It wasn’t just the contestants who had everyone talking in Saturday night’s (24 September) instalment of ‘Strictly Come Dancing’, with producers pulling out all the stops with a special opening number that brought the house down.
The second live show of the series kicked off with a unique routine, set to Dionne Warwick’s ‘What The World Needs Now’, with two junior ballroom dancers beginning the number as they took to the dance floor together.
Shortly afterwards, they were joined on the floor by an elderly couple, after which pairs of dancers from the professional team made their way out two by two, until the floor was full of dancing couples.
By the end of the surprisingly touching group performance, the four ‘Strictly’ judges were also in the midst of it all, with even presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkleman being led out onto the floor for a twirl, as confetti flew down from the ceiling around them.
It was a great way to open the show at the beginning of a new series, reminding ‘Strictly’ fans exactly what it is that’s made the show such a hit over the years, and some viewers even claiming they’d been moved to tears…
All 15 of this year’s celebrity contestants have now taken to the dance floor for the first time, with Daisy Lowe proving to be the most impressive, shooting to the top of the leaderboard for her waltz to Nat King Cole’s ‘Unforgettable’.
It was less good news for former Labour MP Ed Balls, though, who got a mixed reaction for his waltz to Elvis’s ‘Are You Lonesome Tonight’, which earned him the lowest score of the evening.
Fortunately for him, eliminations don’t start until next weekend, so there’s still time for him to turn things around with his performance next week.
