S13:W7 This week was (obviously) Halloween week on Dancing with the Stars, and all of the celebrities performed dances that had some sort of spooky element to them. In addition to their individual dances, the six remaining couples were divided into two teams and each team performed a group dance, and the scores of those two group dances were added to the scores they received for their individual dances. In other words, each pair’s score was out of a possible 60 points.
David Arquette took the floor first with his Cha Cha Cha, and Kym worked really hard during rehearsals to get him comfortable moving his hips evocatively instead of enthusiastically. Their routine, however, seemed to be a bit more reserved than ones from the past, and there didn’t seem like a lot of room for David to show his quirky and eccentric personality. Instead, it seems more like Kym choreographed the routine so there was less of a chance David could spoil it with his zest for competing on the show. He got 24 points.
J.R. Martinez was next, and he was assigned the Tango. It wasn’t very exciting, and that was probably because the Tango is more sensual than lively. However, I wasn’t the only one who thought it was lacking because the judges pointed out that J.R. was late to perform some of his moves, and Len revealed he expected much more from the war veteran. He got 25 points.
Then came Nancy Grace, whose Jive was a little bit out of control. She completely lost her way in the beginning and because of the up tempo of the song, was never really able to get it back. The judges commented that her footing was “devilish” and sent her on her way with 21 points.
Next was Hope Solo’s Samba, but Maks was bogged down with an injured toe and so he couldn’t help her during rehearsals. He brought in a member of the dance troupe named Teddy to be his temporary replacement, and Hope seemed to have much more chemistry with Teddy than she does with Maks, and she certainly benefitted from Teddy’s more sincere and calm teaching style. I didn’t really think their dance was terribly good because Hope still seems terribly uncomfortable, but the judges thought she did well in “coping” with a very difficult dance. They gave her 24 points.
Last to dance was Ricki Lake with the Paso Doble, but unfortunately her rehearsal time was undercut by the fact that a nerve under one of her ribs was giving her intense pain. She maintained she was going to power through the discomfort no matter what, but for some reason was a little annoying to watch her complain about it. But she seemed completely fine while she was dancing, and once again the judges held her in the highest regard. They gave her 27 points.
Then came the group dances. At the end of last week’s episode, Ricki and J.R. were chosen to be captains of two teams, and Ricki chose Hope Solo and Rob Kardashian to be on the Paso Doble team with her and J.R. chose David and Nancy Grace to be on the Tango team with him. The scores of each team’s dance would be added to the scores they received for their individual dances, and the first group to perform was J.R.’s group. Overall it was quite messy and kind of unpleasant to watch because none of the solos were very cohesive. Carrie Ann pointed out each pair made a few mistakes, which is what lead them to receive 23 points.
Following Team Tango was Team Paso, which consisted of Ricki, Hope and Rob. Rob was pretty anxious about having to keep up with the likes of Derek and Maks, but definitely the most memorable moment in rehearsals was when Maks got so frustrated with Hope that he just left the room, leaving Hope by herself. Derek swiftly came in and pointed out what she was doing wrong, and it was pretty endearing. The group went on to perform a mesmerizing Paso because it seemed to incorporate much more captivating movements, and there was hardly any downtime in the transitions. The judges were wholeheartedly impressed and gave them 26 points. At the end of the night, Ricki was in first place, Rob was in second, Hope was in third, J.R. was in fourth, David was in fifth and Nancy was in sixth.
