We’re another week closer to the finale of DANCING WITH THE STARS and the everyone was out for blood on performance night. There was no specific theme of the night, which cut out some of the fun for me, but there was a trio portion of the competition. This was a DWTS first, we witnessed history my friends! The judges’ favoritism was still a head-scratcher, but I hardly cared because all of the dancers were really something this week. Let see how it played out.
Up first was a tango by Donald and Peta and it was everything a tango should be. They danced to the song Higher Ground, which ever since the movie CENTER STAGE (Center Stage- Higher Ground) , has been the most fantastic song to dance to in my eyes. The song has fast and very specific beats, and Donald and Peta hit every one of them with a step. I loved watching their feet in both this dance and their trio. In their trio jive, Karina joined them for the most high energy, precise, and exciting number of the night. The judges must have been taking thier mid-show nap because only Carrie Ann thought it to be worthy of a 10. I was furious. I’m really trying not to cry foul, but do the judges have something against Donald? He has been the most under scored contestant this season. The boy can’t get no love.
Or can he?
But how could the judges give love to Donald when they’re saving it all up for Ms. Menounos? I’ve made it perfectly clear how I feel about Maria but I will be the first to admit when she does a great job. Last week she did a great job, she really wowed. This week she was good, but just good. I will never claim to be a rightful judge, but I believe I have enough dance knowledge and practice to have a keener eye than the average viewer. Though I’m going to need someone to fill me in on why Carrie Ann and Bruno had a religious experience watching Maria and Derek’s Viennese waltz. It was pretty, but hardly the best waltz we’ve seen. Good thing we had cranky Len to put things into perspective. He hit the nail on the head, Maria is not a great dancer out of hold. For their trio, some chap named Henry joined them for a samba. Maria couldn’t wait to flaunt her abs, which were pretty incredible. The Bollywood spin didn’t work for me, they just looked kind of silly. Bollywood dancing is a lot of fun to watch but they lacked finesse and Len agreed. Ok, its cheap shot time, Maria really needs to do something about that laugh. I suggest she take a note from Donald, who during his rehearsal burst into an uncontrollable guffaw that was adorable. Work it out.
Melissa and Maks danced next and before I get into the bad, I have to say that Melissa danced really well. The whole night was a personal best for her and I was pleased. Now the bad, Maks has gotten out of control. He is so mean. This week I was downright uncomfortable watching their rehearsal footage. I mean, he told Melissa that she makes him look like a terrorist! I wanted to reach through my tv screen and high five her when she responded that she is not responsible for his actions or his reactions. There’s the spunk she learned on the prairie! Maks’ spirit was so ugly that it completely canceled out how adorable he looked in glasses. Anyways, their trio was a samba and they were joined by Maks’ nice clone Val. It was really cute seeing Melissa dance with the two brothers and you could tell she was having a blast. The judges raved about the trio, but I personally thought her first dance was her best.
Katherine and Mark danced a Viennese waltz that was very impressive. Katherine looked like a ballerina in a jewelry box. I know I give Mark a hard time, but following the rehearsal freak outs by both Maks and Derek, I noticed this night more than ever how nice and encouraging of a coach he is. High five to you too, Mark, you understand that yelling at ladies makes you less of a man. Right now Katharine and Mark are suffering from “peaking too soon” syndrome. They were so good right off the bat that the judges don’t appreciate how good they are now. This was not their best dance ever, but it was still pretty stellar. Their cha cha cha trio, joined with Tristan (!), was super fun. I decided that Katherine and Tristan dancing together was hot and in my perfect DWTS land they would have been partners. Katherine noted how their two accents put together causes a whole mess of confusion. Um, adorable confusion! Katherine bashfully got choked up after receiving good scores and it reminded me that she’s another one Maria could take a lesson from, how to cry with tact. Yeah, I went there.
Hi Tristan!
Roshon and Chelsie proved tonight that they were the right couple to save last week because I absolutely loved their foxtrot. Roshon’s adorable grandmoms came to help him rehearse. How cute were they? And he looked just like one of them. Their dance was silky smooth and whimsical. He almost grabbed three 10’s! Roshon has grown on me, he isn’t a favorite but I have come to enjoy watching him dance. The paso trio number with some random dude named Sasha was fun and I really liked the choreography. There were pretty evident mistakes unfortunately, but don’t worry, 2 out of 3 judges still felt he deserved the same score as Donald!!! I CAN’T.
I’ll be honest, during the entire first part of the episode I thought there were only five couples left and Roshon was closing the show. I completely forgot about poor William and Cheryl! Shame on me because this dance was my favorite of the night. They earned the no-longer-elusive perfect score! And Len muttered my favorite Len-ism, “from Len, a 10!” I loved the music, I loved the moves, I loved the costumes and his confidence and his control. Tony joined them for a paso trio which was good but got a little lost among some of the other trios. Tony sweetly campaigned for votes for them so he that doesn’t get booted a second time. Oh Tony, I wish for you a good partner next year. Back to William and Cheryl, I was worried about their spot in the competition this week, but no longer! They had a winning night and took over the top of the leaderboard.
The Power Rankings:
Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy: 24 out of 30
Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas: 26 out of 30
Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd: 27 out of 30
Maria Menounos and Derek Hough: 28 out of 30
Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower: 29 out of 30
William Levy and Cheryl Burke: 30 out of 30
Trios:
Maria Menounos and Derek Hough with Henry Byalikov: 25 out of 30
Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy with Val Chmerkovskiy: 27 out of 30
Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower with Sasha Farber: 27 out 30
William Levy and Cheryl Burke with Tony Dovolani: 27 out of 30
Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd with Karina Smirnoff: 28 out of 30
Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas with Tristan MacManus: 29 out of 30
It’s DOUBLE ELIMINATION, you guys. I’m scared. Here’s my take, Melissa and Maria should go, Melissa and Roshon will go, and I irrationally (or not so irrationally) fear for Katherine and Donald. Thoughts?
