1. Far too much faffing about and not enough actual dancing
2. The backing dancers were a hinderance and disrupted the flow of the routines as well as obstructing the view. Time to get rid.
3. Quite possibly the most incompetent judging I have ever seen on Strictly. Scandalous overmarking for ALL the dances. Every single one.
4. Peter Kay was the highlight of the night
5. That show will be quickly forgotten from my perspective. It was just dreadful and a terrible let down. Roll on next week.

1. Danny & Oti were by far the best of the night. I really love watching them dance.

2. Really enjoyed Ore & Joanne's dance - first time I've voted for him since his jive

3. Ed was so much better than I thought he was going to be. He doesn't get enough credit for how much improvement he's made. I hope he stays in another week.

4. Claudia and Rinder on the other hand were both painful to watch this week. Much as I've enjoyed them both on other weeks, I actually think they should be the two in the dance off based on tonight's show.

5. If a dancer doesn't have the charisma to stand out, as Danny & Ore both managed to this eve, then they get a bit swallowed up by the backing dancers if they dance with them too much. Louise especially suffered from this tonight.

1. Really enjoyed the show, why is everyone being so grumpy on here?
2. Thought Tess looked and presented great
3. Loved the Paso, very Game of Thrones-y, Louise kept in character
4. Really enjoyed Greg and Natalie's too, the theme of it helped and it was fun
5. Well done Danny and Oti, very polished (though not a fun) Charleston., Do they not get on? They looked awkward standing next to each other before it went back to Tess.

Cheeky final point - They've had extra dancers at Blackpool for a good few years now (yes, not in early series). They are putting on a big show in the Tower Ballroom, it's for one week only, calm down people, it will be back to normal next Saturday.

Danny and Oti get on fine. They seem like good friends.

1. Claudia's music should have been slowed down just a little and it would have been so much better. She struggled to keep up.
2. The scoring tonight was SO ridiculous.
3. I'm not a fan of production over actual dance content so I wasn't a fan of Louise's paso at all.
4. I do think Danny's overdue a perfect score but it just should have been for his quickstep.
5. Claudia could be in danger tonight

1. What is the point of the judges if they don't mark what they see. So many errors ignored tonight.

2. I really like Katya. She reminds me of Lilia a bit, in terms of how she's working with Ed. if you get high quality pros then they get results. The likes of Janette or Karen wouldn't have Ed actually doing proper dance steps and improving like he is.

3. I loved Rinder in his VT, voicing much of the audience's thoughts on the tenuously linked content I reckon! I really like his attitude in general.

4. I think I was disappointed by Ore's Viennese waltz because I think at Blackpool in particular it can be such a stunning fairy tale type dance, and although it was theatrical it didn't capture that beauty at all, not enough classic content for me.

5. Still waiting to be wowed this series. So far Ed Balls has come closest...

Edit: sneaky 6 - I totally agree with everyone else about the annoying backing dancers! I don't think they added any improvement to any dance tonight, just confusion and distraction.

1. FRANTIC was my overall feeling - it was as if everyone was trying desperately hard to 'fill' the Tower Ballroom - frantic choreography, frantic speed, a kind of frenetic look about many of the dances. It was like everyone was 'on a Bruno'.
2. And I couldn't focus on the actual dances because all these dizzy-making distracting things were going on around them - the busy backing dancers, often doing something completely at odds with the dance, the giant balls (not Ed, but those massive things bouncing around in the background). the crazy camerawork, the 'choreography overload', glitter and glitz everywhere you looked. It was like the whole programme was a giant Viennese Waltz.
3. I usually love Craig, but tonight he was contradicting himself, especially with Greg: pointing out loads of problems with his dancing, then saying 'you danced brilliantly'. Marking overload too tonight.
4. Back to VTs of extreme silliness.
5. The only time I relaxed was during Judge Rinder's routine - his joy is contagious.

1. I was distracted by Louise's dress, it merged in with the floor pattern too much
2. Katya is brilliant, watch it back and see all the little touches she put in Ed's dance
3. Love Danny and Oti, you could really see the floor bouncing in that routine
4. Marking was just ridiculous
5. As I think penelopsimpson said in the main thread, Blackpool is like a party to which we are not invited. They are all getting ready for the aftershow high jinks.

