Dancing With the Stars: Instant Dance Night is an Instant Classic

We are down to five couples and that means they now will be tested with two dances each show.

Following their regular dance,the couple will be subjected to the dreaded "instant dance."

Here's where a little luck is involved as the pros have to quickly come up with a dance "on the fly" that can be learned in a matter of minutes then danced in front of millions of people.

Here we go.

The five couples are looking serious tonight, they know they need to be on their game.  Leading off tonight is Rob Kardashian and Cheryl.  They get a quickstep.  Rob's goal this week is to fix the little things in his routine.  A fast and well choreographed quickstep.  The judges liked it and Rob gets a 27.  Their next dance will be an instant jive, they pick the music on the spot and get Hall and Oates, "Maneater."

Next is Ricki and Derek.  As the competition goes on, Derek usually does his best choreography.  This week they draw a waltz.  It was beautiful and well done.  Bruno loves her artistic detail and the way she executes her dances.  She gets a 28, including a 10 from Bruno.  Their instant jive song is A Wilson Pickett song.

Hope and Maks are on next.  They too, get a quickstep.  Their goal this week is to enjoy learning the dances.  To me, it was fun, it was flirty and typical of the other dances they have done.  The judges liked it and the pair gets a 27.  Their music for their instant jive is an Avril Lavigne song.

Nancy Grace and Tristian and up now.  Nancy was close to going home last week so she doesn't have much room for error.  They get a tango this week.  I thought her dance was a bit slow and boring.  Len liked it, Bruno liked it, but Carrie Ann didn't like her footwork.  Nancy gets a 24, and her instant dance number is "Upside Down."

J.R. will be the final dancer in round 1 with a waltz.  J.R. has a difficult time last week and he needs a big week.  J.R. wants a perfect 30 in this competition.  A nice waltz that the judges thought he put his heart into.  J.R. gets a perfect 30, the first of the season.  They will dance to Little Richard, coming up.

Here's Rob and Cheryl with their instant jive.  Not bad for an instant dance.  They didn't keep up with the music very much, but no major mistakes.  He gets three 8's for a 24. 

Now we get Hope and Maks with their instant dance.  The last jive Hope did wasn't her best, so she's looking for redemption.  It was fast paced and a difficult routine.  The judges thought it was improvement from her last jive.  Len loved it and he even got a kiss from Maks and they get a 25.

On next is Ricki and Derek.  It was sharp and very nicely done.  You wouldn't have known it was an instant dance.   They judges thought she did very well.  Ricki gets a 24 out of 30.

The second from the last couple tonight is Nancy and Tristian.  Nancy is worried she will "instantly mess up" in the instant dance.  She looked uncomfortable and disoriented in the jive.  She ended the routine with a cartwheel, but it may not be enough.  The judges think this may be the end for Nancy.  She gets a 20.

J.R. is the final dance of the night.  A great instant dance and a great ovation from the crowd.  J.R. gets a 30 again.

Tomorrow night we have Dance Center and Flo-Rida.

Dancing With the Stars Halloween Results: David is Gone

The couples turned in some scary performances last night on Halloween.  Most were treats, but there were a few tricks thrown in as well.

Nancy Grace had the lowest scores of the night and she could be in trouble tonight.

We also had the team dances last night and the team of Ricki, Hope and Rob won in convincing fashion.  
Ricki Lake should be more than safe tonight with the highest score after she spent the week nursing a rib injury.  It should be a close call tonight.

Here we go.

Unfortunately the show leads off with Justin Bieber.  That's all I will say about him.

An encore dance this week with Team Paso and their team dance.  

On to the first results.  Rob and Cheryl and the team of Nancy and Tristian are first up.  Rob scored high last night and Nancy was at the bottom.  Nancy and Tristian are in the bottom two.  Rob and Cheryl advance to next week.

Next up, the AT&T Spotlight Dance.  Victoria had a tumor in her brain.  She was only 14, but had been a dancer her whole life.  She rehabbed and learned how to walk again.  Two months after her surgery, she performed in the Nutcracker and made a great comeback.  She did great performing on the big stage. 

Moving on to a Derek Hough choreographed dance to take up some more time.  

More results.  J.R. and Karina along with Ricki and Karina.  Ricki and Derek are moving on, and J.R. and Karina are also safe.

More Justin Bieber with a Christmas song.  

The final prelim result involves Hope and Maks along with David and Kym. Hope and Maks are safe and not in the bottom for once.  David and Kym are in jeopardy and in the bottom two.

Four couples safe and a very nervous looking Nancy and David up for elimination.  After all the votes were added, going home this week will be... David and Kym.  Nancy will be back. 

Each couple will have two dances next week and one is the instant dance.

Dancing With the Stars: Halloween Treats on the Dance Floor

We are really getting down to the nitty gritty now as the calendar is ready to turn to November.  That can only mean one thing for DWTS, it's time to celebrate Halloween.

We'll see what costumes the stars and pros don this week.  This week also marks the return of the team dance.  With six couples remaining, there will be two teams competing for points.

Pay special attention to Hope and Maks tonight as everyone will be watching to see how they react to the comments they received last week.  Maks was upset and I expect he will go all out tonight.

The studio is decked out like a haunted house and we are ready to get going.

Leading off tonight will be David Arquette and Kym Johnson.  They look to rebound from their quickstep last week with a cha cha.  David predicted this routine would be fun.  Good to hear some Steve Miller Band and good to see a lively dance.  Some good moves and a couple of surprises gives David a 24.  A good start to Halloween.

