Last week on “Dancing with the Stars,” J.R. & Karina earned the first perfect scores of the season with their waltz and their instant jive, further dividing them from the field. Sadly, Nancy & Tristan, who have been at the bottom on numerous occasions, went home after their less than stellar performances. Despite her best effort, Nancy couldn’t master the instant dance and her Cinderella story ended. This week, the four couple performed three dances, including a cha cha relay for bonus points, to see who’d make it to the top three and get even closer to the mirror ball.
The Individual Dances
After the end of the two individual dances, Ricki & Derek landed in first place. They performed a samba after Rob & Cheryl and looked liked to rhythmic canaries on the ballroom floor. I thought they captured the mood of the dance and apparently the judges agreed. Ricki & Derek earned their first perfect score. Ricki & Derek knocked it out of the park again with their Argentine tango. They had chemistry. The lifts were the only things I would have liked to see do better. They were in the lead after the two dances, with a 59.
Rob & Cheryl gave audiences the first surprise of the evening, with their second place position. They performed the samba, a dance in which sticking out the butt is a good thing. They were out of synch in a few spots, but Rob smiled and it looked like he was having fun. The samba earned their first 10. Rob & Cheryl’s Argentine tango was better than I expected. Rob showed that he was a different person from the first week. The couple landed in second place for their dances, earning a 55.
J.R. & Karina fell to third place after their two dances. J.R. suffered a sprained ankle during rehearsals, which affected his ability to execute his dance steps. Their first dance was a Zorro-themed paso doble. It was aggressive and stylish. It has all the elements of paso doble, but I don’t think he topped last week’s performances. I wondered how well J.R. would do lifts during the Argentine tango because of his injury. The dance was good until the end, when one of his moves didn’t go well. They had real chemistry on the dance floor. After a week of pure perfection, they received a 50 this week.
Hope & Maks were in last place after their paso doble and Argentine tango. Their paso doble was powerful and had the right attitude, but it lacked elegance and finesse. Hope and Maks returned with their Argentine tango. Hope had some good moments during the Argentine tango. At other time, she was a little off track. Maks did add a lot of complicated, athletic choreography to showcase Hope’s strength. They earned a 45.
Cha Cha Relay
Before couples performed their Argentine tangos, professional couples demonstrated what a true tango should look like. This sultry dance was created on the backstreets of Buenos Aires, Argentina. The woman should entice the man, and he should be mesmerized. The couples followed, dancing the relay to the same song.
Ricki & Derek started the relay, dancing as they always have as one united pair. Hope & Maks followed with an adequate cha cha, actually one of the best dances they’ve ever done. Despite injury, J.R. & Karina worked though the pain and did a pretty good cha cha. Rob & Cheryl ended the relay with probably the best dance of the night.
The judges deliberated about the extra points during the commercial break. Rob & Cheryl earned 10 bonus points, giving them a total of 65. Ricki & Derek earned eight extra points, for a total of 67. J.R. & Karina earned six bonus points, giving them a 56, and Hope & Maks received four points, for a total of 49.
One week before the finals, “Dancing with the Stars” may have another surprise elimination in its future. With the surprise emergence of Rob, who know what will happen? We shall see on Tuesday’s elimination episode.
Leader Board
Ricki Lake & Derek Hough 10 10 10 = 30 9 10 10 = 29
Plus 8 bonus points = 67
Rob Kardashian & Cheryl Burke 10 9 9 = 28 9 9 9 = 27 55
Plus 10 bonus points = 65
J.R. Martinez & Karina Smirnoff 8 7 8 = 23 9 9 9 = 27
Plus 6 bonus points = 56
Hope Solo & Maksim Chmerkovskiy 7 7 7 = 21 8 8 8 = 24
Plus 4 bonus points = 49
Source:
http://abc.go.com/shows/dancing-with-the-stars/index