Well Santana's next performance did with the Samba accompaniment of Louis Van Amstel and Anna Trebunskaya! Louis we've missed you!
As it turns out the rest of the dancing was pretty enjoyable too if at times a little bland. Let's just say I enjoyed Latin Week a lot more than Rock Week.
Jaleel White & Kym Johnson
Dance: Samba
Song: Rhythm Is Gonna Get You
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
Well I have to give Jaleel credit for one thing, this week he didn't relax back into his too cool for school style. He really gave the Samba his all. Of course now that he pushed himself past his natural dancing ability, it was a little awkward in places. It wasn't amazing but it wasn't bad either and I appreciated the effort to improve. His face (and Kym's sparkle leg costume) was distracting at times but even as the first dance I think its safe to say it won't be the worst dance of the night.
Melissa Gilbert & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Salsa
Song: Aguanile
Judges' Scores: 21 (trip 7's)
Melissa's rehearsal footage was complete with a rhinestoned hard hat and neck brace after her injury last week. This actually was one of the most comfortable performances I've seen from Melissa. You still wouldn't really want to look below her waist; she may have the largest salsa basics I've ever seen. However, for once she didn't have the constant face of fear even during the ending move which was similar to the one she injured herself during last week. The dancing wasn't necessarily improved but her confidence and ability to sell it was. I also didn't feel the dance was as far above her ability level as in previous weeks.
Maria Menounos & Derek Hough
Dance: Salsa
Song: The Cup of Life
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
Can this girl not catch a break? Once again another week means another injury for Maria after she fell on her face in rehearsal. The sound of the injury was actually worse than the results as her chin ended up to be okay but Derek's insistence on her wearing bubble wrap and a helmet may not have been a bad idea. This week I saw a real improvement in Maria's footwork and lower body movement. Above the waist everything was a little one note, not distracting for sure but a little too boring. She kept a nice smile throughout but not exactly what I'd call selling it. Once again there was another kiss, with no doubt about this one. I'm guessing this is the kind of thing super-fans of the show go crazy over but for me its just uncomfortable and unnecessary.
Katherine Jenkins & Mark Ballas
Dance: Argentine Tango
Song: Tanguedia
Judges' Scores: 29 (10's from Bruno & CA, a 9 from Len)
Hmm, well there wasn't anything wrong with the dance really. I liked that the dance focused on the action going on below instead of making the top extra flashy like some of the past Argentine's have. I would have liked a little more smoulder and a little less of the storyline but overall it was enjoyable. I think it was just a little boring in the end but maybe only because I was expecting more.
Gavin DeGraw & Karina Smirnoff
Dance: Samba
Song: Sweetheart from Venezuela
Judges' Scores: 19 (6's from Len & CA, a 7 from Bruno)
Well props are everywhere in this one, ocean lights on the floor, a moving canoe, and a hammock. That usually doesn't make for the best dancing and it wasn't. He is enjoyable to watch and even when he doesn't know exactly what is going on he isn't staring confused at Karina looking for help which I appreciate. Karina slipped at the end but it didn't really make a difference. He has improved this season but I'm not sure this one will keep him out of the bottom 2.
William Levy & Cheryl Burke
Dance: Argentine Tango
Song: Buttons
Judges' Scores: 29 (10's from Bruno & CA, a 9 from Len)
I don't have much to say other than I enjoyed this one. Cheryl is still distracting at times because I just think she over-dances too much but her partner doesn't suffer from the same problem. I think the most impressive part of the performance was William's face which managed to keep the intensity without looking awkward; something many of the other stars have issues with. Well done. Apparently William had an ankle injury but I don't think anyone noticed.
Gladys Knight & Tristan MacManus
Dance: Samba
Song: Fever (the Spanish version)
Judges' Scores: 22 (7's from Len & CA, an 8 from Bruno)
The dance was good but if we're judging on dancing ability, Gladys just isn't up there with the rest of the stars anymore. I think she may have too many voters to land in the bottom two especially with Motown theme week coming up next week, which spells trouble for some of the rest.
Roshon Fegan & Chelsie Hightower
Dance: Salsa
Song: Bumpy Ride
Judges' Scores: 26 (9's from Bruno & CA, an 8 from Len)
The song for this one was kind of distracting as it really would have made a better Samba and it made it hard to really accent some of the correct beats. You could tell he was working hard though and I appreciated all the energy he was bringing.
Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd
Dance: Argentine Tango
Song: Sin Rumbo
Judges' Scores: 27 (10 from CA, an 8 from Len, and a 9 from Bruno)
Thoroughly enjoyable performance. I'm not sure if it showcased Peta a little too much and not enough Donald but he did lift and spin her with finesse. I would have liked a little more dancing between the lifts but the performance value was high. I do believe this is the first performance of the season that got three different scores from the judges.
William's Tango
Breaking ties and figuring out the ranking order this week was tough. Katherine's technique was better than William's but her performance was lacking some oomph and I liked parts of Donald's routines better than both. So this week I'm not feeling very strongly one way or another it seems so here goes nothing:
Judges' Rankings My Rankings
| Place | Couple | Points | Place | Couple |
| 1 | William & Cheryl | 29 | 1 | William & Cheryl |
| 1 | Katherine & Mark | 29 | 2 | Katherine & Mark |
| 3 | Donald & Peta | 27 | 3 | Donald & Peta |
| 3 | Maria & Derek | 27 | 4 | Maria & Derek |
| 5 | Roshon & Chelsie | 26 | 5 | Roshon & Chelsie |
| 6 | Jaleel & Kym | 24 | 6 | Jaleel & Kym |
| 7 | Gladys & Tristan | 22 | 7 | Melissa & Maks |
| 8 | Melissa & Maks | 21 | 8 | Gladys & Tristan |
| 9 | Gavin & Karina | 19 | 9 | Gavin & Karina |
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