Rob van Vuuren and
Mary Martin were the deserved winners of
Strictly Come Dancing 5 on Thursday night, scoring a near-flawless 119/120 en route to the title.
Rob was the judges’ and viewing public’s favourite from the outset. He and Mary were crowned the King and Queen of the Ballroom dance floor, during an emotional finale.
The pair succeeded in mastering every style to near perfection and last night had the judges holding back tears and saluting them with a standing ovation.
The three final couples – Rob and Mary,
Cindy Nell and
Jonathan Broadway, and
Tessa van Duuren and
Grant Esterhuizen - were required to firstly perform their most dazzling Ballroom number.
Cindy and Jonathan were eliminated whereafter the remaining two had to perform a Latin routine.
Rob and Tessa also had to bring the first half of the proceedings to an end with a freestyle dance, during which they could dance to their hearts’ content - using any style they preferred.
When the judges’ scores and viewer votes were tallied, both agreed that Rob was the star of the season. Viewers’ votes once again accounted for 50% of the final scores.
The judges’ scores (before viewer votes were added) were as follows:
Rob and MaryFirst Dance: 40, Second Dance: 39, Third Dance: 40 (Total: 119/120)
Tessa and GrantFirst Dance: 39, Second Dance: 36, Third Dance: 37 (Total: 112/120)
Cindy and JonathanFirst Dance: 34/40 (prior to being eliminated)
Rob and Mary started the night with a perfectly scored Tango, a routine that gave head judge
Lilian Phororo “goose bumps” and showed
Tyrone Watkins “exactly what I’m looking for in this competition”.
Their second offering, a Jive, brought the house down and had both judges and studio audience applauding in a standing ovation.
Their freestyle left
Salome Sechele “gobsmacked” and Tyrone, holding back the tears and generally having a Moment, thanked them for what they did for Ballroom in the broader sense.
Tessa, elegant as ever in a turquoise ballgown, managed a near perfect 39 for her Waltz with Grant. Tyrone, however, required a bit more “spice” for the next routine.
Their Rumba to “Ain’t No Sunshine When She's Gone” (the routine that got the first perfect 10 score of the series) delivered exactly that.
There was consensus though that the couple suddenly appeared nervous.
Their freestyle to a Michael Jackson medley was “wicked” according to Lilian and Grant himself said that dancing to Jacko was “every coloured’s dream”.
The bottom line came from
Dave Campbell who said that this couple had set the standard for the series right form the start.
Cindy and Jonathan's Quickstep was just short of good enough and saw them being eliminated from this final round after the Ballroom dances. Disappointingly they were out of time yet again, a flaw that had plagued them right through the series.
The cast of Rock a Tutu, currently on at the State Theatre in Pretoria, performed “Blame it on the Boogie”. All nine eliminated contestants also made a last turn on the dance floor with a condensed version of their most memorable dances.
While viewers had only minutes left to cast their final votes, Mango Groove lead singer, the legendary Claire Johnston, also performed a medley of their top hits like “Special Star”.
Thus ends another season of Strictly Come Dancing. Be sure to catch the Strictly Come Dancing New Years’ Eve Special, with three new celebs taking on the daunting challenge – a once-off spectacle. The two celebs confirmed so far are
Leanne Manas and weather presenter JC Engelbrecht.
The show will be broadcast on 31 December. More details to follow shortly.
Check out what the celebs had to say each week in their TVSA blogs:
AdilAneleCindyGarthGuguHlubiJudithShugasmakxRobTessaOther SCD 5 links:Strictly Come Dancing 5 Mini-SiteOfficial Site
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