Review: Strictly Come Dancing Live at LG Arena
IT WAS diamante maracas at dawn as the television dance contest hit the floor running at Birmingham.
After becoming one of BBC’s success stories, this is the second year the Strictly Come Dancing Live tour has come to the city and it is a well worn route.
The live show follows a similar format to that of the television programme. Eight couples including current winner Tom Chambers, former title holder Jill Halfpenny and actress Cherie Lunghi take to the dance floor to perform a Latin and a ballroom number.
They then run the gauntlet of the judging panel – Craig Revel Horwood, Arlene Phillips, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli.
Given their scores out of ten, the group then make up a leader board but it is the public who have the final say by voting by text.
It is designed to please with a mix of sexy Salsa, delicate waltz, lively jive and romantic rumba but it is about more than dance.
Those who have watched the series also have their favourite celebrities and professional dancers, all of whom know how to win the votes. And personality counts.
There is, however, a sense that the live show is just a bit too slick. Having been on the road for a few weeks now the judges have had time to hone their one liners and the contestants know what is required of them.
Strictly fans would hardly argue they are short-changed – they get exactly what they have come to see. Until Feb 22
Verdict: HHHHI
Diane Parkes
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