Dancing with the Stars 3, October 3: An Emotional Night

Welcome, my friends, to Dancing with the Stars. Last week, our fabulous dancers performed either the jive or the tango. Several couples were scolded for performing illegal lifts. However, it wasn’t a prohibited move, but lack of votes, that sent Ashly DelGrosso and Harry Hamlin packing. Tonight, our stars and their professional partners will take on either the paso doble or waltz.

Before we get into the excitement, I want to take a moment and thank Ashley Lundy for covering last week’s results episode for me. Also, I want to give a shout out to Nancy, Karen, and Sonya; according to these astute readers, Ashly and Harry performed the tango to Santa Maria by Gotan Project. I, of course, had no idea what the song was until ABC posted the information on its web site.

Also, Amanda and Melissa both wrote in with the same question: why aren’t the women and men (celebrities) performing the same type of dance each week as they did in previous seasons? For example, last week, it appeared that the men were doing the tango and the women were doing the jive. However, Vivica A. Fox did the tango and Joey Lawrence did the jive. I have no real explanation for this, so I’ll throw the question out to our readers. Feel free to share your thoughts with me.

Now that my academy award acceptance speech is finished, let’s get on with the show!

Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris greet us and introduce the dancing duos. They then explain tonight’s dances to us; the waltz includes soft movements and tranquil facial expressions, while the paso doble contains dramatic entrances from the bullfighter and flamenco feet.

The first couple to dance tonight is Monique Coleman and Louis Van Amstel (my new best friend). Monique explains that she wants to find a relaxed way to approach the waltz. She also says that Louis is not a conventional teacher, but his methods definitely pay off. He wants her to make people to cry through her dancing. Louis, you had me at cry.

They are doing the waltz to “If I Were a Painting.” The performance is very romantic and graceful. It is also gentle and emotional. By the end of it, Monique is tearing up. Hey, she was supposed to make us cry! Nevertheless, Monique and Louis do a great job. (He melts my heart.)

Len Goodman tells Monique that she can waltz and the routine was great. Bruno Tonioli compliments her on her fluidity. He also says it was a touching performance. Carrie Ann Inaba says that despite the lack of chemistry between Monique and Bruno in the past, she felt the connection tonight. She also explains that she was moved.

All three judges give Monique and Louis an eight. The couple has 24 points.

Cheryl Burke and Emmitt Smith are ready with their performance. We see the two of them study a real bull. The bull is slobbering and it is quite nasty; even Yoko is disgusted. Emmitt says that perhaps the paso doble will be his dance.

They’re dancing to a song that I recognize, but don’t know the name of. Help me, readers! Emmitt has the same look of concentration on his face this week that he had last week. It still makes me giggle. It doesn’t feel like Emmitt was given a whole lot to do tonight. What he does do is great though. He has some fancy footwork in the performance and seems to play the role of the bullfighter very well.

Bruno says that the performance was great. (He used a lot of nouns and adjectives, so I’ll give you the succinct version of his critique.) Carrie Ann says that Emmitt was fantastic. Len agrees, and Cheryl and Emmitt are thrilled.

Again, the judges all give Cheryl and Emmitt an eight. They now have 24 points out of 30.

Up next are Willa Ford and Maksim Chmerkovskiy. She tells us that she’s going to be a lady while doing the waltz. Maksim takes her to a carousel so that she can feel the up and down movement. (Get your minds out of the gutter, people – this is in reference to the movements of the waltz! Naughty.)

They are performing to “You Light up My Life.” While Monique and Louis’ song added to their performance, I feel this song distracts from the dance. The performance isn’t horrible, but it doesn’t wow me. It isn’t as delicate as I was expecting. As I said, Willa and Maksim don’t do a horrible job, but it just feels as if they are simply going through the motions. Do the judges agree with my assessment?

Carrie Ann tells Willa that she was swept away. Len calls her “Willa the Thrilla.” He also says the performance was delightful. Bruno says it was a polished dance that was perfect. My stars, I must have watched something entirely different.

Carrie Ann and Len give the dance a nine; Bruno gives it a 10. Willa and Maksim have 28 points out of 30. I shouldn’t be surprised that someone earned a goober this evening; it is almost Halloween after all.

The next couple to amuse us is Sara Evans and Tony Dovolani. Sara says she wants to be the best cape she can be for the paso doble. She thinks that Tony is mad at her at one point during rehearsals, but he explains he has the attitude of the bullfighter. He tells us that he has confidence in her to be “that cape.”

Sara and Tony are dancing to “Phantom of the Opera.” She has a nice entrance; she slowly walks down the steps with her skirt spread out to her sides. After that, well, let’s just say she seems to have gone back to her performances from weeks one and two. She appears to be stiff and uncomfortable.

Len says that the paso doble isn’t Sara’s dance. Bruno yells, “Sara, dance for me. Dance for me!” Yikes. Just dance for him, Sara, please. Carrie Ann says that Sara went for the passion and she appreciates it, but Sara needs to stomp the floor more, breathe, and puff her chest out. (Again, don’t go there!)

Carrie Ann gives the couple a six while Len and Bruno give it a seven. Sara and Tony have 20 points. Sara explains that she stepped on her dress several times during the routine and it threw her off. Don’t the couples practice ahead of time with their outfits? I would think so. In true Tony style, for anyone who watched last season, he makes a sarcastic comment to the judges from backstage.