I'm sick of people blaming Anton she isn't good at Latin either and it doesn't matter who she's paired with.

I blame Anton

I really think that paso deserved at least 5 more points!

I think Katie has been wasted with Anton, her and Brendan would have been good together.

It doesn't matter how well or how badly katie dances anton will joke around and beg on the public vote, he saw Anne widdecombe through to week 10!!! It surprised me to see that even Nancy d'oliveoil got to halloween week and katie is heaps better than both of them .
Katie has a bountiful of potential but anton is limited in every aspect other than his rabid fanbase. Paso should have been good for them as he compared it to a tango, but it wasn't.

No male dancers have gone out yet so maybe when one does they might help him

Think any of the dancers would be able to help Katie with the Latin dances. Anton would probably Lean a bit too.

In some ways I agree, but you would have picked paso as the Latin dance that she would be able to break out in- it not being a 'party' Latin. I really thought she'd be good in it, but she just didn't quite get it.
Unless they are thinking the Charleston with be her breakout Latin dance?

I sometimes wonder about rehearsal times, as that Paso looked under-rehearsed & lacked the polish sufficient training time would give.

IIRC Anton has never gone in for the huge number of hours training some of the others seem to put in.

She would have done well with Aljaz. He would have been at least able to get something out of her in the Latin . Anton is just hopeless.

A few weeks ago, I thought she could possibly make the finale but now I don't think so.

It's almost as though the judges have decided to talk about how she isn't good at Latin before she has danced a step. To be fair she isn't as good as I thought she would be but she isn't so bad that she deserves to be beneath Jeremy on the leaderboard considering the amount of mistakes he made in his dance.

I think you are right- Anton has never devoted a huge amount of time to training (compared to the others). It probably doesn't help that she will have spent at least an hour of that training time filming a crap VT with the ghosts of Anton's dancing past.

Has anyone else noticed the last couple of weeks Anton has mentioned what dance they would be doing next week if they stay in? As soon as he met Claudia upstairs last night he said "we have the quickstep next week". Is this Anton's clever way of making people think they would like to see their quickstep so they'll vote?

Everything helps when you have just been hauled over the coals by unsympathetic judges

I honestly don't know with Katie and Latin anymore. On paper that should have suited her, but she looked unsure and hesitant from the get go. Lack of training, lack of confidence in Latin maybe. Not sure I'd blame Anton for this one as the paso is something he's produced decent efforts at in the past.

Quite right. Anton's Pasos for his past decent dancers (Lesley & Laila - Patsy didn't dance it), were perfectly fine and got much better marks than tonight's effort (30 each). I DO think that Katie is just not the Latin dancer people presume she could be (with or without anyone else). He has produced lovely ballrooms so far, so he deserves to be cut some slack with all the blame he gets for her crap Latins - you can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear!. I do think tonight's Paso was well undermarked compared to some though - curse of the first on floor, or just the judges predetermined views of Katie & Latin? I fear that all the undeserved bashing is going to knock her confidence for six and she'll just want out altogether.

i also found it extremely irritating that anton started on about how they'll be doing a ballroom next week - like he just expects to be excused his dire choreo and complete lack on interest in teaching katie any latin, because he just assumes he'll go through.

Thing is, if she does go through - then it could be considered that he's played a blinder. Assuming a Samba swerve Shimmy Jimmy Jordan would be proud of, all the party Latins are out the way and she's left with a clutch of dances which should suit her far better as the numbers drop.

The comments were too harsh. Same goes for Kirsty's. Not enough fawning, ladies.

The judges seem to have a real downer on Katie and Anton.
No way did that Paso deserve less marks than Jeremy.
The scoring last night was all over the place.
Anton is a great dancer and has a great personality he is a great asset to the show IMHO.
Katie may be a bit less able in the latin but she didnt deserve those comments from the judges.
I have everything crossed that they go through to next week so we can see their quickstep....there are less able dancers like Jeremy, Carol and Kirsty who should go before Katie.

Thing is, as Anton mentioned, the producers give the dances (and the dance order) to the pro's, so the Samba might still be up on the table. Also makes sense, we wouldn't have had a rumba or samba this weekend otherwise.

But it's best to avoid the samba, especially as Katie wants to dance it and I think that the judges savaging that performance will put her over the top (she already seems to be struggling with some of the comments at the moment).

Problem with Anton is that he needs to take it all on the chin (no pun intended), as the only other option would be to discredit his dance partner (and he already has a chequered history there).

I thought the judges were far too hard on Katie last week, and it probably affected her confidence for this week. They are comparing her with contestants who have more dance training, and therefore more muscle and a sure grasp of certain technical challenges like spins, etc...

I have taken a look at Lesley Garret and other partners with whom Anton was paired, and I don't think any looked better than Katie, to be honest. The standard has risen, in my opinion, and more and more of the contestants are starting at such a high level that it is difficult for people like Katie, who has genuine potential, to measure up. She just needs to strengthen up her muscles, keep her morale level high, and possibly be given routines which enable her to concentrate on improving her basic technique, rather than showy stuff which doesn't always come off. I also feel that a slightly lower heel might help her balance and master the steps in the fast Latin dances.

Whether or not Anton is responsible, I think he needs to get some Latin tuition himself, so he has a better grasp of basics, common faults and how to correct them. He should ask one of the eliminated women like Ola to assist with the tuition of Latin basics.

I agree with all your points and far from being a fan of Anton, I really didn't think the dance was nearly as bad as they were making out. Yes, far from perfect, and for all the reasons that everyone knows about. The judges - Len should know better - should be giving constrictive critique each week, to advise what she should have done and what to continue to work at, not just week after week, telling her she's hopeless at Latin. That would destroy anyone's confidence. I expect her QS to be a much better dance.

There did seem to be a very odd agenda in marking and critiquing that Paso so savagely. It was a perfectly good, basic but dramatic choreography with decent content (which interestingly was well received by the studio audience compared to a lot of the other more middling dances). Katie fluffed two early grips, lost her place/forgot routine mid way through and was very stiff throughout but bearing in mind content and execution it was clearly very much better than Jeremy and I thought Jamelia as well. It is likely to be very demoralising to Katie to be so criticised every week, particularly when others - Jamelia is a case in point - are dealt with so much more leniently. From a viewing point of view I thought the judges way of almost shaming her put a real down on the show from the outset, bearing in mind it was the opening dance. Then seeing the higher marks and kinder comments for plainly less fluent performances must puzzle open minded viewers who don't buy into the "Anton's Latin spells the end of dance as we know it" dogma that delights so many on here.

Anton has always irritated me, he never seem to give his all. He is so laid back (idle) sometimes it's hard to tell if he is awake, he thinks his hah,har,har will get him out of bother...imo he is no comedian and again imo not a very good dance teacher...time to pension him off.