Dancing with the Stars played with a “story night” theme on its April 4th episode of Season 12. As part of this theme night, each star selected a song to which he/she has a strong attachment and created a dance which conveyed what that song means to him/her. The dances consisted of a mix of Latin ballroom and the Waltz.
Here’s how our stars fared, in the order of their finish Monday, from first place to last. The individual judge’s score for each dance is in parenthesis next to his/her name.
The dance was meant to be a celebration and a thank you to his mom who was there in the audience to cheer him on. And Hines more than accomplished his goal. His joyful and charming and yet sexy dance left his mom (and the rest of us) with a huge grin, waving the Steelers terrible towel.
And the judges were overjoyed!
Carrie Ann Inaba (9): “Booya! Baby’s got bounce! Hines you danced the Samba like you’ve been dancing it your whole life. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you. Good job!”
Len Goodman (8): “The story was upbeat. The dance was upbeat. It’s obvious Carrie Ann is proud of you. Your mother is proud of you. And I tell you what, I am proud of you!”
Bruno Tonioli (8): “This Samba was an uplifting expression of happiness. Bouncing butt. Shaking butt. Two for the price of one. Happy hour!”
Total score: 25
The judges were moved:
Carrie Ann (8): “I think that’s what makes this dance special. Your heart was all over the moves. You’ve gone from supermodel to super graceful inspirational dancer.”
Len (9): “It had grace, it had elegance. It had fluid movements. This season, it’s my favorite…For me, at this moment, you’re the one.”
Bruno (8): “You’re like a vision from heaven and you danced like an angel. Your improvement is incredible. Your beauty is great but your heart is even more beautiful.”
Total score: 25
Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas danced the Cha Cha to a song written for her, named Chelsea of course. Chelsea wanted to be more conservative this week in the choreography and the change paid off big.
Before she danced, Chelsea told the tale of her first love, Brian. Brian wrote the song Chelsea for her as a way to express his feelings for her. And good news for Brian, it worked! Chelsea fell head over the heels. But In rehearsals, Chelsea felt intimidated by Mark because Mark made a better girl than she does. The judges ate up her routine:
Bruno (8): “Chelsea Chelsea, sexy sexy! Ooh. I could feel…I could really feel that excitement running through you. Quivering…For the bite, the bite of that delicious first taste of love. Tasty Tasty Chelsea. And a great Cha Cha.”
Carrie Ann (7): “I’m a big fan of love and romance, and I am a big fan of that Cha Cha. You are so adorable. You look like a little baby Julianne [Hough].”
Len (8): “I remember my first love and it didn’t look anything like you….That’s your best dance. Well done.”
Total Score: 23
Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel danced the Rumba. Kendra chose You and Me by Musiq Soulchild to describe her relationship with her husband Hank Baskett. Kendra explained that when she first started dating Hank, his fans turned on them for him dating a “stripper” and she went through a rough time. Kendra wanted to send the message of “follow your heart” through her song and dance. The judges liked her efforts though she got mixed review on the sexiness of it all:
Len (7): “I wasn’t that keen on the unnecessary gyrating that went on and occasionally you were a little unstable…however, what impressed me was week one I spoke to you about your legs…but you come out with beautiful feet and gorgeous leg action.”
Bruno (8): “Kendra..there is nothing to worry about. There is nothing wrong with a good stripper. In fact, I’m into it myself. It could be art and that was so teasingly erotic. It was hot and arousing darling. I tell you if it had that affect on me, can you imagine the men in the audience? They’re turning purple out there!”
Carrie Ann (8): “Let me tell you something, it was not just the men who got a little excited. That was hot hot hot. What I love is you’re celebrating your sensuality.”
Total score: 23
Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke danced the Rhumba. Chris choose the song, Let It Be because he feels it encompasses all his memories about his mother who was involved in an accident as Chris’ wrestling career was taking off.
Carrie Ann (7): “Chris Irvine, that was a beautiful tribute to your mom. This is what I love so much about dancing. And I am so glad you got to experience what it feels like to tell a story and to create a whole emotional response….Your hip action, a little strange but emotionally, amazing. Great job.”
Len (7): “Choreography can cover up a multitude of mistakes and Cheryl did a great job because you virtually never used your arms, they were always on your hips and because of that it lost some fluidity through the upper body…the lines or posses you did were excellent.”
Bruno (7): “You brought a great sense of warmth; an almost naked sense of vulnerability which is very difficult to do with the Rumba because it is basically a sexy dance and you made it work. But Len is right, you have to link the lines.”
