Latin night on Dancing with the Stars always heats things up! This season Pit Bull sat in as guest judge and brought a ton of personality to the table.
Ryan Lochte remains at the bottom of my leaderboard. His salsa with Cheryl Burke was meh. I guess he's committed to the dance, it's just he's not that great. I'm calling it, he will not be making it to the Finals.30
Terra Jole’ has been such a rock star, but the Paso Doble was not her bag. I was surprised that despite the fierceness she brings every week, should couldn't live up to the emotion the Paso demands. The judges agreed. 30.
It doesn't appear to me that Amber Rose can get her groove back. I don't understand. She finally had her breakthrough, the first week she ditched the wig, but she went right back to her wig-wearing ways even without it! She has swagger on swagger, it's a shame she can't translate it to the dance floor. Maksim Chmerkovskiy did his best to pry a great performance out of her, the Cha Cha was good, but had a good amount of room to be better. 28.
I kind of loved James Hinchcliffe and Sharna Burgess' Rumba. I also kind of want them to get married. Is that too much to ask? Their Rumba was so beautiful, I wish they had an actual romantic relationship to back it up. So close to perfection, 38.
Marilu Henner had her breakthrough last week and thank goodness it, for the most part, carried over into this week. Her Cha Cha with Derek Hough was a lot of fun. While Marilu looked like she was having a blast, she was lacking just a touch of conviction. The judges had glowing reviews, but I don't think the 2 scores of 8 reflected their enthusiasm. 34 total points for Marilu.
Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko set out to create the "sexiest Argentine Tango ever". They lived up to that without exploiting it, if that makes sense. I literally had chills through the entire thing. It was sexy as all get out, but it wasn't too much. They finished off the dance with a shower raining down on them which was such an over the top choice, but not gratuitous. Loved every second of this performance especially the song, "Hands to Myself" by Selena Gomez. #girlcrush Perfect 40.
Maureen McCormick is at the top of my "please please please get booted this week" list. It's just a fact. Her pre-dance-packages make me sympathetic to Artem Chigvintsev, because he has to deal with her on the daily. Maybe it's all in the editing, but if it is, they're making her out to be a head case. Meanwhile, her Samba was fine, but could have been a lot better if she wasn't so tentative. She needs to own her performances and until she does, she's going to keep getting 8's and a 7 from the guest judge! Ouch! 31.
Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold had the very difficult task of performing an Argentine Tango after Jana and Gleb's. Tall order. I liked it a lot. The definitely didn't bring the heat like Jana and Gleb, but their lift game was on point. To my amateur eye, they were beyond precise. 37
Laurie Hernandez and Val Chmerkovskiy closed out the night with a Cha Cha. Laurie was concerned that she wouldn't be able to get her hips to cooperate, but she did not appear to have any problem in that department. Her performance was fantastic. I'm thinking if it came from any other star, it would have gotten a perfect score, but for Laurie, a 37, with a 10 from Pit Bull.
Amber Rose got the boot, and while her performances warranted it, she's not nearly as annoying as Maureen. I don't understand how Amber got the boot and not Marcia, but here's hoping next week will bring me better news.
Download the ABC2 News app for the iPhone, Kindle and Android.
