Dancing with stars: 7 world leaders' dance moves ranked VIDEO
Top politicians have used official international trips, the campaign trail and sometimes no reason at all to show off their moves.
Not all politicians can bust a move like Finland’s Prime Minister Sanna Marin, Politico.eu reports.
The 36-year-old leader came under fire on August 18 after videos were leaked of her dancing exuberantly with several famous Finnish faces.
Over the years, heads of state and government have used conferences, official international trips, campaign trails, and sometimes no reason at all to showcase their dancing ability — or lack of it.
Politico’s jury ranks political leaders’ dance moves, from the best to the most awkward.
On a scale of 1 to 5, Finland’s prime minister is the first choice for our jury to party with.
In leaked videos, the 36-year-old leader is seen dancing enthusiastically to hits by Finnish stars Petri Nygård and Antti Tuisku. Marin tore up the dance floor, with superior moves and enthusiasm, and Politico’s judges reckon she deserves top marks.
The videos, where Finnish media reported people in the background could be heard shouting about narcotics, prompted one of her coalition partners to urge the prime minister to take a drug test.
Marin hit back at the criticism and said that she had “nothing to hide.”
Former British Prime Minister Theresa May’s moves became infamous after she boogied to ABBA’s “Dancing Queen” as she walked on stage at the Tory Party conference in 2018, and again during a trip to Nairobi.
The “Maybot’s” signature move consists of a sort of awkward robot dance, but she did proceed with confidence — twice — even offering advice to professional performers on how it’s done.
We give her a 3 out of 5 for her (supposedly) spontaneous performances.
On the campaign trail in 1996, former Russian President Boris Yeltsin appeared to be doing an early version of “Gangnam Style,” as the Washington Post put it.
The resemblance is striking. The vigorous arm shaking, the shoulder movement: It’s all in there. We’ll give it a 3 out of 5 for innovation, and possible inspiration for Psy to create a Korean version, which became a smash hit 15 years later.
Johnson, who will leave Downing Street in September after being ousted as British prime minister by Tory Party colleagues, was seen busting a move on a video from late July during a belated party to mark his wedding. Our jury gave it a 2 out of 5: For a wedding first dance, we would have expected more coordination.
Alongside his wife Carrie, the couple had their first dance to Neil Diamond’s karaoke classic “Sweet Caroline,” an unofficial anthem for England football fans during the Euro 2020 tournament, and likely also a tribute to Carrie’s full name, Caroline.
Dmitry Medvedev made the news in 2011 when a video was posted to YouTube of him at a party dancing to “American Boy” by Russian pop band Kombinaciya. His moves even inspired a “Do the Medvedev” song.
In the video, the former Russian president awkwardly jerks from side to side and wiggles his arms aimlessly.
The dance is a bit stiff, but undoubtedly better than his current signature move: threatening the world with nuclear annihilation.
During a visit to Lagos in 2018, French President Emmanuel Macron was invited on stage by Afrobeat musician Femi Kuti.
It doesn’t look like he saw that coming. Kuti gives a lively performance, while Macron makes full use of his only dance move: gawkily standing around, nodding and clapping his hands.
When Donald Trump descended the escalator at Trump Tower in 2015 and announced he was running to be president of the United States, he surely didn’t think that would involve joining in a Saudi ceremonial sword dance.
Trump doesn’t so much dance with the sword as hold it while moving around with a complete disregard for synchronicity or rhythm. We’re giving him one point for not accidentally maiming or decapitating anyone.