this question has been asked countless times before and I cannot remember if a definitive conclusion was ever reached.....

I was reading Kristina's blog in Hello and this question popped up - which she answered

Do the professionals have any say in the music?
Not really because we’re given the music from the production team. You can make suggestions and they’re sometimes taken on board but I would say 90 per cent comes from production.

so now we know

I think its a shame that the pros are not allow to choose their own music - I think there would be some totally different choices if they were!

Sorry if this question had already been discussed and a conclusion come to but I often wondered and I know its been discussed on this board in numerous threads

The pros used to be allowed a lot more involvement in the music choices. Looking at some of the god awful music choices of the last few years, I'd say that now it's very obviously a case of put up and shut up.

Ain't that the truth!

It seemed to me that many years ago they hired pros partly on the basis that they should be able to choose their own music and choreograph a routine in any of the 10 dances.

That doesn't seem as important now and it probably makes it easier and maybe cheaper to hire pros.
Its a bit like the way jobs are de-skilled in industrial applications so they can hire cheap labour possibly in third world countries.

It means a loss of part of the 'team' element of the pro and celeb if control is taken away from the pro, and when we watch, we don't know who to blame for the result.

Well maybe Kristina's suggestions don't get taken. We know they are allowed to suggest songs, there are possibly pros who make really good suggestions (as far as the producers are concerned) and get yes's?

Also they will end up choosing the same songs I'd imagine and can't all have them.

Plus Brendan pointed out last week that he stole Olas song as she went out.

Tristan's most recent interview goes a long way to answering this question:

http://www.macmaniacs.org/macmusings...october-7-2015

Watched Robin Windsor do a Q&A about the show on YouTube and this came up. He basically said at the beginning of the year pros submit a list of songs they'd like to use but often their choices get given to other couples and they end up with something else which is totally bizarre and unsuitable.

I found it really interesting hearing what he had to say (also, the bit about judges scoring the dances 15 seconds before they finish so can't take mistakes that happen near the end into account):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gw8SRzRgvtk

I do enjoy Tristan's interviews. He sounds pretty fed up about how much the producers control everything on Strictly and this probably explains a bit of why some of the pros seem a little de-motivated sometimes. It must be very hard to get invested in a dance and concept that you know isn't right but have no choice in. I really don't understand what improvement the producers think they have made to the music by choosing it all themselves

The cynic in me wonders if it's less about improving things and more about manipulating them.

Sounds awful then from what Robin was saying. The only reason I can think is to even it out if one pro has picked loads of great songs, or during the series if they want to even out the celebs.

Yes, I guess the fact that they take a pros good music ideas and give them to other couples suggest there is an agenda behind it. Plus some of the seemingly inexplicable music choices such as 'Zorba the Greek' suggest a bit of handicapping going on.

Funnily enough though, if you suggest a song and it gets given to someone else, the someone else may not be happy either if they were loving something else.

Everyone thinks they're an expert.

It's both depressing and stupid that the pros have no say in the music.

They are the ones who know what works. How galling to have to choreograph a routine to music that simply does not inspire, has the wrong beat or is totally unsuitable for the dance.

I won't even dance socially to music that leaves me cold. Imagine having to choreograph a routine for a TV show, for an amateur to dance, to music you hate?

No wonder all the good pros leave and have to be constantly replaced. How long can a dancer put up with that kind of humiliation and bullying? Not forever.

No wonder the show is getting tackier by the year. No wonder I Fast Forward most of it each time I watch

I know! Show vs Business is such an age-old cliche you'd think the organisers would have learnt to listen to the artistic folk a long time ago. Or at the very least watched an episode of DWTS to be shown they don't have to be super-controlling and allow the dancers more say.

I can't help but feel that it's a condescending "you creative types don't really understand the real world" kind of attitude. That, or it's one or two people at the top who got to the top by being super-controlling and can't change the habit of a lifetime.

Oh- and none of the ones with the final say enjoy watching dance. At least with programmes like Top Gear, they're clearly made by people with an interest in the subject of the show.

Specifying music and theme are certainly powerful tools if you want to affect the result.

Quite - it's creative/artistic people versus business types who don't see the aesthetics. Dance just happens to be the subject of this particular programme...

Im sure many years ago i can remember a conversation about how each week the Pros got to choose between 2 songs every week and that they even put forward song choices at the start of the season, plus they could also have a bit of a say in what their celebrity was wearing as in if something needed to be lengthened/shortened etc? I may of course imagined this but i don't think so!

It seems slightly ridiculous to think the pros get almost no say in what they are doing on a saturday night, what about the band - do they have any say, would they be able to say no if they cannot do a particular song? Sounds like its more of an inconvenience to have the pros there at all

I am sure that this is the reason why they do it.

Who has the power?
Answer that and all is clear.

so, Brendan has tweeted that Beautiful Day for a paso was HIS choice!

he obviously saw a potential in the song that we didnt!

Or he saw a potential exit route

Credit to him for stating that clearly.

I admit when Kirsty said that it wasn't an aggressive song, I thought she was saying that the song didn't help her, but now that Brendan has said that, I understand that she was just meaning that the song was more suited to the softer - style - side of the Paso than the aggressive side.

Brendan was right that Kirsty had a good attitude through the dance and the dance off - which was good to see and also shows that they are forming a stronger bond.

Even pros get it hideously wrong sometimes.

Brendan's choice aside, it's such a pity the Pros don't get more input into music choices as they've such wide experience over many years.

I know the PTB are limited by performing rights, etc, but the music seems limited and, too often, weird for the dance. (After saying that, the choices are a bit better this year.)

Someone's previously suggested asking the celebrities to give examples of their favourite music. Even if some of it wasn't useable, it seems a good idea to me as it would widen the choice a bit.