Our views on the Strictly competitors and how their performances shape up, oh and dancing in general!
Needs to make sure that when he's moving backwards that he's lifting the toe of the trailing foot off the ground (known as NFR - No Foot Rise).
Shoulder line was actually very good, the dance did seem to lose a bit of its drive before the final pivots though.
Easily 8's though
Judges scores: CRH 8, LG 9, AD 9, BT 8.
Excellent marks and well deserved I feel.
Needs to relax the shoulders right from the start. Looks to have lost his timing just before going into the sliding doors.
Hip action is ok but could do a lot more. Not a bad performance but I think only 7's though - apparently he's Bruce's favourite.
Judges scores: CRH 6, LG 8, AD 7, BT 7.
Smouldering start...but wait was that a lift?!!!
Excellent performance, not sure how the judges will feel about the lifts, though it did seem to lose drive as the dance progressed.
For me it would easily be a 9, if I ignore the lifts!
Judges scores: CRH 7, LG 7, AD 8, BT 8.
Anton, Anton, Anton...why did you do the lifts? You're not Brendan Cole!
Well it looks like the goldfish mouth is back with a vengeance, shame the hands are a little sloppy.
Some really complex arm movements there, shame about the mistake though.
Entertaining and I think deserves 30.
Judges scores: CRH 6, LG 7, AD 6, BT 6.
A little harsh I feel!
Ali really does pull off elegance with aplomb, it looks a little skippy at points but excellent nonetheless.
I can't really fault the performance, it looked a little shaky at times but this should really get top marks.
Judges scores: CRH 10, LG 10, AD 10, BT 10.
Fully deserved - do try not to cry though Brian!
Looks to be a slightly flat beginning, but it's good to see her toes pointing down during the flicks.
Maybe I spoke too soon, when they're in their Lindyhop section her toes seem to be flicking around all over the place!
An ok performance but I expected better, should easily achieve 8's though.
Karen Hardy comes on and makes a comment about how although RW made mistakes he still kept his head up and looked confident throughout, Jade made no mistakes yet had her head dropped throughout most of the dance.
Judges scores: CRH 8, LG 8, AD 9, BT 8.
Natalie has to control those shoulders, which do raise up at times, and the dance seems to have a very laboured start - though it does pick up after that.
A slight mistake as they recommence from their 'Jive' section in the middle but not bad overall, should achieve 30 again.
Judges marks: CRH 7, LG 8, AD 8, BT 8.
The dance certainly starts with a lot of passion and energy, though it does look quite sloppy at times - is this nerves from having gone first?
Quite a few mistakes creeping in near the end, not like Ricky at all. That's a real shame as it should've been a lot higher but i'm expecting 8's because of all the mistakes.
Judges scores: CRH 8, LG 9, AD 9, BT 9
There was an almost feverish party atmosphere in the theatre, and even though they were re-showing the highlight reel that we'd been subjected to earlier in the day, people were in the mood to cheer (Mark Ramprakash's Argentine Tango, Jill Halfpenny's Jive) or laugh (John Sergeant's Paso Doble, Fiona Bruce's Jive) at the various scenes.
Dominic Littlewood and Karen Hardy returned to host the evening show, we were told that the videos and pictures that had been taken throughout the day would be appearing on the BBC website during the coming week - none of us yet though!
We were shown a highlights reel of the morning dance sessions (we were on the afternoon session) and this was pretty much the same video you'll have seen on the live show.
Rav Wilding and Mark Foster were re-introduced onto the stage and we were shown some highlights of their appearances on the show before they had to duck out to head over to the Tower, but not before Mark put his arm round Karen and commented on how great she looked, how she should still be in the show, and 'You're my favourite'.
Dominic then introduced highlights of Karen's appearances on Strictly, including Gary Rhodes Cha Cha (receiving a lowly 1 from Craig) and Mark Ramprakash's Salsa. Karen talked about how much she loved dancing, which she'd being doing since the age of 5, and had been so honoured when Strictly had convinced her to come out of retirement after her 6 year break (and a baby).
Matthew and Aliona made a surprise visit to perform an elegant Viennese Waltz
Aliona talked about how this was her first time visiting in Blackpool, and how much she was enjoying it.
Before the live show was due to start Karen gave her comments and predictions on the show to follow:
It was then time for the live show, Karen told us she'd be sticking around to comment on the show at intervals, and I settled down ready to make my notes on the evening performances...
Setting off at 7am in the morning, with a couple of stops on the way, we arrived in Blackpool by midday. We popped into our favourite B&B (Lolly's Hotel, Regents Road) and luckily they could fit us in so we didn't have to worry about driving back that night.
Braving the rain (even with Emma's broken umbrella) we made the short walk to Winter Gardens and joined the queue (thankfully inside, unlike those at the Tower who had to queue outside in the rain - purportedly due to Rod wanting a closed set for his rehearsal).
It didn't take long to clear the queues and get our wristbands, only to find we had to join a new queue before we could get into the Opera House, though this did give us a chance to grab a sandwich for lunch.
Once settled in our chairs we watched a rolling highlights reel of the dances and past performances on Strictly, whilst the rest of the people were seated. By the 4th repeat though it was getting a little tiresome!
Eventually the lights went down and we were introduced to our hosts for the day:
The event was set up by the BBC Learning Program to offer the complimentary lessons to allow anyone to try Ballroom dancing (not everyone is as lucky as myself and Karen - I started at 3 and Karen at 5)
Dominic then decided to interview a couple of the guys in the audience to ascertain just how many had been unwillingly dragged along, a pretty even split.
It was then revealed that we would be learning (well Emma and I didn't really need the lessons...) the basics of the Cha Cha Cha and Karen introduced two professional dancers [Sean and Emma] to give a quick demonstration.
Dominic and Karen revealed that there would be additional help during the classes from three celebrities who had previously competed on Strictly; Jo Wood, Rav Wilding and Mark Foster.
Karen then introduced the professional teachers that would be running the classes (we were to be split up into 3 groups, which had been decided when we registered and received one of 3 coloured wristbands) and she told us how dancing was all about having fun.
Everyone on stage then proceeded to give us a 'rhythm demo', getting their hips moving around, and Karen asked us all to stand up so that we could practice our chasses - a little difficult considering we were seated in a theatre! Then we moved onto hips practice, to which Karen commented we all looked like Kangaroos (a jokey reference to Jo Wood on stage).
We were then led to the different rooms in which our lessons were going to take place, and we were in The Spanish Hall along with our celebrity Rav Wilding.
The class consisted of the basic Cha Cha movement, followed by 4 New Yorks, 2 Spot Turns, some timing steps (closing on the spot rather than rocking back or forward) and 2 Cuban Breaks. This was repeated 3 times and on the 3rd and final run through the last Cuban Break was turned into a big finish.
Rav opened up the floor to questions:
Then there was a surprise visit from Lilia and Darren
We then broke up to get ready for the evening screening
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