There have been several posts that infer that the couples might be joined by backing dancers this Movie week.

I really hope they don't.
It's distracting and can be used to either cover up a celeb's weekness, or give the routine a "Wow" factor that it wouldn't have if just the two of them were dancing.

Also, if they re-use a "backed" dance for the final, they have to amend the choreography (very noticable in Caroline's Istanbul routine).

In Sunetra's Girl from Ipanema rumba, she interacted with the backing dancers for a significant part of the dance while Brendan lounged against a palm tree!

So it's Nay from me!

I don't mind them so much for themed weeks, but I think they are too distracting the rest of the time. DWTS seems to want backing dancers in as much as possible.

No thanks.

Nay

Grumpy Dopey Doc Sneezy Bashful (5 characters)

...all of whom will be dancing in Kirsty and Brendan's routine this week to try and cover up her dancing.

If they have towels to mop Giovanni's face then I'm all for it. If they are other stage school kids from Emu's Pink Windmill accompanying Kellie, then I'm not!

It's a definite no from me. I want to see the couple dance their dance without distractions. We get a dance from the professionals and that's great. Also, don't like all the props and messing around at the beginning of a dance. I'm with Len there. He comments about that when marking.

Definitely not.

What's the point? to distract attention from the celeb, to give a respite to the pro, to make a pair that have no chemistry get away with it?

It doesnt really add anything but takes away a lot, specially from the better dancers.

Judging by the scenes in their respective films they're using as inspiration, I can see Jamelia, Kellie, Peter and Carol having backing dancers at the very least. Sigh.

Themed weeks only. It worked so well in Caroline & Pasha's Charleston last year (and their jive) .. allowing the lift to be more spectacular but sometimes it can be messy and distracting.

Yes indeed ! How nice it would be if we could go back to the days when Alan Dedicoat announced what they were dancing and asked the couple to please take to the floor. They would just come from behind the red curtain after we'd all watched their training video, and walk onto the dance floor to begin. No props and no silly VT. Those were the days

No.
I also say "no" to themed shows.
I also say "no" to "comedy" links.. show us training by all means but then if they didn't have huge razzmatazz sets there wouldn't be a need for the excessive links.

Just show us the couple dancing, ask how they felt it went and give us the scores.

An emphatic NO from me, they not only distract from the dance and the couple (who should be centre-stage), but they also get in the way (as happened with Jake Wood last year when one nearly collided with him through no fault of Jake's).

If a dance is good enough, it shouldn't need anything else, not backing dancers, not props.

No from me too - especially if used like with Sunetra last year. Long line of backing dancers with Sunetra tagged on the end looking uncomfortable.

And wasn't there one dance where the "backing dancers" took centre stage and proceeded to lift the celebrity? Which made them part of the dance, not just backing dancers.

No, thanks.

"Ladies and Gentle-men. Madam - PLEASE! Nay, Nay and thrice Nay! Ooh - 'ere - No! Totter they Not! Ooh no, please, it's wicked to mock the afflicted!"

Some of the celebs on DWTS have had one leg or no legs or one arm and the dancers are needed to help them balance or get up and down stairs or do lifts.

Maybe they could have one to help Anthony with his shoulder problem?

As this is not DWTS, and no-one has a disability, what you suggest would be an unfair advantage. Notwithstanding the fact that other celebs in the past have danced through injury with no such help, the routine was modified to suit.

And if you allowed a "backing dancer" to become part of the dance, albeit just to assist with a lift, where do you draw the line? How about the older celeb who cannot do a lift? Should they have help? How about those older celebs that perhaps cannot dance down or up the stairs? Do they get help? very quickly it becomes a free-for-all, with all sorts of extra "backing dancers" helping out and being a full part of the dance. No longer would it be simply the pro & partner.

I think both Janette and Caroline were the centre point of a mass lift.

Ah yes, now I remember that it was indeed Caroline - as I recall she was lifted and passed back by these so-called backing dancers.

i voted no the last three times we had this thread.

and after due considerations, its still a no from me.

As if.

It's a definate no from me as to me, it distracts too much from the contestants and there usually isn't enough dance content.

HOWEVER for me it worked in Caroline and Pasha's Charleston and Abbey and Aljasz's Salsa.

Mostly nay. Occasionally it works well.