Once again, a look at how all the celebrities finished on the judges leaderboard last night:
Final Judge Leaderboard For Week 4:
Donald/Peta- 27/30
Maria/Derek- 26/30
Roshon/Chelsie- 26/30
Katherine/Mark- 24/30
Gavin/Karina- 23/30
Jaleel/Kym- 22/30
Melissa/Maks- 22/30
William/Cheryl- 22/30
Sherri/Val- 21/30
Gladys/Tristan- 20/30
It was (and still is) rock week. We had KISS perform last night and they will be returning to the ballroom again this evening. All of the routines (though we saw some questionable music choices and dance styles) were given a “rock” flare and we saw some new favorites emerge and previous favorites falter. Tonight begins the new rule of having a dance-off between the bottom two couples with the judges deciding who should be sent home.
I will begin with those who I thought really nailed their routines. Donald, Maria, and Roshon were all fantastic. I will be genuinely surprised if any of them are in jeopardy. Not only did they do well last night, each has had stellar performances in earlier weeks. They should be safe. Katherine had a bit of an off night. But as we all know on this show, that means she will probably come back next week and be perfect. Again, she is an easy bet to be totally safe tonight. Even though he has never really nailed a routine quite like he did in week one, I still expect Jaleel to be safe. He needs to step it up though. He was given frontrunner status so early and has had trouble keeping that going in subsequent weeks. With the rest, it gets a bit tricky.
Gavin has been in the bottom two twice in a row. He either doesn’t have many fans who want to vote or the competition is just too strong. He danced in the final spot last night and was given nice comments and a decent score. If he can’t find himself out of the bottom this time around, I think the judges are going to have a hard time making the case to save him. Gladys is one of those contestants who everyone wants to give special treatment to due to her age and legend status. I understand that. At some point though, we could face the reality of losing better dancers because of it. And that would be a shame. As some posters have said, the show really shouldn’t cast someone of her age to compete with others because even a good dance for her looks average when compared. And she isn’t totally to blame for that. If she ends up in the bottom tonight, I think the judges would be doing the right thing by letting her go.
Melissa is a strange one to critique. I always expect more from her and she has let me down just about every week. Something is just missing from all her routines. Last night, Maks had to basically push her around the floor (similar to how he had to dance with Hope Solo from last season). That’s never fun to watch. And she always looks as though she is terrified. Granted, she had her best dance last night, but I don’t think she is ever going to go from average to an actual contender in this competition. For me, she is on borrowed time. I love Sherri. She has such a wonderful personality and is having a blast out there. It is going to be interesting to see just how far she can go in this. Unlike some of the others, she is someone I see with the potential to improve and go deep in the competition. It will be a mix of continuously upping those scores and getting her fans to vote that keeps her around. More than likely, she will have a tough time staying if she messes up a routine or two. Stay sharp, Sherri! Finally, we have William.
The dude clearly messed up. It was an obvious and glaring mistake that resulted in the rest of the dance being off. In addition, Cheryl lost a shoe. It was basically a case of seeing what else could possibly go wrong. And it is a shame because his jive started good enough right until the error. I have been going back and forth in my mind as to whether he has enough fans to get him by a lackluster routine or not. If he doesn’t and we do see him in the bottom, I think the judges would save him. He has earned enough good will in previous weeks to stick around, especially if he is up against a few of the people I mentioned above. His real test is going to come next week. He needs to listen to Len. Len told him that he has made mistakes in his last two dances (last week was not a big one though) and he needs to nail the routines. I agree with that. If he intends to last on this thing, he needs to practice more and quit making mistakes. As handsome as he is and as much as America would like to see him weekly, good dancing does matter on a show like this.
So, I think the bottom will be any combo of Gavin/Gladys/Melissa/William. I think Sherri has enough folks voting where she can get by another week without being in jeopardy. I will watch the dance-off closely but I think the judges already have a pretty good idea what they want to do. Of course, should one couple be amazing while the other terrible, they may need to rethink their respective plans. Based on the four weeks we have seen and without the dance-off, an elimination of Gavin, Gladys, or Melissa would be justified in my book. But this is DWTS and you just never know how those votes are going to fall. It should be an interesting night.
Again, I apologize for the novel I just wrote. If anyone was able to get through it, I will break out my ten paddle for you. :) Let’s get to the segment by segment rundown of tonight’s “rocking” events…
Segment 1
KISS is out first to perform. They are soon joined by a few pros and troupe members. The ballroom is getting rocked once again. Even the judges (Bruno, of course) are up and getting into it. And now Tom gives us a look at the judges leaderboard as I wrote above. We now get a recap of Gavin/Karina and Melissa/Maks with some additional footage not seen last night. Melissa suffered a light concussion and Maks hurt his arm. Melissa was told to stay away tonight but will return next week if they survive. Maks also thanked Gavin for being such a gentleman in carrying Melissa down the stairs to the ambulance. And results…
Melissa/Maks are SAFE.