1- LOVED the opening number
2- Louise and Ore were great
3- Wouldn't have given Danny a ten tbh
4- Greg was a bit dull
5- ED NEEDS TO LEAVE

1. Good but unspectacular show - didn't live up to the hype.

2. Some routines were far too busy with too many extra dancers overwhelming it all.

3. I LOVE Judge Rinder and Claudia but neither were at their best tonight IMO.

4. Conversely, I thought Greg did really well - I don't rate him much but he did himself proud and was probably the only one who exceeded expectations.

5. The overmarking of Louise seems to have spread to the audience... people booing 9s for that? What? I thought it exposed that she cannot "perform" a big dramatic number at all, which was a shame as in different hands it could have been brilliant.

1) I really loved the opening number.

2) Claudia was totally overmarked, which left them nowhere to go. Consequently, lots of the others wound up overmarked as well to compensate.

3) Danny & Oti's Charleston was my favourite dance of the night.

4) I loved the staging on Kevin & Louise's paso, I just wish she'd acted it more. She had the dancing down pat, but her performance skills are lacking. It could have been really amazing if she'd given it a bit more oomph.

5) The backing dancers were distracting, especially during Robert & Oksana's number. They were even dancing in front of the couple for a good part of it & Neil and the other guy seemed to fumble that lift with Robert at the start (not sure where the fault lies there, with them or him), Sometimes additional dancers can add something, but sometimes they just spoil things. Certainly, I don't mind them starting off in a group, but after that I think there ought to be a ten metre exclusion zone around the couple so the backing dancers don't pull focus or worse, bump into them.

1. Having Judge, Greg & Ed all one after the other really emphasised the gulf in ability from the top 4 dancers and them.

2. Danny with another spectacular dance. Could watch him and Oti all day.

3. Overall enjoyed the show, but my word they did some odd stuff with camera angles! Enough to give you motion sickness...

4. Disappointed with Claudia's Jive - thought it would really suit her. Worry she could in trouble.

5. What a star Katya is - all credit to her for genuinely doing everything she can to improve Ed. He has a wonderful teacher there.

1. Tonight's show felt really flat - like everyone was just going through the motions.
2. More - Erm - 'interesting' music choices. The VW seemed too fast, and the paso music didn't do anything for me.
3. The camera shots were all over the place - following the dances was even more difficult than usual.
4. The marking went haywire. A Blackpool 10 is clearly different to a normal 10.
5. Charleston doesn't work well on such a big floor - it doesn't really travel. I suspect this one actually needed the backing dancers.

1. For me the show started with Danny's Charleston. Everything before it was quite meh.

2. Ed is the worst dancer there now, but it just feels so good to see him giving it everything.

3. Salsa is the odd one, especially in such a big space, but I think JR really has done very well.

4. When Craig gets all serious it can only mean one thing, actually, ten of them.

5. Underwhelmed by Claudia's jive, judges were ecstatic, but I haven't felt it.

1. Peter Kay is a comic genius. Please can he be on the show every week.

2. Loved the dancing tonight. The scores not so much. The judges were very inconsistent.

3. Danny and Oti are an awesome combination. I am pleased they got the first 40 of the series.

4. So pleased Robert and Oksana got to close a show and wow they did it in style. Shame they were woefully undermarked.

5. The two funniest bit of the show: when Peter Kay pretended Robert had goosed him, and when Oksana said "Shut up you're doing it" as Robert sat on the ride.

1. No one tonight would have made me reach for my ten paddle!* Danny was about the best of the bunch.
2. Claudia is one of my faves but if I admit she was overmarked tonight. That music was way to fast, not sure if the fault lies with powers that be or AJ!
3. I love Peter Kay, please please please can he replace Tess or Len...either one
4. I would be happy if Strictly never went back to Blackpool!
5. Meh cant even think of 5

* I dont have a real ten paddle by the way

1) Blackpool is a magical place if you let the magic unfold naturally. Try to force it through over the top production and overblown scores to create hype... all you do is drown the actual dancing and remove any chance for that bit of natural magic to happen. It's jarring and a waste of a beautiful and iconic venue.
2) Can't remember ever being more shocked by scores than I was by the 9's for Claudia. Much more than a tiny mistake in there.
3) Those first scores threw all that followed and removed any point to the judging by the middle for me, so the show felt quite odd.
4) Thought Louise looked quite nervous and the dress drowned her a little. Can see why they went for production over dance, but would have been fascinated to watch her do a scaled back Paso in the studio, as some of her shaping and arms looked amazing in training.
5) Great to see Rinder including some proper salsa, which actually looked really good in places. But then... Oh dear. Never seen anyone like him before. He manages to blend brief flashes of looking like a fantastic and honed dancer with moments where he loses all ability and doesn't look good at all. Shame he made more mistakes tonight than he has done in recent weeks, but still impressed by his actual salsa sections!

