I would like to say Congratulations to all the couples that competed today and delighting us with their wonderful performances. The Star Ball is always a beautiful event that carries a lot of history and the BDF do a superb job in organising this fabulous competition. The beautiful venue looked immaculate, the music was inspirational and the judges were of the highest calibre. This competition is a wonderful chance for couples to come out and show how good they are! An opportunity that really shouldn’t be missed!
1st – Igor Reznik & Maria Polishohuk: Young, vibrant, dynamic and very together. What a fabulous competitive package this couple offer. If they can now develop the characterisation of each dance further then this is only the first of many competitions that they will be challenging to win! A great and very well deserved win today. Congratulations!
2nd – Eric Li Sicheng & Anna Zhou Manni: Eric and Annas results and dancing have been steadily improving over the last year. Wonderfully expressive and another great ballroom couple from China. Today was maybe not the most clean in silhouette that I have seen them but still well deserved Runners Up of this wonderful competition today.
3rd – Michal Le & Sandra Jablonska: Always immaculately groomed and well presented I always enjoy watching this very individual couple. They are lovely dancers and the top was calmer and sharper today than
in previous outings. I am sure their results will keep improving if they continue in this way.
4th – Artem Kuklin & Alika Dima: Artem & Alika bring a great quality and elegance to the dance floor. They have matured a lot and are now bringing a complete package to the dance floor. They need to pay attention to the height of their arms which can on occasion as be carried too high but I am sure they are aware of this. When they get this right they can challenge very high.
5th – Marko Ilich & Yulia Koutunova: The third of the Ukrainian couples in this fabulous final tonight. A sharp competitive silhouette and on this occasion a much softer approach which gave them breathe and warmth. Interestingly the softness actually made them more competitive and they could have finished higher as 3rd, 4th and 5th place were in my opinion very close! The future promises some interesting battles between all these beautiful couples!
6th – Maciej Kadlubowski & Maja Kopacz: This lovely couple concluded this wonderful final. Great line and powerful dancers with lovely weight release, they offer a lot and are very eye catching. They now need more refinement in my opinion as it becomes too strong and too held in the frame, therefore actions that Maciej starts can’t always be finished by Maja. There are certainly opportunities for improvement by finding the right tone in arms and body. This will open the door to be able to challenge the couples above.

Semi Finalists:
Jamie Cutler & Virginie Primeau:
Must have been considered for the final but on this occasion their top line became a little thin and without volume which stopped them from fulfilling their full potential.
Ivan Iacobbe & Ylenia Dalla Bona: They need to pay attention to creating a smoother transition from foot to foot, especially when lowering as their action is not always full enough.
Markus Hirvonen & Lisa Setala: Markus is such a lovely expressive dancer but the delivery is not always clean enough for the competitive field of dancing as it is today. Focus is needed on the upper body.
Damiano Soldati & Laura Fox: Damiano and Laura have made big improvements in their dancing over the last couple of years and must have been very happy to make this semi final. Lovely to see.
Kun Wang & Wan Xu: William and Ivy are lovely neat and tidy dancers but they lack the dynamics and power shown by the couples above them at this moment.
Dima Dakhnovskyi & Anna Dakhnovska: They showed flashes of being certain finalists but now need more consistency to ensure their inclusion into this type of final. I am sure they will get there as they are improving
steadily.