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Strictly dancing through the snow
Strictly
Come Dancing Live 2013 NIA
Birmingham **** ON
a night when public transport froze to a halt and traffic was gridlocked
there was no stopping the Strictly Come Dancing Juggernaut.
The
enthusiastic audience, on a treacherously cold night at Birmingham's
NIA, had it's cockles warmed by the raucous Strictly Come Dancing gang
on the first night of their 2013 live tour. It is a testament to the will
of Birmingham folk and the pull of Strictly that the NIA was as full as
it was, with people joining the party right up until the half time
interval. That the NIA managed to put on a show at all
was almost as impressive as the fact that so many
people managed to make the start. If you're a fan of the TV show
then there's plenty to love with it's live cousin.
Bruce and Tess are absent as
hosts but Kate Thornton shows a game nature, a good natural dancing
ability and a surprising wit as host for the night; the result is she's
more entertaining than Tess and far more pleasing on the eye than Brucey! The judges (Bruno, Len and
Craig) may miss the elegance of Darcy Bussell but compensated with
plenty of banter and a large dose of innuendo and spark - their marks,
though ultimately pointless, provided a good structure to the evening
and a guide to the audience as to who they rate and who they hate. There were boos and cheers for
their critiques, which any panto would be proud of; and the
aforementioned banter with Kate Thornton was both ad-libbed and funny.
Craig Revel Horwood is the
boss, quite literally, as he puts the whole show together and also
directs it. He retains his fab-u-lous persona throughout and all three
judges can be seen on large TV screens, so the audience don't miss a
trick. Allan Rogers live band and the
singers, headed by Tommy Blaize, are truly not done justice when seen on
TV; the quality of their performances are superb and the singers are
rightly given a chance to strut their stuff in each half, kicking off
the performance.
The night follows a similar
structure to the TV final, with each couple performing two dances and
then an audience text vote (with proceeds going to comic relief)
deciding the winner. The couples take it in the
right spirit but there is a definite divide in ability, the premier
league performers are Denise and James, Dani and Pasha and Louis and
Ola, with the fun also rans of Fern and Artem and Lisa and Robin
bringing energy and hope to people in the audience without an Olympic
Medal or a place at Sylvia Young. Alas right down the
batting order are the cricketing couples of Phil
Tufnell and Karen and Michael Vaughan and Natalie. Tuffers gets by on
his charm but Michael has to rely on his effort for audience brownie
points.
To be fair, he tries his
hardest, smiles enthusiastically through it and represents every lad who
is embarrassed by his dancing but gives it a go anyway - and he's a
better yardstick for the modern man than Louis is! Overall it's a really fun night, at times the night feels fractured but Kate Thornton does an admirable job at pulling it all together, the video links are perhaps the dullest part of the night but are a staging necessity such is the sheer amount if things going on. The professional dance numbers let the professionals turn it up a notch without the shackles of a celeb and the group numbers are entertaining, not least because they show off how close some of the celebs are to their professional counterparts (Denise in particular oozes ability, as her perfect scores on the night demonstrated). Denise Van Outen who had perfect scores on the tour's opening night and produced the dance of the show with her Charleston The fun finale brought in the
talents of Kate and the judges who seemed to be having a ball - bringing
the audience to their feet.
This reviewer was left
stranded in town (thank you London Midland for deciding to cancel your
late night trains because of a lack of staff rather than snow!) but
still, standing in a slow moving, freezing cold taxi rank, I wittered on
about Strictly and whether I preferred the Tuffers American Smooth or
Dani's Rumba fusion more than the Van Outen Charleston. I've got to say
it was the Charleston which was the dance of the night, the speed of it
is mind blowing in person.
With two more nights in
Birmingham Saturday and Sunday, with both
matinee and evening performances; if you can get a ticket (and brave the
snow) then Strictly will reward you handsomely.
This is a fun family night not just strictly for strictly fans and the finale will definitely have you tapping your toes. To 20-01-13 Theo Clarke Lisa Riley speaks about the tour
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