by Gina Scarpa

 

Last week, we said goodbye to Loveline star Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer. This week on Dancing With The Stars, the ten remaining couples have to tell a story, using everything they can - from music to dance to costumes to props. With some of the stories getting pretty personal, it may be hard for the judges to get really tough with them. Then again, this is Len Goodman we're talking about. There was a whole lotta Rumba going on but there was enough variety overall to keep the night interesting.

 

Couple: Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani
Style: Foxtrot
Scores: 5 + 5 + 5 = 15
Wendy has chosen the early days of her radio career as her story. She made it sound like it was the toughest time in her whole life but as a former radio DJ myself, I can tell you - it's not that bad. Everything about this was all wrong, from the story to the dance itself. It just didn't make any sense! Wendy and Tony missed a serious opportunity here to prove something and may have just danced their last dance.

 

Couple: Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Style: Cha Cha Cha
Scores: 7 + 8 + 8 = 23
Chelsea's story was totally sweet - her first love wrote a song professing his love for her and she heard it for the first time live at one of his shows. I'm pretty sure any girl would love for that to happen to her! Chelsea says she doesn't feel sexy but from the minute she hits the floor, it's clear she has nothing to worry about. The judges are much happier with the choreography this week and the scores show it!

 

Couple: Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Style: Rumba
Scores: 7 + 7 + 7 = 21
For the first time in 20 years, fans of Chris Jericho are going to see who he really is. He dedicates his rumba to his late mother and it's definitely full of emotion. This guy just continues to surprise everyone week after week. His scores could have been a little better but it seems he was focused more on telling the story and paying tribute than the technical side. Hey, nothing wrong with that. He's not goin' anywhere.

 

Couple: Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Style: Rumba
Scores: 8 + 7 + 8 = 23
Kendra wants to focus on the early part of her relationship with Hank. When they first got together, everyone had an opinion - and a lot of it wasn't nice. Her song and dance is about them being against the world if people don't want to accept them. It was a little weird that Louie was playing the part of Hank but she showed great improvement this week. Len could've done without the gyrations but the guy just needs to lighten up a bit. Am I right?!

 

Couple: Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Style: Rumba
Scores: 7 + 6 + 7 = 20
Romeo has chosen a very difficult story to tell. When he was young, he lost two of his cousins - one to a car accident and one to violence. The rumba is supposed to be the dance of love but this routine is about love and loss. He delivered a strong performance last week but took a step back with the rumba. I'm no dance expert but even I know he needs to work on his arms and hands. Len had a tense moment with Tom after being cut off from giving his feedback. Awk. Ward.

 

Couple: Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Style: Samba
Scores: 9 + 8 + 8 = 25
Many people have chosen sad stories to tell tonight but Hines had decided to celebrate his mother, who gave up a lot so that he could have everything. When he joined the NFL, he was able to give everything back to her. His desire to please his mom and deliver a great performance pays off. His scores are way up there and the only thing I would've changed was that he didn't look like he was thinking so much about the steps.

 

Couple: Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Style: Waltz
Scores: 8 + 9 + 8 = 25
The waltz is a tough dance to pull off but if you're gonna do it helps to be beautiful and statuesque the way Petra is. Not surprisingly, she's chosen to dedicate her performance to her experiences in Indonesia, when she returned for the first time after the tsunami. Dmitry did a great job choreographing a beautiful and elegant dance. As Bruno pointed out, her improvement is incredible! Here's hoping America takes notice and keeps her in the competition for many more weeks.

 

Couple: Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya
Style: Paso Doble
Scores: 7 + 6 + 7 = 20
I had high hopes for Sugar Ray from the beginning. The guy has a great ability to be a showman but now, he needs to have a great ability to be a dancer. He does have things that he needs to work on but Sugar Ray is no stranger to overcoming obstacles. I believe his work ethic may carry him a little bit further, to the point where he can start to show an improvement.

 

Couple: Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Style: Rumba
Scores: 7 + 7 + 7 = 21
Kirstie definitely has one of the toughest stories of the night, if not, the toughest. When she moved to L.A. 20 years ago, she found out that her parents were hit by a drunk driver. Her mom had died, her dad was seriously injured, and a few days later, she found out that she landed her first big job, on Star Trek. The dance started off great but quickly got into trouble when Maksim fell and injured himself. The show must go on and he danced through the pain. The dance, otherwise, was really beautiful. I would've loved to have known what the scores would've been without the fall.

Couple: Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Style: Rumba
Scores: 7 + 7 + 7 = 21
First of all, I love a man who wants to dedicate a dance to his wife. Despite the fact that it was cute and heartfelt, it wasn't his best performance to date. He needs to work on his technical ability but I found it to a bit sleepy. The judges were definitely split on how they felt about it but were unanimous in their scoring.

 

Don't miss the live elimination on Dancing With The Stars tomorrow night at 9/8c on ABC.

 

(Image courtesy of ABC)

 

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