Dancing with the Stars, Episode 3: Jive Talkin’

The couple will be performing the tango to “Dance with Me.” Throughout the routine, John’s expressions add to the performance. Also, the couple seems to tell a story with their moves. Their steps are slow and deliberate, but John’s head snaps could be a bit sharper. Overall, it is another entertaining performance by Charlotte and John.

Before receiving the judges’ evaluations, Tom asks John if it is true that he lost weight. John says that yes, he has lost 13 pounds. Charlotte says that if he loses 20 pounds, he’ll dance in a red Speedo. Yikes! Pet the dog and think happy thoughts, Jill.

Carrie is ready with her critique. She says that last week she declared Charlotte and John to be the couple to beat, and she still feels the same way this week. Bruno says that it wasn’t as good a performance as last week and that at times, John went from Rudolph Valentino to Ricky Ricardo. Len says that John was like a panther stalking his prey. He also says that John’s performance wasn’t as good as it was last week, but it was still great. With that, the judges give John his scores. Carrie awards him a nine, Len gives him an eight, and Bruno gives him a seven. His overall score is 24.

Ashly DelGrosso and Joey McIntyre are the last couple to dance this evening. Joey wants to perform tonight, but Ashly isn’t sure how to do that. While she is a more technical person, he is more playful; their goal is to mesh those two characteristics together and come up with a performance that takes it to the next level.

They will be doing the jive to “I’m Still Standing.” The routine is certainly energetic and it does incorporate more performing; however, at one point, Joey does a move with his arms and has a look on his face that reminds me of Carlton from The Fresh Prince of Bel Air! If any of you watched this show, you know what I mean. In any case, there is a lot going on during the routine and the performance is very entertaining.

Bruno begins the critiques by saying that Joey rocks. Len states that there was a great blend of different elements in the routine, but it was a little loose at times. Carrie says that Joey’s performance was great, but the competition is getting serious; he was a little sloppy at points, so he needs to be mindful of these things. Ashly and Joey move backstage with Lisa to receive his scores. Carrie and Len both give him a seven while Bruno gives him an eight for a total of 22 points out of 30. He says that he is a little surprised by who gave him which scores, but he is still happy with his performance and the results.

I’ve tried being calm all evening, but there is something happening that is going to send me over the edge. Tom continuously asks people questions when they are out of breath. It takes them a while to respond, so he rushes them to the point that they don’t have a chance to answer. This is getting to be quite annoying. My poor dog is going to be hairless by the end of this series.

The overall current scores have been calculated and are as follows:

Rachel and Jonathan – 26 – 5

Charlotte and John – 24 – 4

Ashly and Joey – 22 – 3

Kelly and Alec – 21 – 2

Edyta and Evander – 13 – 1

The last number provided above is the ranking points that each couple receives. While information regarding this has been posted on the show’s web site (www.abc.go.com/primetime/dancing/index.html) for the past week or so, this is the first week that it has actually been discussed on the show. Basically, ranking points will be assigned to each couple as determined by their position on the leader board. For example, when there are only three couples left in the competition, the highest number of ranking points will be three.

It is now time to add the viewers’ scores from last week with the judges’ scores from this week, and determine which celebrity will be eliminated from the competition. In no particular order, the following couples will return next week:

Charlotte and John

Kelly and Alec

Rachel and Jonathan

This means that the couples with the lowest overall scores are Ashly & Joey and Edyta & Evander. With that, the next couple to be eliminated is… Edyta and Evander. Tom tells Evander that it has been a pleasure watching him each week. When asked if he will continue dancing, Evander says he isn’t sure. He genuinely seems upset by his elimination! The couple takes to the floor and dances one last time to “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late.” That is harsh! No matter what you think of Evander’s dancing, he certainly was a class act during the competition. He also brought something unique and special to it.

By the time you read this recap, it will be too late to vote via the telephone; however, you can still vote online, so make sure you support your favorites. Also, it’s important to vote because there are a lot of people watching Dancing with the Stars and casting their votes as well. In fact, the show had 15.1 million viewers last week, which was a gain of 12% over the premiere episode.

Next week, the couples will be performing two dances apiece. This should be tiring and a lot of fun! As always, my wonder-dog and I will be back to recap the program. Until then, keep on dancing.

Jill is an east coast mama who loves sharks, zombie movies, and reality television. She welcomes your comments about these and other subjects, and can be reached at jilljones@verizon.net.

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