"Dancing With The Stars" Recap: Season 10, Week 6
Kate’s gone, and the seven remaining stars battled it out on the dance floor last night. This week, the stakes were raised: viewers were allowed seven votes per phone line or email address, and the stars each performed twice! They each danced either the Samba or Argentine Tango with their partner, and then all of the couples closed the show with a Swing dance marathon.
Let’s talk dancing:
Jake and Chelsie, Samba.
Jake, once again, bared a lot of skin, but at least he wore pants this week! He and Chelsie looked hot—with the exception of Jake’s unfortunate stumble, which we later got see again in a “salt-in-the-wound slow-motion replay.” Jake had some serious facial expressions going on throughout the dance, but we agree with the judges’ advice: to work on rhythm, bounce, and connect to the music more.
Score: 21/30
Evan and Anna, Samba.
After all the footage of Evan visiting the hospital after flipping over Anna’s back and landing on his head (which, by the way, I’ve done and it is not fun), I was nervous about their performance. It turned out that I had no need to worry because the hot, fluid routine was super entertaining and accident-free. However, Bruno called the pair out right away saying they were pleasant visually but not true to the style of Samba.
Score: 21/30
Niecy and Louis, Argentine Tango.
After last week’s performance (full of personality but lacking technique), Niecy seemed to be focused on impressing the judges with technique this week. Though the couple looked fabulous, the dancing was too tentative for me, and the eating of rose petals and cookies didn’t help. Carrie Ann was impressed, however, saying this was the first week Niecy seemed “in the zone.” But she thought (as I did) that the “comedy” was a little too much. We all would have liked to see more passion and less, well, stuffing food in the mouth.
Score:21/30
Erin and Maks, Samba
Right off the bat, Erin’s sexy purple, feathery dress accentuates her hip shaking. And Maks’ stripping off his shirt was certainly a surprise! I didn’t see it coming, but it certainly turned up the heat. Their dance was the first solid samba of the night. Even though Len claims he’s over the theatrical antics (I guess he wasn’t as excited as we were about Maks’ shirt!), he says that Erin has the potential to be competing with the top dancers. However, he still only gave her a 7. Guess we will have to see if she can push it even more next week!
Score: 25/30
Chad and Cheryl, Argentine Tango
This was Chad’s chance to redeem himself after last week’s foxtrot, and he did! The routine was filled with sultry partnering and Chad’s lines impressed the judges. Maybe the trip to Cincinnati to visit his fans was just what Chad needed to boost his confidence before this week’s performance.
Score: 24/30 (their highest score to date!)
Nicole and Derek, Samba
Nicole may have been psyching herself out in rehearsal by worrying too much about how she’d look on camera, but it appeared that Derek helped her get over it by performance time. As she entered in her shiny red two-piece, whipping her hair around with confidence and sass, it was clear that she had set her insecurities aside. Hot times ten! With her fabulous extensions and shimmying how could she go wrong? Though Len didn’t consider it Samba per se, the other judges were ecstatic (Bruno gave a 10), and so were we!
New catch-phrase of the week courtesy of Nicole: “Holy Mother of Sweet Baby Air!”
Score: 26/30
Pam and Damian, Argentine Tango
After being in the bottom two last week, Pam rocked the stage with a messy, brunette do, a little too-tan of a tan, and quite the little black dress. Pam can handle seduction—go figure. This slinky number was a great dance for this sexy pair to take on, though, as Carrie Ann pointed out, polished technique would have made the performance even better.
Score: 26/30
On to the Swing Dance Marathon:
Allow all the dancers on the floor at once, take away all choreographic restrictions and dangle the prospect of up to ten extra points for the winners, and you’re sure to end up with the quite the performance!
While this marathon was the closest to a real-life ballroom competition that DWTS has ever ventured, it was immediately clear why the individual performances work so much better for television. It was frustrating to try and watch all of the dancers and to know that you’re only seeing what the cameramen choose to show you at a particular moment.
As the couples danced, bopping around in color-coordinated outfits and sneakers, the judges stood and slowly eliminated the couples, one at a time. The first couple eliminated had four points added to their score, and each couple after that received one extra point than the couple before.
Here’s how it all shook out:
7th place—Jake and Chelsie (total 25 points)
6th—Niecy and Louis (total 26 points)
5th—Evan and Anna (total 27 points)
4th—Chad and Cheryl (total 31 points)
3rd—Pamela and Damian (total 30 points)
2nd—Erin and Maks (total 34 points)
1st—Nicole and Derek (total 36 points)
Don’t forget to tune in tonight to see whose time in the spotlight has run out!
