We don’t get a lot of Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars in week 7, but at least they’re packing a lot into the single performance show. Hopefully that will be enough to get us through a day of voting that has nothing to do with dance (probably). Check out all of the DWTS week 7 performances in this recap!
What will we get to see before celebrity dancing vanishes in favor of the democratic process? Tonight, each of the remaining couples will perform a fusion dance — a performance that incorporates two separate styles. On top of that, the celebrities and pros will compete in a swing dance marathon in the hope of getting some extra points.
And everyone is staying. Until next week, anyway. There’s a good chance that the eliminations are going to get brutal after this brief reprieve.
So let’s get to it!
Because we don’t get to watch it tomorrow, the performance show begins with a Latin-conglomeration dance by the pros. It’s all professional and stuff. As you would expect.
Apparently, you can be a good person tonight and donate to a fundraiser for victims of Hurricane Sandy. There are numbers and websites and stuff. But my feed wasn’t so great and I didn’t catch them. Sorry.
1-800-HELP-NOW
Although honestly, it’s via the Red Cross. So you can just give money there if you don’t need to make ABC feel better about itself.
Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the cha-cha/paso doble
My Comments: I’m suddenly realizing that my ignorance of specific dance steps is going to be a major liability here. So I guess I’ll just talk about what it looks like. Apolo and Karina have what looks to be a definitely tricky dance here. They don’t seem to have the enthusiasm we saw last week, and there are a couple of points where they got out of sync. But on the whole, this is a great dance that really does seem like both a paso doble and a cha-cha
Judges’ Comments
Len: “There was nothing safe about this — you came out and really attacked this.”
Bruno: “I tell you, you should be in Twilight.” “Triumphant, wonderful.”
Carrie Ann: “It’s amazing to see you’re still pushing yourself this way.” “It started off strong and it ended stronger.”
Scores: 9+9+9 = 27
Oh Brooke Burke-Charvet… You’re pretty, but you might want to pay more attention to the math.
Wait, they’re doing political attack ads within Dancing with the Stars now too? There’s no escape!!!
Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the rumba/samba
My Comments: My but they are pink tonight!
Some of the transitions between the smooth rumba and the fun samba look a little forced, but the actual dancing is really quite lovely. Emmitt seems to be having a lot of fun and isn’t quite as overshadowed by Cheryl as he is in some dances. This particular couple may be helped out a bit by an excellent music choice.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “I don’t think I could have done it as good as that.”
Bruno: “Ever ready and always on it! I’m telling you, that was a smooth and balanced blend.”
Carrie Ann: “What was challenging about that — and what I really applaud you on — was the going back and forth.”
Scores: 8.5+9.5+9.5 = 27.5
In case you wondered about how they were going to make up for this week’s lack of elimination, there will indeed be a double elimination in week 8. Also, the cast of Newsies will perform.
These two things are only marginally related.
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the quickstep/samba
My Comments: Darn. For a second there, I thought Maks was going to dance in a suit of armor. That would have been amazing. Also, probably impossible.
Although not particularly fast, the quickstep looks sharp and fun. I was thinking that there wasn’t much samba, until they suddenly went into it with a solo. Kirstie seems to be having trouble with this Latin part. She seems more hesitant than she did with the quickstep anyway.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “The quickstep had go, and the samba had some show in it.” “I thought it was an admirable effort.”
Bruno:”Only you can turn Cinderella into a stripper.” “The quickstep wasn’t bad at all.”
Carrie Ann: “I think you just sort of lost yourself in that dance.” “The quickstep was nice, but I feel like the samba just fell apart.”
Scores: 8+8+8 = 24
Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the cha-cha/foxtrot
My Comments: Wow. They get a working fountain for their dance? Fancy!
The dance begins with an almost skipping look to it. Very cute and appropriate for these dancers. The cha-cha, while also excellent, doesn’t have quite the “perfect” feel to it. Probably because it doesn’t fit the music the way the foxtrot did.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “You captured of the foxtrot with the crispness of the cha-cha-cha.” “There was a little incident early on in the foxtrot.”
