Now is when the competition is at its serious phase on Monday’s performance show (November 7) on “Dancing with the Stars.” No more theme weeks, a special showing of an animated feature or having the dance troupe fill in with their lavish productions. It was a full two-hours of non-stop dancing by the celebrities and pros just like it should be. The first hour consisted of one unlearned ballroom dance.
During the second hour was its most challenging feat, the instant jive. Their jive routine was practiced on all week, except without any selected music. The couples did not get their own music until after their first dance. Afterwards they only had 20 minutes to get their dance routine fitted to this new music. Last night’s show brought on the first perfect scores of the season. Not only was there one score of “30” it was also a total of two.
Ballroom Dances
Rob Kardashian
Thankfully this family has someone positive to cheer for. Rob and Cheryl danced a lively quickstep for their unlearned ballroom dance. The judges loved it with one saying “You’re the ideal contestant.” However, one of the best lines that only Tom Bergeron, the host, can only deliver “You had the best week of any Kardashian.” 27
Hope Solo
It’s good to know Hope and Maks ironed out their differences with Hope sharing a family dinner with the Chmerkovskiy’s. That was a nice touch. For the first dance it was the quickstep. They brought out umbrellas for their opening. Then Hope revealed a lovely gown that got the audience’s attention. You could tell they were more relaxed and enjoying themselves for a change. 27
Ricki Lake
Since her rib injury she has been almost too careful with her dancing. She put out a good effort with their waltz that did flow beautifully on the dance floor. It was rather shocking to hear Len tell her he cannot give Ricki a “10” because of her lack of heel leads. 28
Nancy Grace
Even though she did dance the tango in last week’s Team Tango production, it was also her unlearned dance for the week. At least she stayed in hold the entire time. The song choice was absolutely awful, but her tango was good. 24
J.R. Martinez
Always saving the best for last was none other than the man of the hour. J.R.’s and Karina’s waltz consistently flowed from one movement to the next without missing a beat. They had an interesting song choice of “What the World Needs Now” that was both beautiful in melody and very appropriate lyrically. The crowd was literally on its feet at the end with a lot of camera shots on J.R.’s girlfriend. Need I say they got their first perfect score of the season. 30
Instant Jive Dances
Each of the couples randomly selected a song they had to immediately rehearse in a designated studio backstage. The song titles and artists are listed in the sub headers. The scores reflect their second dance and the grand total overall.
Rob Kardashian – “Maneater” (Hall & Oates)
At first it looked like Rob lost his mark while Cheryl had to wait to start over. Once they got over that it became a decent jive. I wasn’t crazy about their song choice as I think the jive works well with music from the swing/big band era and early rock and roll periods. 24=51
Hope Solo – “The Best Dam Thing” (Avril Lavigne)
Just like Hope I had never heard of this song title either. Talk about a vast improvement from her previous effort of the jive. This was a fast, wild and out of control jive. I definitely agreed with Carrie Ann when she said her hands were weird. However, this was one of my favorite dances of the night. 25=52
Ricki Lake – “Land of 1000 Dances” (Wilson Pickett)
I was completely taken back when Ricki and Derek were unfamiliar with this song. To be honest I had never heard of the title until recently, but always loved the song. It actually does name a whole bunch of dances in the lyrics. Unfortunately this was not Ricki’s best dance. There were a number of times she had to stop to get back on track. Once again I felt she was being too careful, because of her recent injury. Toward the end when Derek was swinging her over and over again and again I thought it would never end. When the music stopped they were way off on their ending. 24=52
Nancy Grace – “Upside Down” (Paloma Faith)
Never heard of the song or artist, but Nancy’s second effort at the jive was not any better this time around. Again, it was painful to watch. The judges sure want to see her packing. Len commented on her being Cinderella, but it is midnight and time for Nancy to go. Why not ask her to leave right then and there while you’re at it judges? It didn’t help much when Len gave her a “6.” 20=44
J.R. Martinez – “Tutti Fuitti” (Little Richard)
A perfect song choice since this comes from the early days of rock/pop music. The first time J.R. and Karina danced the jive the judges thought it was too Lindy Hop. This time they performed the heck out of the jive to this powerhouse tune. I loved when Len said to J.R. “you’ve got the X-Factor and the feel-good factor.” It was good to see members of the Armed Forces in uniform in the audience for the upcoming Veterans Day on Friday. J.R. and Karina did it again with another perfect score. 30=60
On Tuesday night’s results show will be the spoof on ESPN’s Sports Center called “Dance Center.” This is one of my favorite sketches on “Dancing with the Stars.” Cirque du Soleil now has amazing tribute to Michael Jackson. Musical guests will be Andrea Bocelli and Flo Rida.
SOURCES:
Dancing with the Stars, ABC.go.com
Jennifer Broadwater, “‘Dancing with the Stars’ week 8: Night of the ‘instant-jive’ and two perfect scores “, BaltimoreSun.com
Ann Oldenburg, “‘Dancing’ recap: J.R. Martinez lands perfect scores”, USAToday.com