STRICTLY stars Janette Manrara and Aljaz Skorjanec pay tribute to the master - Fred Astaire - in this show which had its world premiere in Blackpool.

It's not until you see two of the world's best dancers together on stage that you realise just how good they really are.

Aljaz, power with a brooding presence and surprising gracefulness; Janette like liquid mercury, so fluid, so precise and so energetic.

They put their own spin on some classic Fred Astaire numbers and were the undoubted stars of the show, even treating the audience to a small glimpse into their own personalities with a short interview section in the second half.

Running them pretty close to that star billing have to be the fabulous six-piece band who one minute were powering out big band tunes and the next turning into a sultry jazz cafe ensemble. They didn't miss a beat all night and for music lovers were worth the price of the ticket on their own.

As for the show itself, it's actually a bit hit and miss at this stage.

There were a few sound and light issues on opening night and one glaring technical hitch which will all be resolved as the tour goes on. And you would hope that perhaps a little bit gets trimmed off the running time along the way.

The dance routines, particularly those with Janette and Aljaz, are great to watch. Together they are amazing introducing a range of dance styles from the graceful American Smooth to a frighteningly quick quickstep and from a sultry tango to fun tap routine. But the problem is, our stars can't be on stage for the whole of the show.

So it falls on the supporting dancers and singers to serve up some other classic Astaire routines and good as they were, they weren't Janette and Aljaz.

The main problem is that it's a little disjointed - in the words of Len Goodman, 'there's too much messin' abart!' - particularly the decision to stage the show as part radio broadcast. In between routines the stage would darken and Michael Ball would be our host (in voice only) introducing clips from various luminaries ranging from Darcey Bussell to fashion designer Bruce Oldfield, talking about Astaire's legacy.

Sadly for too long were you left staring at a blank stage while the tape ran - surely there has to be a better way of doing this, if at all.

And also when they did get back to the routines, the overall impact wasn't spectacular enough. The lighting was minimal and really left it all to the dancers to create all the magic.

When you think of Astaire you think of lavish productions but this show lacked little of that wow factor.

But the audience, most of whom were Strictly fans lapped it up. They got to see two of their favourites live on stage doing what they do so well - and they are genuinely compelling to watch. It's just that the show as a whole needs to come up to their extremely high standards.