Semifinal Time

It’s the semifinals and with four celebrities battling it out for that sparkly disco ball the intensity is magnified. Now “the Entertainer (Donny Osmond), the Dancing Machine (Mya), the Wild One (Kelly Osbourne) and the Glamour Girl (Johanna)” must perform three dances to make it to next week’s finals.

After last week’s tumble from the leader board Donny must redeem himself from his last place status. So they brought in Gilles from season eight to show Donny how to “make everyone uncomfortable” in a good way. Unfortunately “he completely lost it” and there was “no drama” as his partner experienced a costume malfunction. He redeems himself with his samba, but this could cost him the silver ball.

For Johanna consistency is the key. With frustration mounting Brooke Burns is brought to levy the tension, giving Johanna the self-assurance to dance the Viennese waltz. According to Bruno it didn’t get him “up to paradise”, but still was an amazing performance. Then she became “the wild child” in her next dance, but according to Len “could have been a little more cheeky” and Bruno “can’t get [Johanna] out of his bed.”

Kelly experiences the loss of a pet which would have sidelined her early on in the competition. However she keeps her composure and does a performance with a higher level of difficulty than in previous weeks, bringing Carrie Ann “to tears.” But left Len and Bruno pointing out what went wrong. It is the semis and the judges are keeping their high scoring paddles in hibernation until they are totally dazzled by the celebs; which Kelly did. The praise from the judges was the best of the night.

After her perfect score last week, Mya has to bring it with her waltz. With a high level of difficulty Mya achieved the highest score early after the first set of dances. Her second dance had Len going “Tutti Frutti fresh and booty” as he couldn’t stop looking at her bum through her high energy Latin dance. The sexy moves paid off as Mya scored another perfect 30.

The first night was interspersed with commentary from family and friends of the remaining contestants. It was interesting to see the takes on these celebrities who have battled addiction (Kelly), poverty (Johanna) and an intense case of over-perfecting everything (Donny). This season more than any other reflects the humanity of the celebs. It’s refreshing and doesn’t bore the viewer as you realize that Donny Osmond is friends with Stevie Wonder – yes Stevie Wonder.

This week the third dance was a surprise that the celebs have been working on in case they faced the dance off. It’s the first time in “Dancing With the Stars” history that three dances were done by each performer. It made for high entertainment as each celebrity brought it with high results. But it was Mya who benefitted the most from with the highest scores of the season.

Night two brought on even more intensity as the celebs were whittled down to three. Interspersed throughout the episode were a myriad of talented acts. To bring on another type of tension the dancers from the soon to be released movie “Nine” performed “Be Italian.” Heat doesn’t begin to cover the amazing dancing of this troupe. Then Alicia Keys performed her newest single “Try Sleeping With a Broken Heart.” What made this otherwise ordinary love song were the dancers performing the words of the track. Then there were the celebrities lip-synching to Queen’s “Pressure” – a minor blip in an otherwise great night of performances.

When it was Leona Lewis’ turn to sing her new release “Happy” she knocked it out, making the dancers surrounding her unnecessary. This chick can emote the hell out of a lyric and she does it effectively with this track.

Meanwhile the remaining BeeGees performed “You Should be Dancing.” Those high falsettos and that ‘70s fast paced beat was the perfect companion to the dance moves by the professional dancers and fan favorite celeb from season 8 Melissa Rycroft.

The show has brought on incredible talent as the weeks have gone on and it’s a joy for the audience to watch.

As we know this is a competition and as one celeb has their fate decided by the lack of fan votes, the remaining three are settled on to duke it out in next week’s finals. Tune in to “Dancing With the Stars” to see who wins the coveted silver disco-globe trophy.