In week 8 of Dancing with the Stars, the contestants battled for a spot in the semifinals, each with an individual dance and an Instant Dance. JR Martinez tops the leaderboard with a perfect total score of 60, and we know Nancy Grace is likely to be eliminated. The judges were doling out high praise and scores, until they got to Nancy Grace, who danced 4th. They feel it’s time for her to go, and Len even came straight out with that sentiment. Read on.
For their Instant Dance all the couples had to dance a jive, with the celebrities picking envelopes at random containing a CD with the name of their song. They do not know the song beforehand, they’ve only rehearsed their choreography without the benefit of the music. It’s up to the pros to adapt the choreography to the song and the celebrites must learn it instantly. Actually they had about an hour to learn it before they had to take the stage.
Rob Kardashian kicked the night off with a quickstep and received nice praise from all the judges, particularly from his ardent admirer Carrie Ann, who called him the dream contestant. Bruno commended him for finally knowing what to do with his ‘bum’ on the dance floor. Rob received his highest score so far. For their instant jive, the song was “Maneater” (I will refrain from making the obvious joke about his sis, it’s just too easy). Once again, nice praise from the judges for his kicks and flicks and Carrie Ann marveled at his control on the dance floor.
Hope Solo promised we would see a more relaxed dynamic between her and partner Maks, and she delivered. Her quickstep received all thumbs up with Len calling it her best dance of the competition. He's actually said that before. Carrie Ann forced a hug on her, saying she saw the joy and love. She picked “The Best Damn Thing” for her instant jive. Viewers may recall her botched jive from week 2, which should have got her booted, but this time she was able to pull it off. Len gave them the highest score of the three with a 9, which earned him a kiss from sparring partner Maks.
Ricki Lake’s waltz impressed the judges but as much as Len wants to give her a 10, he can’t. Until, he says, she improves her footwork, which is just a little off at times. Carrie Ann and Bruno were more supportive, saying it was beautifully executed with ‘delicious dreamy artistic detail.’ Ricki scored a 10 from Bruno. Her instant jive song was “Land of 1000 Dances,” but this time she fell short. All the judges agreed some sections of the jive were ‘off.’
Nancy pulled off a pretty decent tango and they judges were very kind, but that kindness was not apparent in their scores. They said she did a great job, but whereas everyone else was getting 9s handed out like candy, the most they gave Nancy was an 8. Then it was time for her instant jive and things really went downhill. Her song was “Upside Down” and quite fittingly, she threw in a surprise cartwheel at the end. The judges weren’t impressed. Len literally said ‘Like Cinderella, it’s midnight and time to go home.’
JR’s waltz was the highlight of the night. Bruno called it a ‘musical valentine card’ and Carrie Ann saw magic on the dance floor. Len said he came back from last week like a good soldier with ‘all guns blazing.’ He lucked out with his instant jive song “Tutti Frutti” and his performance set the audience and judges on fire. He scored a perfect score of 30 for each dance. Check out the video of his waltz below.
The leaderboard below lists the individual dance plus the instant jive score with the total for the night.
JR & Karina 30 + 30 = 60
Ricki & Derek 28 + 24 = 52
Hope & Maks 27 +25 = 52
Rob & Cheryl 27 + 24 = 51
Nancy & Tristan 24 + 20 = 44
I think we’re looking at JR, Rick, Hope and Rob in the semifinals, and from there JR, Ricki and Rob in the finals. But I could be way off. Stranger things have happened, especially on DWTS.
On the Results Show, FloRida and Andrea Bocelli will be the musical guests. All of the female pros will perform a pro dance together to Jordin Sparks’ “I Am Woman”. Jordin is not appearing. This pro dance is being choreographed by Jaquel Knight, who choreographed Beyonce’s “Single Ladies” music video. Catch the results and say goodbye to one couple (Nancy & Tristan) on the next the Dancing with the Stars Results Show Tuesday, November 8 at 9 p.m. (ET) on ABC.
