Strictly split as Hamza's tango causes disagreement between judges

Hamza Yassin will appear in the quarter-final of BBC prime time show Strictly Come Dancing this weekend despite causing a rift between the judges on last week's show.

 

"attachment_833818" "" "217"] Hamza and dance partner Jowita Przystal danced the Argentine tango to Libertango by Bond. Photograph: BBC,Guy Levy.

 

The local favourite and his dance partner Jowita Przystal danced the Argentine tango to Libertango by Bond last Saturday night - channelling his 'core inner ballerina' for the performance which involves a complex parallel and cross foot system of moves.

 

Things started well for the Ardnamurchan-based wildlife cameraman and presenter when head judge Shirley Ballas heaped praise on the performance.

 

'You lead it all; you make this lady shine; I wish I could dance with you,' she gushed.

 

Former pro dancer Anton du Beke was not as impressed however.

 

'The top half was intense. It was calm; it was strong; it was leading; it was powerful, he said. Before adding: 'The bottom half looked like you played centre-forward for Bradford City.'

 

Craig Revel Horwood agreed calling the performance 'messy', while Motsi Mabuse sided with Shirley describing Hamza as 'grounded, passionate and light'.

 

Both ladies gave a perfect 10 while Anton, despite his criticism, awarded the pair a nine. Craig gave an eight to make a final tally of 37.

 

As usual Hamza took all the comments in his stride. Only commenting afterwards that he had thought he wasn't 'cool enough' to carry off the dance and that he had been 'twitching' in his sleep all week as he dreamt about the steps.

 

This Saturday it's Musicals Week and Hamza will be working hard to make all the judges sing from the same sheet.

 

Comedienne Ellie Taylor and her dance partner Johannes Radebe became the ninth couple to be ousted from the show on Sunday night after landing in the bottom two alongside singer Fleur East and Vito Coppola.