Gavin/Karina are SAFE.
Tom previews that we could be in for a “shock” tonight. Hmm. I am very intrigued.
Segment 2
Donald/Peta are given the honor of being the first “encore” performance of the season. They are repeating their awesome paso doble routine. Brooke is backstage. Gladys wants to work her way up from the bottom of the leaderboard. Maria and Derek talk about more items of clothing coming off for latin week next week. Derek is also proud of Maria. Jaleel says he will do nudity to break away from the rest of the pack. We now get a recap of those three couples with some additional footage not seen last night. And results…
Maria/Derek are SAFE.
Jaleel/Kym are SAFE.
Gladys/Tristan are SAFE.
Wow. Everyone I predicted to be in the bottom other than William has been declared safe. William is a shoe-in for the bottom now but I have no idea who will join him. And beyond that, I have no idea what the judges will do.
Segment 3
And now, welcome some filler. The pros are talking about what is like to come back for a new season, find out who you have as a partner, and how competitive the season is. Brooke is backstage. Donald is nervous. Roshon isn’t feeling too safe but he is keeping it together. Chelsie is feeling hopeful. Karina is out now to perform a tango she choreographed with Jose Manuel Carreno. They are being backed by Gotan Project. What an extremely awesome tango. That was crazy good. Watch it if you can. Karina did a great job with the choreography. It was intense and sexy. And Tom confirms again that we are in for a “shocker” as we go to break.
Segment 4
We now get a recap of Donald/Peta and Roshon/Chelsie with some additional footage not seen last night. And results…
Donald/Peta are SAFE.
Roshon/Chelsie are in the bottom two.
Oh damn. Roshon in the bottom. And I believe it is the actual bottom and not a fake out. Shocking. I think the judges save him regardless of who he is up against. That’s an unfortunate result. I can only assume that Roshon is still getting some “who?” responses from the audience. That’s what happens on this show when you are unknown. We now get Carson from last season (we seriously need him on this show weekly) talking about the DWTS live show. We will see a routine from that show coming up.
Segment 5
The cast of DWTS: Live In Las Vegas is out to perform. This groups includes dancers from past seasons of DWTS and So You Think You Can Dance. This is probably an extremely fun show to see live. Imagine seeing the pros and some of the celebs from this show mixed in with the greatness that SYTYCD has produced over the years. We are talking a whole lot of fun. Well, these people have more energy than the energizer bunny if he had a redbull. Very fun! We now get a recap of Sherri/Val, William/Cheryl, and Katherine/Mark with some additional footage not seen last night. And results…
Katherine/Mark are SAFE.
Katherine had no clue what was going on and it was hysterical. Once she realized, she was over the moon. And another commercial before we find out who joins Roshon/Chelsie in the bottom. How are we going to have enough time for the dance-off? No clue. Amazing how the show added this feature and yet we have next to no time for it. Did we really need that filler earlier with the pros talking?
Segment 6
And now, more results…
William/Cheryl are SAFE.
Well, damn. I sucked tonight with predictions.
Sherri/Val are in jeopardy.
Len is completely shocked. But don’t come up to him on the street and blame him for any of it. It is what it is. Tom brings it back around to being about the contestants and not Len. And now, the final results of the evening.
The couple leaving is… (NO DANCE-OFF?)
Sherri/Val.
I am so confused. Did I hear something wrong? Did Tom not say that the dance-off would begin tonight and continue for the next three weeks? Sherri is a mess. She is crying but able to give a wonderful goodbye speech. She is thankful, had an amazing time, and wants everyone to run toward any fears they have. Aww. This is emotional. We have next to no time for the last dance as the show is running late. I’ll really miss Sherri. Her dancing may not have been superb, but she had potential. And above all else, she brought entertainment and a wonderfully positive attitude.
Final thoughts…
1. I adored Sherri. I really did. And I thought she had more potential than some of the celebrities who were declared safe tonight (Gladys, Melissa, Gavin). That being said, I did NOT want to lose Roshon over Sherri because he is indeed the better dancer. It is just a shame that being so unknown to America is costing him a bit. Maybe this will be the wake up call people need to actually vote for him.
2. Again, WTF happened to the dance-off? Obviously, the judges would still have eliminated Sherri but it would have been nice to see her go out swinging. I haven’t a clue what is up with that.
ETA: Connie Blank posted that the dance-off begins next week. I don’t know why I was so sure it was scheduled to begin tonight. Thank you again, Connie.
