I didn't notice any camera out of place tonight, there was one last week however.

Out of place?

The main criticism of the camera work is that there was too much cutting from one camera to another.

It was difficult to judge any footwork properly.

Blackpool was the problem. They need to stop going there.

Meg

As others state, they big it up to the extent that anything other than perfection feels dramatically underwhelming.

Agreed totally the judges are marking on form and not what's in front of them. They're terrified they'll lose Claudia because of a bad week and over marked her meaning they couldn't reward ore, Danny and possibly Louise for better without ridiculously over marking them too or Greg or even ed's improvement.
Hate the backing dancers too the supposed lesser lights and Danny were more watchable for not being swamped by them.

I really dislike the terms and conditions but, and really could have done without that "comedian" doing his "backs against the wall, lads" bit, pretending Judge Rinder had tried to grab his backside.

The most noticeable one tonight was when Natalie was doing the splits as a highlight of Greg's quickstep but we lost most of it because of the camera.

Didn't notice it myself on that one, but there was one last week.

It was awful from start to finish. They paced it badly having the weaker dancers near the end.

It was a dreadful show. Danny & Oti and Ore & Jo were the only two dances I really enjoyed, and even they were overmarked, though the 40 did at least leave Danny in his rightful place on the leaderboard so in that sense I don't disagree with it.

The fundamental problem is that the show was so over-produced that the dancing got lost. Half the time the cameras were on the backing dancers rather than the celebs, and if you've got the backing dancers doing the same steps as the celeb it is never going to help the celeb as they'll just pale in comparison. Far too many props, lifts and gimmicks as well - it's as if the rule book was destroyed in the fire on top of Ed's piano. None of the gimmicks or props in any way enhanced the dances either.

I was bored through most of it.

Directors think they're being really 'modern' with their close-ups and zooms etc but actually they're the opposite. The reason TV went for lots of cuts and close ups rather than movie-style long to mid shots in the 50s with dance routines was the fact that the average TV screen then was about 8 inches, so a dance routine looked tiny. But now the average screen is about 32 inches, or more, and there's simply no need to show a dance routine with so much camera movement and so many cuts. And for a dance show to fail to show dances so that you can actually judge the dances is really unforgivable.

What exactly is your issue with Blackpool? Better than the travesty that was Wembley a few years ago. Fair enough Empress Ballroom would probably be better from the dance perspective but not from a production or audience aspect I wouldn't think.

What's your suggestion then for this week since they have to give the studio over to Children In Need they have to go somewhere.

I love Blackpool, and the Tower Ballroom - the problem for me is the level of hype and the desire to make everything BIG and drowning performances in props, backing dancers and gimmicks. The best dances come organically and are less likely to happen with all that gubbins!

I dunno Rhumba I usually find Blackpool lifts the performances and then the week after back at the studio's kind flat. Tonight felt more like Strictly does Wembley where the dances were swallowed up by the venue.

Yes, I usually like Peter Kay he can be really funny and it was nice to see his carpool co-star next to him in the audience but I thought Judge Rinder was very polite to laugh at his rubbish humour and PK was lucky he didn't slap him.

It was the music that felt flat for me this week and a bit odd with some of the dances.. I love Hey Mickey and still have my worn out single and went to see Sha na na when I was still at school so was looking forward to Born to Hand Jive but I really didn't enjoy tonights efforts by the backing singers at all and the music being good makes a massive difference. That and the big floor made some couples look a bit mediocre I thought.

My favourite performances were by Danny/ Judge Rinder and Claudia but I don't think the band/music helped any of them particularly tonight.

Obviously I do not work for the BBC and I am not aware of the resources they have available for their programmes... but there is a solution. I'm sure of it, but I'm equally sure that Blackpool does not tick the box.

Meg

It's the same every year once you remember every year, throw normal scores out the window drink more and then just enjoy it

My thoughts exactly. Quite agree

There was a lot with tonight imo:

1.) The extra dancers were terrible, very distracting and I couldn't see most of Louise''s dance because they kept getting in the way- Totally unnecessary as the Blackpool Ballroom is big but you can clearly dance alone on the floor as Queen Jill''s Jive 40 was there.

2.) The God awful camera work

3.) The judges marking didn't know if it was coming or going, 9s for Claudia when she made loads of errors, 8s for Greg when he hardly made any. Also, it meant there was absolutely nowhere for the judges to go apart from give Danny a 40- It was excellent, but there was at least one error so it was a 9 for me. Just made me really angry which spoiled the show

The opening dance was boring and it set the tone.

I didn't think it was as good as previous years. I can't really put my finger on why.
The only way I can put it is that for some reason it just didn't seem so "big and glitzy". To me the size of the place didn't come over, the dancers didn't appear to make as much use of the floor. I'm no expert, but I just think the camera work was inferior to previous years.

I'm glad it wasn't just me.

I'm sure the atmosphere in the ballroom was great, unfortunately it didn't come across on the TV

Floor is huge compared to the studio and I don't want to see backing dancers, I'm only interested in the celebrities and their pro partners.

Hated the backing dancers they distracted your eyes ,too much going on ,plus the camera people were on speed

It seemed OK to me but then I watched the clips after the event since I was out last night and so my expectations had been set lower. However the backing dancers need to be more.....er....backing and less fronting.

Apart from Danny, for me the opening dance to the music of Chorus Line was the highlight of the evening.

Interesting how we can all feel so differently about the same show.