Donald Driver & Peta Murgatroyd
Dance: Tango
Song: Higher Ground
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
Donald was all about bringing the intensity this week with his tango and he did a pretty good job. His footwork was a bit sloppy but as always you could tell he is trying his absolute best every second. I didn't love it as much as some of his other dances because you didn't get to see his personality shine but I appreciated it.
Trio Dance: Jive
Song: Rip It Up
Extra Pro: Karina
Judges' Scores: 28 (9's from Bruno & Len, a 10 from CA)
I was skeptical of what these trio dances would look like but Donald kicked it off right. This number was extremely enjoyable and Donald managed to keep up with Peta & Karina. He had so much energy and charisma, I loved it.
Maria Menounos & Derek Hough
Dance: Viennese Waltz
Song: A Thousand Years
Judges' Scores: 28 (10's from Bruno & CA, an 8 from Len)
Getting the first perfect score of the season last week puts extra pressure on Maria. So did she live up to it? I think so! I've always liked her standard dances better than her Latin and this was no exception. She really does have a beautiful frame, I'm always impressed at how not-ugly her shoulders look. This week she also didn't have any awkward faces or fear. I would have liked a little more VWaltz basics and I agree with Len, if she's got such great frame why not do more in hold? But I liked the dance.
Trio Dance: Samba
Song: Mama Do the Hump
Extra Pro: Henry
Judges' Scores: 25 (9's from Bruno & Len, a 7 from Len)
If you are wondering who Henry is, so am I. But anyway let's talk about the samba or should I say the Bollywood number. It was an entertaining number, I just have to agree with Len a bit on this one, there wasn't much samba. Maria looked beautiful and Derek and Henry did some awesome stuff but I think they could have pulled off the Bollywood even with some extra samba in there. Maria did really great at selling her part unfortunately it was mostly standing still and shaking her body. The few samba steps that came in, especially those in frame, were the more awkward parts of the dance. I don't think the dance should have gotten a 7 from Len but I understand the sentiment.
Melissa Gilbert & Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Foxtrot
Song: Maggie May
Judges' Scores: 24 (trip 8's)
If you thought Derek & Maria's rehearsal footage was rough then you were in for a real shock with M&M. Lots of fighting, lots of tears, and lots of edited bleeps from Maks. It clearly didn't really help as the beginning of the dance was trips and bobbles all over the place. Somehow despite the bottom half Melissa kept it together up top. She didn't cling with fear, she didn't hunch her shoulders as much, and she didn't have the blank expression of fear. Neither of them looked especially happy at the end of it but after the rehearsal footage I'm not surprised. I found her costume a little distracting but their post dance interview went a long way in clearing the air and showing the love.
Trio Dance: Samba
Song: Hard to Handle
Extra Pro: Val
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
No surprise here, Val is their third pro and from the looks of the rehearsal footage they won't have issues of lack of content. I have to give Melissa credit for this one, she seemed like she was having a great time. All traces of her fear seem to be gone tonight. This was definitely her best dance so far in my opinion and it appears the judges agree. There were lots of samba steps and Melissa hung in there through it all. Just maybe all those over-challenging routines Maks gave her in the beginning are starting to pay off although it may be a bit late.
Katherine Jenkins & Mark Ballas
Dance: Viennese Waltz
Song: Kathleen
Judges' Scores: 26 (9's from Bruno & Len, an 8 from CA)
Once again, absolutely beautiful arms throughout, especially on her turns. In frame, she still had a bit of trouble with her right shoulder coming forward but it was better than in some of the other standard dances. I didn't think it was her strongest dance performance wise but it was still very well done. The judges didn't seem to agree with each other much like Maria & Derek's V-Waltz, but that may just be gearing up to let the audience make the final decisions for the double elimination tomorrow.
