Did you now

Well I didn't properly watch s4 and it was kinda hard to judge Vincent on one dance with Stephanie

And serie 5??????? Vincent and Louisa or even flavia and Matt (what kind of Flavia fan are you)

I was just talking about Vincent - and series 5 he danced with Stephanie, Louisa was s4 which i didn't watch

And I did love Mavia, although I loved Alesha as a dancer too so that was both my dream final and my nightmare cos I wanted both to win (and I ended up voting Alesha because Len wouldn't give her a 10 for the waltz!)

I know you were but there were more dances for Vincent with Louisa than Stephanie

I know, but like I said I wasn't really interested in Strictly until series 5, and I've yet to watch all of it - I've seen Mark & Karen's salsa and AT and that's about it

I had to get it out in the open!

And we all know who won that in the end!

Luckily, LP and I supported the same people this year.

Hi all, just got back from the tour.

I went to the afternoon show but I live roughly 4 hours away from the arena and I went to see my Auntie on the way back aswell.

Despite the lack of Vitamin R(achel), I had a FABULOUS time! I might have even enjoyed it more than last time. There were some fantastic dances and I had trouble deciding who to vote for.

Time for my boring analysis of the show!

Kelly & Matthew
Okay. Miss Brook opened the show with a great Jive, I loved the opening! I thought it was a little bit bland in the middle but I didn't notice the mistakes the Judges pointed out. I really liked the lifts added to her Jive! One thing I must say about Kelly is that when she dances she lights up the floor, I was literally glued to her. She's fabulous.

Kelly's American Smooth was for me, the joint dance of the afternoon. There were some amazing dances today but that just stood out for me, I loved it. Her dress was so shiny it was unbelievable! She had a fabulous performance, fabulous costume and a technique of clinical standard. Her final lift made me grin from ear to ear! It was just so beautiful!

Ali & Brian
I was really impressed with Ali! I sort of had a love-hate relationship with Ali & Brian as a partnership in the show but tonight they won me over. Their Viennese Waltz (which I actually LOVED in the show), was 10x better. The singer did a fabulous job and the slight touch of guitar really improved it. It was magical! It was so adorable when Brian proposed to her, I was like n'aww! I thought she would've got a fullhouse for her Viennese Waltz. It was faultless to my eye anyway!

Now Ali's Samba was what shocked me the most.. It was amazing. It was just so good. It was raunchy, and firery. I wondered if I was looking at the same Ali! She OWNED THAT STAGE! I loved her hair in this dance aswell, it had extensions and was put back into a long ponytail and it really flowed nicely with her movements. Bruno said that it had a Moulin Rouge vibe, couldn't agree more!

Joint favourite dance with Kelly's American Smooth

Ricky & Aliona
Well.. I don't really know what to say about them. They were.. bad. Ricky tripped when he first came on and so the second time he brought a DANGER sign, which I thought was hilarious. I found it a bit painful to watch the Judge's nasty comments, which were a bit over the top.. what with recent events considered. But ah well.

Natalie & Darren
Yeah.. I don't really know what to say about them either. Darren and Natalie made quite a good partnership I did think, and she looked a lot skinnier in the flesh. Her Quickstep was average but her Cha Cha was questionably the worst dance of the night in my opinion. But I was in a good mood, so I didn't care.

Austin & Lilia
I never really took to Austin in the show, probably because I was so obsessed with Rachel. BUT LETS NOT GO DOWN THAT ROAD! I had high hopes for Austin because I did really like his Tango, and let me tell you - he did not dissapoint.

I didn't really pay much attention to his Jive, it was a bit meh in my opinion. Was it just me that missed the kick? Or was I looking somewhere else. But I don't remember seeing the kick I was looking forward to that!

His Tango was AMAZING. One of the best dances, there really was a stiff competition. I loved it in the show but it was better with Lilia! I loved the lift she added at the end and they look so great together. It made me think how maybe Austin could've gotten a little further if he'd been with Lilia, but who knows! His Tango was sexy, aggressive and passionate. Love it!

Zoe & James
Zoe was good, she was really, really good. I thought her Waltz was utter crap on the show but it was so beautiful on tour, her Foxtrot dress was much better! :P This was a close contendor for best dance, definately deserved the perfect score it got. It was emotional, and full of chemistry. Her armery was amazing. (Ooh look at me, TechnicalTyler) Beautiful dance.

