Just curious. The opening dance with the pros and contestants and about every other dancer currently at Blackpool ... well, did it work for you?

To me, by the middle of the routine, it seemed like the cameraman couldn't figure out where to put his focus as there were so many people crowded on that floor. You couldn't easily pick out anyone until the camera focused in on someone. It all seemed very messy and uncoordinated compared to other opening dances we've seen in the series.

What do you think?

Disappointing.

No glamour and splendidness like previous dances at Blackpool with descending chandeliers and beautiful ballroom dresses. They seem determined to banish glamour from Strictly though.

It was manic to much going on , I didn't like it .

It was like a Kevin and Kellie routine, but with everyone involved.

(and that's wasn't a compliment).

The story was good and chaos was supposed to happen, but agree, the camera still needed to pick a way through the chaos. Beginning and ending worked but it got lost a bit in the middle.

The pro dances are all like children's stories this year!

It was too frantic . Too many people , things and too manic
I long for the olden days of plain old pro dances with no props or clutter

I thought it took a while to get going, but I liked the lindyhop expert couples and I liked it when the celebs joined in (translation: I thought Jay looked cracking in tails doing lindyhop so I kind of don't care about anything else, sorry). It didn't showcase the pro dancers like I'd like to see them dance - I really miss that - and the camera was a bit all over the place, but if I only compare with the pro dances this year, most of which I've thought lacked content, I liked it.

Messy, cluttered and unfocussed. Or put another way, boring.

And for my money if you're doing a period upstairs-downstairs piece, then the dancing should have a similar period feel. Didn't feel at all right somehow.

Tails are anachronistic in almost every era, including our own in which they are occasionally still worn. The demotic downstairs blokes (more likely as an indicator) looked to be in 20s/30s garb. When did Lindy Hop originate?

I thought it was a total mess. Very disappointing

Kellie certainly made sure she got her share.


(I didn't see anybody else!)

I don't understand why all pro dances have to have a "story" these days. As if we were at the panto. Why not just enjoy dancing for the sake of dancing?

There was no story in Katie and Anton's routine, and it was fabulous. Perfect for Blackpool.

I agree. Very disappointing.

It was just a massive mess. They finally had a floor big enough for all the Strictly pro couples to do a proper pro dance and they then squashed a load of randoms on with them to make it look small again. Like someone else said, its even worse when you compare it to the beautiful pro ballroom dance they did there years ago with the chandeliers. Is Jason Gilkison only capable of choreographing messy mash-ups where its impossible to tell what dance anyone is supposed to be doing?

It also didn't circulate, so Kellie was front and centre for whole celeb bit, Jay, my favourite, was just behind so I could watch him, but if you were a fan of one of the others I think you'd have been hard-pressed to find them in that. And that's not what I want to see in the group dance, I want each celeb to get their own moment in the spotlight.

Just looked like they were cashing in on Downton Abbey's popularity
Didn't enjoy it - too may dancers

It was a bit "busy" but I enjoyed the downtrodden character Giovanni played. I thought that was a nice bit of fun I'd probably have preferred something a bit more traditional though, considering it was Blackpool.

It does sometimes feel as though we're treated like children who can't cope with dancing unless there's a blatant story accompanied by daft costumes being rammed down our throats.

Or, to put it an other way, completely shambolic!

I didn't like it either, too much too frantic too much of a mess.

I would have preferred to see the pros alone dancing a "proper" dance - ideally at least 7 couples on the floor, the ladies in gorgeous dresses, the guys in tails, doing a something preferably like a Viennese waltz or a quickstep, which would have been not just exciting to watch, but in keeping with the surroundings.

I appreciate producers think they need to avoid presenting real dances every week - even with a choice of 10 standard dances and various others - they could be seen as boring after so many years .................. you can just hear viewers saying "oh not, not another boring fox/rumba......." or whatever. But every once in a while it would be nice.

It's a shame also because Jason Gilkinson was an amazing dancer, and is actually a superb choreographer, but I think he's not getting it right - or maybe he is just making the best of what he is told to do.

I didn't enjoy it at all, there have been some great opening routines at Blackpool in the past, this one was very disappointing

Kevin was manic at the beginning , leapiing about as per usual

The should have hired That Beth Honan again who did the Chess dance piece. It was the most fabulous dance on the show ever.

Didn't rate it.

I think this has been the best "intro," so far.

Watch Janette's (on the left) high kick about one minute in. She's always "full on."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QemZ7_15OpA