Sixth Week of "Dancing With The Stars"

We are now in the sixth week of "Dancing With the Stars" , and the rules change slightly this week. The lowest two couples will have a dance off on tomorrow night's show. Each couple prepares a dance of their choosing, but it's a dance they hope they don't have to perform. This will take place in the next two episodes. We have nine couple left in the competition. They will dance either the Waltz or the Jitterbug. After that, they will all come together to do a group Mamba that should prove to be interesting.

Aaron and Karina: Waltz-First of all, I love Karina's outfit. Her light green against his dark green suit was beautiful. Aaron is trying so hard. You have to give this kid an "A" for effort. His posture and upper body movement is really done well in this dance. His footwork isn't as smooth as I would like it, but it's pretty good. This was a good week for Aaron. He has matured as a dancer.
My Score 8 Mom's Score 7 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 8,9,8 Average Score 8.3

Mark and Lacey: Jitterbug-Great choreography. Mark looks like he is having a good time. He does several surprising gymnastic movements. They have humor in the routine. Lacey makes him do quite a few hard moves, and he pulls it off. It was fun and energetic. He got a standing ovation from the audience. Way to go Mark.
My score 9 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 9
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 9,9,8 Average Score 8.6

Donny and Kym: Jitterbug-this was an energetic, fun routine. Kym is such a creative choreographer. Donny is coordinated, and he has a good sense of tempo. He is a clown and a showman. There were a couple of sight stumbles, but nothing big.
My score 9 Mom's score 10 Average Score 9.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,8,8 Average Score 8

Louie and Chelsie: Jitterbug-This a cute routine. Louie is confident, funny, and at ease. He has some genuinely hard tricks and movement that he does well. His energy level is much better than in past episodes. He does some great lifts and catches with Chelsea that take a lot of strength. There were definitely some transition issues, and Chelsea covered at least one place where she was dropped by Louie. Overall this was a step up for Louie.
My score 8 Mom's score 7 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,7,7 Average Score 7

Mike and Anna: Waltz-Michael looks sharp in in his dark blue suit up against Anna's light blue dress. Her dress just floats. This has not been my favorite couple in past episodes, but they look very good tonight. His movement is smooth and fluid. It wasn't a hard routine, but it was done well. Bruno didn't like his posture, but I thought he had excellent upper body posture. It was nice to watch. The judges are calling it a charming and gentle waltz. I would agree with that. I'm not sure that makes it a winning waltz.
My score 7 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 6,8,6 Average Score 6.6

Melissa and Mark: Waltz-Melissa has huge problems with her arms. She doesn't extend them fully. Her posture is lacking in some parts. She has really improved throughout the season, but not enough. She looked nervous and her movement was stiff. The up and down motion and the fluidity of the dance was not there.
My Score 6 Mom's Score 7 Average Score 6.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Scores of 7,7,6 Average Score 6.3

Mya and Dmitry: Jitterbug-I didn't care too much for their outfits. The choreography was okay, and the dancing was good. This routine was not my favorite, but what they did was done well. Mya executed a fun light-hearted routine, but didn't have that intangible pizazz. I think her partner let her down as well, because it wasn't a memorable routine. She will be lost in the crowd this week.
My score 7 Mom's Score 9 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,7,9 Average Score 8

Joanna and Derek: Waltz-Derek is back this week from the flu. I love Derek, but I really liked Joanna much better when she danced with Max last week. Joanna just floats in her light pink dress. JShe has a slight stiffness to her dancing and a lack of flexibility that really inhibits her dancing. However, she looks grand tonight. She has a holding spin at the end of the routine that requires a lot of balance and technique, and she does it very well. She was fluid and moved across the floor very well. Her confidence has grown and it shows.
My score 8 Mom's Score 8 Average Score 8
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 8,9,9 Average Score 8.6

Kelly and Louie: Jitterbug-Kelly looked more at ease this week. Her worse enemy is her lack of self confidence. She needs to believe in herself and relax. That being said, she did have genuine fun in parts. Most of the dance steps were simple and cute. Her energy was somewhat lacking as well.
My score 7 Mom's score 8 Average Score 7.5
Comparison with Show's Judges Score of 7,6,7 Average Score 6.6

The Next Judge's "Top 5 Ranking" of the contestants from tonight's show:
1st Place Ranking: Mark
2nd Place Ranking: Donny
3rd Place Ranking: Joanna
4th Place Ranking: Mya
5th Place Ranking: Aaron

Round Two-Dance Marathon
Group Mambo: This is a totally new thing this season. I think I will really like this. All the couples are dancing on the floor at the same time. When a judge taps them out, they're off the floor. So obviously, you don't want to get tapped out. Last couple out gets ten points and so on down the line. I don't know how the judges can even judge this. It's a whole lot of chaos and confusion to me. This is going to be interesting.

Michael and Anna go first-2 points-22 total judges points for the night.
Louie and Chelsie go second-3 points--24 total judges points
Melissa and Mark go third-4 points-24 total judges points
Kelly and Louie go fourth-5 points-25 total judges points-currently in the lead
Mark and Lacey go fifth-6 points-32 total judges points-new leaders
Donny and Kim go sixth-7 points-31 total judges points-2nd place total judges points so far.
Aaron and Karina go seventh-8 points-33 total judges points-New leaders so far for the evening.
Mya and Dymitri go eighth-9 points-33 total judges points-Tying with Aaron and Karina for 2nd place for the night.
Joanna and Derek go ninth-10 points-36 total judges points-1st place judges points for the night.

The 2nd round moved the top 5 around in the top 5 spots, but other than that, there were no huge changes in the rankings. I believe Melissa will go home this week.

The bottom three couples were Chelsie and Louie, Mike and Anna, and Melissa and Mark. Because there is a double elimination this week, the couple with the lowest overall score is eliminated immediately. The next two couples will participate in a dance off. Based on the dance off, the judges will determine which of the two couples will remain and which will go.

The couple with the lowest score was Melissa and Mark, so we bid adieu to this couple, who improved greatly throughout the season, but didn't improve enough.

Louie and Chelsie will dance against Mike and Anna. Let's see how they do. The couples got to chose their music and their dance style for this dance off.

First up is Mike and Anna: Dancing the Samba, Mike looks the best I've seen him all season. He also looks confident and fluid. Usually Anna is dancing around Mike, but he did his part this time.

Second up is Louie and Chelsie: Performing the Jive is this couple's choice. The step work is hard and fast and Louie is giving it his best, but he's struggling. He has a hard time with his sense of timing and his coordination.

The judges confer together to determine who, out of these two couples, will join Melissa and Mark in the elimination-of-the-week club. Louie and Chelsie were eliminated. I won't miss Louie so much, but I will miss Chelsea.