For the celebrities and dance professionals from “Let’s Dance” there was nothing less at stake on May 17th than a place in the “grand finale”, which will take place next Friday on RTL – and on RTL. They all gave their best, but it wasn’t enough for Ann-Kathrin Bendixen (24) at the end of the latest edition. The travel influencer was denied further progress.
The latest show opened this Friday evening with Bendixen, who had already been eliminated, returning after comedian Tony Bauer (28) left the show for health reasons. With a paso doble to “Don’t Let Me Be Misunderstood” she made it unmistakably clear that she wanted to make it to the final round with her dance partner Valentin Lusin (37). Juror Jorge González (56) particularly liked Bendixen’s looks and presence – and his colleague Motsi Mabuse (43) and chief juror Joachim Llambi (59) were also quite satisfied with his 200th broadcast. 20 points.
Things got more exciting with Detlef D! Soost (53) and Ekaterina Leonova (37) and their Slowfox. Llambi enthused that he danced the song “Swing Supreme” beautifully and made it “great.” Mabuse agreed that he was really “smooth” today, which ultimately led to a well-deserved 29 points. A slow waltz by Gabriel Kelly (22) with Malika Dzumaev (33) also earned the singer 29 points. González said it was “wonderful” and Llambi was happy about the “great music” and the “great Kelly”. The fact that his performance only received nine individual points from the latter was also surprising for presenter Victoria Swarovski (30), who found the dance “unbelievable”. This was probably also the opinion of the studio audience, who whistled a few times for Llambi.
In her first dance of the evening, Jana Wosnitza (30) performed a pirate paso-doble alongside Vadim Garbuzov (37), which also brought 29 points to the celebrity candidate’s account. As with Kelly, there was a standing ovation from the audience. The presenter is getting better and better every week, emphasized Mabuse. González saw an explosion of his “secret weapon”.
In the following round, the four celebrities were each supposed to present a second dance – and Bendixen came out on top once again. Her slow waltz was “by far your most beautiful dance,” said presenter Daniel Hartwich (45) before the jury’s assessment. “Even Daniel noticed that,” joked González. Mabuse confirmed that it was the best dance of the influencer, who “never gave up” and could be proud of herself. Soost received a total of 23 points. Soost caused a storm of enthusiasm and another 29 points with a fast jive. “Come on now, little one, fire out of your ass,” crowd favorite Leonova spurred him on so that he could even get through the whole thing. And it was worth it. Soost “really rocked this thing,” as Llambi judged.
Wosnitza and Garbuzov’s Viennese Waltz was much quieter but no less exciting. Mabuse found it “bombastic”, according to Llambi she “danced really well” and Swarovski raved about a “fantastically beautiful” performance. How could it be otherwise on this Friday evening, the jury once again gave it 29 points. Kelly was finally able to end this little trend with Dzumaev and score the full 30 points with a Charleston. Llambi found the performance “sensational”, according to González “everything was really right” and for Mabuse it was “not the dance of the evening, it was the dance of the season”!
The four couples had to prove themselves again in the “Impro Dance Even More Extreme 2.0” challenge. Only in the live show did the celebrities and professionals find out which two dances they should show in round three. 90 seconds to change, 30 seconds to practice and then off to the dance floor for 80 seconds of fusion dances. Kelly was assigned rumba and samba and put on a show with his partner that even prompted the audience to shout for an encore. Llambi was also sure that the audience at such a performance would not believe that the dances had not been rehearsed beforehand. The “spontaneous mega dance,” as Hartwich called it, earned 30 points.
Wosnitza, on the other hand, was “a little lost every now and then” with her tango and cha-cha-cha fusion, as Llambi said. He explained, not very charmingly: “You’ve done well for your standards.” Therefore there were only 24 points in total. The visibly excited Bendixen dedicated herself to a fusion of rumba and tango – and with 23 points she had no reason to worry. There’s no need to argue, “the girl did it,” said Mabuse. Soost’s fusion of Cha-Cha-Cha and Rumba was a highlight at the end of the dances. A further 29 points were awarded for what Mabuse said was “without question” a final performance.
Intermediate standings: 89 points for Kelly, 87 points for Soost, 82 points for Wosnitza and 66 points for Bendixen. All in all, Kelly was able to fully live up to his role as favorite in the current season, but Bendixen ended up with a second exit because there weren’t enough calls from viewers.