Good evening and welcome to
Dancing with the Stars!!!!! It’s a two-dance kind of night. Everyone will be doing their one regular routine (like they do each night) and then they’ll be doing an “instant” dance. Each couple will only hear the music for the instant dance minutes before they actually dance to it. Sounds super hard, right? Actually, it’s not a big deal at all. When one competes in a real ballroom competition, you never know what song will be played. You DO know what the beat signature will be, and you plan your steps accordingly. You almost never need the music. The routine is planned out ahead of time. The normal routines they do that so obviously go with the song are considered a “show dance” in a regular competition. But every other time you get up there to dance, you have no idea what song is going to be played. I guarantee this is not a big deal to the pros. The stars might be freaking out a little, but that’s only because this is something new to them. But it seriously isn’t hard at all.
Rob and Cheryl (QUICKSTEP) – Rob wants Cheryl to really lay into him this week and harp on his flaws. Cheryl harp? That shouldn’t be hard. But we’re seeing an oddly confident Rob. Good for him though. He deserves to feel good about himself. No one else in his family does. Ooooooh. Buuurrrrrn. <Play>”Take on Me?” Really? That 80’s hit is a Quickstep? Yeah, no. Horrible song. Can I slap the producers please? And while Rob may be feeling better (he sure is smiling a lot), he’s not dancing better. So sad. Besides the fact that the song was all kinds of wrong, his movement was criminally sub-par. I sure hope they saved something for their instant dance.
My Score: 7 Judges Score: 9, 9, 9 27/30 <-- I really don’t agree with this, but I’m just a former professional ballroom dancer/teacher. What do I know?
Dance at 1:44.
Hope and Maks (QUICKSTEP) – Maks has decided that he and Hope have become too competitive and that they were too focused on getting things right, that they stopped focusing on supporting each other and having fun. I’m pretty sure he really only meant himself, but whateves. That man can do no wrong, am I right folks? So Maks has promised to try a gentler approach. Aaaaaaand that lasted all of about 30 seconds. No, not really. He was better. And you could tell he was biting through his lip in an effort to not get too harsh with her. So cute! Then, to lighten things up even MORE, he brought her home to meet his parents!!! His dad is adorable! I still think his brother got the left-over genes, but still. It looked like they had a lovely time laughing at Maks and Hope seems much more relaxed tonight. <Play> The routine was very sweet. And Hope actually looked relaxed and like she was having fun. And she looked pretty too!!! Towards the end she started to get tired and her frame started drooping, but overall, I thought she was quite good. I’m happy for her that she was able to have a nice dance like this. Good for them!
My Score: 9 Judges Score: 9, 9, 9 27/30
Dance at 3:05, but do watch the fun stuff with Maks’s family. It’s hilarious!
Ricki and Derek (WALTZ) – And from the week of fun with Maks and Hope, we go to a week of pressure and misery with Ricki and Derek. At an event for something, Ricki and Derek ran into Jennifer Grey (Derek’s previous winning partner – “Baby” from
Dirty Dancing) and she gave Ricki the sage advice that, as hard as it may be right now, trust Derek and one day it will all be over and you’ll miss him like crazy. I don’t know what he does with his ladies that they all are so smitten with him, but they all get stars in their eyes when they talk to/about him. Brooke is still in love with him. You can see that every time she shoves that microphone in his face. But let’s see how their dance goes. <Play> Their dance was really good. I really have no complaints. It wasn’t perfect, and I’m pretty sure the ending didn’t go quite as planned, but it still was awesome. Well done.
My Score: 9 Judges Score: 9, 9, 10 28/30
Dance at 1:58.
Nancy and Tristan (TANGO) – Ok. I am completely in love with Tristan. He is so fracking adorable. I could listen to him all day long. And he’s super cute too. Oooh, and tonight he’s wearing a tux. Maks might have some competition for my fantasies tonight. Ooops. TMI? My bad. Ok, let’s get this awful dance over with. We still have to watch Nancy “dance.” <Play> Ugh. The only thing good about this dance is seeing Tristan in a tux. Nancy is just sooooo bad. This seriously causes me physical pain to watch. The only, and I do mean ONLY, redeeming thing about it is the super hot Tristan. I can’t believe she’ll make it through another elimination. She HAS to be going home this week. Right? RIGHT?!?!?
