Jack Wagner & Anna Trebunskaya
Dance: Samba
Song: Lighting Up the Night
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Jack's most memorable year was last year. In his pre-dance segment he told the story of how he was about to go on stage for a concert when he ran into a crying girl backstage who introduced herself as his daughter. Getting very emotional retelling the story, Jack said they were dancing to one of his songs that his daughter had loved that night; a song about Celebration that would be a tribute to his daughter. Now on to the actual dance. I think this might just be a problem of his when he comes to the Latin dances but he was a little too over the top and hammy. Hopefully he'll return to a standard dance next week and learn more how to sell a dance without overselling it (thankfully Cheryl isn't his partner in this regard). His arm extensions were too emphatic but he did have pretty good merengue hip action. He also did a really good job of trying to land on a bent knee and overall I would say his technique was not distracting, which is a true feat in the Samba. What did the judges think? Len liked the rhythm he showed, disliked his upper body, but overall said it was his best dance so far. Agreed.
Maria Menounos & Derek Hough
Dance: Rumba
Song: Material Girl
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
1988. That's the most memorable year for Maria. Her story was mostly about her family and their story of being Greek immigrants without much money. Her connection to the song was that whenever she found a quarter on the street she would play Material Girl on the juke box. Now you're probably thinking, "Wait, I thought you said they did a Rumba?!" And yup, you're right I did! They adapted the classic Madonna hit into a Rumba but that wasn't the weirdest part of the dance. The rumba was going on a bit stiffly but not too bad when they essentially rolled around on the floor near kissing in what was the most awkward moment of the night for me. It's possible it was Derek's plan to make things so awkward no one would be able to focus on the rest of the dance but I don't think that's what he was going for. Of course the judges bought into it hook, line, and sinker although for the life of me I don't understand why. Bruno mentioned there was no real downbeat to the song and praised her because it can be so difficult to pull that off. I agree, well, except they didn't pull it off. There were no crazy lights in this routine, no crazy musical crescendos, leaving their dancing bare and exposed and not in a good way. This was without a doubt the most over scored performance of the night.
Gladys Knight & Tristan MacManus
Dance: Foxtrot
Song: Cupid
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Gladys' most memorable year? 1957, marking the first ever tour for her and the Pips. She was only 13 at the time and was really excited to be there and learn from all the more experienced artists, like Sam Cook, who taught her everything she knows about performing. Gladys dedicated her dance to Sam, whose song was used for the performance. Gladys set out to bring Motown to the Ballroom and I think she did it. She looked like she was absolutely loving the dance and her conviction sold me. There wasn't that much actual foxtrot, mostly jazz steps, but the mood of the piece made me not care so much. The dance was way less awkward than her Quickstep last week. Her arm extensions are quite nice and even her frame was better. The judges noted her improved frame and loved her grace giving her mostly positive feedback.
Roshon Fegan & Chelsie Hightower
Dance: Samba
Song: I Want You Back
Judges' Scores: 25 (8's from Len & CA, a 9 from Bruno)
Now it isn't entirely fair to judge him on his lack of a interesting story considering his age but it is hard not to when put up against all the other very emotional pieces of the night. His performance was more an answer to "who is your idol?" (betcha can guess who that is) than "what was your most important year?" but I didn't really expect anything that deep. Let's just say if this was his college entrance essay he probably would have been passed over. Anyway, the year he picked was1996, the first time he saw (wait for it) Michael Jackson (shock) on stage. I'm not necessarily someone who gets deep into the stories of each of the stars on the show but all I know about this kid after three weeks is that he loves him some MJ. Of course he was very excited to do this dance, plus he got to work with Michael Jackson's choreographer in the rehearsal footage, but it didn't quite live up to my expectations, which weren't high to begin with. You guessed it, the dance was complete with a Jackson 5 inspired wig for Roshon and a smattering of MJ moves from 70s to the 90s. It was really like watching multiple routines happening at the same time. Chelsie doing a Samba, Roshon doing something; Roshon pretending to be from the 70s, Roshon attempting modern MJ. They clearly didn't spend much time working on the samba choreography or technique but even his MJ flare looked sloppy. Since the judges had already over-scored some routines and were in a general love fest I was expecting them to go crazy but their comments were actually on point. Len at least had the sense to request some more samba and Carrie Ann actually pointed out that some of the MJ moves and transitions threw him off time (woah do I actually agree with CA again?!).
