Here is the second part of our countdown of which Strictly Pros have come to the closest to achieving dance perfection in terms of their average score (taken from the highest scores achieved for each dance style they have performed).

If you haven’t already, take a look at the first part of the countdown from 20 to 11 before reading on.

As we head towards a new series of Strictly, I have taken a look back to see how close each of the 61 professional dancers has come to ‘overall perfection’.  I have determined this by calculating the average of the highest score a dancer has received for each dance style.

A few points to clarify before we begin the countdown…

• All routines that were scored by 3 or 5 judges have been recalculated into a score out of 40.
• The maximum number of points a dancer could receive is 640, based on scoring 40 for every one of the 16 current dance styles.
• Dance styles which are no longer performed on the show, such as the Lindy Hop or Dance Fusion, have been excluded from the analysis.
• Each dancer’s overall average is calculated based on the total number of dance styles that were performed during the time that they were on the show. So, for example, professionals who left before Series 16 are not penalised for not having performed a Couple’s Choice routine.
• If, however, a dancer has simply chosen not to perform a dance style (for example, Dianne has not yet performed a Rumba on Strictly), this counts as a ‘zero’ score when calculating their overall average.

Big thank you to fellow “Strictly Statistician” James (Instagram: @drross365) for contributing this article to the StrictlyDB Blog.

10th Kristina Rihanoff

Kristina achieved ten of her highest scoring dance styles with Series 9 finalist Jason Donovan, which include perfect scores for the Argentine Tango and Showdance. She is one of only two professionals (along with Giovanni) to have received a score of 40 for the Argentine Tango with two different partners. She followed up her maximum with Jason with another memorable routine with Simon Webbe.

Here is Kristina’s Ballroom Tango (with Jason) that scored 38.

9th Brendan Cole

Brendan’s high scoring dance style scorecard is mainly split between routines with three finalists, Natasha Kaplinsky, Lisa Snowdon & Sophie Ellis-Bextor. He achieved a score of 35 or higher in 14 of the 15 dance styles he performed. The one exception being the Salsa, with which his highest score of 27, was perhaps surprisingly performed with Sunetra Sarker, in Series 12.

Here is Brendan’s highest Charleston score (36), performed with Sophie. This is actually the first dance that I remember watching on Strictly. It’s a great routine (especially for Week 2) and a real shame that they weren’t able to perform this again in the final, when it would surely have got the tens it deserved.

8th Natalie Lowe

Natalie’s high scoring dance style scorecard consists of only two partners, Series 7 runner-up Ricky Whittle, and Series 8 semi-finalist Scott Maslen. Incredibly, she only received one perfect score on Strictly, but has no real weaknesses on her resume, with scores of at least 32 in every dance style.

Scott’s Jive is unheralded when compared to the great Strictly Jives (Jill, Jay, Ore, Alexandra, Karim) but I still think this is another brilliant routine, that scored 39.

7th Oti Mabuse

Oti has perfect scores in more dance styles (4) than any other female professional; and is the only person who has received full marks for three separate showdances. Her lowest ‘highest scoring dance style’ is 29 for the Waltz, and unexpectedly this was performed with Graeme Swann in Series 16 (Oti didn’t perform the Waltz with Danny Mac and only scored 27 with Kelvin Fletcher).

Here is Oti’s top scoring Rumba (39, with Kelvin). If this routine wasn’t good enough to receive a perfect score, I’m not sure we will ever see one for the Rumba!

6th Aliona Vilani

Aliona is the highest placed female professional on this countdown, and her highest dance style scores are shared between Series 9 winner, Harry Judd, Series 13 winner, Jay McGuinness, and Series 8 runner-up Matt Baker. A score of 40 in the Series 9 final with Harry, means that Aliona is one of four professionals to receive a perfect score for the Argentine Tango.

Here is Aliona’s highest scoring Paso Doble (39), performed with Jay.

5th Gorka Marquez

Gorka is the only professional dancer in the top seven of this countdown who has yet to win the Glitterball trophy. Will 2023 finally be his year? He has received perfect scores for five dance styles, which is only bettered by the top two professionals in this countdown.

Eleven of Gorka’s high dance style scores were performed with Series 15 runner-up Alexandra Burke. Here is their 39-scoring Cha Cha Cha.

4th Artem Chigvintsev

Artem’s dance scorecard shows tremendous consistency, with a score of at least 34 in each dance style. His three perfect scores were all achieved with Series 11 runner-up Natalie Gumede (when he won with Kara Tointon in 2010 their highest score was 39), and each came in a speciality dance style.

Natalie and Artem were awarded 40 for this Salsa.

3rd Kevin Clifton

Kevin is the only professional dancer on Strictly to have received a score of at least 34 points in each of the sixteen dance styles. He is also one of only three professionals to have received a perfect score for the Tango, and coincidentally they all appear in the top three of this countdown.

Here is Kevin’s highest scoring Viennese Waltz (38), performed with Frankie Bridge.

2nd Giovanni Pernice

As well as receiving a perfect score in six dance styles, Giovanni has received scores of 39 in another five styles! He has received a score of 36 for every dance style except the Cha Cha Cha. Despite performing this style with all eight of his partners, the highest score he has received so far is a 33; and this particular routine was never meant to happen. When preparing for the Series 12 semi-final with Georgia May Foote, the plan was to dance the Argentine Tango (along with the Viennese Waltz), however a throat infection for Georgia led to a last minute change of plan, and the Cha Cha Cha had to be performed instead.

If Giovanni were able to obtain a perfect Cha Cha Cha score in 2023 this would enable him to overtake our current number one pro at the top of this countdown. Before I reveal who that person is, here is Giovanni’s highest scoring Foxtrot (39), performed with Michelle Visage in 2019.

1st Pasha Kovalev

Not only has Pasha earned a perfect score in an incredible eight dance styles, but he has received a score of 39 in another six! The only styles that Pasha did not earn a score of at least 39 points were the Samba (36, with Ashley Roberts) and the Waltz (31, with Caroline Flack).

Pasha is also the only pro dancer to receive a perfect score in the Charleston with three different partners (Caroline, Ashley & Kimberley Walsh), and the only person to receive a perfect score in the Salsa with two different partners (Caroline & Ashley).

Here is Pasha’s Salsa with Caroline from the Series 12 semi-final.

NB All Strictly Come Dancing professional dancer photos on this article are surfaced and loaded directly from the BBC Strictly Come Dancing Website – they have not been copied, hosted or adapted on StrictlyDB.com.  The stills for embedded videos are from YouTube.