OK WHAT THE HELL. The song she danced to for her Rumba was different, I swear on my life! It was NOT "Out Of Reach" I have no clue what it was but it was a different song! Same routine, same outfit. Different song?! I was like WHAT THE HELL!! It was good though, just.. a bit miffed.

Chris & Ola
Well.. no hip action whatsoever in the Rumba, but it was quite nice. *Grits teeth* Yes, it was quite nice. But then I felt quite sorry for them when Ola's dress broke. What I do like about Chris is that he knows he's not the best, and frankly - HE ISN'T.

His Foxtrot was much better, I think he felt like he redeemed himself. That's all I'm gonna say, I'm in a positive mood and can't be bothered to type out a long rant over Chris.

I do SORT OF like him now

Mark & Kristina
I was really upset when Mark made a mistake in his Argentine Tango because I was dying to see it . It was so sexy, from the close ups on screen of his face to his static movements. PHWOARRRR. Which is strange, cause no offence but he's dull off the dancefloor.. (DON'T EAT ME) Anyway. I didn't really like Kristina's dress, the purple sort of spoiled the mood. Black would have been better methinks. It was still great though.

His Salsa was HOT, HOT, HOT. I don't really like fast party dances but it was really good. It seemed like it was over really quickly, but I guess that was just me. But how should I know, I spent the whole time comparing Kristina's outfit to Lisa's Cha Cha dress and Laila's Jive catsuit!

Ian & Natalie
I know alot of people don't like Natalie, but she really can move. This Show Dance was the BEST piece of Ballroom dancing I have EVER seen. It was so beautiful. The lights worked to great effect! The lift she did at the end of the stage was sensational, it was so tender and touching.. and then BANG! Into a Tango! Strong, fierce, firey, sexy. It was amazing, the whole thing was just stunning.

Hope you enjoyed my boring report
(I must have said the word "amazing" about 1million times, but it really was amazing!)

Thanks for the detailed report - must've taken ages to type!

I'm going tomorrow (should really say today!) and thanks for the heads up about Zoe's rumba song - I'll try and figure ot what it is (music geek that i am )

Tyler Tango what a brilliant report.
Sounds like you had a really good time and thanks for writing such a detailed account of it all....I could read your excitement in your words... Brilliant!!

Hehe! Glad you enjoyed it!

Has anyone gone to this years Brendan or Anton/Erin tour that they would like to add a report here for?

I saw Anton and Erin's show in Birmingham last weekend and it was brilliant.

My favourites were the waltz to Moon River and the Tango to Libertango but all dances were pretty incredible. SCD really doesn't capture the energy and fluidity of true ballroom dancing. Compared to last years tour, this seemed much more fast paced and flowed a lot more, the time flew by!

They still have the Q&A session in the second half which allows you to really see the full extent of their partnership. The most amusing question for me resulted in Erin joking that she wasn't talking to Austin because he'd texted her at 2am after the first night of the SCD tour to tell her he'd won

Anton- including his singing- was brilliantly funny and kept the audience amused throughout.

Erin was very glamourous and proved to be a perfect partner not only with the dancing but also with Anton's quips and she coped admirably when the straps on her halterneck snapped in the final routine!

Thoroughly enjoyable day out and I definitely recommend it to anyone still thinking about going!

I have been to the tour twice this weekend.......I have promised Dilly I will do a report and I will........I am watching Dancing on Ice at the moment I am suprised I am still able to think coherently as I got a kiss from Mark Ramprakash yesterday

Thanks for this bumblefly

I saw their 'Cheek to Cheek' tour last year when it came here to Glasgow and it was fabulous. This years sounds every bit as good or better.
Lol...at Erin being mad at Austin for his tour wins.

And another female with an almost disastrous dress malfunction... Poor Erin!


Looking forward to it once you gather your thoughts together after your lucky day yesterday with Mr Ramprakash

Ok, here goes, one very long (and biased) tour report

First of all, I managed to get my ticket swapped for second row, so I had a great view and it was such an awesome show. Warm up guy had us all singing Daydream Believer and getting people to admit how many times they’d been to the show Cute little girl inevitably won the programme...anyway, the show:

Pro jive
Loved it, that’s about all there is to say! I was mostly watching James & Ola as they’re by far my favourites of the touring pros, and they didn’t disappoint. But Brian and Kristina were dancing right in front of me and seemed to be having fun too, it was genuinely a party atmosphere. My only complaint is that it wasn’t very long! Aliona and Matt, for what I saw of them, were also good.

