Only six couples remain on Dancing With the Stars. This is an interesting not only for the fact that this season seems to have flown by, but that almost every week could be noted by some event. There was, in no particular order, the week that Kim had to be eliminated because she couldn’t be there. There was the week that Paula finally figured out that she liked playing characters in dances only to be eliminated. There was the week of famous dances, which is a personal favorite of mine. This week turned out to be interesting as well. In the very beginning of the episode, the viewers learned that Tamar was rushed to the hospital and was trying to make it back to the show in time. If that’s not dedication to dance, I’m not sure what it.
Focusing on each dancer so far, Alex has improved since the beginning of the season. Dancing the salsa with Lindsay tonight, Carrie Ann pointed out, “You’ve come a long way.” It’s true. I know that there’s a part of it that’s in his head that he’s not a dancer. In past episodes, he’s shown that he practices on his own and works hard with any pro the show gives him. Until he thinks he’s a dancer, though, he never will be. He got a 48 last night. How? Every team combined their scores from the judges with their team scores from the Showstoppers Team-Up Challenge, which I’ll go into detail more later on. He got 24 for his individual dance and 24 for his showstopper dance, which equals 48 overall.
Next, we have Alexa and Mark dancing contemporary. On a side note, the judges and I rarely agree on major things, but we do agree on whether someone’s in sync or not or whether they extend their arms. To me, last night was one of Mark and Alexa’s worst dances. The judges gave it a standing ovation. They got compliments like, “You danced like I’ve never seen you dance before,” and, “You inspired us all.” The dance was inspired by her battle with bulimia. Also, I do not understand who would tell a young girl she’s fat and to the point that she becomes bulimic. That’s insane. They showed pictures of her when she was younger. She looked fine! In the end, Alexa got a perfect score of 60.
Carlos and Witney followed, and let me tell you, I loved the Carlos and Witney shirt Witney was wearing. It was great! Moving on, the judges were divided. Even though they all liked the dance, Carrie Ann and Julianne were not too impressed by it. Bruno, on the other hand, said he liked and that it had the “element of a dysfunctional relationship … like a couple that did marriage counseling.” They got 51.
Bindi and Derek came up after that with the waltz. I know Bindi’s good. I know she’s one of the front-runners for the finale. I just think that whoever gets Derek as their partner has a slight advantage over all of the other stars. I don’t know why I feel that way. Sharna’s my favorite professional with Witney coming in second, but I always feel like its Derek and someone else competing for the Mirror Ball. Again, Bindi did good and got a standing ovation. Personally, I don’t think she’ll ever do as well as the week as she and Derek did the dance from Dirty Dancing. That was breathtaking and that showed me what kind of a dancer she is. She scored 60 points.
We’re going to skip Tamar and Val and go straight to Nick and Sharna for the moment. With how quick his dance was and the fact that he was injured, I would say he did great. The judges agreed with comments like, “You came back strong. You’re in your element!” They didn’t give him a perfect score, but what are you going to do? He got a 56.
As Tom stated, Tamar was in the hospital. She made it all the way to dress rehearsal, and now they were going to kick her out because she legitimately couldn’t be there. She is another true possibility for the finale. I like a lot of the stars here, but I don’t see them all going to win the Mirror Ball. I see her getting it. Unfortunately, Dancing With the Stars could only show the dress rehearsal footage for the judges. I think this is good and bad. In dress rehearsal, there is definitely less stress and pressure. You also might be a little bit more careless with your footwork, dance moves, etc. Val was quick to defend his partner and somewhat slipped in that the judges’ opinions don’t matter as long as Tamar’s okay. Good for you Val! They got a 49.
Now came the Showstoppers Team-Up Challenge. In each dance, two pairs got together and danced to a famous number, and the stars had to dance together for thirty seconds. To me, it just seemed like the team-up dance, but it was an excuse to give the pairs a vacation. For Carlos and Witney and Alex and Lindsay, they went on a cruise. For Alexa and Mark and Bindi and Derek, they went to New York. Tamar and Val and Nick and Sharna went to Vegas to see the Cirque de Solei. I think the first team-up dance was better.
You know how you don’t realize how close you are to certain people until they’re (almost) gone? Well, I have become much more emotionally attached than I thought I would be to the married couple of Alexa and Carlos. When it was announced that Alexa and Mark and Carlos and Witney were the two couples in jeopardy, I couldn’t believe it. Then, when the show came back from the break, both of them were hugging and crying, which made me cry, and I don’t even know them! Alexa and Mark were sent packing on this ninth week. I did think she was right when she said she was leaving on a good night, because she got 60 out of 60 points so she did pretty damn good!
[Photo credit: Adam Taylor/ABC]
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