"There was a slight mismatch there."
Former Strictly Come Dancing professional Brendan Cole defended Craig Revel Horwood’s score for Balvinder Sopal’s Punjabi-inspired performance.
Balvinder’s energetic Bhangra routine, which honoured her Punjabi heritage, was widely praised by viewers but were left furious at Craig’s score of seven.
However, Brendan backed Craig’s decision.
Working with Sky Vegas, Brendan told DESIblitz:
“I don’t see why Craig’s seven was not justified. I don’t think it was the strongest number, and there was a lack of intensity from her within all of the movement.
“That doesn’t mean it was badly danced, but if you compare her with her partner [Julian Caillon], he was giving it full energy, and she wasn’t quite matching that.
“There was a slight mismatch there.
“But she’s not a professional dancer, so you’d expect that. There was just a lack of absolute intensity, which is what you need within any number.”
The EastEnders star’s routine blended traditional movements with contemporary flair.
The rest of the judges praised her performance and each scored her nine.
Brendan agreed that it was her strongest showing yet but said the technical demands were lighter than a standard Ballroom or Latin number.
He explained: “Balvinder’s number was not technically demanding because it’s not a technical dance. There’s technique within it, but it doesn’t compare to the technique of a Ballroom or Latin number.
“It’s more of a freestyle feel, so it’s not necessarily harder. The fun thing was that both had to learn how to do it, so that was nice to see – the pro being challenged a little bit with something they’ve never done before.”
While Brendan praised the energy and authenticity of Balvinder’s performance, he also cautioned against having too many heritage-based routines in the competition.
He said: “There shouldn’t be more routines that honour a contestant’s heritage, because it gives a disadvantage to others.
“Balvinder has been middle of the road compared with everyone else, and then she gets something that really suits her and suddenly she’s getting amazing scores.
“If you did that every week, it’d be a different show.”
Still, Brendan applauded Balvinder for seizing her moment after several weeks in the bottom two:
“It’s lovely that everyone gets to do one, but for me, there should be a one-off special for it rather than placing them throughout the series.
“She could have saved that moment for a different week, but I guess she’s been in the bottom two so many times that it was the perfect time for her to do it, and it worked; she was great.”
Brendan described her dance as a turning point, showcasing her spirit and connection to her roots:
“It was an expected performance from Balvinder.
“Anytime anyone does a People’s Choice that’s from their background, from their heritage, especially if it’s a cultural type of performance, like her number was, they tend to dance out of their skin, and she performed it brilliantly.
“It was a strong number. He [Julian Caillon] looked great, she looked great, and people were excited to see her finally do something that was better than average, because so far, she’s been slightly average.”
Watch Balvinder’s Routine
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