Now I really like helen , but how could the judges not see all the out of sync steps in the side by side swivels ? Not to mention the horrendous series of missed steps on the stairs . It was dreadful .
I wonder if the judges dais is at the wrong angle in blackpool because for sure heliaz messed up and it seems not to have been noticed .

Completely agree. When I heard the judges comments I felt like they couldn't have actually been watching the same dance as me.

After Craig's 6 for Jay that surely would have warranted a 5 tops from him.

She has a kinda weird thing with her legs and pelvis. It's like at some point in her past a gypsy cursed her and told her that one day, when she least expects it, she'll spontaneously give birth to a 12lb bowling ball and she's decided to ward the curse off by always being prepared.

She sure did and YET still scored 9S

Deserved DO material for me.

No spoiler - but tomorrow's DO for me would be Peter v Helen...with Jamelia escaping and shutting up all the naysayers (well said Len) - YAY!!!!!!!

Yep, my wife and I both commented on the out of sync steps yet no mention at all from the judges.

Perhaps Ola has a point about fixing/over and under marking by the judges......

Agree totally, I can usually guess what the judges are going to say but I was flabbergasted that none of them noticed all her mistakes, I did wonder if they were too far away to see her, or at the wrong angle or something. I hope they watch it back on TV and see what we saw. Bruno only seemed to notice something on the stairs and then Aljaz said it was because the stairs moved - right. I suppose the dance floor moved out of her way too. It was an awful dance and why she didn't get 4 sixes I'll never know.

I had the feeling she hurt herself on the first lift . She seemed to struggle after it and came down the stairs very awkwardly

The weird thing is .. I haven't enjoyed any of Helen's dances until tonight, they've been too cool and precise and, well, robotic for me - but tonight she seemed more 'real' and I thought the dance suited her. I didn't even notice the mistakes.

She def has probs with those gorgeous long legs . For sure the charleston has stiff leggy moves , but most of the moves are very very fluid and knees bent . Helen can't get the hang of just letting her legs go wild and loose .She just seems to be botoxed from the waist down , bless her .
Normally craig and bruno would be on that like flies on a dog poo , but tonight bruno seemed afraid to even mention the tiny bit he did notice . It was very weird .
When they look at the replays backstage they'll be mortified at missing all those faux pas .

noticed at one point she seemed to stop and then was on wrong leg altogether. but biased marking keeps her near top

Helen's ballet training let her down again, could be a contender for the DO.

I'm the opposite , I've loved her dances and thought her critiques and scores overly harsh.
Honestly , watch it again when it goes on the bbc site . Lots of it was good and it was very jolly etc , but boy did they make mistakes .
As for aliaz saying the stairs moved ? Possibly , BUT helen was about two steps behind him on approaching them anyway , then missed her cue in the showgirl style line-up at the top of the steps and went totally wrong footed .

I was concerned she had pulled a muscle. She was totally thrown for the last part of the dance.

same here, I enjoyed her dance and didn't notice any glaring mistakes

I actually think she did . After the lift she seemed to have difficulty with her thigh

I definitely thought there was a problem getting into the lift when she put her leg over Aljaz' shoulder, so maybe she did hurt herself. But the mistake I thought was the most obvious was when she stepped off on the wrong leg when they were on the platform at the end. It might not have been quite so obvious down on the floor. I thought it was a great routine though and still worth an 8.

Try watching it again on iplayer. She was OK until Aljaz spun her round over his head and she was trying to do the splits. Once she was back on the floor she went all wrong, she wasn't moving her legs properly and kept getting her steps wrong. She was totally out of sync with Aljaz and the other dancers. Then the way she walked at the end, legs wide open as if she was in pain suggests she hurt herself at some point.

sorry but how on earth could you have missed that she started on the wrong leg at the top of the stairs when they were all stood in a line

I guess the same way the judges did!

not Helens best dance by a long shot and I really am surprised at her comments and scores

bizarre to say the least, she was NOT as good as everyone else, bar Peter, yet she scores highly

Her timing completely went towards the end of the dance, luckily she didn't fall completely flat on the steps and the ruffles on her outfit were very distracting.

That might explain it, but she danced in a too controlled and too compact way as well. It was a dance that didn't suit her. She never looked totally at home doing it. She tried, but it wasn't exuberant enough.

From the judges comments, it seems to me that she was marked more for their opinion that she is a "wonderful dancer" rather than the dance she had just danced.

Looked like she was tiring in the latter part of the dance and losing pop, which might account for the trip on the stairs then the confusion and kicking out of time. She was remarkably out of breath when she finished.

I thought she started flagging towards the end and she did come down the stairs very oddly.

She was perfect like every week. I was really upset she didn't get a 10