{"id":6268,"date":"2018-03-04T22:50:15","date_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:50:15","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/?p=6268"},"modified":"2018-03-04T22:50:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-04T20:50:15","slug":"athletics-coach-odessa-swarts-leaves-dancing-with-the-starts-sa-like-a-champ","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.samdb.co.za\/blogs\/blog\/2018\/03\/04\/athletics-coach-odessa-swarts-leaves-dancing-with-the-starts-sa-like-a-champ\/","title":{"rendered":"Athletics Coach Odessa Swarts Leaves Dancing With The Starts SA Like A Champ"},"content":{"rendered":"

At the end of this week\u2019s star-studded \u201cSouth African Songbook\u201d theme, inspiring athletics coach Odessa Swarts and her professional dancing partner Dylon Daniels ended their dancing journey on M-Net\u2019s Dancing With The Stars SA while the judges gave Protea netball shooter Vanes-Mari du Toit and Johannes Radebe the opportunity to return next week to \u201cdance some more\u201d.<\/p>\n

During the two-hour Dancing With The Stars SA live extravaganza at Hyde Park Corner in Johannesburg, the ten remaining couples in the competition showed off their skills to the songs of massive local hitmakers such as Vicky Sampson, \u00a0Mango Groove, Miriam\u00a0Makeba, Goodluck, Laurika Rauch, MiCasa, Freshly Ground and Black Coffee.\u00a0And, almost as if they were suffused with national pride, many of them earned their best scores do date in the competition from the team of internationally acclaimed judges.<\/p>\n

But after the viewers\u2019 votes were reconciled with the scores from Bryan Watson, Debbie Turner, Tebogo Kgobokoe and Jason Gilkison, it was time to find out in the 20:00 Dancing With The Stars SA live results show which two couples found themselves at the bottom of the leaderboard, meaning they had to dance-off to stay in the competition.<\/p>\n

There was some relief for the audience from the tension in the room when South African legend Johnny Clegg and his son Jesse Clegg performed together for the very first time on reality television, in an M-Net exclusive. But then the moment of truth could be postponed no longer, as\u00a0Dancing With The Stars SA\u00a0host Chris Jaftha announced which couples would return to dance again next week.<\/p>\n

Vanes-Mari and Johannes Radebe had to Cha-Cha-Ch\u00e1 again, \u00a0knowing that Latin dancing is not her favourite style. \u201cYou\u2019ve still got some work to do in your Latin dances,\u201d judge Jason told Vanes-Mari after her performance. Tebogo admitted that the judges were surprised to see her in the Dance-Off, but a cool and calm Vanes-Mari said she welcomed the opportunity to show them what that Cha-Cha-Ch\u00e1 should look like.<\/p>\n

Odessa hoped to inspire people through the competition and set an example for her daughter. \u00a0\u201cIf I give up, I let her know that it\u2019s okay to give up,\u201d she told Dancing With The Stars SA host Tracey Lange after her performance. Odessa and Dylon performed the first Rhumba of the season tonight, prompting tough judge Tebogo to comment that she didn\u2019t show \u201cenough leg action, hip action, and all of that\u201d. Before her dance-off, judge Jason commented that Odessa was probably grateful for an opportunity to improve her performance. \u201cYou\u2019re a fighter,\u201d he told her. \u201cSo get out there and bring that beautiful personality onto that floor.\u201d<\/p>\n

When they had to pick a couple, all four the judges opted for Vanes-Mari and Johannes.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been an amazing journey,\u201d said a gracious Odessa, paying tribute to her partner, Dylon Daniels. \u201cHe brought out the best in me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Dancing again next week [11 March] will be:<\/p>\n