DANCING WITH THE STARS 10 4/26/2010

MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010

8:00 - 9:30 PM ABC

ARGENTINE TANGO, SAMBA AND SWING DANCE MARATHON

Despite the fact that Tom Bergeron announced last week that this week the celebrities would be designing the costumes for themselves and their professional partners, there was not mention of it on the show. In previous years there were small segments sharing the designing phase with the audience. I really missed that part of the show this year. We are now down to seven couples so the competition will be tougher now that all of the celebrities have a degree of proficiency in dance.

1.) Jake Palveka and Chelsie Hightower - Samba Jake seems to be improving each week by showing greater confidence and a more polished appearance but still seems to be having problems with his rhythm and "tripping" (This is the second week in a row that he has tripped but been able to recover nicely. ) Tonight tho, he did lack some of the bounce that goes along with the Samba. Then there was the Swing Marathon. He was the first to be eliminated which did little to help his ranking for the evening. Looks as though he's going to need to depend on good audience participation to pull it off this week. ( Gee How disappointed Vienna will be.) Score: 21/30 with only 4 additional points for the marathon. Total: 25

2.) Evan Lysacek and Anna Trabundskaya - Samba. After a tough week at rehearsal, including a slight concussion and a need to focus on swivelling his hips they had a somewhat disappointing performance. He is eye candy though; what with his lyrical movements made the performance totally enjoyable. Judges did not seem pleased with this performance and Len actually said it was his worst dance in that it is a carnival dance and his was more like a ballet. Despite the judges comments I feel it had great audience appeal. Although we were not told of his costume creation, if it was indeed his I feel that it was a great one. They were the third couple to be eliminated in the Swing Marathon and therefore received only 6 additional points to be added to their 21 points for the Samba. This will not keep them at the top of the leader board and makes them depend more heavily on the audience vote. Total Score: 27

3.) Niecy Nash and Louis Van Amstel performed the first Argentine Tango of the evening. They chose a comedic interpretation which was refreshing. Tonight we saw Niecy really dancing and with a new attitude and the judges were surprised to see that they went for the lift and felt that they liked the comedy but lacked a bit of the intensity. They were eliminated second in the Swing Marathon despite their spirited performance; including chills and thrills of lifts and fast action. The 5 points received were added to their dance performance score of 21 left them with a Total Score :26

They too will be near the bottom of the leader board and looking for good audience participation.

4.) Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovsky performed the Samba and despite audience approval were somewhat chastised by Len who felt that at this point in the competition they should be getting higher scores and that he was upset with "shirts coming off". Truthfully, it was almost as if he was directing criticism to Maksim more so than the celebrity performer. (Len didn't seem to hospitable tonight and was perhaps responding somewhat to Makim's article printed earlier in the week regarding the judging this season.) Both Carrie Ann and Bruno were more complimentary than Len and directed comments to Erin saying that this is one of the most difficult dances and that she had nailed it. In spite of Len's strong comments they received 25/30 points for their Samba and because they came in second, an additional 9 points, making their Total Score - 34

5.) Chad Ochocinco and Cheryl Burke - Argentine Tango Were well received. Chad was recognized as proving that he could actually dance. Len was a little more benevolent in recognizing that Chad grew tonight after saying . . . "on Dancing With The Stars you either grow or you go". They even came in in 4th place for the Swing Marathon and that gave them 7 points to be added to their 24 points for the Argentine Tango.

Tonight's performances certainly moved them up on the leader board. Total Score: 31

6.) Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough - Samba. Despite the fact that Nicole expressed a preference for the Salsa, she did a good job again tonight. Len expressed that despite the fact that her dancing was great he felt that it was a hodge podge of steps, not a Samba, specifically citing two moves which are supposed to be Incorporated in the dance but were not. Carrie Ann could find nothing of significance to offer but to say that Nicole had made ridiculous faces during the dance and that left her wondering but that that was the only thing she could say. Bruno felt that it was a "singular sensation". To top off an already victorious night, they were the last couple standing for the Swing Marathon, thereby being declared the winners and receiving 10 points to add to their 26 point Samba score. They were clearly the winner for tonight's performances. Now, they will be hoping that the audience participation mirrors that of the judges. Total Score: 36.

7.) Pamela Anderson and Damian Whitewood- Argentine Tango. Judges again relate to her getting into character and being sexy saying that she plays it well and is not just dancing but living the part while at the same time needs to improve her technique. Being in character is good, but dance technique should be a major factor in her continued participation. If tonight was the celebrity costume design I must say that I liked hers the least. Forget the frowzy looking wig.... that did nothing to enhance her appeal to the audience. It was apparent that the judges liked her tonight since she received a 22 point score and was the 5th one eliminated during the Swing Marathon. Adding the 8 points awarded for the marathon with her Argentine Tango score she had a Total Score : 30 This is probably Pamela's best night. Will it be enough to keep her another week or is she destined to be the next to go. I'll bet she's hoping her sexy character performances will encourage the audience to vote for her.

FINAL LEADER BOARD STANDINGS

#1 - Nicole and Derek - 36 points
#2. - Erin and Maks - 34

#3. - Chad and Cheryl - 31

#4. - Pamela and Damian - 30

#5. - Evan and Anna - 27

#6. - Niecy and Louis - 26

#7. - Jake and Chelsie - 25

It almost looks as if the leader board has been scrambled this week. Your vote is important. With only 1/2 hour to call in your only choice for voting now is the Internet ABC DWTS site.

Tuesday Night - The Results

Opening remarks by Tom Bergeron included "only the strong will survive". That puts it all, from here on in , in a nut shell. Len was called upon for his usual critique of the Monday night competition. Early on he said that although in general the dancing was good that no one "pulled off both the dances". He described Evan as having "fallen from heaven" referring to his place on the leader board this week. He singled out Chad Ochocinco as his favorite from Monday night and described the performance as "he nailed it". He takes a shine for Niecy and complimented her saying that she did absolutely great. He placed Jake, Niecy and Pamela as at the bottom and in jeopardy of going home tonight. He stuck firm to his comments of Monday night when saying that Erin was a fantastic dancer but that Mak was a distraction. (I definitely see conflict here. If you've read what Mak has to say about last night you will definitely get a picture.) In finalizing his comments about the evening he said that the Swing Marathon was brilliant; a smorgasbord of dancing delight. For tonight's encore performance he chose Chad and Cheryl. (This goes along with his saying that they were his favorite on Monday.) Tonight I'd say that their dancing was even better than last night.

The Guests for the night were Melissa Etheridge and Venese. During their performances dancers performed great professional dances.

Next week the dance for the evening will be the Viennese Waltz.

Now for the Results: Jake and Chelsie and Niecy and Louis were the bottom two couples.

Tonight was the night to say good bye to Jake Pavelka.

Who will be leaving next week?

Will there be another shift in the leader board?

How do you feel about Nicole being in the competition?