Dancing With the Stars Finalists Face Tough Judging

And then there were three!

Three is the number of couples that are left as the finals of Dancing With the Stars starts tonight.  It's not much of a surprise that Ricki and Derek and J.R. and Karina have made it this far, but early on in the season, who would've predicted Rob and Cheryl would still be dancing?

Two dances tonight including the freestyle.  The show is only one-hour tonight so there won't be much wasted time.

Ricki and Derek are up first tonight after being perfect last week.  They get a cha cha and she wants to make it real sexy.  I think Ricki really turned it up a notch with this performance.  The only criticism was that it lacked a little fluidity.  Ricki gets a 27.

Rob Kardashian and Cheryl are next on.  Rob had a great week last week and he will need to do at least that good this time around.  Their first dance is the waltz.  A nice dance, but Bruno talked about his posture and footwork.   Rob scores a 27 as well.

J.R. and Karina are third.  Len gave J.R. some pointers heading into the finals and it appears his ankle is doing better.  Their routine was high energy, but I think he has done better.  Carrie Ann said he was a little off to the music and Len thought his timing was off.  J.R. earns a 24 out of 30.

The second dance tonight is the freestyle.  This might be the dance that determines the winner of the season.  

Derek and Ricki lead off the freestyles.  Derek looks like he is going to pull out all the stops here.  It was hot and energetic.  Lots of flips and lifts and the crowd loved it.  Derek made a tough dance look effortless and they scored another 27.

Here we go with Rob and Cheryl.  Cheryl wants to start out with a slow dance then pick up the pace at the end.  A tough dance and the judges loved it.  He gets a perfect 30.

J.R. is the last one on.  At this point in the competition J.R. and Karina are both tired.  This was a tough dance, lots of action.  Nonstop movement from the start of the music.  The judges loved it and they get a 30.

The two-hour finale is tomorrow.  Lady Antebellum performs. 

Dancing With the Stars Semi-Final Results: Hope Floats

After a day fighting off the effects of food poisoning, I gathered my wits and strength long enough to catch last night's performance show.

The stars of the show last night were Ricki and Derek, with Rob and Cheryl close behind.  J.R. and Karina ended up in third and Hope and Maks were left in the dust.

One couple will be eliminated tonight and be left out of the finals.  Based on past elimination shows and their below average performance, Hope and Maks seem to be a pretty safe bet to go home.

Let's see who makes the finals and some Muppets tonight.

The encore dance is Ron and Cheryl with their "I Go To Rio" routine.  

A result is coming up with Rob and Cheryl finding out if they will be making the finals.  They will be coming back. 

Next, a performance by Cobra Starship.  Some great dancing by Kym, Tristian and others.  

Up next, Maks and Hope find out where they stand.  I think the judges again were a little harsh on this pair.  They will be in jeopardy and will find out their fate.

After a little segment with Carson Kressley on the DWTS wardrobe department, we finally get to see Derek and Anna in the Design-A-Dance routine.

Next, our uplifting story featuring Kenny Wormald, who stars in the current movie "Footloose."  He talks about how difficult it is to be a male dancer.  They set out to prove that dance is a manly sport.  These kids did a great job with the pro dancers.

The Muppets make their appearance on DWTS to promote their new movie.  Great to have Stadler and Waldorf as the judges.  

More results with Ricki and Derek and J.R. and Karina.  J.R. fought through his ankle injury and they go into jeopardy.  Rick and Derek head to the finals. 

That leaves us with either Hope and maks or J.R. and Karina exiting tonight. 

The couple heading to the finals along with Ricki and Derek and Rob and Cheryl is J.R. and Karina.  No surprise.

Finals next week.

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 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.

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.