Actor
Emmanuel Castis was crowned the fourth
Strictly Come Dancing champion on Thursday night, beating comedian
Trevor Noah in the grand finale which was broadcast live on SABC2 from the Carlton Centre Ballroom in Johannesburg.
Despite being the stronger dancer in the first two episodes, Trevor was soon caught by Emmanuel and since then it was one-way traffic for the Isidingo star.
It was tough competition on the night, however, with the two celebs separated by just four points after the three rounds of judging. Once the audience voting was closed and the results were in, Emmanuel emerged the deserving victor after the most challenging season of the show to date.
Both finalists firstly performed their favourite style from the series – Trevor rekindled the magic of his Cha Cha to Michael Jackson’s Thriller while Emmanuel brought back his show-stopping Jack Sparrow Paso Doble to the Pirates of the Caribbean theme tune.
Trevor scored 36 out of 40 for his routine, which included his first ever 10 (courtesy of
Lilian Phororo). Emmanuel scored 38, bagging two 10s along the way.
They followed this with a Ballroom routine to Robbie Williams' Let Me Entertain You, which was chosen for them by the judges. Trevor and partner
Hayley Hammond began the routine, with Emmanuel and
Lindsey Muckle taking over halfway through.
Trevor scored 33 for his Ballroom, while Emmanuel went one better, scoring 34.
Finally they each performed a freestyle interpretation to a medley, and once again Emmanuel topped Trevor, outscoring him 38 to 36.
This gave them the following scores after three rounds:
Emmanuel: 110/120
Trevor: 106/120
The first hour was rounded off with a performance by Loyiso Bala, who sang the song Take Me Back from his new album.
When the show returned after its hour break, all the previously ousted contestants returned to perform short routines.
This was followed by a bizarre performance by the cast of Saturday Night Fever, led by
Terence Bridgett, after which the announcement of this season's winner was made and the trophy handed over to Emmanuel and Lindsey.
QuotesTo Trevor after Dance 1:Lillian: "Thrilling. Trevor, I have to say, you’ve proved that South Africa’s got talent ... technically very sound and a solid performance, well done - what a beginning!"
Tyrone: "A thrilling concept but we’re not judging concept. Today we’re looking for the best dancer, unfortunately I see so many mistakes and it's sad – from what I saw before to what we’re doing now, I’m looking for improvement and I’m not seeing improvement and that routine cannot win at the moment."
To Emmanuel after Dance 1:Salome: "I am so proud of you Emmanuel, you proved to the males out there that you can get out there, on this slippery floor, and still be a red-blooded, hot macho man."
Dave: "Emmanuel, for me that Paso is my favourite dance out of the entire series. That Paso is sheer, pure perfection. I mean the posture, the movement, the atmosphere, the musicality – brilliant."
To end the season,
Sandy Ngema mentioned that Season 5 would be aired sometime later this year. It'll be back in September.
TVSA's
Brown Shuga attended the season finale - keep an eye out for her coverage of it on the site.