by Gina Scarpa

 

Last night's episode of Dancing With The Stars was all about guilty pleasures and things appropriately got started with Hanson's performance of "Mmm Bop". How much money do you think they'd pay to never have to sing that again? Afterwards, it was straight to the performances and here's how they went...

 

Couple: Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Style: Samba
Scores: 8 + 9 + 9 = 26
The rehearsal footage showed Kirstie getting increasingly stressed, emotional, and panicked. Maks conducts a therapy session to get her head back in it, which seems to work. When they hit the floor, it's clear Kirstie is on top of her game. She's moving the best she has yet and hopefully, she'll continue on this path. Len said it best when he said that she's finally reached the potential that he saw way back in week one.

 

Couple: Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Style: Tango
Scores: 7 + 8 + 7 = 22
Seems that stress is prevalent in the rehearsal studios this week. The celebs put way too much pressure on themselves to learn it as fast as possible and be perfect. The pair had great costumes and a great song (Journey's "Don't Stop Believin'") but the number itself just fell flat. The choreography was slow and there was no excitement. Chris was hoping for his best scores yet but it's clear after the judges are done with them that that wasn't happening.

 

Couple: Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Style: Waltz
Scores: 10 + 9 + 9 = 28
I'm a big fan of Romeo and Chelsie and believe they have what it takes to get to the end. In order to do that though, they need to be great at everything - from exciting dances like the jive to more romantic dances like the waltz. Dancing to "My Heart Will Go On", they seemed like the ideal couple out there on the dance floor. He can give a little more facially but otherwise, this dance felt near perfect - and the scores were near perfect too!

 

Couple: Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Style: Quickstep
Scores: 10 + 9 + 9 = 28
If there's one couple who isn't stressing, it's Chelea and Mark. They seem to be having way too much fun during their rehearsal time... but they still need to work! On the dance floor, it's clear they have time for both. Their quickstep was absolutely adorable and should be the encore performance during the elimination episode. Bruno tried to criticize them for one minor mistake but the other two had nothing but great things to say.

 

Couple: Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Style: Samba
Scores: 8 + 8 +9 = 25
Kendra shouldn't have a problem shakin' a tailfeather for this samba routine with Louis. In fact, it's probably a good thing that they got this dance style because Kendra just needs to relax and have fun on the dance floor. In this performance, it seemed like she finally got there. Let's forgive the little stumble they had towards the end - she deserved those good scores! On a side note, how cute was her husband Hank cheering for her?

 

Couple: Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Style: Viennese waltz
Scores: 9 + 9 + 9 = 27
Hines hits the dance floor following a strong waltz by Chelsie and Romeo. Truth be told though, I actually enjoyed this one better. Hines has so much charisma when he performs and a great connection with Kym. Bruno points out that chemistry as well... seems it's apparent to everyone in the room! Len pays Hines a big compliment when he names him the MVP Partner and calls him "second to none".

 

Couple: Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Style: Paso Doble
Scores: 8 + 8 + 8 = 24
The problem with Ralph this season is that he has his up and down moments. From one week to the next, it's never clear how things will go. This week, he's somewhere in the middle.  He does the choreography well but Ralph lacks the explosive power that he needs in order to succeed.  It also doesn't help that Karina tumbled to the ground halfway through.  The judges were encouraging, especially since they appreciate how quickly the two got back into it.

 

Be sure to tune in to find out which couple is eliminated on Dancing With The Stars, tonight at 9/8c on ABC.

 

(Image courtesy of ABC)

 

 

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