Too many backing dancers getting in the way!

Some weird music choices

Jay's outfit !

Hopefully SCD can drop this next year. Switch up would be more interesting than themed week imo.

Yes, Georgia was obscured by a reapot and candlestick passing in front of the camera, and so many couples flapping around Helen.
I don't mind referencing a film/musical but they forget how it comes across on tv.

I didn't think the rowdy song from Oliver! was at all suitable for a Viennese Waltz! Obviously it was performed with great character and spirit but the song and the dance were a hideous mismatch for me.

I agree, I would like to see a basics week with plain costumes and every couple attempting the same dance steps. That would really show up the best dancers.

I loved how jay and Aliona's routine stood out tonight. ..sometimes less is more .

I think that some of the other contestants routines were spoiled by the extra dancers. They were a distraction and not in a good way.

Just about the worst episode I've seen.

I only enjoyed Georgia and Giovanni's this week and the contentless dances by several of the others seemingly passed without comment by the 'judges'

ugh
awful

Agree, the other dancers/props were off putting, in Blackpool week it was much better and you could see who was who, but this week it was just too cramped for so many extras.

Will have to re-watch and concentrate.

In general I didn't like it. I thought it worked well for Anita and Gleb.

Fit perfectly with the musical his song came from which is about an ordinary guy and an ordinary girl falling in love over music.

However, some of the others were ridiculous including a Ballroom Tango song for an AT, poor Kellie & Kevin's VW (although that bizarrely ended up working out as a more operatic style bierkeller VW) and the stupid furniture during Georgia's routine.

The most ridiculous outfit of the night was Katie's. She was dancing in a ballgown with a big fluffy trim pretending to Sally Bowles.

Definitely becoming too gimmicky, back to basics.

I don't know where all these creative producers and directors get their credentials from, but they're lacking in basic common sense!

You only have to glance at the dancefloor to notice that those teapots were doing nothing but getting in the way and detracting from the dance. Bad enough to make the decision to put them in (would love to have heard how that one was suggested!) but did nobody pick up on it in the rehersals? The judges couldn't even see G & G for part of the dance!

Maybe in poor dances they put faff in to cover things up, but they were glowing on the dancefloor and those 'items' just detracted from it all.

It could've been worse...we could have had around the world week again.

It wouldn't have been an issue if they'd have stayed where they were at the beginning!

Theme weeks usually seem to be an opportunity to lower the bar and overall, I think that happened.

The previous weeks dances were generally much better.

I'm not a fan of backing dancers, fillers and props.

It wasn't a good week at all was it?

Every dance suffered because of theming to some extent. Obviously some more than others. Teapots and clocks? Really?

Bruno was standing at one point trying to see past the stupid furniture. What is wrong with the head of choreography? Didn't he see in rehearsals that the "moving furniture" would be right in front of the judges? Sometimes I wonder if this man really is the right person for the job, given what's been going on with props, themes and pro routines. Last week's pro routine to "I'm a Woman" set in a Launderette couldn't be more sexist and outdated, it looked like something from 70's, straight out of Benny Hill.

Probably the most expensive episode of the series and yet, for me, it was just a mess. I think far too much emphasis is placed on the studio audience and that the producer forgets this is primarily a TV show. The audience drown out everything these days

Yeah - but Benny was ahead of his time!

If I wanted to watch a novelty teapot I would have spent the evening outside Whittards window.

Lol!

Wardrobe are incapable of making a ballroom dress for Katie without adding fluffy trim.

I didn't like Georgia's Belle dress. Too acid yellow! Should have been softer. They wimped out of face painting Gio too .. or he did! Which made a nonsense out of his dancing companions.

Kellie's outfit was an improvement although wish they had gone for a deeper red.

Helen wanted to look more ragged etc and I think it would have looked better if they had gone more for the corset look at the top and tattered skirt. Her dress was too ballroomy.

Anita's dress was nice .. not sure about the slashed front .. but it was what she did in it that I most objected to!

Jay ... just perfect.

Pro dances are generally tacky and not distinct from each other these days. Everything is more camp and OTT, in general, too. I would like him rid but don't mention it much on here as he is loved by a faction.

That was definitely one of the worst episodes I can think of in a long time.

The problem wasn't the theme - Musicals/Movie Week has historically always been one of the better themes. The problem was that nobody had a clue what to do with the backing dancers. They were either too all over everything (Helen/Kellie) or just bumbling around like spare parts (Katie/Georgia). I do think backing dancers have helped produce some unforgettable routines before (Michael Vaughan's American Smooth/Caroline's Charleston) but they need to be deployed sparingly and with purpose, not like yer da putting ketchup all over everything in a foreign restaurent.

Quite. Admitedly we all have our own tastes, and hes not going to please everyone...
but that shambolic display that detracted from G & G's dance was obviously ridiculous to look at, purposeless, impractical and annoying to anyone who was watching it. The fact these people are supposed to be skilled in what they do? It really beggars belief!