DANCING WITH THE STARS Showdown: A Classical Confrontation

This week's episode of DANCING WITH THE STARS promised to raise things up a notch with the world's fastest violinist, a full orchestra sound, and mezzo soprano Katherine Jenkins providing vocals for the evening.

First to take the stage was a shirtless Romeo, who had to deliver a focused performance after the judges criticized his technique in last week's emotional performance. He and partner Chelsie Hightower certainly brought that and more, dancing very well to a high-spirited violin solo from David Garrett. The judges applauded their efforts, giving them two eights with a seven from Carrie Ann.

Next up was Kendra Wilkinson with Louis Van Amstel. She's one of the stiffest dancers in the competition, and tonight was unfortunately no exception. Though Kendra made a point of saying that she wasn't in love with the material she had to work with - and even gagged during her rehearsal when she heard the music she would be dancing to - she admitted at the end of her dance that she had ended up enjoying it. Still, her moves weren't up to par, and she received sixes across the board.

Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunsakaya insisted on going back to basics, sending Sugar Ray (in blue ballet pants, no less) to a ballet class. It didn't seem to help his technique, but Sugar Ray always dances with an earnestness that makes it hard not to like him. The judges concurred with as much for this performance, and gave him three sevens.

The next celebrity dancer was Petra Nemcova, who took her tall figure and once again this week used it to her advantage instead of it hindering her. She seemed a tad uncomfortable, but delivered a solid performance that the judges were enthusiastic about and earned a total of twenty three points.

Before Ralph Macchio's dance, Katherine Jenkins provided the vocals to an ethereal waltz from two members of the professional troupe. When Macchio did take the stage, it was back to the solid moves that had put him at the top of the leaderboard for the first few weeks of the competition. He based his moves on the Shakespeare classic Romeo & Juliet with partner Karina Smirnoff, and the result was an impressive waltz that the judges praised with twenty-five points.

Next to dance was Hines Ward, who nailed his paso doble, bringing his most focused performance to date. He and Kym Johnson moved well together, and it paid off to the tune of two eights with a nine from Carrie Ann.

Chelsea Kane, as per her usual, took her dance in a less-than-classic direction. She and partner Mark Ballas channeled Harry Potter, right down to a wizard's hat for Mark, and as in the past their somewhat unusual take was a point of contention for the judges. Len, in particular, was jarred by the fresh take on a dance that's 300 years old, but theirs proved to be the most interesting dance of the night - and the results ultimately showed it with the highest score of the night at twenty-six points.

In the past few performances, Chris Jericho's downfall has been his wrestler's approach. He often comes across as a bit lumbering, but in this case, the power worked in his favor as he took on the paso doble with Cheryl Burke. Though he seemed to lose steam toward the end, he still ended up with two eights, and a seven from Len.

The final dance of the night belonged to Kirstie Alley, and was prefaced by replays of her fall on last week's show. Could she have a dance without a mishap this week? Apparently not, as her shoe got dragged off halfway through the performance. She sat in the middle of the floor for what seemed a long time, putting it back on, while Maks Chmerkovskiy dance around her; while it's possible that the choreography would have happened that way even without the mishap, it seems unlikely. Although Kirstie certainly seems to be one of the harder workers this season, it does start to feel as though the judges overcompensate in their efforts to ignore the accidents. They give her lackluster performance two sevens with an eight from Bruno.

Tomorrow, Academy Award winner Jennifer Hudson brings her powerful pipes to the Dancing With the Stars stage, and David Garrett brings back his sultry camera glances and violin prowess. But as always, the main attraction is the results. Though it's safe to say that neither Chelsea nor Ralph will be headed home, no one sticks out as a particularly bad performance and this week may be the first to truly come down to audience votes. So who will be the next star dancing off into the sunset? Tune in tomorrow to find out!

 

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