It was an ‘80s fest on Dancing with the Stars last night, complete with big hair, classic hits and The Bangles. The costumes were a mixture of 80s prom dresses and Billy Idol and Madonna’s best looks. If you didn’t mind the house band singers not doing justice to some of the classics, then overall it was a fun night. But not for Ricki Lake, who's bad '80s move cost her first place.
So how about all dances? Hope Solo horse galloped tango’d to "Living on a Prayer." Len panned it but Carrie Ann and Bruno liked it. Carson Kressley was so fun as usual, jiving to "Wake Me Up Before You Go Go", but the judges commented he still lacked technique. Carson bottoms out with a 19. Nancy Grace’s rumba to "True", one of the greatest 80s ballads, was so good and Bruno thought it was one of her best performances. The crowd and judges went wild for JR Martinez's samba to "Conga." Bruno said ‘there was “so much fire down below like a volcano.' Enough said. Rob Kardashian’s rumba to "Hello" showed that he can be a leading man on the dance floor and Carrie Ann thought he was sexy as heck.
Chaz Bono’s samba to "Get Down On It" was 'the most dancing he’s done' said a very pleased Carrie Ann and Len thought it was a gallant effort. David Arquette’s tango to “Tainted Love” was a tango with a rebel yell said Bruno, but Carrie still thinks he lacks musicality. Ricki Lake’s foxtrot to "She’s An Easy Lover" didn’t go over as well as it could have. The foxtrot itself was fine, if only they stuck to it. But Bruno and Carrie Ann didn’t like the thrown in roger rabbit move, especially since she didn’t do it well (for the record the one she did in rehearsal was pretty good.) They fall to 3rd place. Here’s how the couples stack up:
Week 5 Leaderboard
- JR Martinez & Karina Smirnoff 28
- Robert Kardashian & Cheryl Burke 25
- David Arquette & Kym Johnson 25
- Ricki Lake & Derek Hough 24
- Hope Solo & Maks Chmerkovskiy 24
- Nancy Grace & Tristan MacManus 22
- Chaz Bono & Lacey Schwimmer 21
- Carson Kressley & Lacey Schwimmer 19
So given the recent controversy of untimely eliminations of good dancers, how much will these scores really matter? As Carson said “it’s up to America.” I think the judges are reacting to the controversy, because they underscored 3 very popular contestants, Carson, Nancy and Chaz. And I say popular because while their techniques fall short of the others, they keep surviving each week. I think this is the judges way of trying to weed them out, thinking if the gap is too wide, the fans won’t be able to close it. We’ll find out tonight if the bottom three of the leaderboard can hang on, and will another good dancer be sent home?
Dancing with the Stars Results Show airs tonight, Tuesday, October 18 at 9 p.m. (ET) on ABC.
