Feeling the Pressure

It’s the eighth week on “Dancing with the Stars” and the pressure is on. The five remaining celebrities performed one Latin and one ballroom dance. The Latin dance is based on a dance through the decades. Learning two dances in four days is an Olympian task for these performers who are nursing injuries (Kelly and Donny), while nerves are frayed of the others. As Len says “Let the battle begin.”

The judges give tips to the final five and while informative is unnecessary. We just want to see the celebs dance. After being criticized for not enough content Mya picked up her game leaving Len nothing to criticize and Bruno with one of the oddly appropriate comments of the night: “After you taste it nothing else will do.” In her first dance of the night Mya raised the bar into the stratosphere with her score of 29. She continued the trend with her samba making Mya “the baddest of them all” – in a good way with a score of 30. It’s the first perfect score of the season.

After surviving the dance-off Aaron Carter’s Foxtrot had to be on point. It didn’t help that his partner was battling the flu, but we saw what happened to Marc when he had three different partners, so battling this virus to help her celeb make it to the semis next week was Karina’s top priority. That said Aaron’s dance came off stiff with its “lack of fluidity.” But he redeemed himself with his ‘90s samba. Finally there was a place for all his frenetic energy to go.

Meanwhile, last week, Joana and Derek’s moves were so hot that Bruno “could taste it.” This week she had to top the leader board once again to remain in the competition. According to Len “this is not the standard for the quarterfinal” and Bruno wondered if she “was running away from the scene of a crime.” Their samba crowned Derek the choreographer of the night. It truly was what the judges called “genius.” The semis are next week and these celebs are stepping it up.

Then there’s Louis and Kelly Osbourne. As Louis locks up all of Kelly’s distraction, she becomes that performer that got a standing ovation in the first episode. If she maintains her consistency, Kelly could win this thing.

As we see Donny have a “Paradigm shift” he begins to love the competition again. His standing ovation dance was according to the judges “mesmerizing” and “was like watching a lifetime movie.” Then Len poured a bucket of cold water with his myopic view of the dance. Considering that Donny is dancing with a broken toe, it’s a wonder that he was able to perform two dances. The quarterfinals are bringing out the killer instinct in these performers making the competition an entertaining experience for the audience.

Night two brought a repeat performance of Derek’s “genius” futuristic Paso Doble. The night was fraught with tension as mere points differentiated the top of the leader board from the bottom dwellers. As favorites were saved the song stylings of Michael Buble and Susan Boyle soothed and electrified the audience. Although the audience could have done without the commentary from Kenny Mayne and Jerry Rice. Recaps are fine, but the fillers are tedious. It would have been better if the singers had more air time. Then they brought back season 5 Sabrina Bryant (“The Cheetah Girls”) who was the viewers’ choice to dance to a song and dance in an outfit picked by the fans. Bryant showed why she was such a fan favorite; however the fans should not go into fashion design – ever.

As usual a celeb is eliminated. Next week the semi-finalists perform three dances as the finals are a mere two weeks away. As the end is near who will be the one to claim that disco ball trophy?