(Not including my wish for the end of Blackpool backing dancers, as feel that one's probably a given! )

1 didn't like the backing dancers
2 Danny deserved the perfect score
3 Surley Ed's going
4 glad no rock having talent comment from Len
5 Glad Craig finally found his 10 tonight

1. Show spoiled by ridiculous marking for me.
2. Claudia was never a 9 in a million years
3. Ditto 10's for Danny
4. Tess looked gorgeous
5. Think the judges want Ed to go.

1. What a really and truly rubbish show.

2. Backing dancers will never make any celeb look good.

3. Strictly's clearly had its budget cut - I spotted Neil Jones in about 4 of the routines, Janette in one and I think Karen in one as well (hard to tell as the dancers were masked, but she wasn't in the Clauditorium all night), so clearly they're now getting eliminated pros to act as backing dancers (though that begs the question why not get all the eliminated pros to do it?)

4. The marking was all over the place generally, but I thought Danny's 40 was deserved (in relative terms at least). Judge Rinder's annoyed reaction to getting an 8 was really irritating, particularly considering he got a far better score than he deserved!

5. Far too much Latin, not enough ballroom. Far too much faffing, not enough dancing.

Cheeky 6: Vicky Gill really is terrible at designing Latin dresses - only Jo and Natalie looked good and they were the ones doing ballroom!

1. With just two exceptions (see below), an exceptionally poor show.
2. Blackpool showed Who Is Who. There were Danny/Oti and Louise/Kevin - and then the rest.
3. The complexity of the top two dance routines (see above) is unprecedented.
4. Greg performed as expected: lots of faffing and some running. He could not even leap to the music.
5. Poor Claudia!

Sneaky 6. Could not take my eyes off Neil. What a waste of a terrific professional!

Footnote: Saw today's numbers on YouTube. Don't know the marks yet.

1. I got Louise (and Kevin) for the first time! I loved her Paso; I thought she brought real drama to it.
2. Danny and Oti's Charleston was stunning. For me it's the first Charleston where I was admiring the technique over the performance, though the latter was great too.
3. Two fantastic snerks in the show - from Judge Rinder, about having to go on a joyride, and Danny's comment "Naturally, as it's Strictly, we danced our Charleston in a fish shop".
4. Did the criticism of yesterday's ITT interview get through to Judge Rinder? He was positively gushing tonight!
5. The opening dance was exquisite - simple, stylish and elegant.

1. loved the opening number
2. The over marking of Claudia left the judges nowhere to go and so the 10's came out
3. Did not like rinder salsa routine
4. Thought Greg improved a tad this week
5. Was the male extra in Ore's routine (not Neil) Curtis Pritchard AJ's younger bro -looked like him

1)I normally skip past whoever is doing the T&C's but not Peter Kay, brilliant!
2)I really didn't like the choreography for Ore's VW.More distracting than any other dance and the stupid mannequin challenge was a real turn off
3)Greg has bounced back well from being in the dance off
4)Claudia could be in real danger this week, worst she has been since very early on.I thought her kicks and flicks would be sharper.
5)Judges have nowhere to go with the scoring now.Might aswell just throw away all the paddels apart from 9 and 10 once Ed goes.

1. When Peter Kay reading terms and conditions is the highlight of the show, I think there's something wrong.

2. I thought everyone felt a little flat (imo).

3. Even Danny's charleston that was technically good, I couldn't connect with it. I think I prefer the slapstick and goofy characters.

4. Louise dances as good as always but in the words of Len, I needed to see a bit more welly. Darcy was right, it looked like she was struggling not to smile and it took me out of the performance.

5. I did enjoy the opening number. I think Ed should have been allowed to dance as well though, seemed a bit harsh to stick him in a chair.