Only five dancers remain as ABC’s Dancing With The Stars winds down to its final members with performances which ranged from the mediocre to the truly remarkable.
This week’s twist involved dancers performing twice, one of which was almost totally unrehearsed.
Rob Kardashian had a less than stellar performance with a quickstep which was stiffer than a kitchen door. He did however demonstrate an impressive degree of exuberance which may encourage his followers to vote for a returning appearance.
Hope Solo‘s performance was certainly a 180 as the usually emotional soccer champ danced a quickstep which finally had the judges gleaming. Even Len Goodman, who previously had a wildly unpleasant exchange with partner Max, only had positive remarks as he gave Maksim a high five during the judge’s comments.
“What’s going on tonight? It’s the night of miracles.” Tonioli beamed as he continued by describing Solo as “re-booted and re-energized.”
Ricki Lake gave a performance which appeared quite natural as she affectionately embraced her partner, Derek Hough, while they waltzed to the tune of Aretha Franklin’s, You Make Me Feel Like a Natural Woman.
Unfortunately the judges decided to remain more critical as Carrie Ann Inaba pointed out a stumble and shoulder misalignment which placed Lake in the same score category as Rob Kardashian.
Nancy Grace proved a decidedly difficult pupil as partner Tristan McManus commented that she often does more talking than listening.
“We still haven’t found the best way to work with each other,” he sighed after completing a fumbled tango which left the audience quiet…and not in a good way.
But surprisingly Goodman was still extremely complimentary while Inaba seemed irritated by Nancy’s evasiveness.
JR Martinez was yet again the clear front runner of the evening as he received the first perfect score of the competition. Although his Waltz performance was not as powerful as his previous numbers, it did however deliver a degree of conservative preciseness which appeared to overwhelmingly please the judges. And if one perfect score wasn’t good enough, J.R and his partner Karina Smirnoff did it again with the instant jive!
Bruno Tonioli described the performance as a “musical Valentine card.” Goodman’s only criticism was Martinez’s lack of a tie while Inaba thought something magical had happened in the middle.
Do you think J.R Martinez and Karina Smirnoff deserved their double perfect score on Dancing with the Stars?
