Last week, Dancing with the Stars had its first mildly shocking result of season 18 as teen heartthrob Cody Simpson was eliminated. He earned solid scores from the judges and was above three other stars on the leaderboard, but the viewer votes weren’t there.
This week, as the remaining eight couples head in Party Anthem week, the elimination should be obvious. Last week’s leaderboard saw a massive divide between the top seven couples and the one in last place. Seven points separated last place from second-to-last, which translates into roughly 2.5 percent of the public vote. Will that be enough?
DEFINITELY SAFE
The Top 5 couples remain the obvious frontrunners. James Maslow earned the first perfect score of the season last week while Danica McKellar was one point away from perfection. Charlie White and Amy Purdy also got a 10 from one judge. Meryl Davis had a bit of a slip, but still remains in good position. As I’ve said before, I will be shocked if they aren’t the final five.
IN DANGER
That only leaves three couples in danger. NeNe Leakes had a good week (tying Meryl Davis, in fact), and her emotional breakdown may have earned her some sympathy votes. But she still seems unlikeable and may not win over the viewers. Candace Cameron Bure remains near the bottom of the leaderboard after her first week success and is certainly heading in a downward direction. But she managed to overcome being at the bottom of the leaderboard last week.
Then there’s Drew Carey. He’s obviously the worst dancer and his incredibly low score compared to everyone else puts him in serious jeopardy. He will have to beat someone else by at least 2.5 percent of the viewer vote to remain safe, which is a tall order. The fact that he performed first last week could also hurt him.
MY PREDICTION
I predict that Drew Carey and Cheryl Burke will be eliminated. Despite my belief before the season began that he could be a serious contender, like Bill Engvall, the competition is too stiff this season. Not counting Cody Simpson, last week Candace Cameron Bure was the only star to get less than a 9 from any judge (and even she got three 9s with one 8). Meanwhile, Drew got four 7s. That gap is just too big to overcome, as far as I’m concerned.
Dancing with the Stars airs Monday at 8pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
