Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour: Fab-u-lous night at Utilita Arena Newcastle scores 10 points - review
When the magic and sparkle of the Strictly ballroom is beamed into the living room each September, it launches the countdown to Christmas for me.
The glitterball trophy may have been handed out for another year (Chris McCausland and Dianne Buswell, our deserving champions) but that doesn’t mean it’s time to pack away the sequins quite yet!
Strictly Come Dancing Live gives fans and armchair judges (guilty!) alike another chance to bask in the glory of the 2024 cast before their J-word on the BBC show officially comes to an end.
And having missed out on a seat at Elstree Studios for the 2024 series, I wanted to make sure I caught an up-close glimpse of the year’s Strictly stars in action before the curtain came down.
Your Strictly Stars
With the exception of Chris, the rest of 2024's finalists - Sarah Hadland, Tasha Ghouri and JB Gill - were part of the tour cast, alongside fan favourites Jamie Borthwick, Montell Douglas, Wynne Evans and Shayne Ward. Apart from Montell - who is partnered with Kai Widdrington for the tour - all the contestants returned in their original pairings, with JB, Amy Dowden and Lauren Oakley forming the first ‘throuple’ in Strictly history.
It was a whistle-stop tour of some of the series’ best routines, two from each couple, with a few jaw-dropping group numbers from the Strictly pros thrown in for good measure.
Seeing the celebs perform up close really drives home just how much they learn during their stint on the show; their stamina and the way they slot into a line-up of some of the world’s best pro-dancers can only be applauded.
There were some strong contenders for my number of the night, but I think I have to give it to Sarah and Vito’s Charleston to Popular, from Wicked. It was as slick and snappy as it looked on TV and, as was the case throughout the series, Sarah’s character work was second-to-none. I’d see her as Glinda any day of the week.
Honourable mentions for Montell and Kai’s Blackpool week Salsa, to Don’t Leave Me This Way, Tasha and Aljaž’s incredibly glamorous showdance from the final and Wynne’s star turn as Mrs Doubtfire for his Cha Cha Cha. From top to bottom, the show just brought the feel-good factor to a cold and damp January evening.
And the winner is
Former Strictly pro turned It Takes Two presenter Janette Manrara is the tour’s hostess with the mostess for the whole run. The perfect leader to get us settled into the evening, she kept the show moving like a well-oiled machine and brought a little bit of extra sparkle to the transitions. A gold star, too, for the tour’s amazing live singers and band. It was easy to forget that the musical numbers were being performed there on the night, perfect as they were.
The beauty of the live show is that it gives couples another chance to taste victory - and our arena champions on Wednesday evening were Sarah and Vito, with Tasha and Aljaž as runners-up. With two shows still to come on Tyneside, can Team Tiramisu make it a clean sweep? Sarah was my champion of the series, so I was thrilled to see her lift the tour glitterball trophy in Newcastle.
A real treat of the live show experience is the chance to act as part of the judging panel, joining Craig Revel Horwood, Motsi Mabuse and Anton Du Beke (head judge Shirley Ballas was not on the line-up for our show) in giving some feedback. Sure, they give out the scores - but they’re for guidance only. And you better believe we made our presence felt when we disagreed with the marks!
It’s up to the audience to decide on the day via text, so don’t forget your own set of scoring paddles. Don’t be a Craig, and be sure to pack plenty of 10s!
The Strictly Come Dancing Live Tour will appear at various locations across the UK, ending on Sunday, February 9 at London’s O2 Arena. Keeeep dancing!