Dancing With The Stars: The Tour

My heart skipped a beat when I first heard about Dancing With The Stars: The Tour. Was there any way I could see it? Would it coincide with my holiday to California? Despite not really having watched that much of DWTS, I needed something to ease the pain of missing the Strictly final. Could this be it?

I managed to manipulate my trip so that I could catch the tour in Fresno on 20th December.

The stage set recreated the studio as best as possible, but on a much larger scale, complete with stage-side table seating. I was lucky enough to book one of these floor-side tables. The exact location of our seats was not available when I booked, and I couldn't believe it when we walked in. Our table was front and centre. There was not one single better seat in the house.





Before the show, as a warm-up, local couples competed in a special DWTS competition, for a chance to come back and dance later in the show.

The show proper commenced soon after. It was so exciting hearing that familiar Strictly music and the familiar voice of our own Alan Dedicoat. To begin with, the couples were introduced and performed a group Vienese waltz.



After this, each couple performed their own number.

First, Joey Lawrence and Edyta Sliwinska did a cha cha.



Next up was Joey McIntyre and Kym Johnson, who also performed a cha cha.



There were followed by an excellent jive by Lisa Rinna and Louis Van Amstel. Lisa and Louis seemed to be front and centre for most of the night. Lisa is by far the strongest celebrity on the tour.



Harry Hamlin and Karina Smirnoff followed them with a striking tango.



Finally, the last couple took to the floor. Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke did their famous Thriller paso doble.



As well as the celebrities and their professional partners, there was also a company of professional dancers. The company included Christian Perry, who was familiar to US viewers for teaching a member of the public to dance in a series of Slim-Fast advertorials. The company demonstrated how each of the different dances should be performed, in a similar way to how our pros do on the show.

There were vaious other routines throughout the first half, including a few songs from Joey Mac. It Takes Two fans will be pleased to know that Joey was using the show to promote his latest album of swing songs. It made me feel at home!

The first half ended with a big group number.

The second half began with the pros performing a group paso doble. My clip doesn't really do it justice.

There were various routines in the second half, including a number with Joey L and the pro girls, Joey Mac doing a tango to the James Bond theme, the second part of the local competition and lots of other routines.

One of the most moving parts of the show came when Harry took to the floor. Harry and Lisa did not get to dance together on the show, both being celebs and being on different seasons. But they get asked about it on a regular basis. So, as a special tour treat they did just that. They performed a beautiful and romantic waltz to With You I'm Born Again. Here's a clip...

Towards the end, Drew and Cheryl performed their popular showdance to Save A Horse, Ride A Cowboy.



There was a big group number to Disco Inferno to close the show.

I enjoyed the show immensely, and I was very pleased I went.

But a part of me spent the whole show wishing it was Ian & Camilla or Anton & Erin performing. I kept wondering what it would be like to see Louisa & Vincent instead of Drew & Cheryl. And that killed it a little bit.

I can only dream that the BBC would consider putting something like this together for Strictly Come Dancing. Come on Auntie, you know you want to!