This week featured team week on DWTS with special judge Donnie Burns. After the results show from last week, the top to point getters picked teams. Hines and Chelsea were the top two and were captains. Hines won the toss and selected Kirstie Alley first and then Kendra. Now, if you’ve been following any of my postings, you know that I feel that these two ladies are two of the weakest dancers left in this competition. You’d think that he drafted the way the Patriots did over the past weekend. But not so fast…
Sometimes when others look bad around you, you can stand out a little bit more than the others. Also, those two ladies exude a charisma similar to what Hines does when on the dance floor. I think Hines realized this and figured that they could be cohesive as a team while he shined a little bit over the other two. Maybe he is like Colbert after all….
Team Lead In
Hines appeared to be a natural team leader in the practice room, rallying the troops and keeping a positive atmosphere. The lead in did foreshadow potential problems as Kirstie and Max didn’t really have their act together – especially with their solo routines.
The Dance
The dance was a cha cha and consisted of group at the top mixed with three solos in the middle and group at the end. Hines and Kym were the anchors at the end of the solo within the team and did the best out of the three solos. There were some obvious flubs and mis-timings within the group stuff. But, they all shook it better than I could.
The Judges
Bruno (8) – patterns good, transitions good. Kirstie born to cha cha
Carrie (7) – group part Kirstie was late, solo you were on fire, Hines you had a little boo boo
Donny (7) – some of the spacing wasn’t quite right, footwork rough
Len (8) – Hines you did a great job keeping up with these great two prizes
Total: 30
Solo Lead In
Hines explains to Kym how he plays on the field – ‘creep up on you and knock your ass out’ Yeah that’s about right. The male coach came to help which lent itself for some comedy as he paired up with Ward – “Am I the man or…” Ward said that having a male perspective helped a lot because he felt that usually Kym led most of the dances. His next goal is to get a 10 because he’s a bit jealous Romeo got one before he did. The surprise of the lead in video was a visit from Jerome Bettis. Bettis told Kym that Ward “This guy is the ultimate competitor…Pressure will make him perform better.’ Ward finished by saying that Bettis helped him get mentally prepared.
The Dance
The Tango – Ward came out with a white tux and they finally played some traditional music to go along with the dance for a change. Ward led well and most of the steps very clean. It’s tough to see Ward do a dance like this where the partnering is very stern and serious. Hard hardly ever cracked a smile, which made it appear like he was concentrating a bit. But, I know that the tango calls for a stern and serious look.
The Judges
Donnie (9) – I think you’ve got a winning mentality. Really good charisma on the floor. Mechanically your arms were wafting and should be still. Overall good job
Carrie (9)– What you do is so unique. You take command in every dance. Seemd a bit off balance this week with a new hold. I would like to see more of that hold.
Len (8)– It was a bit of a mixture for me – some of it full of drama like a tiger prowling, then it goes into a family mode and too dainty for me. Overall though, I liked it very much.
Bruno (10) – I like the light and shade and I liked the way you played it. Strong and masterful then smooth and stealthy going for the kill. A killer tango.
Solo Total: 36
Total for evening: 66
My Take
Hines got his first 10. He really seems to be hitting his stride and settling into a comfort zone with his ability to dance anything that gets thrown at him. Tonight’s score puts him in the lead for the third time in the competition. Top folks like Romeo and Chelsea had rough evenings in their solo dances, and some at the bottom climbed their way back up a bit. Each week seems like a back and forth between all the dancers….. except Ward. He has become Mr. Consistency and hangs on or near the top week in and week out. He is the guy to beat and will continue to be so for a while.