I think it makes a MASSIVE difference as to whether the viewing public like or dislike a dance. A perfect example was Susanna's paso last week which had perfectly traditional music and got great scores, it wouldn't have been half as good if you'd taken the music and costumes away and given them a modern tune. I wonder if anyone has ever compared the scores for those dances with 'traditional' music to those to more trendy tunes (in the later stages obviously so we can hope the dancers are of a decent quality). Could be quite revealing..... Let's start a campaign for proper music choices (and get rid of props too while we're at it).

I have to agree, Natalies Tango and Charlston were totally ruined by the music choice. Where as Kevin and susannas Paso I loved, just hope the producers read this and bring back more traditional music.

Tonights music was awful... it didnt suit the dances one bit. no wonder the contestants couldnt get into it...

That was an appalling choice for Abbey and Aljaz's Paso and ruined completely the dance and feeling of the dance .
I had to mute the sound to try and get some Paso feeling .

It was an absolute disgrace by those producers because she was very good in that fabulous dress.

Absolutely right!

Also wanted to add that there is only so much traditional music and it would get repetitive very quickly. Modern music can work, but it has to be appropriate. For example, with a tango, the music has to have 'drive' and drama. Not be ethereal and poignant.... or some weird ass, mind numbing dance BS.

Yep Natalie's dances have particularly suffered from poor music choice. Who makes the decision on music and why not give us traditional stuff.

Artem picks the oddest music, terrible!!

The pros get a choice of three pieces apparently

There are loads of fabulous traditional tracks out there . It's this modern, totally inappropriate rubbish, that gets repeated over and over .

Actually, there isn't. After just one series this forum would be filled with 'omg the music choices are soooo repetitive'.

But I agree they need to do a heck of a lot better than they have been. The music choices tonight were particularly awful. They need to choose the right tone, drive and pace of music for a dance.

I can imagine that the producers don't want things to get samey and predictable so they're trying to shake it up. I for one, don't mind hearing the same track again if it's appropriate. i don't understand this need to go for music that just doesn't suit the dance. If we look at the origins of tango, paso etc. then nothing modern is ever going to cut it.

A brilliant dance is about the moves, the choreography, the atmosphere and the emotion - music helps in all of these and can make or break a routine.

I'd be shocked if Aljaz or Artem chose those tunes - especially Artem, as he usually looks to be so creative and musical with his choreography. Can't see him not wanting to tell a story with Tango and that music gave him no chance!

Pro's used to be mostly left to their own music choice, apart from the odd track the BBC asked them to use. Looks as though the producers are trying to wedge more modern music in to increase the appeal of the show. They're actually draining some of the potential out of dances though IMO and making it less appealing to watch. It's not about sticking to traditional music for me, but making sure modern tracks actually work with the intended dances rather than being used for the sake of it and working against them. Traditional music would always win for me though, as you can't get any better basis to a dance than the traditional beat and flavour!

Agree with all of this Erinfan. I'd also add the bliddy stupid spinning camera was so distracting, specially in Natalie and Artem's Tango.

I don't think it would get repetitive. There's an unbelievable number of classic "ballroom suitable" standards around, that most people familiar with some music of most genres, from many decades will know, or instantly remember when they hear them.

For example, Frank Sinatra recorded over 1,000 songs and the singer Susannah McCorkle was reputed to have a repertoire of 3,000.

How many are needed for one series of Strictly? Less than 150.

I'm not against contemporary music, there are still some "melodic" tunes being written. It's just my opinion that the producers must be tone deaf.

The music this series is indeed dreadful. Can't remember it being as bad as this in past seasons, TBH.

I thought there might be a thread about the music choices this week and I wasn't wrong.

It was truly dire all the way through tonight. The low point must surely have been choosing "I Will Always Love You" - an honest country song originally written in 4/4 time - for a waltz. The poor singer couldn't do anything to make the phrasing sound right, the whole song felt awkward and cannot have been at all pleasant to dance to. Second worst was the choice of a disco number for a tango: there was zero drama, edge or syncopation to work with in the music.

Although I think that Bruce over-sells Dave Arch and his orchestra to an almost laughable extent*, I don't believe it was their fault that the songs were simply wrong for the dances this week.

* Don't get me wrong, I think they're a decent enough session group and the majority of the time they do a pretty good job. The part of the band which most often lets the rest down is the singers. The male singer who tries to sing Queen songs in too high a key is just embarrassing. Face it, fella: Freddie Mercury you ain't - never were and never will be. I'm pretty sure the band can play the songs in any key that works for you. Try it one day.

Most of the songs used were really old and I suspect cheap to buy the rights to play them. The song Kristina and Ben danced to is an old R&B song that has had several come backs and was used in the movie Pitch Perfect. It definitely should not have been used for a Charleston. The best song to me tonight was Kevin and Susanna's, Hound Dog. It's just sad that he didn't know what to do with the song choreography wise and Susanna doesn't have enough natural rhythm to carry it off. Really to bad that song wasn't given to Natalie and Artem for one of their routines, I suspect there would have been a different reaction.

I don't think the BBC has to buy the rights to any music. I believe they have an arrangement with the PRS for a blanket fee for all music played on the BBC. The exception might be some musicals. It'd be a nightmare finding the copyright owners for every bit of music played on TV and the radio and then "negotiating its use."
Exposure of anyone's music on Strictly has got to be considered a benefit to any songwriter, leading to possible further royalties from record sales.

Something really should be done about the camera work. The spinning thing is annoying, I agree. More frustrating for me is when they get they don't switch the shot at the right point in the dance. A semi-closeup is OK for a relatively compact segment without too much going on with the feet, but the number of times that they are late with the cut to a longer shot when the dancers start to travel again is really annoying. AIUI they have two rehearsals on the dancefloor before the live show so it's not as if they don't have an opportunity to choreograph the camera moves and cuts to complement the dances properly.

I know it's a live show but most live sports coverage captures the action better than the Strictly directors manage to - and live sport doesn't have rehearsals!

I once seen a cleared song list for American idol (songs they were permitted to use) and there was only 5000 on there all together. This for the biggest show in America (at the time). They cannot use any old song! Some think jut because they are the BBC they can do what they like, wrong!

I agree modern songs are fine but it needs to be in-keeping with the dance. A good example: Rhinna Disturbia = Tango (but has been used before of course).

They seem to omit a lot of 70's, 80's and 90's music as well which would give them more choice instead of just current and "traditional".

I love strictly, but found my attention wandering, the music is horrendous, producers if you have anyone reading this please go back to basics,

just posted on another thread, but basically, agree that tonight's choices were the worst ever, except perhaps for sophie's rhumba. and i am not especially insitent upon traditional music, just suitable!

It made me wonder why would anybody want to dance tango to that. Some dances can work with a non traditional music, but paso and tango are not one of those. It just looks odd with all those accents in a dance and none in the music.

He doesn't choose the music the producers do.