Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovski danced the Rumba on Monday’s Dancing with the Stars. 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 depicts hopefulness after the 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!”