Trio Dance: Cha Cha
Song: She's a Lady
Extra Pro: Tristan
Judges' Scores: 29 (10's from Bruno & CA, a 9 from Len)
Well unfortunately the rehearsal footage of this dance went a lot better than the performance. Partially I think it was a costume malfunction, since part of her pant leg was caught on her foot for the beginning of the dance. You have to give her credit for dancing through it but she did seem a little thrown. Some of her spins seemed pretty timid and there were a few slips. That said she did do a lot of actual cha cha steps with real attempts at good technique. It certainly wasn't bad but at this point you just have to expect more from her than some of the others, fair or not.
Roshon Fegan & Chelsie Hightower
Dance: Foxtrot
Song: Sweat Pea
Judges' Scores: 29 (10's from Bruno & CA, a 9 from Len)
Roshon brought in his grandmothers to rehearsal perhaps to try and win some of the votes from the older audience members? Their foxtrot was very cute and was performed well. Not exactly any heel leads but otherwise he handled very difficult steps. He still doesn't really have the smooth style that would have been nice for the character in this dance but I liked it. The judges probably over-scored them a bit but honestly even that probably won't keep them in tomorrow night unfortunately.
Trio Dance: Paso Doble
Song: Turn Me On
Extra Pro: Sasha
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
Roshon & Chelsie are the first couple to pick a pro the same sex as the star which might have been smart considering they had the Paso Doble and Roshon has had trouble expressing his masculinity. I was worried the dance might focus on Chelsie too much because of it but it didn't. I thought his paso steps were great and his individual spins of course were impressive. He did get a head of the music a few times but I thought the dance was enough to overcome that.
William Levy & Cheryl Burke
Dance: Foxtrot
Song: Stray Cat Strut
Judges' Scores: 30 (trip 10's)
I found that this week the dance was much easier to watch because I just watched William. I know it sounds mean, but I do think he is a good dancer and Cheryl's overdancing just distracts from his good qualities. He had a nice frame and even a few heel leads. He even pulled off the solo, side-by-side work. I don't have much else to say other than I liked it.
Trio Dance: Paso Doble
Song: Diablo Rojo
Extra Pro: Tony
Judges' Scores: 27 (trip 9's)
William & Cheryl also chose a pro lead as their extra which I don't think had the same effect as Roshon & Chelsie's choice. There was a little too much emphasis on Cheryl and I also thought a little too much emphasis on flamenco (which wasn't done that well) particularly in the beginning in their on-stage dance fight. The Zoro/bad guy theme was okay. Not bad but not my favorite.
Worth the Top of the Leader Board?
Final thoughts, I really enjoyed the Trio Round! Some of the best dances of the night came out of the triplets and certainly the most entertaining. Of course, having the extra dance makes ranking the couples even more difficult, but here goes nothing!
Judges' Rankings Pre-Trio Dance
| Place | Couple | Points |
| 1 | William & Cheryl | 30 |
| 2 | Roshon & Chelsie | 29 |
| 3 | Maria & Derek | 28 |
| 4 | Donald & Peta | 27 |
| 5 | Katherine & Mark | 26 |
| 6 | Melissa & Maks | 24 |
Judges' Rankings Post-Trio Dance My Rankings
| Place | Couple | Points | Place | Couple |
| 1 | William & Cheryl | 57 | 1 | Donald & Peta |
| 2 | Roshon & Chelsie | 56 | 2 | Roshon & Chelsie |
| 3 | Katherine & Mark | 55 | 3 | William & Cheryl |
| 3 | Donald & Peta | 55 | 4 | Katherine & Mark |
| 5 | Maria & Derek | 53 | 5 | Maria & Derek |
| 6 | Melissa & Maks | 51 | 6 | Melissa & Maks |
Double elimination? Really very sad at this point since so many of the dancers are still doing great and improving. Melissa had her best week yet but she is still the weakest dancer but then again she has the partner with the craziest fan base it seems. If I had to place bets on who is going home this week, I'd have to say Melissa and Roshon.
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