Total score: 21
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovski danced the Rumba. Over the Rainbow was Kirstie’s chosen tune because it depicts the most significant turning point in her life. In 1980, she had moved to LA and had given herself one year to make it in Hollywood. She was up for a role on Star Trek II but got a call from her sister that her parents were hit by a drunk driver. She had lost her mother in the tragedy. But 72 hours later, she landed the role on Star Trek which was her big career break. So, the song for Kirstie signifies hopefulness after despair.
During what would have been an emotionally supercharged piece, Maks’ “thigh gave out” and he fell to his knee, grimacing in pain for a few seconds. He did stand up and the duo were able to pick up the dance as the consummate professionals that each is. When the dance finished, Kirstie and Maks hugged for along time.
The judges were kind:
Carrie Ann (7): “Sometimes tragedy leads to amazingly beautiful moments. And I think despite the fact that you had a little of a mess up in the beginning, something magical happened after that and you were just so connected to the music…to see you connected to your vulnerability like that and determined to make it through. You did a wonderful job.”
Len (7): “Dancing is a bit like life. It’s about overcoming adversities and you overcame it. You got up, dusted yourself off and you bounced back stronger. Well done.”
Bruno (7): “Kirstie, you can’t keep good talent down. Once you got up it was better than ever!”
Total score: 21
“Stay Gold” to him means to strive to hold those moments in one’s life which are the most special. Macchio also used that song in his wedding and ironically, this is his 24th wedding anniversary week. He dedicated the Rumba to his wife for the most amazing 24 years of his life and for always reminding him to stay gold (I am crying as I type…so sweet!)
Len (7): “The whole routine I thought was crisp and it was clean. But, it needs a tad of refinement. Your hand, you need to work on those. Your feet, you need to work on those. It needed a bit more hip action. But the overall look was very appealing.”
Bruno (7): “It was a very beautiful dance. It’s the execution. I told you about the hand from week 1. You still do these statual things. And I know [Karina] is not your wife, but she’s beautiful. You deal with her like she’s too hot to handle. You don’t know what to do with her.”
Carrie Ann (7): “I thought it was a very sweet Rumba. I think you missed the point Bruno, he wasn’t doing it for Karina, he doing it for his wife.” After Len’s outburst of “It was not sweet,” ended, Carrie Ann continued: “You do have to work on your core strength though but it was very sweet and it was very moving and you two [Len and Bruno] are kookoo.”
Total score: 21
Romeo and Chelsie Hightower danced the Rumba. Romeo chose the song I’ll Be There to pay tribute to the cousin he saw die in a car accident when Romeo was 9 and another cousin who died by violence.
Bruno (7): “You really put your heart and soul in to it and it showed. You were connected and involved. Sometime what happens is when you put so much of yourself into something, somethings go astray and in your case, it was your foot….But I still believe you are a very fine young man.”
Carrie Ann (7): “Despite the heel and the funky footwork there was something really nice about the way you committed to that dance and you kept it throughout the whole piece…And I definitely saw some refinement over last week.”
Len (6): “Last week Romeo, there was a huge step forward. This week, there’s a huge step back.”
Total score: 20
Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya danced the Paso Doble. Sugar Ray decided to focus his story on “beating the odds.” In his career, he felt doubted but proved his haters wrong. He said when he got back in the ring to reclaim his boxing championship, they played the song My Prerogative and he showed them he had the determination to win and he wanted to do the same thing on DWTS. And the judges loved it!
Carrie Ann (7): “I think I saw a lot of improvement. I am so proud of you.”
Len (6): “This competition is a bit like your fights and each week your opponent is a dance. And week one and week two you let the dance dominate you. You come out tonight stronger and you fought back.”
Bruno (7): “Sugar Ray the raging bull fighting spirit got you back in business. One thing, you still have to refine your Spanish lines..thrust your hips… but I am sure you’re staying cause I think you have something there.”
Total Score: 20
Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani danced the Foxtrot to Last Night A DJ Saved My Life. Wendy’s story involved her debut in media via the radio. She spoke of sleeping at rest stops and taking bird baths in between jobs when she first started. But all that struggle helped her learn who she is. Unfortunately, it didn’t help her on the dance floor.
Len (5): “Your story was about hard work and struggling to achieve your goals…And I know you must have worked extremely hard. But, we need to be honest. It was a struggle. It lacked fluidity. There was no movement…and I apologize!”
Bruno (5): “The Foxtrot has to be long, smooth, fluid. It has to glide and at times it looked like you put down roots.”
Total Score: 15