I have a Strictly question...

[Swannykazoo]

Do the contestants and pros get a prescribed list of dances to do? So say Louise is told she's doing 1 cha cha / 2 viennese waltz / 3 salsa / 4 charleston whilst lesley is doing 1 foxtrot / 2 jive / 3 samba / 4 rumba?
Or can the pros pick out of a list - so maybe save the "harder" dances and do the more popular ones?
How is the music picked?
(I'm sad, I know)

I believe most of it is controlled by the production team. I know the celebs used to be able to submit a list of favourite songs, but they would only be used if the pro felt they suited a certain dance. But I'm not sure that happens now, I think the producers dictate the song choice and even the theme they have to choreograph to.

I would have the thought the dance order would also be determined by the producers too. At the end of the day, it's an entertainment show, and they will have an overview on the whole running order that the individual pros wouldn't have.

Anyway, my insider knowledge is from years ago, so who knows!

That makes most sense thank you - though it would be much duller it would be good to see everyone do a charleston, then everyone do a foxtrot etc etc. Roll on my most favourite week - Hallowe'en next week.

At the beginning each contestant did one if two dances each week so comparison was easier. I think that's a far better system as trying to compare Runba with Charleston for example is very difficult

Bit of both as far as I can tell. A savvy pro with a decent celeb might lobby to get a difficult or dull dance out of the way early when they should be safe and save the flashy crowd pleasing dances or the dances that will particularly suit them until later in the competition when they're in more danger, and to structure a "journey" narrative. A pro with an untalented celeb will want to go the other way and go for the easiest or flashiest dances first to keep them in for as long as reasonably possible. The producers will co-operate as far as it fits their own agendas for making a goos entertainment show.

Once upon a time the celebs would all do one of the same two dances (one ballroom one Latin) each week, so first week would be Waltz/ChaCha, week two would be Jive/Tango etc etc, and the celebs would alternate Ballroom and Latin. But they decided to mix it up a bit nowadays.