I can appreciate that Blackpool is a ballroom dancers' spiritual home but I never enjoy the shows from there really, it all seems a bit chaotic and overcrowded.
The opening show dance was vastly over populated and whilst it works for some dances, I'm not keen on extra dancers sharing the floor with the couples throughout.
I think maybe they could devote one programme to taking the celebs to Blackpool, showing them the history of the place, meeting some of the legendary dancers etc but personally, I much prefer the usual studio. Blackpool is too big.

I like Blackpool but the extra dancers can be a distraction and some dance styles suit it better than others - suited Georgia. Anita and Katie's dances most

Gosh. I thought it was only me and had better keep quiet about it! The fact that it is marginally better than Wem-ber-ly is the one good thing I can find to say about it. It is the only week of Strictly I could happily miss watching live. Some of the dances are so theatrical the actual dance is lost in all the bells and whistles.
We will never change things and Blackpool will always be the diamond in Strictly's crown

I lost sight of Georgia at one stage as the got muddled up with the dancers .I relocated her by the flowers in her hair

I didn't used to like Blackpool because it was so huge and the dances looked a bit lost.

I think the extra dancers are a great idea BUT should always be in the background, filling up some space and creating some atmosphere. I don't think they should interact with the contestants.

When used well backing dancers are fine, Anton used them just right. Using them to accentuate Katie and not distract from her. Also not always used, last year Simon and Kristina's AT didnt have any.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2KASm3hQ9_Y

Just used ighting to make the staging smaller, and it was amazing!

I didn't "feel the love" of Blackpool this year, felt rather flat and they all looked really tired, perhaps because it was a week later than usual?

Yeah, I found that too. Jameila had a great quickstep to The Monkees' "I'm a believer" though; even she ended up leaving the competition with her head held up high. Helen & Alijaz did a good charleston, but I really felt for her when she was criticised by the judges. On the VT, prior to announcing the vote on the results show, Helen was visibly upset and she had tried her best, but just felt it wasn't good enough. Poor Helen. It is just not easy going out there week after week especially when you are trying to combine time for training with your day job.

Me too! And we were well into the dance before I realized Giovani wasn't one of the background dancers

I couldn't tell one dancer from another in the show dances, chaos. I also thought Tess looked nothing like her usual well coiffed self.

I felt sorry for the celebs that they'd obviously put valuable time and effort into learning the two group dances and yet we as an audience couldn't actually see what they were achieving individually. I'm probably more interested than the casual viewer, so I will do repeat viewings, sometimes on slo-mo, and yet I still couldn't see who was who in the results show group dance, and as for seeing actual dance moves- forget it.

And it's not even as if the results show group dance had the exciting entertainment level of a big dance number that you see in a film or on stage, because it was just frenetic with unsympathetic camera angles.

The only big dance number at Blackpool that worked for me was the one that included ordinary dancers from across the age and ability spectrum. That one had flow, purpose and slightly better camera work.

Can I join this little group?

Love it to look at, beautiful ballroom, but for a Strictly show, I always can't want for a normal show the week after.

I thought last year's Blackpool show was much better. The opening number to "I have a Dream" with the whole floor used by dancers for waltzing was lovely.

Many moons ago I was involved in some TV shows that were recorded in the Tower Ballroom. At that time certainly it was a difficult and awkward place to make a TV show in. The ballroom is just not designed for it and backstage was a really poky, horrible place that was dreadful to work in. I can't imagine that things have changed much over the years since.

I agree with you. I get fed up with all the hype the week before and on ITT, and all the VT's (which just don't work in November) , and then it's a bit of a let down on the night when the celeb dancers get a bit lost amongst the backing dancers. Just my opinion though.

It's much better than Wembley, much much better, and I quite enjoyed it this year because I liked most of the dances, but I agree that I prefer it in the usual studio. Things feel more balanced in the normal studio - the imbalances - who has got a dance that suits that space and who has got the best costumes and who hasn't - feel even more noticeable at Blackpool, imo.

But the group dances being a mess is just true of this year wherever they are. I don't think that Blackpool was the problem there.

I agree with this...too many extras and some dances are meant for blackpool, others aren't...

I love the Blackpool show, because we have danced there so often and it is an amazing place.


Yes I agree, too much going on and it distracts from the dancing couple. Also the camera work was awful on Saturday (hello Mr Cameraman, can we please see the couple and the dance they are doing ) and all the lighting took away from the gorgeous floor. You can see how much it means to the pros, though, and any keen dancer would give their eye teeth to dance there at least once. I always find it a special show.

Well this years show will be remembered for a lot of reasons ..

Too overhyped.. Strictly is better when the dancers are natural and don't have to give the extra 5% because of the pressure of having to do more to impress.

BIB - totally agree it was shocking at times

I didn't mind it overall except the bit above and the dance at the start with the pro's and celebs - should have just been the Strictly pros and celebs with the added dancers it was just too chaotic and overcrowded especially at the end when they were all dancing - hard to see who was who. As for them being with the couples in their dances some were okay, other's were just distracting and taking away from the couple.

Oh and the scoring seems to go a little OTT - 10's thrown around like confetti!

I don't like it either, the dances seem to be lost among the extra dancers and props

I usually enjoy the Blackpool shows but this year it was a confusing mess most of the time .
I was so annoyed with the first dance of total confusion with too many dancers, those annoying spotlights shining right in the camera lens, all the screaming and shouting and clapping . Then we had Jay coming on to more lights and screaming . I had to switch on to record and watch it later and fast forward all the mayhem .

Those producers go OTT when it comes to Blackpool and the themed shows . They think the more they shove into the show the better it will be, when actually it makes the show worse . SCD does not need all those annoying distractions .