Dancing With the Stars: Week 5

            This week the producers broke Dancing With the Stars into two nights of competition, and thus there is no elimination on week five. Their scores and viewer votes will carry over into next week. There are only eight couples left on the show and there is no room for mediocre dancing. In addition to stepping up the difficulty of the routines, this week each couple had to perform two dances; one was a “guilty pleasure” (to a song that is their guilty pleasure) and a team free-style.

            Even the weakest of the dancers showed great improvement this week, however there were disagreements on the judges’ panel. The judges noticed marked improvements in Kirstie Alley, especially in her lines and how she held her carriage. The judges commented on the sexiness of Apollo Anto Ohno, but Carrie Ann said she just hadn’t seen a standout dance from him yet. The judges said Melissa Rycroft showed a different side of herself, a more gritty personality in her dance.

            My two favorite dancers performed the same style this week, but with a different sort of take. Gilles Marini and Peta performed a sexy and sensual rumba to “I Will Always Love You” on Monday night and Carrie Ann called it the baby maker and was so excited about the dance she fell out of her seat. I was excited about the dance, but not physically moved. Shawn Johnson and Derek performed a flowing and dramatic rumba to “My Heart Will Go On.” During rehearsals Shawn said she has trouble showing emotion and was worried about this dance, however she put her insecurities aside and showed great vulnerability. Their dance showcased great story telling with Derek slipping under a platform at the end to represent Leo slipping below the water at the end of Titanic.

            If someone were to get eliminated this week I would say it should be Kirstie. She clearly has the least dance ability of any of the celebrities, which is not to say that she has none because she does have talent. The rest of the competitors just have a little more fire in their bellies and bounce in their step. Kirstie has a lot of fan support, so in light of that I think the eliminated dancer would be Kelly Monaco. She landed on the bottom of the leaderboard. She has been struggling with a very tight schedule, but that’s no excuse for slowed improvement.