Once again, Drew skates by, and while I’m not shocked that Victoria is the one who got cut, I’m a little more surprised that Drew is still there. Let’s hope I’m right with this week’s predictions.
10. Drew Scott and Emma Slater (2nd Dance)- Yikes-arooni. Corbin Bleu was possibly the best to never win, and especially after seeing him dance LAST WEEK with Jordan, the odds were stacked against Drew here. It just didn’t compare, and was one of Drew’s weak points of the season.
9. Drew Scott and Emma Slater (1st Dance)- Drew is far and above the worst dancer, but this was a funny routine that had me smiling throughout. While his dancing is still rough in places, the dance wasn’t completely useless, and was better than his later dance, that’s for sure.
8. Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson (1st Dance)- Frankie is pretty lucky that Drew is still here, because this routine (along with his next) were underwhelming. Frankie has been a pleasant surprise this season, but there are some duds here and there. This was a bit of a dud, and while I thought there was some good dancing content, he just didn’t seem to have a very strong connection to the routine, and it showed.
7. Frankie Muniz and Witney Carson (2nd Dance)- Frankie was underwhelming tonight. But I still think this iconic dance was stronger than Drew’s, which should keep him around.
6. Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy (2nd Dance)- This dance was fine and definitely one of Victoria’s best dancing in the competition. But, the task was to recreate an iconic dance and master the challenge. This wasn’t very similar to its source material, and while that made it stand out on its own, they didn’t necessarily fit the requirements. She’s not in the competition anymore, so I’m not gonna pull it apart more than it already has been, but I wasn’t as big on it as the judges were.
5. Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas (2nd Dance)- This is the biggest reason why this theme failed for me. I think this would have garnered a perfect score for me if this had been an original dance. But comparing it to Meryl Davis, my favorite contestant ever on to appear on the show, is not doing anyone any service. Meryl and Maks had some iconic dances in this competition, and while I appreciate Mark for trying to best tribute the choreography, Lindsey just isn’t Meryl, so this routine fell super flat for me. Like I said, the dancing was great, and worthy of 10s, but the routine itself has already been done and done better than anyone I’ve seen on this show, so it was hard to put this any higher.
4. Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold (1st Dance)- The steps are pretty perfect, as always, but thematically, it fell a little flat for Jordan’s standards. Again, for Jordan’s standard, which is set SUPER high. So again, this may be a 9 from Jordan, but for anybody else, it would be considered a masterpiece. That’s saying a lot about Jordan.
3. Victoria Arlen and Val Chmerkovskiy (1st Dance)- I have to give it to Val, that was a gorgeously choreographed dance. Victoria’s journey came to an end tonight, and this was a perfect sendoff for her. While it seemed like more a trio than anything else, and there weren’t a ton of steps, this was art in its truest, beautiful form. So for that, I’m willing to forgive and put this high on the list.
2. Lindsey Stirling and Mark Ballas (1st Dance)- What do these people have to do to get a 10 from Len when it comes to contemporaries? I know it’s happened before, but I think this should have easily been one of them. This was powerful, engaging, and creative once again. I think she’s a worthy opponent for Jordan’s mirror ball.
1. Jordan Fisher and Lindsay Arnold (2nd Dance)- Yeah, this was Jordan Fisher Perfection yet again. I capitalized “Perfection” because it’s starting to become part of Jordan’s name and title. It may even be his middle name. Perfection. While I love Paige’s routine, he found ways to make it unique to himself, and the footwork was just spot on. Perfection.
As my rankings show, this theme shouldn’t be done again unless the cast is filled with 5 Jordan Fishers. Which this cast isn’t. Frankie, Victoria, Drew, and even Lindsey underwhelmed in their routines. But Drew was the hardest hit of the night, and should be going home unless he gets a big push in votes. In that case, Malcolm will go from the middle to the bottom.
Once again, Drew skates by, and while I’m not shocked that Victoria is the one who got cut, I’m a little more surprised that Drew is still there. Let’s hope I’m right with this week’s predictions.