The 2nd non-elimination episode of
Strictly Come Dancing 5 aired last night and it was the turn of the five female celebs to strut their stuff on the dancefloor.
The girls were focussed, dressed to kill and delivered renditions of the Cha Cha Cha with varying degrees of success.
This non-elimination episode follows
last week’s first episode of the fifth season, which saw the male celeb couples performing solo waltzes (for judges’ scoring) and the ladies a group Salsa.
Last night the ladies were out to impress with the cheeky, fun style of the Cha Cha Cha, characterised by plenty of slinky hip and leg action.
Voting lines for viewers opened as the show concluded. The first elimination, however, will only happen next week – based on judges’ scores and public voting since the series started.
The couple with “a combined waistline measuring 13cm”, according to host Ian von Memerty, Hlubi Mboya and Khutso Khunou, got the party started with an impressive routine choreographed to Jennifer Lopez’s “Let’s Get Loud”.
Judges agreed that she would benefit from paying special attention to her legs and feet in rehearsals. Dave Campbell thought it was “awesome”, but missed the finer details experienced dancers would have included.
Tessa van Duuren was up next and delivered the evening’s star performance, scoring the high 30 out of a possible 40. The leggy brunette was dressed in a spangled red number.
Lillian Phororo commended her wonderful posture. Salome Sechele thought she made this dance look easy and Tyrone Watkins went as far as saying that this is the couple to beat in the competition.
Tessa likened the dance discipline to her showjumping training, where posture and timing form the basis of the sport.
Seasoned performer and internationally acclaimed vocalist, Judith Sephuma, got the night’s lowest score, based on her lack of attention to technical detail.
Lilian noted that “her weight is almost always too far back” and suggested serious work on the feet. A redeeming factor was Sephuma’s star quality that, according to Campbell, “lights up the dance floor”.
Radio jock Anele Mdoda didn’t disappoint with a well-rehearsed, often humorous number, which left the audience begging for more.
Anele jokingly described herself as a “goldfish” when it comes to the sequences - she forgets them as soon as she’s done them.
When the applause had died down and the judges finally got the chance to have their say, it was a choir of “Hot! Hot! Hot!”, “Well done” and “Great look!”
Anele’s focus for the week to come should be on her feet, according to Dave "The Human Skeleton" Watkins.
Schmodel Cindy Nell entered the dancefloor on a mission to “shatter the myth that beauty queens can’t dance” in a feathery black and gold get-up.
Dave thought that she was good but should stop acting like a dancer and start performing like one. Lilian thought her performance was technically poor, and her bad timing (and not following the music) is ominous for episodes to come.
All agreed that she does indeed have potential and Tyrone Watkins commented on her “awesome feet” which were “spot on”.
The judges’ scores for the female celebrity couples were as follows:
Tessa van Duuren and Grant Esterhuizen: 30
Anele Mdoda and Brandon Eilers Le Riche: 26
Hlubi Mboya and Khutso Khunou: 23
Cindy Nell and Jonathan Broadway: 21
Judith Sephuma and Eksteen Traut: 20
After the break it was time for the male celebs in a group Mambo – a routine that saw (a much improved) Shugasmakx dancing himself out from right under his glasses.
The adjudicators agreed that Rob van Vuuren was the most promising dancer, and Adil More unfortunately still the one that is not in the competition with his heart and soul.
A special guest appearance was made by the winner of season four of Strictly Come Dancing, Emmanuel Castis, performing the first single from his soon-to-be-released solo album, “South of Nowhere”.
By the sounds of things, he should have stuck to his day job.
Next week, in the first episode with a couple elimination, couples will be performing either a Rumba or a Quickstep - or possibly even a "Very Quick Step", according to Anele.
If you haven't yet, check out what the celebs had to say after the first episode in their TVSA blogs (or use the banner at the top of the page to access all the celeb blogs at once):
AdilAneleCindyGarthGuguHlubiJudithShugasmakxRobTessaOther SCD 5 links:Strictly Come Dancing 5 Mini-SiteinTOXICated (a blog by TVSA blogger Toxic, featuring SCD articles)
Late SCD Live Blog (a live blog of Episode 2, by Brown Shuga)
Official Site
| STRICTLY COME DANCING 5: EPISODE 2 |
Hlubi Mboya and Khutso Khunou
Hlubi Mboya and Khutso Khunou
Tessa van Duuren and Grant Esterhuizen
Tessa van Duuren and Grant Esterhuizen
Judith Sephuma and Eksteen Traut
Judith Sephuma and Eksteen Traut
Anele Mdoda and Brandon Eilers Le Riche
Anele Mdoda and Brandon Eilers Le Riche
Cindy Nell and Jonathan Broadway
Cindy Nell and Jonathan Broadway
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