Strictly come dancing reaches its semi-finals episode this weekend

Jay McGuinness and dance partner Aliona Vlani

DSTV’S popular Strictly Come Dancing series reaches its semi-final episode this weekend, with six celebrities left in the race to be named Strictly Champion for the show’s 13^th series.

According to Liz Dziva, publicity and public relations manager for MultiChoice Zimbabwe, the series is one of the most popular on DStv for many viewers in this country, not only dancing enthusiasts but also people from all walks of life who enjoy the competitiveness, professionalism and glitz of the star-studded series.

“This weekend the show gets to semi-final stage, with six celebs and their professional dance partners vying to take the coveted Strictly shield and title, and we know fans are excited to see who goes out this weekend and who remains for the following week’s glittering finale,” she said.

Strictly Come Dancing is a product of BBC 1 in the United Kingdom and this season’s show is the 2015 series, which ran in the UK from September to December. It started its DStv run in January, slotted for the first time into BBC Lifestyle on channel 174, where it airs at 6pm each Sunday night with a double header of competitive show followed by results show.

At the start of the run 15 UK-based celebrities were entered, but by this weekend’s semi finals, nine have been voted out, leaving six to compete for the five places in next week’s final. In the final, one competitor will be voted out in the first part of the special two-and-a-half-hour show, with one more going out in the second half, leaving three competitors in place for the announcement of the overall winner at the very end of the broadcast.

The celebs still in for this weekend are UK television presenter Anita Rani, BBC Proms and Radio 3 presenter Katie Derham, Eastenders actress Kellie Bright, former Coronation Street actress Georgia May Foote and the only male still left, Jay McGuiness, singing star of boyband The Wanted. Derham’s persistence has been a boon for her professional dancer co-star Anton du Beke, who in all previous 12 series was paired with a celebrity destined to be voted early in the run.

Series presenters Tess Daly and Claudia Winkelman will host the semi-final and final, while the series’ judges – Len Goodman, Bruno Tonioli, Craig Revel Horwood and Darcey Bussell – will also be present to give professional marks on entrants’ dances and, in the semi-final, to decide which of the two celebs receiving the least public votes should stay in for the final.

“Interest in this show is always high and we were pleased that BBC Lifestyle was able to host this series soon after completion of its run in the UK. One side-effect of the series’ popularity in Zimbabwe has been a growing interest in dance among young people, both male and female, across the country, and this is good for the cultural development of Zimbabwe,”said Dziva.

Each year the focus falls on which celebrities are included in the series, most of whom have never danced before and who are coached by their professional partners to learn the many dances to be performed on the shows. The focus also falls on the professionals, which this year included three newcomers: Russian Gleb Savchenko, Italian Giovanni Pernice and South African Oti Mabuse.

“Strictly fans will be watching Sunday’s show with eagerness, all hoping their favourite stays in the race to the final and perhaps emerges tops in the final broadcast on Sunday April 10,” she said.

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