It’s semi-finals time on Dancing With the Stars! With only four couples left dancing, it’s hard seeing any of them go, not only because they are all talented (they wouldn’t have made it this if they weren’t!), but because you feel like you made a connection with them. Last night’s show was a doozy in the emotions department. One of the hosts said it should have been sponsored by Kleenex! What I learned is that there’s no such thing as a sad memory, per se; there are merely times that you can look back and appreciate or recognize the value of. For example, in Nastia’s video package, she talked about not qualifying for the 2012 Olympics. Instead of dwelling in her failure, she said, “It made me realize that there’s more to life than winning an Olympic gold medal. It’s about the journey.” That’s true.
Last night was, again, separated into two rounds: regular dances and “Judges’ Choice.” Judges’ Choice was just like “America’s Choice” in the previous week, but this time the judges were in control. I’d just like to point out that the total combined scores for last night were only four points apart so whoever wins has the talent to take home the Mirrorball. For Noah and Sharna on the regular dance, you could see how smooth and effortless he made it look. Bruno commented, “Such a naturalness about what you do. Such honesty.” As for Nastia and Sasha, their dance had a very jazz club feel, which worked in Natsia’s favor.
In the second round, each judge worked one-on-one with a pair. While all of the judges’ choice dances got perfect scores, it was interesting seeing what directions they would give. While Bruno had Rumer and Val act out their own version of Swan Lake as a contemporary dance, Julianne was invited back to the dance floor in Riker and Allison’s tango.
What interested me most were the other two judges. Noah and Sharna had to do the paso doble as per Carrie Ann, and he brought into the dance all of his life battles, as well as beating them back. It was beautiful. Also, I’m not sure how strong his leg muscles are, but I was convinced I was watching CGI when he was leaning over during his dance! Finally, we had Len overseeing Nastia and Derek’s waltz. The dance was slow enough that he was sure he could come back. Basically, Len wanted to bring back to life the days when he was teaching dance. Derek decided to have Nastia do some basic steps at the end with Len. If this really is his last season, I can think of no better way to go out than dancing.
I’ll see you all tonight for the results show, but here are standings with the combined scores:
- Riker & Allison- 40/Nastia & Derek (& Sasha)- 40
- Rumer & Val- 38
- Noah & Sharna- 36
[Photo credit: Adam Taylor/ABC]
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