Gavin DeGraw & Karina Smirnoff
Dance: Rumba
Song: New York State of Mind
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Gavin chose a Billy Joel song because he first decided to become a performer after attending one of Billy's concerts with his family. His memory was really about, however, the love he has for his family for supporting him and always standing behind him on such a difficult career choice. It was clear he was dancing for his family, who showed up in large numbers to watch him dance. In the rehearsal footage, Karina said this could be his dance. Now, was she right? The Rumba might be more Karina's dance than anything but this was far and away the best dance he's done so far. He made a real effort to make his lines; he remembered to keep one leg straight in his lunges even if they were a bit stiff. There weren't many Rumba basics but I do think he really sold the dance. His romantic face was somewhat strange at times but it wasn't so awkward as to distract me from the entire number (like Derek & Maria). The performance was clearly very emotional for him as he was speechless in the post-dance interview. I was glad to see him have some genuine improvement this week.
Katherine Jenkins & Mark Ballas
Dance: Waltz
Song: To Where You Are
Judges' Scores: 29 (10's from Bruno & CA, a 9 from Len)
Well, this is where the tears truly began for me. Katherine's most memorable year was 1996, the year she found out father had lung cancer. When she was 15, she got pulled out of school one day because he went into a coma. She said she chose the song because it sums up what she feels about her dad, that he's always been with her even though he died when she was so young. Did I mention this one was a tear jerker? It didn't get less emotional through the performance, she looked teary eyed before it even started and its a wonder she even kept it together throughout the dance. In terms of the actual dancing, again she has the best arms I've probably ever seen on the show. Her frame isn't perfect and neither was her footwork but with this performance, who cares?! As the dance came to close she finally broke down, along with Carrie Ann, most of the audience, and America. Len did comment there wasn't much ballroom hold and requested Mark put in more for their next ballroom dance but even that criticism was half hearted. The dance received the first 10's of the season and if they're going to hand them out so early this was the best candidate.
Sherri Shepherd & Valentin Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Rumba
Song: If I Could
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Sherri's most memorable year was when her son was born. At just 25 weeks, the doctors' prognosis was that he'd have cerebral palsy and be paralyzed. The normally bubbly and always smiling Sherri really struggled with rehearsals, saying it was a lot of pressure dancing for her son. The pre-dance footage was tear inducing but unfortunately for Sherri and Val the show cut to commercial before the dancing began so I had some time to wipe my tears and refocus on the dancing. The dance would have been helped drastically if she could have closed her mouth instead of keeping all her tension there. It wasn't my favorite rumba of the night but I give her credit for the effort. Her son was in the front row and loved the performance which probably only brought her to crying even harder in the post-dance interview.
Melissa Gilbert & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Jive
Song: Dog Days Are Over
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Melissa's most memorable year was also her hardest. A year and a half ago she had surgery and had to walk with a walker after breaking her back on the Little House on the Prairie tour. She said she feared she would never walk again after the surgery and the thought that she could be dancing so soon was unimaginable. She still had a strange facial expression through most of her dancing, but this was the first time she even looked like she was remotely enjoying herself. The routine once again was too hard for her even though she was trying her hardest to keep up. I have to wonder why Maks refuses to dial it down a bit; it could really help.
Jaleel White & Kym Johnson
Dance: Rumba
Song: For the Cool in You
Judges' Scores: 25 (8's from Bruno & Len, a 9 from CA)
The most memorable year for Jaleel was when he first got to play Steve Urkel's alter ego, the smooth and sexy Stefan Urquelle. He said the show's producers saw a side of him he didn't know he had, essentially introducing him to a new side of himself. His naturally fluid movement both helped and hurt him this week. The dance was never awkward, which rumba can very often be on this show, but it was just a little too cool. There were no real accents, no climax. I'm worried he is going to have trouble really improving if Kym can't get him past his natural ability into true ballroom technique. Now onto the most confusing part of the performance; the post-dance interview. I don't think you can really judge someone else's emotional experience, but I was pretty thrown off by his break down during Brooke Burke's interview. Nothing in the rehearsal footage or the dance seemed especially emotional or tear-inducing but maybe he just cause up in all of the feelings of the night. Needless to say, the moment left an awkward silence among the crowd of viewers in my living room.
