Last night on Dancing with the Stars, the remaining couples were divided into two teams: Chelsea Kane, Romeo and Ralph Macchio vs. Kirstie Alley, Kendra Wilkinson and Hines Ward. The idea was that the groups of three couples would come out, dance a little bit and be judged on their ability to stay in unison, and then briefly dance as individual couples like they usually do.
Chelsea, Romeo and Ralph danced the Cha-Cha-Cha to Lady Gaga’s “Born This Way,” and as a group, they did very well. No singular pair seemed ahead of the other three when they were sharing the floor, which was pretty incredible. But when they danced individually, it was really hard to see the routines as opportunities to enjoy the skills of each couple. Instead, the individual routines just seemed like breathers from the main event. The judges gave them 30 out of 40 points (because there was a fourth judge: esteemed ballroom dancer Donny Burns).
Next up was the team of Kirstie Alley, Kendra and Hines Ward. They also danced the Cha-Cha-Cha, but this time it was to Ke$ha. Again, the individual dances did not allow for time to showcase each group individually, and so it seemed like it was pointless to even ask them to do so. And even though this group’s choreography was better than the first group, they were not in sync as the first group. The judges gave them 30 points as well.
Then came the individual dances. Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas were tasked with dancing the Paso Doble and during rehearsals, Mark had a hard time convincing Chelsea not to laugh or smile because it conflicted with the dance’s seriousness. And since it was the week where the professional dances come by and offer their advice to the performers, Mark’s mom Shirley came by, who was a famous Latin ballroom dancer. And it was a little weird watching her instruct Chelsea to dance with her son more passionately and telling her to grab her son’s hair with passion. When they performed their dance for the judges, their choreography was, as usual, amazing, and it just seems like they’re improving more and more each week. Len complained their dance was too aggressive, and believed there wasn’t enough refinement in their performance. But the rest of the judges liked their moves, and Chelsea and Mark got 34 points.
Louis van Amstel told Kendra that this was week that he was going to make the choreography really hard for Kendra because they’re in week 7 of the competition, and no bad dancers are left. Luca Baricchi (a famous ballroom dancer) showed up during their rehearsals of the Tango, and he told Kendra (in a pretty unlawful way) to feel the dance with her body instead of being afraid of making a mistake. When they danced for the judges, it was arguably their best dance in the competition. Kendra seemed to finally understand what moving elegantly means, and she was rewarded with a score of 31 points from the judges.
Kirstie and Maks were assigned the Jive, and they also received a few tips from Shirley Ballas. They weren’t really shown though, because during rehearsals, Kirstie expressed sadness over how Maks chose to express his frustration by screaming and yelling at her when she missed a step. After they danced their jive, the judges complained that the entire dance was out of sync, but tried to make Kirstie feel better about her performance by complimenting her instincts and her spirit. They gave her 30 points.
Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff danced the Quickstep, and Luca Baricchi came back to tell them what he told Kendra, which was to feel the movements instead of just performing them. Ralph expressed bodily discomfort throughout all of rehearsals and once they danced their dance, it became clear that even though their choreography is pretty weak, they’re a lively pair to watch. They got 36 points from the judges.
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower danced the Samba, and they went into rehearsals on a pretty high note because they got their first 10 last week. Shirley Ballas came by the studio and showed Romeo how to properly move his hips in Latin formation. But the judges didn’t care too much for it because it didn’t represent the Samba as much as it should have. They gave the couple a 30 out of 40.
M
Hines Ward and Kym Johnson danced the Tango as well, and Luca came back to tell Hines that he wasn’t feeling the moves enough. As usual, their performance was perfect and the judges loved it, as evidenced by their score of 36.