My Score: 5 Judges Score: 8, 8, 8 24/30 <-- The judges were being nice. That dance was awful!!!
“Dance” at 2:41. Ugh.
JR and Karina (WALTZ) – JR is on a mission to get the first perfect 30 of the season, but he’s goofing off too much in practice and Karina has no patience. She means business!!! I like that she mentions “heel leads” and how important they are. “Heel leads” are the proper footwork for the ballroom dances (Foxtrot, Waltz, Tango, Quickstep and Viennese Waltz). Basically it means the heal is the first part of the foot to move forward as if you were taking a really big walking step. You don’t lead with your toes when you walk, or if you do, you’re walking weird. Let’s see this “perfect” waltz! <Play> I’d say that was pretty perfect. His heal leads were divine and the whole thing was just spectacular. If the judges find anything negative to say it’s because they are making stuff up. That really does deserve the first 30 of the season!
My Score: 10 Judges Score: 10, 10, 10 30/30 <--And it’s well deserved!
Awesomeness at 2:13. *sigh*
THE INSTANT DANCE – THE JIVERob and Cheryl – Well, other than the fact that she was leading everything (per usual), it was really good. Rob looks a lot better doing this one than he did when he did the Jive in week 2. Much better.
My Score: 8 Judges Score: 8, 8, 8 24/30 <-- If he’d been leading, I’d have given him a better score.
Dance at 1:14.
Hope and Maks – Hope also had Jive during week 2, and it was also pretty bad for her too. But this one WAS moderately better for her. I think she might be incapable of pointing her toes, so her kicking with flexed feet hurt me. Actual pain. But she did ok and I think it was better than week 2. Her high energy alone deserves one more point than I’d normally give for that routine.
My Score: 8 Judges Score: 8, 9, 8 25/30
Dance at 1:17.
Ricki and Derek – Did everyone have Jive in week 2? Sure looks that way. Although Derek gets the award for best entrance, it seemed like Ricki just didn’t have the same high energy as Hope, and even though the dance was technically better (pointed toes, excellent swivels) her low energy made her look heavy and tired. But she gets a bonus point for the best technique, so far.
My Score: 9 Judges Score: 8, 8, 8 24/30 <-- Those seem a bit low, but whatever.
Dance at 1:10.
Nancy and Tristan – Oh dear. I’m really afraid to watch this. She just had a Jive last week and it was horrrrrrrible. I really don’t think it’s possible for her to improve that significantly in one week. And in the hardest dance of all. Oh boy. That whole thing was just sad. She forgot halfway through and they had to revert to easy lead and follow steps. The choreography went right out the window. And then there was that bizarre cartwheel at the end. Even Tristan looked at her like “WTH?!?!”
My Score: 4 Judges Score: 7, 6, 7 20/30
The worst Jive you will ever see at 1:45. Shield your eyes. Trust me.
JR and Karina – Now THAT’S how you do an instant dance!!!! That was fantastic!!! Plus, he looked like he was even leading!!!
WOW!!! Energy + Technique = Perfect score!!
My Score: 10 Judges Score: 10, 10, 10And here’s the BEST Jive you’ll ever see (1:04). Seriously. Just awesome.
My Leaderboard (First dance + Instant dance = Final score)JR 10 + 10 = 20
Ricki 9 + 9 = 18
Hope 9 + 8 = 17
Rob 7 + 8 = 15
Nancy 5 + 4 = 9
Judges LeaderboardJR 30 + 30 = 60
Hope 27 + 25 = 52
Ricki 28 + 24 = 52
Rob 27 + 24 = 51
Nancy 24 + 20 = 44
Bottom two: Nancy and Hope
Going home: God willing, it will be Nancy. If she manages to hang around for another week it will clearly be because God hates us and He wants us to suffer.
WOW!!! Energy + Technique = Perfect score!! My Score: 10 Judges Score: 10, 10, 10
I started watching Nancy's instant dance, but had to fast forward through it, it was that painful to watch. You could really tell she was watching Tristan for cues on what to do next, even before the middle flub-up.
Hope had on the horrible fringe pants. I hate them!!! If I wear giving out scores I would deduct points for those awful pants!!