Inevitably and predictably, actress
Brenda Ngxoli became the fourth celebrity contestant voted out of
Strictly Come Dancing 4 last night, along with dance partner
Quintus Jansen.
Both Brenda and Quintus expressed mild disappointment at being eliminated, but one got the sense both were highly relieved that it was all over.
Brenda has a hectic acting schedule as it is, while Quintus is getting married at the end of March. Neither seemed to have the soul to continue in what is an immensely gruelling competition.
This week the celebs danced the Samba, but none of them were able to achieve the lofty heights of
Emmanuel and
Lindsey's Paso Doble last week, which earned them 37/40 from the judges.
Schmodel
Tanya van Graan and SCD veteran
Brandon Eilers began the night, but Tanya was scolded by Skelly (
Dave Campbell, who gets more skeletal with each passing episode) for not giving it her all.
Tanya has been the star on the move in recent weeks, but came crashing back down to Earth this week with 28 points - an average score of 7/10 per judge.
She managed to take third place on the night, but largely because Brenda and
Ashley Hayden were much worse.
Emmanuel Castis and Lindsey Muckle once again turned in a polished performance, with Emmanuel being complimented on the way he brings a unique character to each dance interpretation.
They scored 30, which put them in joint first place with
Trevor and
Hayley after the judges' round of voting.
Brenda and Quintus followed, and as in previous weeks Brenda looked fine. This time, however, there was nobody much worse than her to save her, and her overall score of 24 from the judges put her tied in fourth place with Ashley.
Dave told Brenda that while he appreciated that she got into character before each performance, she was concentrating too much on her character and not enough on her technique.
Comedian and presenter Trevor Noah and partner Hayley Hammond turned in a good performance to equal Emmanuel's score, without being overly flashy.
Ashley and
Muntu ended the evening with a wooden performance, which ensured they had to enter into the dance-off against Brenda.
Before the dance-off Brenda - in response to a question by
Ian von Memerty about how she felt being in her third consecutive dance-off - seemed to have all but given up already, saying she would accept her fate whatever happened.
Ashley, however, indicated that she was going to go all-out to remain in the competition, which is exactly what happened.
Salome, Dave and
Lilian outvoted
Tyrone to keep Ashley in the competition, while Brenda and Quintus heaved a collective sigh of relief that their ordeal was finally over.
This was how the judges voted in the first round, before public voting:
Emmanuel: 30
Trevor: 30
Tanya: 28
Brenda: 24
Ashley: 24
TVSA blogger and moderator
Toodecent attended last night's live show - look out for his coverage, coming soon.