DANCING WITH THE STARS Showdown: Performance Week Two!

This week on 'Dancing with the Stars' was all about the contestants' agility and energy, with six teams performing the quickstep, and the other five performing the Jive. The scores from tonight's show are not only being combined with audience votes, but also with the scores from last week, which gives some contestants a chance to try to catch up with bad scores, and others pressure to match good ones.

First to take to the floor were former boxing champion Sugar Ray Leonard and his partner, Anna Trebunskaya. They danced the Jive, and despite a solid effort and points for personality, Sugar Ray didn't manage to impress the judges with his moves. Kendra Wilkinson and her partner, Louis Van Amstel, didn't fare much better with the quickstep, though all three judges noted an improvement since last week and awarded them 19 points. Disney channel star Chelsea Kane and her partner, Mark Ballas, took on the Jive in Alice in Wonderland-esque marionette costumes and makeup. They received praise (though mainly just from Bruno) for their originality, but ultimately only ended up with eighteen points from the judges.

Wrestler Chris Jericho next put his moves to the test with the quickstep. He was surprisingly in sync with partner Cheryl Burke, keeping his feet moving quickly even with a disconcertingly immovable smile on his face the entire time. The judges were pleasantly surprised, earning the former WWE champion 23 points tonight.

Petra Nemcova and Dimitry Chaplin danced a Jive. Petra, outfitted in a large red hat and tear-away dress, appeared to be singing along as they danced; but her lyrics did little to help her dance moves and the duo ended up with sixes across the board.

A self-conscious Kirstie Alley and Maks Chmerkoivsky next show off the quickstep, and although it wasn't as much of a victory for the actress as last week's cha cha cha, she delivered a performance that all of the judges enjoyed with sevens from Carrie Ann and Bruno, and a six from Len.

Last week's lowest scoring team, Mike Catherwood with Lacey Schwimmer, seemed resolute in getting improved scores. Though their Jive did improve from an abysmal thirteen points, they still only garnered seventeen points this week and will need a huge vote to stay in the competition.

Romeo, with Chelsie Hightower, attempted to learn the quickstep. She told him to be more charming with their prom theme, leading Romeo to quip that he was "born in the 90's, not the 1900's." Luckily, he found a way to make the 90s charm work for him, and received two eights from Len and Bruno and a seven from Carrie Ann.

It was a performance not matched by talk show host Wendy Williams, whose quickstep with Tony Dovolani was anything but. It seemed that her choreography (complete with a laundry line prop that blocked the cameras more than once) was slower than everyone else's, leading to a less than impressive dance. All the judges, however, praised her effusive personality and improvement from last week's fourteen points and she ended up with a seventeen points for the night.

The pace was quickly brought back up by actor Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff, however. Despite some misplaced feet here and there, the 49-year-old actor turned in a solid twenty-one points on their Jive. Football player Hines Ward and his partner Kym Johnson were the last couple to take the stage, with a remarkably nimble quickstep that earned two eights from Carrie Ann and Bruno, and a seven from Len.

The scores, combined with last week's, stand as follows: Ralph and Karina, 45; Hines and Kym, 44; Kirstie and Maks, 43; Chris and Cheryl, 42; Romeo and Chelsie, 42; Chelsea and Mark, 39; Kendra and Louis, 37; Petra and Dmitry, 36; Sugar Ray and Anna, 34; Wendy and Tony, 31; Mike and Lacey, 30.

Tomorrow, one couple will be eliminated from the show. It's safe to say that it's not going to be Ralph and Karina, who currently reside safely in the number one slot for judge's scores - but even with two iffy performing nights in a row, Mike and Lacey could scrape through to see another week. Tune in tomorrow to find out!

Viewers may cast their votes for their favorite teams via phone on Monday night during and up to 30 minutes after the "Dancing with the Stars" performance shows. Wireless customers with AT&T may also text message their votes by texting the word "VOTE" to the number that corresponds to the team they want to support (message and data rates may apply). Viewers may also vote online at www.abc.com starting from the opening of each episode on the East Coast, until 8:00 a.m., PT the following day. Fans may cast the maximum limit of votes for each voting method.

"Dancing with the Stars" is the U.S. version of the international smash hit series, "Strictly Come Dancing." This version is produced by BBC Worldwide Productions. Conrad Green serves as executive producer and Rob Wade is co-executive producer. Alex Rudzinski directs. "Dancing with the Stars" is broadcast in 720 Progressive (720P), ABC's selected HDTV format, with 5.1 channel surround sound.

 

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