The Perfect Ten

Six couples showing their best, five dances in the final, standing ovations, and a Perfect Ten. Even though the semifinal already pushed the couples to show their best, the final did it again, pushing them to a whole another level.

The Lithuanian spectators had very high hopes for the final, and they showed it by waving the flags and cheering very loudly. The big group of Italian supporters had their own flags and own corner on the stands, and the Russian and Estonian fans their own ones, making the roar continue from the first beat of the first dance until the very end of the prize presentation ceremony. The atmosphere was very special, thanks to the full house and the live band, and the amazing performances by the six couples.

The final of the World Championship had three emotional highlights. The home town couple, Vaidotas Lacitis – Veronika Golodneva (LTU) finished their amateur career with an amazing Quickstep earning them their best scores of the day. With standing ovations lasting several minutes, the spectators expressed their appreciation for the couple. An emotional farewell speech was heard later at a special ceremony during the prize presentation, which made the couple and the spectators hold back their tears.

When the scores of Quickstep were shown for Evaldas Sodeika – Ieva Zukauskaite (LTU), the roar filled the Siemens Arena. Evaldas and Ieva had received increasing scores dance after another, and in Quickstep the Adjudicator panel awarded them ten points for Choreography and Presentation. At that moment, the entire Siemens Arena was standing, clapping, roaring, and some were even in tears, because they saw what they came to see: their own couple winning the World title.

With that Perfect Ten sealing the World Championship title for Evaldas Sodeika and Ieva Zukauskaite, they will now start their full reign in Standard dancing. It is the era of Evaldas and Ieva.

”It is the best day in our career. I don’t think we fully understand what we have reached, and what we became. Did we do it? Are we already the winners?” they said after the prize presentation ceremonies, still feeling a bit unreal and shaky. They appreciated and thanked the Lithuanian DanceSport Federation for preparing everything in such tiptop condition for the competitors.

The silver medalists, Francesco Galuppo – Debora Pacini (ITA) gave a huge credit to their supporters. ”We are happy about our performance, and we have to say thank you so much for our supporters, who have seen us from when we were very young. They have followed our career and they continue to come to the events, and we are very proud of them. We feel more energy, and it is a pleasure to dance for them!” The couple also said they are hoping to give them a present next year, referring to the colour of their medal.

”Wow,” was the first thing the bronze medalists, Evgeny Moshenin – Dana Spitsyna (RUS) said about the competition. ”This place was amazing, with full of people, great support. Just wow!” The couple was very happy and had plans to celebrate their bronze medals.

The fourth place was awarded to Vaidotas Lacitis – Veronika Golodneva (LTU), the fifth place to Alexey Glukhov – Anastasia Glazunova (RUS), and the Estonians Madis Abel – Aleksandra Galkina ranked the sixth.

After such a wonderful evening in Vilnius, and all the celebrations by the couples, it doesn’t take so long before heading to the next event, the 2019 WDSF GrandSlam Series Final. It takes place in Shanghai (CHN) next week with the top twelve couples on the GrandSlam Ranking List. It will be the time for the Shanghai Showdown!