In the Five Thoughts thread, Sid expressed the view I've been struggling to articulate to myself about why I found it so unsatisfying compared to my expectations:


The producers treat us all as if we were six and need the theme spelling out in flash cards.

I quite liked the teapot!

Seriously, they got in the way a bit, but at least they were obviously pieces of tabletop furniture. I think it is worse when the backing dancers and celeb/pro merge into one. Not much chance of mistaking Georgia or Giovanni for a teapot or candlestick.

They got in the way but they detracted from the dance. The judges couldn't see it, the audience couldn't see it properly and although I agree that Georgia and Giovanni were still able to stand out....it would have been a far classier and beautiful affair had they been allowed to dance it on their own. The props actually took some of the magic away from it. Georgia and Giovanni don't need props, their emotive storytelling, partnership, dancing and performing is what makes their dance...props only helped distract from what makes their dance special and stand out.

BIBs I agree with all of this. Why on earth put a fluffy trim on a dress when she was meant to be Sally Bowles? Sally Bowles would never be seen in a long ball gown anyway. It's meant to be just a nod to the character but that dress. They could have given it a sleek, sassy look at the bottom. Katie ain't no film version or stage version Sally Bowles either!

Georgia's dress was a bit yellow but it fits with her Belle character. They could have gone for a yellowy gold which would have been nicer! Nancy's dress in the film was a deeper red so perhaps we all expected Kellie's dress to be the same. Wardrobe probably just went with what they had in stock for both Georgia's and Kellie's frocks!

Didn't we hear talk of Helen and Aliaz being a bit mucky to be in keeping with Les Mis/the song? It was surprising to see Helen in a dress which was so perfect. It was a lovely dress but like you I thought it would be street urchin style and maybe just a bit tatty!

Wardrobe have a lot to do but when they make a fuss about a themed week like musicals and I love a musical, I've have seen Cabaret, Chicago, Les Mis and Oliver on stage as have many people, then they ought to get it right!

And as for those props - dancing crockery, tea sets and the like............

That's why I questioned where was the head of choreography in rehearsals. Surely, he is the one who was suppose to oversee these things, no? I agree with you in the sense that backing dancers can add to a routine but most of the time when they're used they end up being either a distraction or a hazard like Jake's AT. I don't mind theme weeks and musicals week is surely the one that makes more sense but they should be kept to a minimum, otherwise that "something special" feeling disappears.
And please don't get me started on unnecessary props and the tacky "seaside specials" pro routines of lately.
Whys is this man so special, does he know where the bodies are?

Its another way of distracting viewers from the actual dancing.

During Georgia's dance, the teapots etc. were dancing right in front of the judges!

Dancing??? Shuffling and lumbering is more accurate.

Worst theme ever for me, terrible music, too many props and extra dancers!

Lol. I didn't notice when I watched it the first time round . I loved Georgia and Giovanni and thought they danced really well, but watching it again, Bruno trying to peek through the tableware provides a weird comedic element!

I profess not to know much about dance but as a casual viewer of strictly as a Saturday night entertainment show for many years it was spectacular. the theme was musicals week and the staging certainly had me feeling I could be watching a west end show. I think if you take it for what it really is instead of nitpicking over everything you will get more from it imo

I really hate this kind of cheesy tacky stuff. Ironically, the US version is classier.

All of the extra nonsense was distracting and detracted from the power of the dances.

What is Anita doing this week?
Argentine Tango
OOH - that is a toughie - I cannot think of any musicals set in Argentina

What about Chicago that has a tangoey thing in it - that'll work

Errmmmm... Evita ??
Was the recent revival not made more Latino ?

"On this night of a Thousand stars" sung by the character of an Argentine Tango singer

Methinks the Musicals knowledge of TPTB starts and ends with Disney

Georgia's 'backing' dancers were very distracting, and I suspect the deeply offputting plodding in front of the camera affected the viewer's enjoyment enough that she lost votes - it may have been the difference between her escaping the dance off, but we'll never know. I loved her foxtrot, but hated the staging and the lumbering dancers!

Kellie and Helen's dancers were similarly intrusive into their dances, and actually impacted on what those dances ought to have looked like, IMO. Kellie's VW massively lacked content in order that she could mess around on the table top kicking tankards and other time-wasting (but, no doubt, crowd pleasing) stuff! As for Helen, putting her in a long line of paso dancing people really exposed how not-terribly-good she was at those moves!

Only Anita and Katie's dancers were kept as more decorative elements and, in Anita's case, provided a fantastic moment in the dance where she performed solo with the 2 female backing dancers. That looked great, and felt very faithful to the original musical without losing too many AT elements!

The fact is, the number of dancers that suited Blackpool's huge ballroom floor, and worked for those numbers, was completely inappropriate on the relatively tiny TV Centre studio floor. That's the producers' fault - the rehearsal stage should have been the point where they shed dancers, and kept the floor clearer for the couples to shine.

As distracting as the pieces of furniture in Georgia's dance were they were actually all representing characters in the Beauty and The Beast film as they all have faces, talk and sing being a Disney film.

The story is a fairy tale not primarily a Disney film and they most certainly do not appear in the original story. They were distracting characters - to say the least!

Exactly. It is primarily supposed to be a dancing show.

Apart from being distracting (to both the audience as well as the judges) it added nothing to the dance, looked ridiculous, and more importantly, only took away from Georgia and Giovannis dancing and storytelling. They were blossoming on the dancefloor and would have shone much more had they had a chance to shine on tehir own without the ridiuclous distractions.

I like the backing dancers

Well at least some appear in the film.

Very true Sarah.

Jays was perfect if you see the film. Their acting was spot on too.