Credit: Rodney Ho
Credit: Rodney Ho
Antonio Sabato Jr. has been confounding on 'Dancing With the Stars" because he looks like he'd be a gazelle on the dance floor.
Instead, he often looked like my bulldog: stiff, flat footed, a bit unsure of where he needed to be. It's amazing he even finished eighth tonight.
But alas, that leaves two inferior dancers Michael Waltrip and Tommy Chong, both with lower average scores through seven weeks than Sabato.
Chong is a fan favorite, just a fun presence at age 72. He is clearly not going to get much better and received deserved 7s for his quickstep tonight after receiving the same scores last week for his foxtrot. It's only a matter of time before he goes home.
Then there's the curious case of Waltrip. His NASCAR fans are keeping him around but he has also peaked - and not at a terribly high level. Last week, he did get his first 8 and three 7s, a very generous score in my mind but he wasn't horrid. Tonight may do him with the vote next week. It's hard to see his fans being able to prop up four 5's week seven after a crazy bad jive. I can't recall someone getting this low of a score this far into the competition. (It's possible but I'd have to do some serious research.)
I get a sense he would be happy to just go home next Monday. Judge Len Goodman, gone for a month, was clearly shocked Waltrip was still around - and for good reason.
Otherwise, the big surprise was Bethany Moto rising to the top of the leaderboard tonight with her first 10s and a 9 for an exceptional paso doble. She was followed by Alfonso Ribeiro, Lea Thompson and Janel Parrish. Sadie Robertson had her weakest dance to date, garnering just two 8s and two 7s, finishing fifth. Janel also underperformed, relatively speaking.
Quick summaries of each dance:
Tommy Chong
Dance: Quickstep
My take: He is surprisingly spry with the quick steps and he makes it as good as he can.
Judges: Len Goodman, who is back, said he did well given how tough the quickstep can be. Carrie Ann said he got offtempo at times despite the fact he did a good routine.
Scores: 7s across the board: 28 (sixth place)
Lea Thompson
Dance: Argentine Tango
My take: She brought a serious of purpose and some real dance skills.
Judges: Julianne said she is so precise and sticks it every time. She says she needs to have a little more fun. Bruno: "Efficient, accurate, great shapes and just the right touch of evil." Len said it lacked chemistry but very clean.
Scores: Two 8s (Carrie Ann, Len) and two 9's (Julianne, Bruno): 34 (third place)
Bethany Moto
Dance: Paso doble
My take: She has such a huge advantage having Derek Hough doing the choreography and being her partner. (In comparison, Lea suffers in comparison with Artem.) It was a fun, exciting, dramatic, drum-based performance.
Judges: Bruno: "Absolutely fantastic!" Carrie Ann: "Fascinating. Every week, you morph into a new being." Len: "Spectacular" but felt dance got swallowed up in the theatrics.
Scores: 10s from three judges, 9 from Len: 39 (first place)
Antonio Sabato Jr.
Dance: Viennese Waltz ("I Put a Spell On You" - Nina Simone)
My take: He wasn't bad but it's hard to keep your eyes off Cheryl Burke, his partner, who is mesmerizing.
Judges: Carrie Ann: "I don't think the spell worked... It makes me uncomfortable watching you." Len: "It was a bit hectic at times... It was okay." Julianne: "First 10-11 bars, you were just walking and posing. I wanted to see more."
Scores: 6 from Carrie Ann, 7s from the others: 27 (seventh place)
Michael Waltrip
Dance: Jive ("The Devil Went Down to Georgia")
My take: The devil definitely got his feet. His partner tried to dumb it down the best she could but his footwork was atrocious. He was almost never on the beat and it was easily the worst seventh-week dance in my memory.
Judges: Len: "I'm equally surprised you made it to week seven. On driving terms, you're running on empty." Julianne: "That was kind of a nightmare. You have to know... You try your hardest." Bruno: "There wasn't any jive. You broke the record for being off time." Carrie Ann: "I want you to do better. This was a great freestyle but it was supposed to be a jive."
Scores: 5s across the board: 20 (last place)
Janel Parrish
Dance: Viennese Waltz ("Secret" The Pierces)
My take: Great "Pretty Little Liars" thematic, solid dancing from my vantage point.
Judges: Julianne: "Only thing I was missing was a proper Viennese Waltz." Bruno: "You get caught into the role but must continue a line into space." Carrie Ann: "I liked your fluidity of motion." Len agreed with Julianne.
Scores: 8s from three judges, 7 from Len: 31 (fourth place)
Alfonso Ribeiro
Dance: Rumba ("Ghost" Ella Henderson)
My take: Pretty and clean, if kind of boring.
Judges: Carrie Ann: "I am so impressed. The integrity of this routine. Your hip action was ridiculous. The magic is happening." Len: "It was a proper rumba."
Scores: 9s across the board: 36 (second place)
Sadie Robertson
Dance: Paso Doble ("Come With Me Now' The Kongos)
My take: Mark Ballas put together a vastly entertaining routine with ghouls and goblins. Technically, it looked okay to me but what do I know?
Judges: Carrie Ann: "I found the movement style to be very up when the paso has to do with the character. I wanted to see more power. You were off balance." Len: "The theme got in the way of the dance." Julianne: "There was content there."
Scores: Carrie Ann and Len give 7s, Julianne and Bruno give 8s. 30 (fifth place)
Freestyle (Bethany, Janel, Michael, Lea)
My take: To "Black Widow," the quartet had a good ol' time. Even Michael seemed to enjoy himself and did a decent job.
Judges: Len: "Great routine." Julianne: "You were the lady killers." Bruno: "You killed that number!"
Scores: 9s across the board. 36
Freestyle (Tommy, Antonio, Alfonso, Sadie)
My take: To "Time Warp," the foursome made me love "Rocky Horror" all over again. Lots of personality.
Judges: Julianne: "As a group, out of sync." Bruno: "I love the energy. I love the fun." Carrie Ann: "I like how unique this is."
Scores: 8s across the board, 32
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