AS A FAN of Strictly Come Dancing since the first series in 2004, it’s been the beautiful dancing that has kept me watching and that’s what I was expecting when I turned up to the Motorpoint Arena.

Unfortunately the dances were few and far between and when they were dancing you also had to contend with the distracting band being on stage as well.

The evening was made up of the life story of Lisa Riley, with some small monologues from the other three headliners, professional Strictly Come Dancing performers Ian Waite, Natalie Lowe and Artem Chigvintsev.

When the dancing was on stage it was breathtaking.

The best part of the first half was Ricky Rojas and David Erik singing Who Do You Think You Are while Natalie Lowe and Ian Waite danced a rumba.

Highlights in the second half included Lisa Riley demonstrating another of her talents, singing I Am What I Am which was brilliantly mixed in Big Girl (You are Beautiful) by the backing band.

My favourite dances of the night were the three professionals performing a variety of styles to a mix of Adele songs and Artem Chigvintsev’s paso doble.

Despite an uplifting last few numbers the show was let down by the large venue, as the style of show would have been better suited to a more intimate location such as St David’s Hall, where the audience could have felt closer to the performers, and that they were part of the of the evening.