Why was Patricks overall performance so good - the music which is so important and fitted the dance as did Suzanna's
Some dreadful music choices tonight, Ola's for a start
Wrong music and you have a good chance of being on your way.
Let's stick to music that works with the dance and forget the production crews choices!

I hate a lot of the music they use on Strictly, and quite honestly I wonder how they manage to dance to it. Sometimes it simply appears to have nothing to do with whatever dance they are doing.

They will never learn...... The producers think they know it all, it would be boring to be completely Trad. On the music front, but I do think the boundaries have been pushed to the limit on this series... I have downloads of music used from a CD the BBC used in the early days, and the song choices were edgy but still worked with the dances......( only problem was that Bruce sang some of them).......... I am so unsure who they think they are targeting, even though there are many on these forums who continually repeat posts hailing its the younger audience....... I have 3 children ranging from 17 to 27 who are all very good dancers and music "freaks" as it were, and the 3 of them prefer the the more obvious recognisable songs for each dance........... I really think at the very least Tango, Paso and VW's should get as trad as possible........ The dancing yesterday was as near as we are going to get to true ballroom, how fantastic a show would it have been with all the music choices being along the same route as the one chosen for Patrick and Anya........!

Traditional ballroom music enhances the dance. So much better.

Of all the shows so far this series, this one showed just how much difference the choice of music makes.

I hope the producers can be humble enough to back down a bit and admit a lot of the music choices have been plain wrong.

It's not just for us watching, it must be hard for a celeb to learn to a bad choice of music too.

I, too, am a stickler for traditional music.I wish SCD would use more songs that are relevant to the dance. Patrick dancing to It Had To You last night was fabulous, it totally lifted his performannce. You get more caught up in the joy of it all when the music is right. On the other end of the scale we get Fiona and Anton doing a paso to that b****y Blur song. Their routine didn't match it. I can't stand the track anyway, but it looked like I was watching Strctly with the music coming from another source. It was so weird. This is what I want, proper music!!...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gA4nQn4V9Uw

I love traditional music to Paso, Tango and AT .it really adds to the whole thing for me

I love seeing dances to the more traditional music, but I quite often like to see what they can do with a modern piece.

Not when it just doesn't fit the dance, though!

I think they should have a "Trad music" theme night, where they all dance to the real music for the dances rather than adapted pop.

I enjoyed last night immensely.

We've done this so many times before. The current format, song choices, guest artists, etc., has meant the ratings are at their highest level, outstripping X-Factor now sometimes by millions.

This is all in which the BBC are really interested.
"The design of the vehicle," that gets them there is an important part of the policy.
How far it moves away from traditional ballroom dance to achieve that, is a minor consideration.

There seems to be absolutely no rhyme or reason for how the music is chosen for the routines and some of it is totally unsuitable. I have no problem with them using "modern" music rather than traditional, sometimes it works incredibly well, but often they seem to pick music in which the beat is totally wrong for the dance it's supposed to be representing.

It makes a world of difference . One of the reasons why I enjoyed Abbey and Aljaz Charleston so much .
Patrick as well.

Agreed.

For example, Dave's might have looked more like a tango if he had danced it to La Cumparsita, or similar. It's not just about the beat and the steps. It's about the mood.

Salsa is the one that irks me the most. It isn't salsa without a latin track. It just isn't. A dance isn't just the steps.

C
http://frankieandcloverstrictly.blogspot.co.uk/

I know that they aren't the best dancers, but I do think it's really unfair that both Dave and Mark are consistently given music which isn't right for their dances because they are the 'joke' acts. I don't want to see Dave do a tango to the Proclaimers, I mean it's hardly giving him a chance is it? Same with Mark doing MC Hammer and Dr Evil... they don't go with the dances they are supposed to be doing and as a result they have to do 'comedy' routines.

Dance is meant to convey mood, emotion etc and the correct choice of music is IMHO the starting place for this...wrong music creates the wrong mood and no matter how well it is danced it will not be the complete package.

More traditional music please BBC

I agree with everything said so far in this thread - traditional music generally works better, particularly for dances like Tango and Paso. I can't help but think that Blur fans won't have liked Song 2 being appropriated for a Paso, nor would Paso fans like it being used - so nobody wins!

Sometimes I do admire the way the pro dancers shoehorn a dance into a totally inappropriate piece of music (Swan Lake as a foxtrot-based American Smooth springs to mind) but it jars more often than not.

Of course, it all has to come together. edy, that same Cabaret track was used by Peter and Erin for one of the worst Charlestons in Strictly history, so, for it to work, there does need to be a good dance to accompany the music.

I don't think they always have to be traditional but when there isn't a recognisable dance beat it must be quite hard to, well, dance to the beat. If the beat and the general feel of the song are right for the dance, I think it's okay to use a more modern song.

Yes, agreed. I meant to add in my post that I do like the use of modern songs as long as they are appropriate to the dance. J Lo's Let's Get Loud is a great latin track, Santa Maria by Gotan Project is a fab AT.

So true a few years ago I swapped the music on Matt and Alesha's salsa to authentic music to prove the routine was ok here it is and as you can see far better than the original

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FZtlABMQqc

Thanks for showing that - interesting viewing. Your music definitely makes it look better and shows off the great range of salsa moves she did; I still think it looks somehow quite lethargic - possibly more so with trad music.

The right music makes such a difference.

Here's a classic ballroom tune used in a scene in a film. Someone put clips from the film to together to tell the story using the actual recording of the tune from the CD of the music.
The combination of the "story" and the music might bring a tear to your eye. In any event it shows how successful the right combination of music and story can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H1SsD6zqEAg

I think traditional music sets the mood whatever kind of dance it is and think it would be so much easier for the celebs on many different levels. I am sure it would also be easier for the pros to choreograph the routine too.

We've all been banging on about this since this series started!

Someone should send a link to ITT or the Strictly Producer Jayne Stanger of this thread, and people's views, in the hope they'll take some notice........eventually!

In the past ITT used to give an email address, but how do you get in touch with them now?

The best way of making a point these days is via Twitter and Facebook. Letters and emails are ignored or generate standard replies.

https://twitter.com/bbcstrictly

https://www.facebook.com/bbcstrictly

posting a link to this thread there is the best way.

I know Dave never had a chance of being the best dancer but I don't think the Proclaimers helped him get into the Tango style.