Kelly & Matt
First off, her outfit was horrible, although by far not the worst (more on that later)! I thought it was ok, lacking in energy overall which the judges picked up on. I love watching Matt Cutler jive and was glad he came to my side of the arena when they split It didn’t make me want to cheer or get up and dance, and I wasn’t overly impressed with a lift all the judges seemed to like...anyway, 35 was a fair score.
Their AS was much better, and her dress was really beautiful. They looked like they were loving every second of it and I didn’t see any reason why they shouldn’t have got full marks!


Ali & Brian
Ok, apologies to the Ali & Brian fans, but I’m going to be brutally honest here. Their banter about an ‘engagement’ was really quite off-putting and totally unnecessary. Brian did the ‘forget about the 10s, let’s get married anyway’ line and it came across as really stilted and rehearsed, both looking totally uncomfortable with having to do it, and of course Craig gave them a 9 just because. Their VW was good, as it always is, and I didn’t really see her do much wrong apart from being slightly out of sync with Brian in one movement when they broke hold, but it wasn’t magical. Fairly marked, although it could easily have had 40 I suppose seeing as she danced it equally to her Blackpool effort.
Her samba did nothing for me either. She came out shaking her hips then had to stop and start the hip action when the music started to get it in time. I’m still not drawn in by her performance – it all seemed too sweet to be a proper samba. Fairly marked, and she was obviously popular in the arena.

Ricky & Aliona
I don’t really know what to say about them, because they were pretty dreadful. Ricky did the deliberate trip, and then second time round brought the caution sign out, and I actually wondered if they made deliberate mistakes in their dances so the judges could utilise their scathing criticism. Their paso was good for the first few beats, then Aliona was almost shaking her head in bemusement in the middle of it as it collapsed. As for their VW, again it was ok at the start, but they started spinning and it just looked clumsy, and at one point Aliona even took her hand off Ricky’s shoulder while they were in hold, so it really wasn’t good. But they were funny and taking it in their stride, and got a good reception from the audience, although not when Kate asked if we’d vote for them! He's a nice guy, but it's not a great partnership, and that's not entirely his fault or entirely Aliona's.


Austin & Lilia
Totally deserved the win, I thought their jive was great, really fun and lots of bounce and swing - absolutely undermarked! And Lilia had 2 fantastic outfits (although did she actually change after the pro jive – her outfit looked very similar!), I thought she danced well the whole show.
Their tango was just amazing, dance of the night by a mile, and Kate commented that it was the best he’d danced it all tour, and the best reception any dance had had – the crowd went wild, cheering, clapping and footstamping so it took a while for Craig to even get to say anything – voted for him just because of that amazing tango, and he and Lilia make a fantastic partnership, the best of the 4 newly-formed partnerships by a mile.

Natalie & Darren
Didn’t impress me at all. Their quickstep was so slow it could hardly be called a quickstep, and though she seemed to be enjoying it, it looked very laboured. Plus she had a strange fascinator in her hair which clashed with her dress. Their cha cha was fairly bad as well, no real bounce or life to it, and I actually got distracted texting in my votes...

Zoe & James
My second favourites. I thought the connection they established in their waltz was fantastic, they really looked like they were enjoying it (and their VT at the start was funny too). Deserved a 40 for performance alone, and they got a good reception from the crowd. James was being cheeky backstage (and Chris then copied him a bit!) which was very funny.
Their rumba was equally as good a performance, not a 40 standard overall but still undermarked in my opinion. Arlene got James to demonstrate perfect spinal position and hip action to Zoe, and I must say I enjoyed that

Chris & Ola
I am blatently biased towards these two, so I absolutely loved them, even though they were of course far from the best technically. Their VT was hilarious, as was their backstage clip where Chris was teasing Ola. I thought their rumba was really good, glad Ola got her costume fixed! They had an incredible connection, just as much as they did on the show, and they were really feeling the dance in a way that was lacking in a lot of the Latin. Bruno only gave them a 7, which was ridiculous, and he said Chris had a face like a hamster, which was untrue. He should’ve had another point or two in my opinion.
Their Foxtrot was just beautiful. They came right over to where I was sitting and I got to see the look of enjoyment on their faces. Ola kissed Chris on the forehead and cheek, leaving a big red lipstick mark. I wish she’d worn her original foxtrot dress though... They got a good mark, and Ola made the comment about Chris’ bottom that she did the other night in response to Craig complaint, got a laugh from the crowd. She was really lovely, asking the judges to be nice to ‘my little Chris’ because he tries so hard, which was really sweet. They were just genuine, friendly sweet, unlike the saccharine nonsense Ali & Brian had to do..