Bruno:”You’ve got that booty working overtime!” “Great improvement — well done.”
Carrie Ann: “It’s how you recovered that was so amazing.”
Scores: 9+9+9 = 27
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani
Dancing the tango/cha-cha
My Comments: This one isn’t slow. Not at all. It seems to be combining the drama of th tango with the speed of the cha-cha. Ooh! And Melissa does a crazy quick-change! I’m honestly not sure how she did that. The footwork occasionally looks like it might be confused. But only occasionally. Otherwise, this is a great one.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “The tango and cha-cha-cha were beautifully defined.” “That’s a proper fusion.”
Bruno:”That transition — I thought Beyonce all of the sudden came out here!” “You turn me on!”
Carrie Ann: “Tonight, you are a star!”
Scores: 10+9.5+9.5 = 29
Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas (replacing an injured Derek Hough)
Dancing the tango/paso doble
My Comments: Fire!!!
This one is so fast it starts off like a bit of a sprint. And it’s angry. Super angry. I suppose that’s what you get when you mix the tango and the paso doble. This doesn’t have perfect musicality, but everything else about it does seem perfect. And the musicality isn’t so very bad either.
The crazy spins and flips at the end were pretty much amazing.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “That was a firecracker — the tango was the fizz, and then the paso doble was the explosion.”
Bruno:”The Queen of the Night! As fusions go, that was flawless!”
Carrie Ann: “What the… WOOOOOO!” “That was a fusion!”
Scores: 10+10+10 = 30
Wow. Shawn Johnson is actually out of breath. That might be a first.
Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd
Dancing the Argentine tango/samba
My Comments: For a second, I thought we were getting something classical. But nope. It’s a disco-y thing.
This is certainly passionate and intense. It doesn’t seem to have quite as much dancing as some of the performances we have seen tonight. On the other hand, it has at least as much stripping as any two dances put together.
And I would honestly believe it of Gilles and Peta went and got a room after this — it is that sexy.
Judges’ Comments
Len: “Well done!” (he also said “nipping” a lot)
Bruno:”That’s how we do it the South-American way!” “Great, great present, great command.”
Carrie Ann: “I still those little arm thingies that are going on with you.” “I did think it was a fantastic fusion.”
Scores: 9.5+9.5+9.5 = 28.5
While everyone is getting changed for the swing-dance marathon, an AT&T spotlight performance is up — some of the pros are dancing with a bunch of younger dancers from Utah. If you don’t watch So You Think You Can Dance (and you should — at least one of the young dancers — Witney Carson — was on the show this summer), you may not know exactly how many ballroom dancers come from that state. It’s almost terrifying at times.
Swing-Dance Marathon
They’re all going to dance at the same time — and then the judges will eliminate couples one by one. The elimination order determines the number of points each couple gets to add to the earlier scores.
Elimination Order:
1. Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy — 4 points added
2. Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd — 5 points added
3. Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff — 6 points added
4. Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke — 7 points added
5. Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas — 8 points added
6. Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy — 9 points added
7. Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani — 10 points added
And that’s it for tonight. That’s also it for the whole week, seeing as there are not any eliminations this week. Which dances were your favorite? Did you enjoy the marathon? How do you feel about all of the double eliminations this season? Leave your comments below!
(Images courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
Laurel grew up in Mamaroneck, NY, Grosse Pointe, MI and Bellevue WA. She then went on to live in places like Boston, Tucson, Houston, Wales, Tanzania, Prince Edward Island and New York City before heading back to Seattle. Ever since early childhood, when she became addicted to The Muppet Show, Laurel has watched far too much TV. Current favorites include Chuck, Modern Family, Supernatural, Mad Men and Community. Laurel received a BA in Astrophysics (yes, that is possible) from Colgate University and a PhD in Middle Eastern Studies and History of Science from Columbia University before she realized that television is much better than studying.
