This was one of my favorite Disney nights in a while. It gave us some all-timer dances, some amazing reactions to scores, and the fitting farewell of one Carole Baskin. Here’s my Disney night ranking.
14. Carole Baskin and Pasha Pashkov- Tiger King goes Lion King. This was as atrocious as the scores reflected. I’m flabbergasted America didn’t keep her around for ratings, but I’m honestly pretty proud of America too. Now give Pasha a great partner next year!!! He showed potential with Kate Flannery last year, and I think he can really come out a champion in the future.
13. Anne Heche and Keo Motsepe- This one was rough, but I can appreciate Anne’s commitment to character. I think doing a Hercules song was a bit odd, considering the dance should’ve been showcasing Anne, yet the subject matter points to showcasing the male partner, in this case Keo. I do think, however, they had some fun character moments. Unfortunately, the show isn’t all performance. It’s technique and accuracy, both of which were missing this time around. I think she has some fight left in her, but this definitely sets her back.
12. Nelly and Danielle Karagach- I really didn’t care for this dance. Perhaps it has to do with the song recognition, and Soul being a soon-to-be released Pixar film. I do think Nelly just seemed to lose a bit of his groove this time. His steps felt choppy, a bit disjointed, and all together, unimpressive. I do think he has a charm that he could bring to the dance floor, but it was missing here.
11. Jesse Metcalfe and Sharna Burgess- Jesse was rough this week, and should not have gotten scores better than Skai OR Justina. He was too heavy on his feet again, and got way off of the music at several points in the dance. The character commitment was there, but the musicality was just blatantly off. He’s proven he can succeed in the slower material, but doesn’t rock the faster tempo dances. He needs to really focus on musicality, or I could see him plateauing around the 20-point range. Pretty disappointed, especially given how much I love the musical and film Newsies.
10. Skai Jackson and Alan Bersten- I was correct in predicting Skai dancing to “Almost There.” You can definitely see that she’s still a bit shaken up from last week’s lift disaster. That being said, I think she still managed to get through the dance fairly successfully. I worry, however, that she may take a while to get her mojo back. After topping the chart week one, she has failed to bounce back, and is one of the only people to not get their best personal score this week (Justina and Anne the others). The fear was on her face, and it took over the rest of her body’s movements. She has to just let it go, embrace the future, and roll with the punches. When she gets that killer instinct, I can see her leaping back up to the top of the rankings.
9. Justina Machado and Sasha Fraber- Yay! I predicted this song choice last week, Supercalifragilisticexpialidotious (if that’s how you spell it?) from Mary Poppins! Was this her worst dance? Yes. But it was still better than Carole, Anne, Nelly, Jesse, and Skai. Justina goes a long way because of her charisma. Her confidence is what distracts us from some bad footwork this time around, though I have to mention the Charleston steps just weren’t there. A good dance, just not a good Charleston. It’s a niche style of dance, so I do think we’ll see her bounce back pretty effortlessly. Every champion needs their blunders. This was just a bump in the road, and I think she’ll do much better next week.
8. Chrishell Stause and Gleb Savchenko- Chrishell took a huge step up this week. Do I think she deserved an 8? Probably not. But I do think this was her best yet. She was an elegant Cinderella, and she put a beautiful finish on the night. Do I think the dance was a little simplified? Yes. But Chrishell is going at her pace, gaining lots of fans, and improving each week. Well done.
7. AJ McLean and Cheryl Burke- AJ continues to impress me with his energy and consistency with picking up choreo. I do think this Aladdin dance was a tad all-over-the-place at times, though I think he gave it his all. His infectious personality emanates throughout the dance floor. If Cheryl can tighten up that footwork, I do think AJ will be the dark horse to win.
6. Monica Aldama and Valentin Chmerkovskiy- Monica and Val’s Little Mermaid dance was BEAUTIFUL. Simply elegant, refined, and passionate. I do think she’s bouncing back nicely after a poor second week. This week, she blossomed.
5. Vernon Davis and Peta Murgatroyd- Vernon was a ton of fun this week! He had some of the best improvement of anyone. He was energetic, charismatic, and impressive in footwork. His Beauty and the Beast dance may not have stood out as my favorite, but was one of the better technical dances of the night. Well done.
4. Johnny Weir and Britt Stewart- Johnny was elegant and gracious as ever this week, but I do think it was a tad overscored. First off, I’m not sure giving Johnny a Mulan song was the most appropriate choice. That comment aside, I do think there was still some posture work that needs to be done. I still feel like they need to come together as one, and mesh better. I do feel, however, that we finally saw a more determined Johnny, and a much more grounded Johnny which I appreciated. While I felt some of the lower scoring pairs actually did better, Johnny still ended the night as the judges’ high scorer, and still one of the best tonight.
3. Kaitlyn Bristowe and Artem Chigvinstev- I love Moana, so I easily enjoyed this routine at first glance. Kaitlyn is probably going to keep giving us some amazing dances, which means the judges are going to get pickier and pickier. I do think Derek was being a tad petty with his “it’s the wrong shoe” comment….but had she been wearing other shoes, she would’ve been tied with Johnny and Nev last night score wise. Easily one of the best of the night from a technical standpoint. Now I just want her to sell it on her face and expressions a tad more for the future.
2. Jeannie Mai and Brandon Armstrong- Jeannie dancing to “Up” was incredibly beautiful. You could tell she was very connected to the music and the spirit of the storytelling. But that didn’t distract her from the footwork, which I thought was impressive. How did she not pop those balloons with her heels?! She really is one of the best this season, and while her scores don’t necessarily reflect that as much as others, I think we’ll see her start to emerge as a bigger contender as weeks go on. This was beautiful. The colors, the spirit of it, the heart. All of it.
1. Nev Schulman and Jenna Johnson- Another week at the top! Nev absolutely crushed it. He was somehow able to tap into the drunken unbalanced nature of Jack Sparrow, then immediately lock into hold with Jenna during the tango bits. It was so impressive seeing him transition back and forth. He nailed both character AND steps, and never once hesitated in crossing the line between. He was the standout of a really packed night of dances, and he keeps up the Pirates of the Caribbean streak that Riker Lynch set years back for some of the best dances we’ve seen from DWTS. This was just so so good. My favorite, and my front runner.
Nev and Kaitlyn seem like the early front runners with Justina, Jeannie, and Johnny on their tails. Judging by how the competition has gone this season, the two lowest scores have been in the bottom. I think this trend will continue. The question is…who will get the two lowest scores? My guess is either Anne, Nelly, Skai, or Chrishell (based on current trends). I’ll say Anne and Nelly take the bottom 2 spots. They’ve had the 2 lowest average scores of the season next to Charles/Emma and Carole/Pasha. Who the judges send home will depend on the dances tonight…I see Anne out-dancing Nelly.
This was one of my favorite Disney nights in a while. It gave us some all-timer dances, some amazing reactions to scores, and the fitting farewell of one Carole Baskin. Here’s my Disney night ranking.
1. Nev & Jenna —
2. Jeannie & Brandon (+2)
3. Kaitlyn & Artem (-1)
4. Johnny & Britt (+4)
5. Vernon & Peta (+4)
6. Monica & Val (+7)
7. AJ & Cheryl (-1)
8. Chrishell & Gleb (+4)
9. Justina & Sasha (-6)
10. Skai & Alan —
11. Jesse & Sharna (-6)
12. Nelly & Daniella (-1)
13. Anne & Keo (-6)
14. Carole & Pasha (+1)
Biggest Rise: Monica & Val (+7)
Biggest Drop: Justina & Sasha; Jesse & Sharna; Anne & Keo (-6)