Mark & Kristina
I didn’t rate Kristina at all in their AT – I thought Mark outdanced her and it was unfortunate that they lost the timing at the end, otherwise they would’ve probably got full marks. Their salsa was fantastic though, really enjoyed it, as did the whole arena – he got an Austin-esque foot-stomping reaction. I thought their AT was overmarked, but the 40 for the salsa was spot on. Kristina looked like a yeti (or a canary) in the salsa though - the most hideous outfit ever seen on Strictly by a long, long way.

Pro quickstep
Loved it. Again was only really watching James and Ola who performed it really well despite their lack of specialism in ballroom. Didn’t really rate Aliona in it, she was a bit messy, and Kristina playing the Marilyn Monroe role was a bit clichéd...but overall it was a really good end to the first half.

Group Charleston
I didn’t want to miss this so I was seated when the warm up guy came back on. I thought the Charleston was really good. I watched Team Cola for most of it so can’t really pass fair comment on most of the others, but Austin and Lilia and James and Zoe’s solo spots were great. Chris and Ola’s reprisal of their routine was awesome to see live, although it did feel a little bit flat towards the end, and Ola seemed a bit off during the first part of the number, before they do their solo – she danced perfectly well, but it was clear from her face that she was either uncomfortable or just not enjoying it – I think (from lip-reading) that Chris at one point even asked her was she ok. Her back was turned to me so I couldn’t lip-read what she said. She cheered up considerably for their solo, although she didn’t look too happy at the very end either. But she was fine by the time they did their Foxtrot and smiling in the finale, so hopefully if anything was wrong it wasn’t too serious

Ian and Natalie’s showdance
I didn’t warm to Natalie on the show, but their dance was really good. Her dress was stunning and it was really nice to see some ballroom showdance. I loved the part to Live and Let Die as well, and Ian looked like he was having fun playing with her discarded skirt as he took it offstage. Kate declared that it suited him, and that Craig was jealous

Finale
I already said that I think Austin and Lilia deserved to win, and it was really nice that he paid tribute to her dancing as well. At my side of the stage we got Ricky & Aliona, Natalie & Darren, Ian & Natalie and Zoe & James dancing in front of us during the finale, then Craig, Bruno and Arlene when they joined in. Brian and Ian jumped over to give some girls in the front row a kiss, and Natalie came over to kiss an old lady who couldn’t stand up for the finale. Kelly was the last to leave the stage, she was throwing streamers into the audience.

Overall I had a really good time, definitely worth going to see! Glad I got to see Team Cola live and glad Austin and Lilia got another win – I’m rooting for them to win the tour overall seeing as it’s obviously not going to be Zoe and James...

thankyou judith

Oh God, reading about all that Ali and Brian rehearsed stuff in these reports makes me cringe! Pass the sick bucket!

Thanks for the report! Chris and Ola are magical

Great report, Judith.

Saw Anton & Erin in Manchester yesterday, great show, notice the mention of a wardrobe malfunction above no such problems at the show I saw. I also thought the costumes were wonderful, Erin's dresses were so flattering and looked much better quality than some of the stuff they put her on in SCD, guess she has a more generous personal dress budget on this show!

Thanks for the great reports on here.

It's lovely to get a flavour of what the show is about, as i'm not going this year.

Thanks everyone for the reports so far.....Its good to read about the Anton & Erin tour as well as the SCD tour. Both sounds fabulous, and as I dont have tickets for either they have been interesting to read.

I'm going to Vincent and Flavia at the end of February and alsoo the Pro tour so will add my tuppenceworth when I've got something for sharing.

I was there too, first time I had been to a show of this type and really enjoyed it. I agree Erin's dresses were absolutely stunning.

Their dancing was beautiful and I really enjoyed the rapport they had with each other and the audience. An entertaining evening all round.

Just noticed my own post up there saying I'd try and find out what Zoe's rumba music was, and i have no idea, couldn't work it out If anyone's going to later dates please see if you recognise it, it's the mystery of the tour at the minute