by Daniel Gilligan
Tonight is the official halfway point for Dancing With the Stars. It doesn’t actually seem like I’ve been watching it for so long but time flies or dances when you’re having fun! I felt like Tom Bergeron just now. Tonight was also Party Anthem night which means that all of the couples danced to songs that brought viewers back to their proms, dances, and clubs. I was singing along with the whole episode.
While I did pay attention to the dances and judge’s comments, this week the training packages were really interesting to me. As I stated, it’s the halfway point. For some couples, that just drives them further. For Amy & Derek, she said she doesn’t want to go further just to win the trophy. She wants to win to learn everything. Maks also stated that now he feels the pressure because he actually feels like he might actually win the Mirrorball. For others it doesn’t seem to matter as much. Nene & Tony were more concerned about reconciling from last week while Meryl said she just wanted to beat her score last week of four 9’s.
Now, onto the dances! Meryl and Maks scored the highest- 10’s across the board. All of the judges noticed but Carrie Ann said it best when she commented, “There’s something magical happening between you two.” There is a chemistry there and while it is not a romantic one, you can see it in the way they move, twirl, and slide together.
Nene and Tony have the same type of chemistry which was made stronger by their “tiff” last week. It showed in their dance tonight. It did seem like I was watching a team from a week 1 episode that was really good! They got 33 out of 40.
It’s interesting to see Cameron & Mark dance because while she’s always getting better, there’s always something missing. Bruno said it best tonight when he said she was like an “electric current” that if she just let go completely, she would be amazing. He’s right. She got a 32 of 40.
Charlie & Sharna’s cha-cha was just fun. He mentioned in his package that it had been a rough week with a busy schedule- flying back and forth from ice-skating on Stars on Ice to rehearsing for dancing on Dancing with the Stars. It might sound easy but just from what I see on the TV, it isn’t. I wouldn’t know. I’m usually sitting in front of the screen with a bag of potato chips in my hand. He did a great job though. Getting a 36, he rocked it and even incorporated a Day-Glo portion! If I could, I would’ve given him points just for the pair looking so mind-boggling during that segment of their dance.
As for everyone else, Amy & Derek scored a 38 with the jive, a dance that is the most difficult according to the judges but that she handles with ease. Danica & Val got a 36. Len told her it was “the best dance of the night!” James & Peeta did the quickstep getting a score of 35. James felt a lot of pressure trying to live up to last week’s perfect score but he seemed ok with this. Drew & Cheryl danced the tango and got a 32.
Unfortunately, despite the fact that all of the judges called him “the life of the party,” Drew was sent home tonight. That was kind of depressing. At this point in the competition, you’re rooting for everyone to some degree. Of course every person has their favorites but when it comes down to the last two couples every night, you don’t want either one to go home. Regrettably, that’s the way the game is played.
Finally, we had another guest judge this week. First of all, I see no problem having a week with no guest judges. It’s ok to just have Carrie Ann, Len, and Bruno. Regardless, tonight we have Redfoo from LMFAO. After watching him tonight, I realized something. If you actually got a chance to sit down and get to know him, it seems like he would be actually be a cool guy. He was always so excited. He brought his own score paddles with stripes. If you just met him, like viewers did tonight, you would think he was weird as anything. From comparing James’ quickstep to crabs in the sand to Meryl’s dance to ET, sometimes I just got lost trying to follow him. Like I said, once you actually got to know him and follow his train of thought, all of these comments would probably make sense but even Tom Bergeron was saying that the crabs one was weird.
Next week, we have Latin night with, you guessed it, another guest judge! Although to be honest I don’t mind Latin music so I’m excited.
[Photo via ABC]
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