Dancing With the Stars – It’s the semi-finals, and one star shows some major gains

Well, we’ve made it to the Dancing With the Stars semi-finals! And what do the stars face this week? Three dances! Lifts! And a relay round that can turn the leaderboard on its ear. We saw odd behvaior from Maks putting on a phony happy face, an injury that had a big impact on J.R.’s dancing and scores, newfound confidence from Ricki, and Mr. Rob Kardashian … whom I predicted would have been out of the running more than a few times by this point … has finally come into his own, turning in not one, not two, but three spectacular performances. Let’s have a quick recap of what the judges and I thought of the dancing, shall we?

Round 1:
Hope & Maks, Paso Doble — Hope was forceful, aggressive, sexy, and she looked great! Len said she had the attitude, but lost control and finesse while trying to stay in character. Bruno said she was unchained and untamed, but a little bit of control. Carrie Ann said Hope nailed the character, but lost shape in hold because the character took over, and her grace and fluidity suffered. Score: 21

J.R. & Karina, Paso Doble — Not particularly strong or aggressive, J.R. looked a little out of sorts because of his ankle injruy in rehearsal, twisted his ankle again while dancing. Bruno felt the thrill and excitement, but did not have good posture due to the ankle. Carrie Ann agreed the ankle affected his posture, and he also had uncertain pauses. Len said it is what it is, but this dance didn’t suit J.R. Tom tried to help J.R. out by interjecting that he looked like he was covering for the injury, but Len said he has to judge on what he saw. Score: 23

Rob & Cheryl, Samba — Good footwork, very energetic, fun, bizarre opening on a Carnivale float, lots of booty shakin’. Carrie Ann: “Who are you? What was that? Holy cow!” Fluid, fantastic, great musicality, didn’t miss a step. Len said when Rob was shaking his maracas on the float, he thought “oh no,” but when he got on the floor it was “oh, yes!” Bruno told Rob he was exceeding all expectations. Score: 28, his first 10 and highest score yet.

Ricki & Derek, Samba — Fun, vibrant, footwork looked good to me, but was it enough for Len? Len: “Fabulous, fabulous, fabulous,” a giant step into the finals. Bruno said the dance was sizzling hot and brilliant. Carrie Annsaid the technique made for success as Ricki fought to keep her shoulders down. Score: 30, best score yet … and Ricki didn’t think she had done well at all.

Round 2 — Argentine Tango
Hope & Maks — Very good, sexy, great lifts and dips. Len: far better than the paso, clean lifts, well done. Bruno: sexy, some better rapport with Maks, more controlled. Carrie Ann: more fluid and they worked well together, but the ins and outs of the lifts not that smooth, but the lifts were ambitious. Score: 24

J.R. & Karina — A sultry, slow burn, and aggressive, but J.R. was not happy after the dance because of the pain throwing him off his game. Bruno: strong, fearless, incredible job, beautiful sexual interplay. Carrie Ann: there is a true fire burning that connected them in this dance of passion, mounts amd dismounts were commanded very well. Len: it had mood, intensity … well done. Score: 27

Rob & Cheryl — Very clean, sharp and intense, great lifts. Carrie Ann said one cannot fake good dancing, and there was no faking involved in this dance. Len told Rob it’s not where you start, it’s where you finish, and he is finishing strong. Bruno: slick, dark, in control, working well with Cheryl and not hiding behind her, looking great. Score: 27

Ricki & Derek — Amazing lifts, Ricki looked light as a feather, sharp lines, crisp footwork, simply terrific. Len: a lovely contrast of movement, the lifts effortlessly swept in and swept out, all really good. Bruno: spot on and peerless. Carrie Ann: Ricki has developed a core strength that’s adding to her performances, she always had the skill, now she has the pop. Score: 29

Round 3 — Cha-cha Relay – Each team danced one after the other so the judges could compare them virtually side-by-side. Scoring would be 10, 8, 6 and 4 after they compared notes and delberated. Ricki and Derek led off and she did extremely well. Hope and Maks followed but you could see a stark contrast, especially in Hope’s arms which were just a bit too loose. J.R. was next and he looked to be grimacing a few times, probably holding back a bit because of his ankle. Rob closed out the round with a spectacular routine that is going to give Ricki a run for her money. The judges’ scores:

• Ricki: 8, with 67 total for the night
• Hope: 4, with 49 total
• J.R.: 6, with 56 total
• Rob: 10, with 65 total

So who are you rooting for to be in the finals? Based on tonight’s dances, I’m calling a final three of Ricki, J.R. and Rob. Hope has had a good routine here and there, but she’s never been consistent or shown any real growth. Rob, has steadily improved from week to week, going from the goofball little brother of the reality TV “stars” to a man truly focused on the task at hand (in no small part due to Cheryl’s coaching). After calling him out a few times, I truly believe he deserves to be in the finals with Ricki and J.R. Will the voters feel the same way? Will J.R.’s injury cause him to drop out? Tune in to the results show for answers. And remember, next week’s show is only an hour before the two-hour finale extravaganza on Tuesday. Be sure to let us know what you think in the comments section below!

“Wow, it’s the new Stepford Maks.” — Tom Bergeron responding to Maks’ obviously phony smiles and attitude

“It was more zero than Zorro.” — Len Goodman, after J.R.’s Paso Doble

“I don’t want to break Derek.” — Ricki, worried about lifts in rehearsal

“If you think of Ballroom Tango as a husband with his wife, think about the Argentine Tango as a husband with his girlfriend.” — Len Goodman
“Aha. Alrighty. Kids … it’s bedtime.” — Tom Bergeron

Clacked by Chuck Duncan
on Nov 14, 2011 @ 23:02 EST5EDT