I would be exactly the same!

Mind you come back and tell us all what it was like

... the general public were asked to to through to Studio 1 and be seated before the production guests which leads me to believe you will be seated upstairs.

Production guests had to wait in the canteen along with the "reserves" but we were assured of a seat unlike the reserves. By the time we entered the studio it was quite full and most of the celeb' guests were already seated.

Bruce came out before the show to warm us all up and the audience floor manager encourages you to make all the right noises at the appropriate times.

The daftest thing we did and many others too was to look up at the TV screens hanging aloft to watch what was happening for real before our eyes! Totally illogical.

If you want autographs I would suggest you buy a copy of the SCD book (series 3 will do) Looks much better than a scrap of paper.

Unless you have an autograph book, of course.

Totally illogical, but something I'll probably find myself doing if I get in! Thanks for the warning.

Great idea - I got the book last christmas, so will bring it along!

Thanks.

Hi Lydia

I went to the show last Saturday and, like you, I had very little idea what to expect or what to do.
Some very kind forum-ites provided some info and pointed me in the direction of the "What to expect...." thread (which was on page 4 last week). I was advised to get there between 12 and 1pm as the queuing starts early and the volume of people in the queue seems to vary week to week. Anyway, this is how my day went:

Arrived at 12pm (via taxi - v helpful driver who pointed out the Audience Reception to us). We were about 17th/18th in the queue behind some seriously prepared people with chairs, stools, rugs and flasks, and (it later turned out) 8 Ronan Keating fans who had managed to get SCD tickets but weren't interested in the dancing (don't get me started).

Next in the queue behind us was DancingPixie & friends who gave us loads of valuable advice and toldus what would happen inside.

The time passed fairly quickly as everyone was chatting and gawping at the Ronan fans (who ran at him both times he came in/out of Television Centre).

We queued til 3:45 then the doors opened but a separate queue for production/staff guests was organised so there were two queues (one in each door).
You have to put your bags and coats through the security machine like at the airport and are checked to make sure you aren't trying to smuggle anything dangerous in!

From there you go across to the canteen, collecting a numbered sticker for your ticket on your way.

We stayed in the canteen til 4:45 watching old SCD re-runs. Ian Waite was in the shop signing DVD's/tickets/books.
We tried to queue up at the studio door early (it does help to sit at the top near the door!) but we got told off as it was 'strict number order'. We were lucky as we had 26/27. They called 1-30 then 31-60 and so on.

We were taken out to the studio and told where to sit. they filled up the spaces at the back of the dancefloor first, then at the sides and upstairs.

A warm-up type guy came on 15-20 mins before to tell us what was going on then Bruce came out 5 mins before.

After the 1st show we got the opportunity to quickly get on the dancefloor to meet some of the professionals, even though the BBC staff tell you not to, they don't stop you.
I met Brendan and Anton, got autographs and photos. They were both lovely.

We went back to the canteen for 45 mins then came back out for the Results Show dress rehearsal. They filmed the Ronan performance, ran through the results (with a fake elimination) and the professionals danced the salsa.

After the Results Show it was more difficult to meet celebs/professionals as the dancefloor is crowded with audience/friends/family and also the cloakroom shuts 15 mins after the performance so you need to get your coats back.

Have a fabulous time - we did!

Sounds like you had a fab time...

By the time we left the studio afte the show we had spent nearly 11 hours in the company of the Ronanites. My friend & I almost lost the plot.
It makes a hilarious (and long) story now because they were mad but at the time our patience was wearing mightily thin!
They called Matt Dawson "Max", Len Goodman "Ron" and spent the whole of the recording talking about Ronan.
One of them actually asked Matthew Cutler to move from his position in the wings (pre-Rumba) as he was blocking her view of Ronan!!! The cheek!!!
In the queue, people (including us) were a bit miffed that the tickets had gone to non-SCD fans but you have to credit them for queuing for over 4 hours to watch a 5 minute performance.

LOL

Strange, strange people!

Oh well, takes all sorts

How on earth do these people get tickets? Especially when the BBC repeatedly says they don't have any left.

I had the same problem with Donny Osmond in series 2. All the poxy Donny fans kept me out of the studio. I still don't know how they got the tickets within the week.

But how did they know Ronan was going to be on? Surely they got the tickets on the same day as everyone else (a few weeks before the series started). Was it already known then that Ronan would perform last Saturday?

Or did they get their tickets some other way?

Bizarre!

Beats me how they knew he was on that far in advance & how they managed to get tickets - I was on the phone for 1.5 hours with half my office trying to help.
They were crazy though and totally obsessed so probably know his every move.

Maybe they got tickets through his fan club? The celebs get tickets for the freiends / family so Ronan may have been offered some to gice away to his fans so he would get plenty of support?

Hi Lydiaa

I went a week last saturday. Got there around 12.30 (after high levels of anxiety whether I would get there and not get in!) we were about 20th in the queue. We were sat the other end of the floor, opposite the band which looks miles away on tv, but in reality is close to the dance floor and we had a good view. One of the highlights was the professionals dance which was amazing to view as a whole and to see the lovely Anton at his best.We had a wonderful time, it was a real treat.
Hope you have a fanastic time.

That's a good point dippydozy - I didn't think of that!

PS Lydiaa - I also sat at the back of the dancefloor (on the top row, furthest away) at the opposite end from the band and betty73 is right - it's not half as far away as it looks. In reality the set is a lot smaller than it appears on TV. Only downside to the seats we had was that one of the cameras was positioned in front of us and we had to keep dodging round it to get a good view!

hi, I've been in the last series and to SDF, lots of good advice - midday certainly seems the time to get there, although isn't this saturday's on later?? Its a bit cold in Shephards bush this time of year - wrap up warm! (how I sound like my mother!!!)

Central line tube is easiest as parking is difficult - white city, cross road, turn left, you can't miss it. (or taxi) Check for engineering works though!

Try to get upstairs - they do try to do number order - certainly fairer given the queing involved! But at the back you get the cameras in the way, and they want you as an audience, but they don't really give a toss once your in. As others have said, its no prob taking photos after the live show, and getting your book signed - they all love it. You might meet other celebs in between shows - we heard Jill halfpenny moaning that she was sitting at the front and had to smile and look happy!!!!!!!!!!

Also, seeing the pro dance twice and the other dance to singers properly is a bonus.

Enjoy and we expect a FULL report!!!!