And all the events had great talent, possibly challenging for the judges and very entertaining for the audience.

• Open Pro Smooth Open Pro Smooth
• Travis & Jaimee Tuft Travis & Jaimee Tuft
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The Professional Smooth was one of these events and here clearly the best couple in the final by far was Travis & Jaimee Tuft, who placed first in all dances and got perfect scores from all judges.

• Jang & Adele Don Jang & Adele Don
• Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Nevena Aleksandar Vukosavljevic & Nevena
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The contest for second and third place was a different story with two couples challenging hard for the runner-up position - Jan & Adele Don and Aleksandr Vukosavljvic & Neveda. In the end it was a tie for second place between these two couples Jan & Adele placed 2,2,3,3, and Aleksandr & Neveda 3,3,2,2. As you can see each couple had basically the same amount of marks after the final dance. A Rule 11 had to be used to break this tie and Jan & Adele ended up in second place, leaving Aleksandr & Neveda holding third.

The rest of the final was a little easier with the Rising Star winners from the night before Evgenii Rozenfeld & Maria Shumakher taking fourth in all dances and Aleksandar Bonev & Olga Aidasheva placing all fifths.

The Ballroom was also a terrific competition, a seven-couple final took to the floor, with the majority of couples in great form and with at least 3 couples making some major improvement in their game. We are sure that there must have been some difficult decisions for this panel of adjudicators on more than one count. There is never enough time in a normal heat, there is certainly not enough time to see seven excellent terrific couples within a minute 30 or 45 in each dance, this is where impression judging is at its best and the fact that there were 13 judges makes sure a sound decision is called.

• Open Pro Ballroom Open Pro Ballroom
• Andrii Mykhailov & Anna Bohachova Andrii Mykhailov & Anna Bohachova
• Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova
• Richard Tonizzo & Clare Hansen Richard Tonizzo & Clare Hansen
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First in all dances went to Andrii Mykhailov & Anna Bohachova, and they won all dances with a majority of firsts. However, they did lose a number of firsts, with most of them going to the runners-up, Andrey Begunov & Anna Demidova who placed second in all dances, and who have made tremendous improvement in their game and in many of the dances we can see why they took a number of firsts from the winners. There were two judges that were particularly harsh to Andrii & Anna, Paul Holmes who awarded them these marks 4,4,4,4,4 and Gary McDonald who awarded them these marks 4,2,4,2,3. There was another judge that awarded them less than second and that was Bill Sparks who awarded 3,3,3,3,2. In our opinion Andrew & Anna could have easily win but we would have never thought of Andrii & Anna to be anything lower than second, their quality of movement is excellent, but as I said before that is why 13 judges are important in a heat of this caliber.

Also very imporved and awarded third position were Richard Tonizzo & Clair Hansen with these marks 3,4,3,3,3. It had been a long time since we have been as excited for this couple, because they have tended to be in the same mode for quite a while now. We want to tip our hat to them, now making a very strong stride and perhaps taking more risk than before. Fourth was awarded to Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantly who the night before thrilled us with their Showdance performance, and they placed fourth with these marks 4,3,4,4,4. Another couple that is a little understated but who we also though much improved was Sergey Izyumov & Oksana Zaver. We love their very basic “no frills no thrills” performance and thought them of good quality, perhaps we are too much of the old guard who just likes basic Ballroom, but we thought them to give a well-executed performance last night, worthy of a higher placement, than the 5th place in all dances they were awarded. Sam Sodano and Didio Barrera were in the minority who thought they should get higher than fifth position.

The rest of the final was all a straight run, Riccardo Conte & Eleonora Filippi took all sixth places, here was another very talented couple that is new to the scene and seventh position in all dances and from all the judges went to Kent Berkey & Yuko Ota.

• Open Pro Rhythm Open Pro Rhythm
• Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin Dmitry Nikishkin & Olena Shvets-Nikishkin
• Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones
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The Rhythm started with a semifinal round and here in this final of six Dmitry & Olena Nikishkin won all dances, but it sure was close in at least one dance between them and Alberto Cortes & Jessa Mae Briones who placed second in all dances. In all dances but the rumba Dmitry & Olena won easily, however, in the rumba Alberto & Jessa Mae lost by one second should we say. On their score cards Dmitry & Olena had 13 points total to Alberto & Jessa Mae’s 12 so Nikishkin’s won the rumba by one point.

Third place went to Jan & Adele Don 3,3,3,3,4; fourth was Kristian Sese & Mae Lozada with these marks 4,4,4,4,3; fifth in all dances went to Tomas Vasicek & Vitalija Tyrnova, leaving sixth to Karol Kalinowski & Rosa Paredes.

• Open Pro Latin Open Pro Latin
• Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova Artur Tarnavsky & Anastasia Danilova
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The Open Latin was a little of a disappointment. Artur Tarnavskyy & Anastasia Danilova won the competition easily with first in all dances from all judges, but the rest of the final left lots top be desired. In the end for us it was a close call between all the couples but second place went to Alexandr Nabiullin & Valeriya Ryabova who took second in all dances and for us just walked around the entire time. Third were Artur Shevetson & Phoenix Linsong and fourth went to Daniele Fulvi & Veronica Criscione.

We have to say that the hotel, Lord Baltimore, was super charming with its fancy bar and excellent rooms and ballroom, it is always nice to stay in such a historic hotel!

Great night for the Stars!

Friday February 1st here at the Maryland Dancesport, in the historic hotel Lord Baltimore Ballroom, was all about the Rising Stars and the Professional Cabaret!

• Pro Cabaret Pro Cabaret
• Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley
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We can see now how Nazar Batih & Mariko Cantley made it to the World Professional Showdance final, their routine was amazing! They not only showed us good quality Ballroom but also some very clever lifts and tricks that went right with the music making all the judges move their pens to mark them first and the audience to give them hearty applause. Second in this excellent three-couple final went to Alexei Bazyle & Darya Splender who also gave us a ballroom show dance routine, and third went to a Latin number by Ivan Sovotov & Valeria Mkrtchian.

• Pro RS Smooth Pro RS Smooth
• Evgennii Rozenfeld & Maria Shumakher Evgennii Rozenfeld & Maria Shumakher
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The rest of the night was about the Professional Rising Star events. The Rising Star Smooth went to Evgennii Rozenfeld & Maria Shumakher placing first in all dances. Second was awarded to Ivan Sovotov & Valeria Mkrtchian and third was given to Roman Doroshenko & Iryna Savushikina.

• Aleksei & Elena Minaev Aleksei & Elena Minaev
• Pro RS Ballroom Pro RS Ballroom
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In the Ballroom the win went to Aleksei & Elena Minaev who won all dances. Second was awarded to Eiccardo Conte & Eleonora Filippi and they took second in all dances and third in all went to Mykhailo Anufriiev & Anna Vietrynska.

• Pro RS Rhythm Pro RS Rhythm
• Kristian Sese & Mae Lozado Kristian Sese & Mae Lozado
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In the Professional Rising Star Rhythm first place in all dances was awarded to Kristian Sese & Mae Lozada, second overall went to Aleksei Shipilov & Julia Mitina with these marks 2,2,3,2,2, and third was Tomas Vasicek & Vitalija Tyrnova 3,3,2,3,3.

• Pro RS Latin Pro RS Latin
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Two couples took to the floor for the Rising Star Latin division and here Aleksei Shipilov & Julia Minita won all dances, second was awarded to Damiele Fulvi & Veronica Criscione.

Satruday all the Open professional divisions took place and we will be bringing you the results and commentary tomorrow.