William Levy & Cheryl Burke
Dance: Salsa
Song: La Vida es un Carnival
Judges' Scores: 28 (9's from Len & CA, a 10 from Bruno)
1995 was William's most memorable year. The year he came to the United States. His stepfather was a political prisoner in Cuba and when the US granted him asylum he brought his family along so that they could have a real future. His salsa dance was to be a celebration of his heritage and also of his new life in the US. Can I just say, YAY they finally used a real ballroom song! Oh, wait, of course they would use it for the "wrong" dance. Even if the song would have worked better as a Samba than a Salsa I still appreciated it. Anyway I digress. Cheryl almost fell once and actually that was indicative of most of my issues with the dance; she kind of over-danced it. I think if she had relaxed a bit and gone with a more street style salsa it really would have let him shine. I think this dance could have been amazing, but it just wasn't quite.
Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd
Dance: Rumba
Song: One Sweet Day
Judges' Scores: 26 (9's from Bruno & CA, an 8 from Len)
To end the show, the producers picked yet another tear jerker. Donald's memory was of 2010, when his best friend passed away from cancer, dying in his arms. Donald said he keeps him with him all the time and knows now you need to cherish every moment and live life to the fullest. Before the dance event started, the song got me and I knew I was in for lots of tears. There wasn't much Rumba of course, more posing, but he held it together when the emotion was high. You really just wanted to watch no matter what technique was (or was not) happening. I have to give props to Peta for staying with and not trying to out dance her partner. In the post-dance interview, Donald was overcome with emotion and couldn't speak. It was definitely an emotional way to end the evening.
This week's undisputed winning performance
Now it's time for the leader board and once again this week, it's not easy! Choosing is extra tough this week because the emotional performances are not always the best technically or even full of real dance steps. Like always though I'm going to do my best to break the ties and since five couples are tied for last place there is a lot of tie breaking to do!
Before I get to that though, I am going to do one thing I never do before writing these rankings. I'm going to rewatch one of the dances? Which dance and why? The answer: Derek and Maria's dance and because I was so distracted by the awkwardness of the "kiss" I didn't even process the rest of the dance. So let's watch it again together shall we?
Awkward or Passionate? You be the Judge!
Okay, so it wasn't quite as awkward the second time around because I was expecting it (and because it's on an itty bitty youtube screen). Still, I'm not going to change my ranking of the number and I still definitely think it got the most inflated scores of the evening from the judges.
Alright, table time:
Judges' Rankings My Rankings
Alright, table time:
Judges' Rankings My Rankings
| Place | Couple | Points | Place | Couple |
| 1 | Katherine & Mark | 29 | 1 | Katherine & Mark |
| 2 | William & Cheryl | 28 | 2 | Donald & Peta |
| 3 | Maria & Derek | 27 | 3 | William & Cheryl |
| 4 | Donald & Peta | 26 | 4 | Jack & Anna |
| 5 | Roshon & Chelsie | 25 | 5 | Jaleel & Kym |
| 5 | Jaleel & Kym | 25 | 6 | Maria & Derek |
| 7 | Jack & Anna | 24 | 7 | Roshon & Chelsie |
| 7 | Gavin & Karina | 24 | 8 | Gavin & Karina |
| 7 | Gladys & Tristan | 24 | 9 | Gladys & Tristan |
| 7 | Sherri & Val | 24 | 10 | Sherri & Val |
| 7 | Melissa & Maks | 24 | 11 | Melissa & Maks |
So it seems Katherine and Mark have definitely emerged as the early favorites. I'd also say each week it is looking less and less like a Katherine v. Jaleel finale that seemed probable in Week 1. Who will go this week? Again, if it weren't for Maks' fans I'd say definitely Melissa but I guess we'll find out soon!
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