I thought it was a bit messy too - thought it must just be me when the judges marked it.

Her dress & hair didn't help. She needed her hair up & a neater dress...

Just watched her dance, great start, but I felt it went to pieces a bit at the end, as if the routine had been forgotten. Preferred Matt and The Flav (then again I would as I'm a big fan of theirs).

unfortunately, you can't see her feet for most of it because of the camerawork so it's hard to tell

Aleshas samba, was ok... but not a ten.

Thejudges are making it hard for us viewers to vote for them, if they are guarented good marks for not so good dances.

Actually I agree with that, it 's boring watching them now and I know exactly what the judges are going to say. Tonight was their weakest night, but they still got 3 tens. It's downright ridiculous. And they didn't need to do it, as they had scored the couples they want to go out much lower anyway. Gethin was better than Alesha tonight, and I'm not a fan of him and Camilla.

Your so right

Why do they perform last almost every week?

I agree. I haven't voted for Gethin so far but he really deserved to come top on his own this time (well, with Camilla ) - as did Matt last week. Alesha is a fantastic dancer and the most consistent of any of them, but it does seem like she's becoming teacher's pet. Three tens seems excessive for a dance that was excellent but not totally magical (IMO).

I agree with you about Alesha, I didn't like the samba much at all and the judges were slightly critical of it, but then they give her high marks. It has been said before, did she peek too soon, the judges now expect perfection, that is a lot of pressure, whereas they don't expect that from the other celebs.

What you on about?

Alesha's Tango was the dance of the series so far!

I didn't agree with their 10's tonight either. Alesha was good but it's unfair on the others, like Gethin who was obviously better than her tonight. She's become teachers pet who can do no wrong even though we can see faults

Alesha's a great dancer but her Latin routines never progress. Her footwork isn't great and a bit rushed at times.

Having scored so highly very early on, she's now been left with a lot to live up to.

But Gethin made mistakes as well, why does no one care about the tens he got?

Because he's a bloke and we still leave in a sexist society, mostly because women don't celebrate other women sadly. You only have to look how often a woman wins a reality show. Alesha is head and shoulders above anyone in this competition but it's looking more and more unlikely that her and Matt will win. Makes me mad.

I personally thought his 10s were much more deserved than Alesha's on the night, for his progress and his was the only dance that actually 'captured' me and made me watch

Just my opinion though, everyone sees something different in everyones routines I guess

Is it?
One of the best dancers in the show left this week because her father died. I think Alesha's odds improved slightly and they've been excellent from the get-go.

I supported Alesha and Gabby but Gethin, for me, shone tonight. I still think Alesha will win though. She is amazingly talented and I love her energy and zest for dancing. I just think she had one or two above what she should have tonight.

I cannot stand Alesha but I thought her tango really good yet the judges slaughtered her. Cannot understand it at all!

I hate to say it because I am not keen on Alesha, but I did like her Tango.

I think the judges overmarked all the contestants tonight.

8s and 9s maybe, but a 10 is rather too generous - the performances were not flawless.

Sorry I've posted this in another thread, but didn't know where the right place to post it was so posting it again!!

I think it's very difficult for the judges to mark Alesha against the others. The problem is her Samba was a bit lacklustre in performance, but had so much content! It was packed with difficulty and heaps of steps, much more than the others attempted in their routines. Where do you find the balance between rewarding her for this, as she should be, and penalising her mistakes. It's easy to take marks off for mistakes, but it's also easier to make mistakes when you're attempting something much more difficult. And yes she does have to put the difficulty in as otherwise the judges will have a go - like they did with Kelly and Brendan.

You can take off marks for performance, but in my opinion at the same time some marks should be added for difficulty as well. 10?? Maybe not, but I agree with the 9's.

I absolutely loved her tango.

I think Gethin and Alesha being equal was just about right. Gethin did a fabulous performance but had easier steps. Alesha had brilliant content which she largely did very well, but lacked performance a bit in the Samba.

This is a difficulty with all the couples though.... I'm no expert but I would guess that if we take Letitia and Kenny at the lower end of the points scale ... Letitia would have more content and perhaps more obvious errors?

I guess this is where the professional dancers strategic skills come in.....balancing all the elements in order to push their celebs but not overwhelm them too much. (I'm sure those guys don't get paid enough.

For me, Arlene's criticism of Alesha wasn't that harsh to be honest. I've sometimes thought her legs seem a bit "clumpy" in the Latin (or would "soft" be a better description), but I'm sure that's all technical stuff that she can continue to work and improve on - so maybe it's helpful for it to be pointed out it? I remember Len going on about Emma always dancing with bent legs a lot too…something she obviously worked on as the series progressed.

For me the real problem for the judges (Len and Bruno particularily spring to mind) is since rolling out the 9's and 10's early, they'll now find it pretty difficult to demonstrate, through the points awarded, any improvement in Alesha's dancing. They've also created a scenario where being awarded an 8 is considered rubbish!!! How bizarre is that.

Yes, and they also have the problem that they now have to come up with reasons for not continuing to give Alesha 10s, the current one being that they now expect perfection.