Akai Osei wins Got To Dance!

The biggest national dance competition to ever hit UK TV screens concluded in a nail-biting 90 minute live final on Sky1 HD this Sunday. The ultimate dance off saw six talented dance acts compete against each other to win a life changing cash prize of £100k. It was ten year old street dancer Akai Osei who won over the public and claimed the title of Got To Dance champion 2010.

Ten year old Akai, who has only been dancing for year, wowed the viewers and judges alike with a set of sophisticated moves, including head spins, body popping and backsliding. The audience gave him standing ovations and the judges awarded him three gold stars following both of his performances.

On his win, Akai said, “I can’t believe it, this is amazing. It’s been the best night of my life, I don’t know what I’ll do with the prize money yet, but I definitely want to give some to charity. I haven’t decided which one yet.”

Our Got To Dance judging panel comprises of Pussycat Doll Kimberly Wyatt, Diversity Leader Ashley Banjo and West End star and movie actor Adam Garcia, who said of Akai’s victory:

Ashley Banjo:

“Firstly, he and his family should be so proud. He sums up this competition, he’s not professional, has only been dancing for a year and is only 10 years old and has just got to dance and he beats me hands down!”

Kimberly Wyatt:

“I’m so proud of Akai, he has been on point to the max and I have so much respect for him. I love his confidence. Amazing!”

Adam Garcia:

“He has incredible stage presence and is just born to dance. I’ve always loved what he does, everyone loves what he does. Just incredible.”

Host Davina McCall commented:

“I am so thrilled for Akai, but glad the viewers voted, I couldn’t have picked a winner, all of the finalists are amazing, they have put in such hard work. I’m going to get Akai to teach me some moves now.”

Got To Dance scoured the UK and Ireland, visiting 14 cities and covering thousands of miles to seek out the best dance crews, troupes and solo dancers of all style and ages. From thousands of applicants, almost 100 dancers aged from 4 to 82 auditioned in front of a live audience and the Got To Dance judging panel. The panel then narrowed these acts down to the Final 18 who performed in a series of live semi-final shows competing for the viewers’ votes to go through to Sunday 14 February’s live final.

Acts who competed in the final against Akai were:

Jukebox Juniors, a junior Cardiff based dance troupe, Matthew Koon, a 16 year old contemporary dancer, Glaswegian junior ballet group The Box, ten year old Perthshire contemporary dancer Emily Crow and MJ Latin, a Latin American style dance group from Preston.