Firstly thank for this thread TQ - has been a very interesting and enjoyable read.
I have been to all the tours, some more than once. I have always looked at the tours as more about general entertainment than just the dancing - although a good of amount of my enjoyment has come from some great dancing, particularly the pro group dances and pro individual showdances and seeing some of my favourite celebs perform, a fair amount has also come from the general glitz glamour, pantomime campness, innuendo and general humour. The only year I did not really enjoy was 2011where I felt the mix was wrong - I didn't appreciate the lack of pro performances, the inclusion of an outside dance group and I personally did not feel the mix of celebs was right. that year. There was less humour and banter for me, the pace was slower and I just felt the whole show looked jaded and a bit pedestrian. Part of it was admittedly due to lack of celebs I really wanted to see and loss of my favourite pro from the show/tour!
This year, I felt the show was very much back on track - it had good pace, good banter, some fantastic group routines, and I enjoyed the Strictly singers, so it all zipped along nicely for me. Admittedly Harry was in a class of his own dance wise, but Jason and Chelsee showed why they were finalists, Robbie definitely entertained me, and Nancy whilst a bit overlong was good comedy value, as was Artem. Mark Foster showed a lot of true Strictly spirit for me, producing a very good waltz (with more than passing nod to AS), and showing what he could have acheived with the right pro partner, more time and hard work - nice reversal of exceeding expectations, whereas, I had high hopes of Ricky and Colin last year and was a bit disappointed in their performances.
The choice of routines given to some of the couples was disappointing beforehand, but maybe due to lower expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed it and came out on a high. I do still think it could have been even better had different routines been given to some of the couples - change from a 1 ballroom/ 1 latin routine was a negatve move for me, and it was a shame that there were only 7 couples, and I did miss the warm up man just to get the party started. All that said, I had a great night and overall the show had the enjoyment factor and same feel as all previous tours, except for 2011, which I am now taking as a 1 year abherration!
I have been to all the tours, some more than once. I have always looked at the tours as more about general entertainment than just the dancing - although a good of amount of my enjoyment has come from some great dancing, particularly the pro group dances and pro individual showdances and seeing some of my favourite celebs perform, a fair amount has also come from the general glitz glamour, pantomime campness, innuendo and general humour. The only year I did not really enjoy was 2011where I felt the mix was wrong - I didn't appreciate the lack of pro performances, the inclusion of an outside dance group and I personally did not feel the mix of celebs was right. that year. There was less humour and banter for me, the pace was slower and I just felt the whole show looked jaded and a bit pedestrian. Part of it was admittedly due to lack of celebs I really wanted to see and loss of my favourite pro from the show/tour!
This year, I felt the show was very much back on track - it had good pace, good banter, some fantastic group routines, and I enjoyed the Strictly singers, so it all zipped along nicely for me. Admittedly Harry was in a class of his own dance wise, but Jason and Chelsee showed why they were finalists, Robbie definitely entertained me, and Nancy whilst a bit overlong was good comedy value, as was Artem. Mark Foster showed a lot of true Strictly spirit for me, producing a very good waltz (with more than passing nod to AS), and showing what he could have acheived with the right pro partner, more time and hard work - nice reversal of exceeding expectations, whereas, I had high hopes of Ricky and Colin last year and was a bit disappointed in their performances.
The choice of routines given to some of the couples was disappointing beforehand, but maybe due to lower expectations, I thoroughly enjoyed it and came out on a high. I do still think it could have been even better had different routines been given to some of the couples - change from a 1 ballroom/ 1 latin routine was a negatve move for me, and it was a shame that there were only 7 couples, and I did miss the warm up man just to get the party started. All that said, I had a great night and overall the show had the enjoyment factor and same feel as all previous tours, except for 2011, which I am now taking as a 1 year abherration!