A little Ghostbusting next with J.R. and Karina.  They work hard on their tango throughout the week.  J.R. is the Ghostbuster and Karina is of course, the ghost.  Another solid performance by J.R.  He had a little timing issue, but it was still a fun routine.  J.R. gets a 25 out of 30.

Nancy Grace is next with Tristian.  They get a jive this week to "The Devil Went Down to Georgia."  It started out bad for Nancy as she missed the first few moves.  It didn't get much better in my opinion as she was out of sync.  She gets a 21.

Rob Kardashian and Cheryl are up next with a routine to "The Adams Family."  Cheryl is working Rob hard and his body is getting sore.  They are hoping for 10's this week.  Rob was a bit stiff at the beginning, but they were in sync and played their characters well.  A good job by Rob, he gets a 25.

On to Ricki Lake and Derek.  Ricki is battling some nagging injuries at this stage of the competition.  Very showy and very dramatic.  A nice paso that the crowd loved.  The judges also liked it and Ricki gets a 27.

Everybody is waiting for Hope and Maks dance.  "Warren Zevon's "Warewolves of London" is the song and the samba is the dance.  Maks had an injured toe during rehearsals so Teddy from the troupe came in to help out.  It wasn't great, but it wasn't awful either.  The judges liked it better than I did and she gets a 24.

On to the the team dances.  It's team Tango up first.  This will be J.R., David and Nancy.  A well choreographed tango.  Wow, it was a long dance with each team getting to show some skills.  Lots of moves and it was pretty clean.  Len thought it could've been better and they get a 23 as a group.

Team Paso is up next. This team is made up of Ricki, Rob and Hope.  A lot of tension during the practice for this group dance.  Derek and Maks took the lead in getting this team ready.  It was dark and a little scary.  Good solo dances and a strong finish by Derek and Ricki. The judges loved it and they get a 26.

Nancy Grace may be in trouble tomorrow.

I hate to say it, but Justin Bieber tomorrow night.

"X Factor" Leads Tuesday Night Ratings

A big night for television last night.

The first live performance episode of Fox's "The X Factor" earned the night's top ratings and pushed Fox to an overall win, while the new Tim Allen sitcom "Last Man Standing" slipped 10 percent and "Man Up" plunged 21 percent from its series premiere, according to preliminary numbers.  "Dancing With the Stars' held their own and CBS' programming was also strong.

"The X Factor," on Fox from 8 p.m. to 10:30, drew a 4.3 rating/11 share in the adults 18-49 demographic, with 11.7 million total viewers, which gave the network the highest average rating in the demo for the night. The show was up 10 percent in the ratings.

Things weren't quite as sunny at ABC, where the night kicked off with "Last Man Standing" at 8, which was down 10 percent for a 2.8/8 in the demo and 9.8 million total viewers. The news didn't improve with "Man Up" at 8:30, which fell to a 1.9/5 in the demo and 6.7 million total viewers. The "Dancing With the Stars" results show at 9 drew a 2.5/6 in the demo and 13.7 million total viewers. "Body of Proof" at 10 was flat with a 1.9/5 in the demo and 9.6 million total viewers.

CBS, which was the evening's most-watched network with an average 15.4 million total viewers, saw modest gains. "NCIS" at 8 inched up 3 percent for a 4.0/11 and 19 million total viewers (the highest total viewership of the evening). "NCIS: LA" the following hour enjoyed a 9 percent boost with a 3.7/9 in the demo and 15.8 million total viewers. "Unforgettable" at 10 ran flat with a 2.5/7 in the demo and 11.2 million total viewers.

Dancing With the Stars Broadway Week Results: Chaz, "Baby Don't Go"

The curtain went up on Broadway last night for the remaining couples on Dancing With the Stars.  

We had a couple Tony Awards handed out last night by Carrie Ann.  They went to J.R. and Ricki.  We also almost a judge and a professional dancer come to blows when Len awarded Hope and Maks lower than expected scores and blamed it mostly on Maks.  Maks not only took offense to Len saying their routine lacked effort, and picked apart other parts of the routine, he also took offense to how some of the people are getting treated by the judges.  I tend to agree with Maks.

Let's get this results show started.

The encore dance this week is J.R. and Karina with their quickstep.  Just as good as last night.

The first results of the night are for J.R. and Karina.  No surprise here, they are safe.

That result is followed by another performance by Kristin Chenowith.  Some great dancing also with Tony Dovolani and Dasha.  Kristin has a new CD she is out promoting.

More results coming up for Ricki and Nancy.  Ricki and Derek are through to next week and Nancy and Tristan are safe as well.

Next, some more great Broadway style performances.  Corbin Bleu put a lot of work into this number. 

Good to see Martina McBride back in the ballroom.  With the CMA Awards coming up, looks like Martina is primed to win some more awards.  Give a dancing assist to Chelsie Hightower and Val on that song.

More eliminations with David Arquette and Chaz.  Chaz had some rough criticism from the judges and he's not happy.  Back next week are David and Kym.  Chaz and Lacey are in jeopardy.

Next, a Halloween themed performance with some kids along with Mark Ballas and Lacey.  Those kids were really good.

Rob and Cheryl and Hope and Maks are still waiting for their results.  Maks is still upset and said he needed to vent a little last night. 

Back on the floor next week will be Rob and Cheryl.  Hope and Maks are in jeopardy again. 

Our elimination continues tonight with the emotional departure of Chaz and Lacey.

Hope and Maks will be back. 

Halloween Week next Monday.