Out for pop singer Lulu Lewe on “Let’s Dance”: The sister of pop star Sarah Connor and her dance partner Massimo Sinató received the fewest points from the jury and viewers on Friday evening and have to leave the RTL dance show. Influencer Ann-Kathrin Bendixen, on the other hand, celebrated a comeback: The motorcycle world traveler had already left a week ago, but then returned at short notice to replace comedian Tony Bauer, who left for health reasons. Now she and professional dancer Valentin Lusin even made it into the quarter-finals thanks to the audience voting, even though she was initially in last place with 38 jury points, well behind Lulu (50 points).
The remaining six couples danced their personal “Magic Moment” in the ninth show of this year’s season – the evening was correspondingly emotional and tearful. The highlight was provided by Tony Bauer, who performed one last time out of competition with professional dancer Anastasia Stan and was celebrated for minutes. He suffers from short bowel syndrome, which required his small intestine to be removed, and relies on receiving nutrients through a tube. Even head judge Joachim Llambi fought back tears when he presented the 28-year-old with a number 10 MSV Duisburg jersey.
In addition to their “Magic Moment” dance, the couples competed against each other in duels. The winner of the evening was singer Gabriel Kelly with dance partner Malika Dzumaev. The jury, consisting of Llambi, Motsi Mabuse and Jorge Gonzáles, awarded the two of them the maximum number of 60 points. “How beautifully a person can dance,” enthused Mabuse, and Llambi said: “You’re way better than everyone else here.”
Sports journalist Jana Wosnitza also reached the next round with professional dancer Vadim Garbuzov (59 jury points), choreographer Detlef D! Soost with professional dancer Ekaterina Leonova (57 points) and actor Mark Keller with dance partner Kathrin Menzinger (54 points). The quarter-finals next Friday will be held as a musical edition. The show leaves its traditional TV studio for the first time and takes place in the sets of “Moulin Rouge!” instead of. The famous musical has been based in the Musical Dome, within sight of Cologne Cathedral, since 2022.
