Strictly Come Dancing is a South African reality dance competition television series produced by Rapid Blue and based on the British show of the same name in which celebrities are partnered with professional Latin and Ballroom dancers and must work each week on perfecting a dance routine, with public voting deciding a weekly elimination.
The series was broadcast live from the Carlton Centre Ballroom, Johannesburg for the first five seasons. In Season 6 the venue changed to the Renaissance Centre.
South African celebrities are partnered with professional Latin and Ballroom dancers and must work each week on perfecting a dance routine.
Each week during a live show viewers are asked to vote for their favourite couple, and one couple (with the least votes) is eliminated.
In the season finale, two couples dance off to win the title and a cash prize (R40,000 in Seasons 3-5 and R50,000 in Season 6). The cash prize was first introduced for the third season.
Through sms voting, viewers vote who should stay and who should go, the results of the poll being combined with the ranking of the panel of judges.
For example: with 4 contestants left, the judges' favourite would receive 4 points, 2nd favourite 3 points, and so on, and similarly with the viewers' rankings. The two scores added together make the final score. Each judge gives the performance a mark out of ten, giving an overall total out of 40.
The show is broadcast live and was hosted by Ian von Memerty and Sandy Ngema for the first five seasons. In Season 6 they were replaced by Marc Lottering and Pabi Moloi, who in turn were replaced for Season 7 by Katlego Maboe and Roxy Burger.
The judging panel for the first five seasons consisted of Lilian Phororo, Dave Campbell, Salome Sechele and Tyrone Watkins. They were replaced for Season 6 by Michael Wentink, Tebogo Kgobokoe and Samantha Peo, who all returned for Season 7.
The dances the celebrities have to learn each week are the Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Foxtrot, Jive, Cha Cha, Rumba, Samba, Quickstep, Paso Doble and the Tango.
Dance-Off
A new system called the Dance-Off was introduced in the fourth season. The Dance-Off is performed by the two couples with the lowest scores following the judges' scores and public vote.
After performing their dance again, the judges are asked one-by-one who they would like to save, and the couple with the most votes remains in the competition. If there is a tie, head judge Lilian Phororo has the deciding vote.
Winners
Season 1: Zuraida Jardine and Michael Wentink
Season 2: Riaan Venter and Hayley Hammond
Season 3: HHP and Hayley Bennett
Season 4: Emmanuel Castis and Lindsey Muckle
Season 5: Rob van Vuuren and Mary Martin
Season 6: Zakeeya Patel and Ryan Hammond
Season 7: Jonathan Boynton-Lee and Hayley Bennett
Season 8: Karlien van Jaarsveld and Devon Snell
Broadcast Notes
The series premiered in South Africa on SABC2 on Saturday 4 February 2006, at 20h00. After five seasons it was discontinued but in 2013 it was revived on SABC3.