By Kristal Bailey

It’s Storytelling night on Dancing With the Stars! Each couple has to tell a story through the dance, using props, costumes, and whatever means necessary to get across their elaborate narratives.

This week we also get a pros-only routine to medley of “Can’t Take My Eyes Off of You,”  “Three Times the Lady,” and “Let’s Get it Started.” It’s nice to see just the pros take the stage, they’re able to do footwork, tricks, and moves that they can’t do with their celebrity counterparts.

Celebrity: Jennifer Grey
Professional Partner: Derek Hough

Dance: Samba

Breakdown: Their story has Derek as the student who’s hot for teacher. I thought they did a great job on their characters and the story. Len commended them for not only setting up the story in the beginning, but also weaving the story throughout the dance. Bruno called her the “sexy mistress of Cougar Town’s Academy of Samba.” All the judges noticed their slip up in the middle, so they redid that combination just to prove that they could do it perfectly. Even with the flub, the judges and audience seemed to love it.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 8  Bruno: 8

Total: 24/30

Celebrity: Florence Henderson
Professional Partner: Corky Ballas

Dance: Waltz

Breakdown: Their song is “Edelweiss” famous from The Sound of Music. They’ll be telling the romantic story of a man and woman who are attracted to each other, but the both it resist at first, until finally she gives in to his love. Florence was in The Sound of Music on Broadway and has many fond memories of her late husband connected to the play and this song. They danced a simple, effective waltz that had everyone feeling the emotion. Carrie Ann feels that her husband is smiling down on her. The performance was really touching, but the dance itself was on the simple side. Len thought the story was beautiful, but can see that she doesn’t have any technique in her feet.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 7 Len: 6 Bruno: 7

Total: 20/30

Celebrity: Kurt Warner
Professional Partner: Anna Trebunskaya

Dance: Foxtrot

Breakdown: The dance starts with someone having a bad day, but through the dance they’re able to make their day better. Kurt has to work on his delicate, graceful movements. He had a tea party with his daughters to help him improve and I think it did help in the end. Carrie Ann thought they were totally in sync with great chemistry, and his charm pulls him through. Len still thought he was lacking musicality in his arms, but everything else was top notch. Bruno disagreed, calling his hands frying pans and pointing out that he nearly dropped his partner. Overall, I think it was an improvement over last week.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 8 Bruno: 7

Total: 23/30

Celebrity: Margaret Cho
Professional Partner: Louis Van Amstel

Dance: Samba

Breakdown: Their story is all about expressing pride, happiness, and joy. The Samba is a very difficult routine, and she had a full schedule this week with touring, so she didn’t get as much rehearsal time as she wanted and probably needed. Len liked it in the beginning, but as the dance progressed they lost the timing and her legs got heavy. Carrie Ann loved the story of pride and happiness, but her carriage and posture need work. The story was a message about gay pride and that you should be happy with who you are and end teen suicide. I didn’t gather that from the dance at all, the only hint were the costumes.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 6 Len: 6 Bruno: 6

Total: 18/30

Celebrity: Audrina Patridge
Professional Partner: Tony Dovolani

Dance: Waltz

Breakdown: Tony plays a Marine who comes back to life to dance with his love for the last time. Bruno thought it was compelling and touching storytelling. He felt the emotion in every move. Carrie Ann thought the competition just got very interesting – she just needs to point her toes a bit more. Len said that “you walk with your feet and dance with your heart” believing that this was the most touching routine of the night. Audrina and Tony dedicated this number to all the families who have loved ones in the troops that are out in the field.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 9 Bruno: 9

Total: 26/30

Celebrity: Bristol Palin
Professional Partner: Mark Ballas

Dance: Foxtrot

Breakdown: Mark is a homeless person on the street, trying to get Bristol’s attention. Bristol doesn’t have a performance background, so this week will be especially hard for her. Carrie Ann loved her movement, but didn’t get the story from the performance. They took Len’s advice from last week, they took a chance and did something new, but then he didn’t like it. Bruno thought their execution of the dance was neat and well done, but the performance was very surface. He wanted bold movements and emotion!

Scores: Carrie Ann: 6 Len: 6 Bruno: 7

Total: 19/30

Celebrity: Brandy
Professional Partner: Maksim Chmerkovsky

Dance: Samba

Breakdown: They’re drawing from Brandy’s favorite movie, The Bodyguard, for their story. She’s the talented singer, he’s her bodyguard and they’re trying to work together while also being in love. Len thought it had energy, punch, and rhythm but didn’t pick up the protective element of the bodyguard. The video intro colored his feelings of the routine, since he didn’t like Maksim’s training method. Bruno loved the routine with the hips and arm placement. Carrie Ann doesn’t condone that kind of teaching, but thought it worked because Brandy was on fire tonight with her best performance yet!

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 8 Bruno: 8

Total: 24/30

Celebrity: Kyle Massey
Professional Partner: Lacey Schwimmer

Dance: Waltz

Breakdown: Their story is a meetcute – girl and guy meet in a coffee shop. Bruno says he has the likablility factor sewn up. Carrie Ann compliments him for bringing the fun to the floor. She’s like a giggling school girl when he performs. Len noticed his lackluster footwork, calling it “atrocious and nonexistent.” But even with his poor footwork, his performance, charm, and expressive arms could keep him around for a long while.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 7 Bruno: 8

Total: 23/30

Celebrity: Mike “The Situation” Sarontino
Professional Partner: Karina Smirnoff

Dance: Foxtrot

Breakdown: Dancing a Time Travel Foxtrot to the tune of Black Eyed Peas “Boom Boom Pow” it’s definitely a stand out of the night in terms of story telling and stage use. Carrie Ann was impressed with his improvement. Len admires his effort, but it was a bizarre performance that he wouldn’t choose to watch. Bruno found that in a very weird way, it was entertaining! It just seems like The Situation lacks the necessary musicality and grace to be a strong contestant. He also teases that if he’s around next week, maybe he’ll finally bust out his abs.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 7 Len: 6 Bruno: 7

Total: 20/30

Celebrity: Rick Fox
Professional Partner: Cheryl Burke

Dance: Samba

Breakdown: This story is definitely something Rick can relate to: he just cost his team the game and now everyone wants nothing to do with him. He’s at the bar alone when he gets the attention of a girl. Carrie Ann thought it was hot and sexy, and it nearly rendered her speechless. The judges and audiences were so into it, completely feeling his sexiness and performance.

Scores: Carrie Ann: 8 Len: 8 Bruno: 8

Total: 24/30

Overall, the scores were much higher this week. The weaker contestants have been eliminated, but there were still a couple low points this week with Margaret Cho and The Situation. Tune in to the live elimination show tomorrow night at 9/8c on ABC to see who goes home.

(Image courtesy of ABC)

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