Jennifer Grey continues to be the belle of the ballroom, even with Sarah Palin in the audience.
"Bristol the Pistol's" hockey mom was in the front row at Dancing With the Stars tonight to cheer her on, and the leaderboard indeed showed evidence of a Palin bump. But it's a certain Dirty Dancing favorite who keeps stealing the show.
And getting more naked.
Actually, Jennifer scored the exact same thing as last week, but the judges couldn't have been more effusive with their praise. We were expecting 9's, the way they carried on, but three 8's were as generous as they got.
Jennifer's jive wasn't perfect (though her body might be), but it's obvious that Derek Hough isn't holding back with the choreography, throwing every trick in the book at the 50-year-old actress in only the second week of competition, no holds barred.
As usual, the judges praise and slams weren't always good predictors of what their paddles would say.
Oh, Kyle Massey, how we do still love thee after your bouncy, commanding quickstep. But we are also officially labeling Audrina Patridge a dark horse in this competition, and not just because Bruno said the "show pony is turning into Secretariat."
Her quickstep was energetic and precise, and she resembled Melissa Rycroft out there—graceful, delicate and dressed in sparkly blue.
Speaking of reality TV, The Situation still couldn't quite hack it...but his quickstep was better than his cha-cha. He's sloppy around the edges—it's due to Karina Smirnoff that he doesn't look like a total disaster—but he's still so much more likable on this show than on Jersey Shore.
We kinda hate to see him have to go back to that full time.
Bristol Palin, meanwhile, kept her nerves in check even though mama bear was in the audience and continued to represent. Her quickstep wasn't as polished as Audrina's, but she's just as enjoyable to watch—if not more so.
So, how did the rest of the pack do?
• Brandy is supposed to be bursting out of the pack any time now... but not this week. Maybe it was the distracting Clueless knee socks, but there was something clunky about her jive. Plus, she and Maksim Chmerkovskiy don't have any chemistry yet. You would think calling him an a-hole backstage would've helped, but no. And because of all her so-called potential, "OK from [Brandy] is not good enough," Bruno Tonioli noted. Though Carrie Ann Inaba was doling out 7's like it was going out of style, we much preferred Rick Fox's jive, full of rhythm and power. Now there's a nice hunk o' man.
• Kurt Warner did a better job equaling his fellow athlete this week, looking way more comfortable jiving than waltzing. He doesn't have the same natural ease about him that Rick has, though.
• At times during her quickstep, Florence Henderson looked like a retired ballroom pro, back for a spotlight spin around the floor. And at other times...not. We sincerely hope Corky Ballas isn't giving her less than she can handle. She moves faster than Michael Bolton, anyway. The 57-year-old singer inspired a judges' spat, with Len Goodman telling a hateful Bruno, who said he thought it was the show's worst jive ever, that he should keep some comments to himself.
"We have a 3?" Tom Bergeron said incredulously when Bolton's Gosselinesque score was announced.
• Margaret Cho, who really can dance as it turns out, in no way deserved a lower score than Florence and the same score as The Situation. Based on comparison to last week alone, the comedian's jive was in a different league.
Here's how the leaderboard stacked up:
Jennifer Grey & Derek Hough: 24
Audrina Patridge & Tony Dovolani: 23
Bristol Palin & Mark Ballas: 22
Kyle Massey & Lacey Schwimmer: 22
Brandy & Maksim Chmerkovskiy: 21
Kurt Warner & Anna Trebunskaya: 21
Rick Fox & Cheryl Burke: 21
Florence Henderson & Corky Ballas: 19
Margaret Cho & Louis van Amstel: 18
The Situation & Karina Smirnoff: 18
Michael Bolton & Chelsie Hightower: 12
Seal and Janelle Monáe perform on Tuesday's results show, and then one more celeb is going home.
Whose time do you think has come? Meaning, who do you want to see outta the competition tomorrow, and who are you hoping to see more of? Discuss in the comments section!
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