Dancing with the Stars 2, February 23: Thursday Night Fever

Previously on Dancing with the Stars, each couple performed two dances, the judges bickered, and Lisa Rinna and Louis van Amstel were tearfully eliminated from the competition. Tonight is the last evening of viewer judging before the disco ball trophy is awarded to the winner. Remember to vote for your favorite; each vote is important!

By now, you know the routine… Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris welcome us to the program. Samantha looks cute tonight. I love her hair.

Instead of jumping right into the dancing, the couples are going to analyze some of their performances; Cheryl Burke and Drew Lachey are first. Cheryl tells us she was frightened during their first performance when they had to do a dip. Drew was happy they did so well that night, but as he explains, it set the bar high.

He notes that when they prepared for the quickstep, his body started to get into shape. He also feels that the jive was his favorite performance. The samba was anything but… there was too much hip action.

Next, they performed the tango. Cheryl was nervous about this; since Drew had problems keeping his shoulders down, she had to work with him.

The highlight of the foxtrot for Cheryl was the beginning of the performance. Drew felt the routine was entertaining. He also explains that he didn’t wear a tux because he wanted to be Drew and not someone else.

Cheryl says that she struggled to teach him the rumba because of his lack of hip action. Again, though, it was a great performance.

Drew concludes by saying that he has made some great friends during the competition, win or lose. What a class act.

Cheryl and Drew’s average score from the judges is 27.25.

Before we actually see someone dance, Len Goodman talks about the choreography. He says that the pros are world-class dancers and that he enjoyed the routine in which they took turns dancing, going back and forth between Latin and ballroom. We then see a clip of the performance.

Len also says that the paso doble routine performed by the professionals pleased him. Again, we watch a clip of the dance. And I wondered how the producers were going to fill a two-hour program. Seriously, it’s fun to watch and be reminded of how beautiful Maksim Chmerkovskiy is!

The next couple to comment on its performances is Anna Trebunskaya and Jerry Rice. Anna begins by explaining that she wanted to put football moves into their cha cha cha because he wasn’t comfortable with the other moves. He was glad to have the first dance under his belt.

Jerry loved the run in their quickstep. He also decided that night to just have fun, and the judges approved; however, the jive was a different story. Len certainly didn’t like the performance.

Their next dance was the samba. He explains that he and Anna decided to work harder at that point. As a result, he felt good about the dance, but again, the judges weren’t pleased.

He then says that the paso doble allowed him to show viewers a different side of Jerry Rice. Anna explains that she had to remind him not to smile. He still feels it was an excellent performance.

Jerry says that he was not at ease with the tango. He thought the audience enjoyed it though, but admits his dancing could have been sharper.

Anna says that their rumba was great. Jerry explains that he got into character and into the dance. Throughout this and other clips, you hear the crowd chanting for him.

He declares that he’s going to be the best that he can be. When he’s older, he will remember this experience. What a guy.

Anna and Jerry’s average score from the judges is 21.75 points.

We now watch more clips from previous shows. The first is of Cheryl and Louis dancing while Barry Manilow sang “Copacabana.” The next is of Cheryl dancing with Tony Dovolani while Bill Medley sang “The Time of My Life.”

It’s now Samantha’s turn to take to the dance floor. She and Jonathan Roberts do the jive to “Delirious.” Apparently, she has some experience dancing and it shows. The couple does a great job. Not only is there a lot of footwork in the routine, but also there are some tricky moves. At one point, Samantha jumps and spins at the same time, and falls into Jonathan’s arms. She also jumps on his back during another move, but that one isn’t executed as well as the other moves. Overall, I think Samantha seemed very relaxed and the routine was entertaining to watch.