Now that Chaz Bono & Lacey Schwimmer went home last week, it’s down to the final six on “Dancing with the Stars.” With Ricki & Derek and J.R. & Karina the top contenders, the rest of the competition needed to up their game to prove that they deserved to be in the finale. This week, the couples had to dance to scary songs in celebration of the holiday. The couples again do team dances. With top couples J.R. & Karina and Ricki & Derek serving as team captains, the remaining couples perform either the tango or the paso doble . All of the couples worked hard to prove they belonged on the show.
Ricki & Derek Top Leader Board Despite Injury
Ricki Lake & Derek Hough did the paso doble to “Sweet Dreams” by Beyonce . Ricki danced despite having a damaged nerve in her ribs. The doctor said he usually requires a week or two of bed rest for most patients. Ricki dressed as Little Red Riding Hood for the dance number. Despite her injury, Ricki danced through the pain. It wasn’t as high energy as past dances but still good and entertaining. The judges said her shapes were good but the shoulders kept coming up. Ricki & Derek got a 27 for their dance, the highest score of the evening.
Middle Players
J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff performed a tango to” Ghostbusters .” With tensions rising, Karina yelled at J.R. during rehearsals about getting the steps without walking through them first. I didn’t like Karina’s costume; it looked like a nude bodysuit with a skeleton painted on it. I think they had a lot of technique, but it didn’t do it for me. Their tango was not as entertaining as their past weeks’ performances. They received a 25, much less than scores previously earned.
Rob Kardashian & Cheryl Burke did a tango to the theme from “The Addams Family” dress as Gomez and Morticia Addams. Their tango was better than last week’s dance. They seemed to get the spirit of the dance and the couple they were imitating. Cheryl added a balance of technique and fun to their performance. I agree with Carrie Ann; it was Rob’s best dance so far, which is important now because anyone can go home at this point in the competition. Rob & Cheryl tied with J.R. & Karina with a 25.
David Arquette & Kym Johnson danced the cha cha cha to rock song “Abracadabra,” hoping to improve their scores and getting positive reviews from all judges. I think David put a lot of effort into the dance and has made improvements, but it was lacking in a lot of movement. Kym had to do more work than David. Surprisingly, Len gave them positive comments, but I thought there should have been more to it. They earned a 24 for the cha cha cha , one point better than last week.
Hope Solo & Maksim Chmerkovskiy danced the samba to “Werewolves of London” after a week in which Maks butted heads with the judges, particularly head judge Len. He tried lightening the mood during rehearsals. Maks looked like Hugh Jackman dressed as Wolverine in the “X-Men” movies. They still haven’t found their chemistry. Hope seemed like she was counting in her head; however, it was their best dance so far. They tied with David & Kym with a 24. If they plan to go further, they need to get their personalities together.
Alone at the Bottom
Speaking of adversarial couples, Nancy Grace & Tristan McManus performed the jive to “The Devil Went Down to Georgia.” The producers had to purposely pick this song since Nancy is originally from Georgia. You could tell that Nancy has gotten fitter since coming on the show by the way her costume fit and her stamina. The dance itself didn’t continue the momentum Nancy has built over the past few weeks. Nancy & Tristan only got a 21 for their jive.
Team Dance
Team Tango, lead by J.R. & Karina, included David & Kym and Nancy & Tristan. They danced first during the team dance section, performing to Rihanna’s ” Disturbia .” It was obvious that J.R. & Karina had the most polish of the trio of couples. The team was out of sync a few times, but they gave a valiant effort, earning a 23.
Team Paso , lead by Ricki & Derek, included Rob & Cheryl and Hope & Maks . Hope & Maks got into it during rehearsals. When Maks stormed out, Derek took over and tried helping Hope. They danced to Evanescence “Bring Me to Life.” The team’s paso doble was more entertaining than the tango and more polished. The paso doble seemed to suit Hope better than the other dances performed so far. It earned a 26. Both scores were added to the individual dances.
The team dances turned the leader board around, with the members of Team Paso in first, second and third place. It looks like someone from Team Tango may go home, as historically, a couple from the losing team usually ends their run on “Dancing with the Stars.” We’ll have to wait until the results show. Justin Bieber will appear on Tuesday’s show.
Leader Board
Ricki Lake & Derek Hough 9 9 9 = 27(individual) Team Paso 26 = 53
Rob Kardashian & Cheryl Burke 9 8 8 = 25(individual) Team Paso 26 = 51
Hope Solo & Maksim Chmerkovskiy 8 8 8 = 24 Team Paso 26 = 50
J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff 9 8 8 = 25(individual) Team Tango 23 = 48
David Arquette & Kym Johnson 8 8 8 = 24(individual) Team Tango 23 = 47
Nancy Grace & Tristan McManus 7 7 7 = 21 Team Tango 23 = 44
Source:
http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/index