, the topic is the future not the past - Who will be a good partner for Aliona not who was!

Well I think we can learn fom the past - but it all depends still on what we think the past was.

We cant really learn anything from ifs and buts.

I'm not really interested in getting Aliona into a pigeonhole that Len builds, and I'm not interested in punishing her for her success, so I would like to see her get a celeb where she could still do something like she has done in the last two years but maybe with a bit more difficulty, hence I would like someone who was prepared to try hard and wasn't at the top of the tree for potential but still had possibilities.

You see, I don't think that's true. Ultimately the best dancer normally wins. Yes you can say people like Darren won because of their "journey" but ultimately Kara was better than Matt and Harry was, to a lesser extent perhaps, better than Chelsee, although much better on the day due to her nerves sadly. And I think if you look at all of the pros, they have their own way of getting the best out of their partners, Erin being miss Whiplash etc. I think whilst Kara was enhanced by her relationship with Artem, the connection between Harry and Aliona was clearly less potent, and as such I don't think as crucial to their success, meaning any of the pros could have won with Harry and his fanbase.

Also, it's not so much where Matt finished, but things like his Salsa and the grinding which got him slated in the semifinals...

Ultimately I think Aliona needs to show she can get the best out of a celeb who doesn't have bells and whistles attached;

BIB I would have to disagree, the Kara Artem "love train" was going "full steam ahead" and no-one was going to catch up with them in the GBP voting stakes IMO they were always going to lift the trophy

As for who I would like to see Aliona partnered with this series - someone hard working and dedicated, maybe an actor type as she hasnt been paired with one of those

I don't see it as punishing her for her 'success' - I see it as giving other pros a chance with the type of celebs she's been lucky to have been partnered with in the last two years! I also see it as a chance to show what she can do with a weaker celeb without the comfort zone of a huge fan base!

And you or Aliona may not think much of Len and I don't always agree with him but at the end of the day he's a senior figure much respected in the world of ballroom and as such he deserves a certain amount of respect and regard from all the all the pros including Aliona!

The same poster said Jill Halfpenny had topped the vote every week until it was pointed out to them that was impossible.

I'm all for more of the pros being given someone with potential, which is why I think they should have about half of the celebs in the 'dance potential' category. It would make a better show as there is a lot of talent being wasted each year by giving the pros someone they cant do much with. I also think other pros should get the top celebs this year.

Len used to be my go to guy in the judges. I liked to learn from what he said and its still the situation that he knows a lot more than any of the other judges. Len isn't as consistent as he once was - now Craig is the most consistent judge. Its not a matter of respect. I still respect Len - he knows more about ballroom than everyone except maybe the pros and I'm glad to see him when he reverts to more like his old self. When Len penalises for an illegal lift one week and praises for putting an illegal lift in the next, it becomes a practical thing to not depend on his opinion as much as before.

Getting back to who would?

I would like to see Aliona paired up with Steve Backshall if they could get him to do it. Dont know if his broken back, ankle and foot from 2 years ago have healed enough to cope, but he seems to have recovered.
He's a bit muscle bound, but fit, well mannered and would be a trier. No idea if he has a dancing bone in his body, but we would find out.

http://www.yorkpress.co.uk/leisure/t...York__June_16/

If they couldn't get Steve Backshall, Chris Packham would be a slightly more accesible partner for her. Still popular but with far less ability!