Congratulations Kelvin and Oti –Strictly Winners 2019!
A great final packed with so many excellent dances; we saw Kelvin, Karim Zeroual and Emma Bartoneach perform three dances; a judges pick, a show dance and then their favouritedance. The standard has been so high this year and though Kelvin was thefavourite for much of the time, Karim could also easily have swung the votes,as could Emma and Anton – the latter being more of a respect vote perhaps.
Anton has been withthe show since it started 15 years ago, and has patiently, kindly andcreatively worked with some very challenging partners – this year, he waspaired with Emma Barton and at last had a good chance of being able to getdancing to the Glitterball trophy. Theycouple achieved several 10s over the series and provided some obviouslymemorable moments for them both.
The finale waskicked off by Karim and Amy with the judge’s choice of a Quickstep. A very fast ad well synchronised piece thatshowcased Karim’s footwork and showbiz personality. Their show dance was a modern piece which wasemotional and personal for Karim; formyself, it didn’t quite work but am verymuch a ballroom and Latin person - thejudges liked it! And then their ownchoice as their final dance was that awesome Jive – well worth seeing again,jaw droppingly good.
Emma and Antonrepeated their Charleston, then gave a Gene and Ginger showcase piece which wasa real throw back to the glamour and glitz of the period. Craig deducted apoint for a very minor synchronisation issue right at the beginning of theroutine, which seemed a bit mean but he was staying true to his judgingcriteria. However, as the judge’s marksdon’t mean anything in the final, because the result is purely based on theaudience vote, I think I would have given them a 10.
From the start, Kelvin and Otiwere definitely the stars of the night with Kelvin giving us a secondperformance of his Rumba, scoring 39 points from the judges and showing thatthe male in the Rumba can be masculine as well as fluid and emotive. So many gents feel the Rumba is too femininefor them and feel awkward about dancing it; it’s actually a very strong dance for the leader, the key is to projectinto the story, and keep a good flow with moments of stillness on the 4.1. His show dance was brilliantly choreographed to show off the highlights of hisStrictly story and impressed the judges who awarded the pair a perfect score of40. Finishing off his finale dance trio, he took to the dance floor withpartner Oti for week one Samba- still anawesome performance .
Bearing in mind that Kelvinjoined the show last minute as the replacement for injured Jamie Laing just days before it was due to begin, it’s been an incredible journey resultingin some memorable dance performances. Kelvin is an actor know for his roles in Emmerdale Farm, The Shore andSpringtime on the Farm. He is also a professional F1 racing driver; now he’ll be known as the 2019 Strictlywinner and I do hope he can take part in the Strictly Roadshow in 2020 as Iwould love to see him perform live. Looking utterly shocked as he received the Trophy , he said: "I'm absolutelyspeechless, I did not expect that, it's been such a privilege to be here." Of course ,his dance partner, Oti Mabuse, playeda huge role in the journey providing some very sensitive yet challengingchoreography, plus no doubt lots of support, time and perseverance. Teamwork and chemistry at their best!
For anyone who wants to learn todance in 2020 go to our website and book onto the beginner group for January –as Mike Bushell said, it’s not just for the youngsters, we specialise inteaching adults to dance and have an awesome time while we learn so get thosedancing shoes out and join in for 2020. www.comedancingwithme.co.uk
