Hey All :)
Welcome to week four of Dancing with the Stars Juniors. Tonight, the remaining eight pairs return to the dance floor to perform in new styles in the hopes of earning high scores from the judges and safety from the audience. At the end of the night, another pair will be eliminated from the competition.
In this fourth week of competition, the contestants are tasked to perform an unlearned routine as part of “Halloween” night. The costumes and production should be stellar both tonight and tomorrow on the adults version. Forgive the pun but I’m sure all the kids are going to have a scary good time. (I know, I know)
This is about the midway point of the competition as well, so we should be seeing the contenders for the title really step out and shine. Right now, Miles, Sky, Ariana, and Mackenzie are my top four in terms of dance quality.
As a reminder, please keep SPOILERS out of the discussion for those who want to enjoy the program without knowing any results. Let’s go…
Akash & Kamri (Mentor- Witney) – Argentine Tango
You know what? Akash is improving. I saw actual argentine tango steps in there and he pulled them out quite adequately. He still has issues with musicality and finesse but this is so miles ahead better than what we saw out of him during the opening week of the competition.
Mandy feels Akash controlled his inner party in the dance. Adam doesn’t think anyone else loves coming out here more than Akash, even with the issues with the goggles. Val thought it was a hard dance but he feels it was one of his better dances this season.
Val- 7
Mandy- 7
Adam- 7
Mandla & Brightyn (Mentor- Cheryl) – Charleston
Finally Cheryl choreographs a proper dance for these two that matches the style. I saw some clear charleston in there mixed in with a proper production suitable for a Halloween show. One of Mandla’s better dances as well. Good stuff.
Adam feels Mandla is on the right track weekly. Val says there was so much charleston content and he is proud of how hard he is working. Mandy says this dance was back to week one in terms of Mandla being electric and sharp.
Val- 8
Mandy- 8
Adam- 7
Mackenzie & Sage (Menror- Gleb) – Jive
Really strong jive. The best so far tonight in terms of dance quality and mixing the theme in with the dance. Loved the kicks and flicks and the junior troupe members added a nice flavor as dancing zombies.
Val says they looked like they were having fun and killing it out there. Mandy feels like Mack checks out occasionally during transitions- she needs some nuance. Adam says they look terrible and he loves it. He is impressed and calls it excellent.
Val- 8
Mandy- 8
Adam- 9
Jason & Eliana (Mentor- Emma) – Argentine Tango
Similar to Akash, I am impressed with how well this argentine tango went. Jason has improved drastically as well from the first week. He too needs to work on finesse of course but this was a really adequate and well choreographed routine from start to finish.
Mandy thought it was incredible and she felt like she was watching an argentine tango. Adam says Jason is in it to win it. Val says it was a leading role type of performance.
Val- 8
Mandy- 9
Adam- 8
Ariana & Artyon (Mentor- Brandon) – Paso Doble
Ariana is too cute. She was actually pretty fierce here and dare I say, my eyes gravitated to her more than they did her pro partner. I really liked the paso steps here and thought she was very strong in her movements and took control.
Adam says she is an excellent actress but he wants to see a greater range of emotion. Val agrees with Adam and wants to see more. He felt he was missing more of a paso doble. Mandy feels it was too hard hitting and needed more.
Val- 7
Mandy- 8
Adam- 7
Alana & Tristan (Mentor- Artem) – Jazz
Well, what can one say? It was a Jazz, which on the surface means Artem had the potential to put anything in here for Alana. Unfortunately, I don’t think it would have helped. She was off-sync for most of it and Tristan was tasked with doing most of the actual dancing. I actually think Alana was better in previous weeks.
Val called it entertaining. Mandy tells Alana she did well with the jazz. Adam says she gives one hundred percent. Okay, the judges were VERY kind there, more so than usual.
Val- 7
Mandy- 7
Adam- 7
Sky & JT (Mentor- Alan) – Jive
Aww at Sky crying in rehearsals. It was a good dance. Loved the backwards crawl. If I have a critique here, it was that though the kicks and flicks were good, at times, Sky was not doing them at the same time as JT. A little more rehearsal would have corrected that. But fun dance.
Mandy loved the technique. She felt the dance had a bit of danger to it and she loved it. Adam says there was a lot of content and she stepped up. Val says it was a great job. He says incredible.
Val- 9
Mandy- 9
Adam- 8
Miles & Rylee (Mentor- Lindsay) – Samba
Look at the hip action on Miles. I’m so impressed. That was a proper samba. Loved the choreography here. It was one of the more well executed dancing of the night and was definitely deserving of the final spot. Good job Miles.
Adam is so proud. He says Miles danced like a pro. Val agrees with Adam. He says Miles is attempting difficult things and doing it better than anyone else. Mandy felt the performance was magic.
Val- 9
Mandy- 9
Adam- 9
Elimination Time!!!
The audience in the studio is voting. And the results are in.
Tonight’s eliminated pair are…
Alana & Tristan (Mentor- Artem)
Dang. Alana looks shocked and she starts crying. I mean, it was the right call in terms of the couples left but she looks like she is taking it very hard. The kids all head over to console her.
Note- the show will NOT AIR next Sunday due to a Mickey Mouse special but will return in two weeks for an all new episode which will have the contestants choosing the songs and costumes for their dances as part of “Junior’s Choice.” So I will see ya’ll in two weeks time. Thanks for watching with me tonight and Happy Halloween. :D
