Dancing With the Stars: Week 7

            Better late than never, right? I’m a little off on my blogging this week due to the election and so is Dancing With the Stars. There was no elimination this week due to coverage of election results. The scores from this week will be carried over to next week and will combine to decide the double elimination. As this is an off week, the duos tried something new. They took on fusion dances, which combine two styles into one song. I wasn’t a big fan of the dances and I think that’s because the couples had to cram so much into one routine and there was so much to focus on. My favorites this week were Melissa Rycroft and Tony’s Tango-Cha Cha and Shawn Johnson and Mark’s Tango-Paso. Both seamlessly combined their dance styles with nice alternation.

            The swing dance marathon played a large role in the scores this week. Each couple got extra points between four and ten depending on the order in which they were tapped out. Melissa and Tony won and added ten points to their score. Surprisingly, Kelly Monaco and Val came in second. The two couples had more stamina than any of the others. I thought Shawn and Mark were going to pull off the win with their tricks, but it appears they did too much too soon and their pace started to lag. They finished in third. Kirstie Alley was the first to go.

            I know Kirstie Alley has a lot of fans out there, but I’m not sure if she can come back from scoring 11 points less than the leader and five points less than her nearest competitor. There is no elimination this week, but the low scoring trend with Kirstie will bring her time on the show to an end eventually. She has gotten much better as the weeks have gone on. Not only is her footwork becoming cleaner, but she is in better shape. In the first half of the season she appeared to be struggling to keep up with the music and her feet were a tad slow. That is not the case anymore as she is able to keep up and isn’t struggling with the music. 

            There are a couple of others in my questionable category for continuing on with the competition. Emmitt Smith’s scores have been mid to low in the past, but this week he stepped up his dancing. However, he landed in the middle of the pack again when his fusion score was combined with his swing marathon total. I’m not sure if he has enough fans to pull him through. Sure football fans and the state of Texas are voting for him, but those Lone Star voters may be dividing their votes between him and the other Texan, Melissa. Kelly Monaco did score higher this week than she had in the past, but I’m not sure if the soap opera fans have enough might to pull her through. Two celebrities will be eliminated next week and it really is anyone’s game. Last week, Sabrina Bryan scored the highest of any of the dancers and she was still eliminated. So, the fan vote really does make all the difference.