Dancing with the Stars “Season 22 Week 6” aka Famous Dances Night 

This week’s Dancing with the Stars was a momentous occasion: Len’s birthday! And to celebrate, it was Famous Dances Night! The routines could be from movies or music videos. After being away from their partners for a week, would the couples reunite and gel like before? Not one but two contestants were injured during rehearsals. Would those celebs sit this week out or would they step up and dance? Let’s see how the couples did:

Kim Fields and Sasha Farber
Dance: Jive
Inspiration: Hairspray
Phone Number: 1-800-868-3406

• This is my favorite performance that Kim and Sasha have done so far. The woman was injured and she didn’t even look it! Kim is more under the radar and people shouldn’t under estimate her in this race to the Mirror Ball. Carrie Ann Inaba mentions her energy was slightly under where it needed to be but, overall, it was well done.

Score: Carrie Ann-8, Len-8, Bruno-8; Total: 24

Von Miller and Witney Carson
Dance: Jazz
Inspiration: “Bad” Video (Michael Jackson)
Phone Number: 800-868-3411

Here’s the thing: Von’s got all the moves and did a nice job. Here’s my issue: I feel like he doesn’t go the extra mile. I’m not sure how to totally describe it, but there is some kind of disconnect with Von. Maybe he thinks because he has the moves down he doesn’t have to do too much more than that. I don’t know.

Score: Carrie Ann-8, Len-8, Bruno-8; Total: 24

Jodie Sweetin and Keo Motsepe
Dance: Contemporary
Inspiration: “Try” Video (Pink)
Phone Number: 800-868-3405

• An injured Jodie came back and showed why she is doing DWTS. It was a dangerous and fantastic routine. They struggled with the lift but you didn’t notice much. When someone is so hard on herself or himself, they get frustrated. The only thing they can do is put it into a dance like this one.

Score: Carrie Ann-9, Len-8, Bruno-8; Total: 25

Paige VanZant and Mark Ballas
Dance: Jazz
Inspiration: Austin Powers
Phone Number: 800-868-3410

• After finding out their original song wasn’t available, they had a shorter time to get their dance together. The routine really captured the movie and had all the ingredients. Mark was also able to show some of Paige’s athletic abilities in this dance that got them the 10 from Len.

Score: Carrie Ann-9, Len-10, Bruno-9; Total: 28

Nyle DiMarco and Peta Murgatroyd
Dance: Quickstep
Inspiration: The Mask
Phone Number: 800-868-3409

• It’s still crazy what this guy can do but with that said, it wasn’t his best night. They lost sync a couple of times and it was the first time I saw mistakes with Nyle. It was almost like he was over confident. In his video package he came off really cocky and as Len said it will annoy people. I was disappointed in Nyle this week mainly because he told the world he was the best dancer in the competition.

Score: Carrie Ann-8, Len-8, Bruno-9; Total: 25

Ginger Zee and Val Chmerkovskiy
Dance: Jazz
Inspiration: “Nasty” Video (Janet Jackson)
Phone Number: 800-868-3404

• Here’s the thing: Ginger got most of the choreography. She is a very clean dancer. Unfortunately, it was too “cheerleader” for me (no offense to cheerleaders). She needed to be nastier. Again, this is about more than the moves. It’s also feeling what the song is about.

Score: Carrie Ann-8, Len-8, Bruno-8; Total: 24

Doug Flutie and Karina Smirnoff
Dance: Bollywood
Inspiration: Slumdog Millionaire
Phone Number: 800-868-3402

• Doug is probably one of the weaker dancers but he was impressive with this routine. This is a man that works hard and you see it. Carrie Ann said something about him being out of step with Karina at one point but I didn’t see that.

Score: Carrie Ann-7, Len-7, Bruno-7; Total: 21

Wanya Morris and Lindsay Arnold
Dance: Jazz
Inspiration: “Bye Bye Bye” (*NSYNC at the 2000 MTV Video Awards)
Phone Number: 800-868-3412

• Amazing! Lance and Joey were there to cheer them on! (If you don’t know who Lance and Joey are, I’m sad for you) Wanya did not like getting low scores the week before and it motivated him to be better. This is one of my favorite dances of the season. I thought he was going to get three 10s but apparently Len is looking for something a little extra from Wanya.

Score: Carrie Ann-10, Len-9, Bruno-10; Total: 29

Antonio Brown and Sharna Burgess
Dance: Jive
Inspiration: Footloose
Phone Number: 800-868-3401

• It was full of attack and vigor.(Now I sound like Len) Antonio’s timing was a little off, but it was highly entertaining. He really showed he wanted to be there with Sharna and, apparently, the judges were impressed. I was a bit surprised that Antonio got all 9s because of his timing but who knows what it looked like to the judges.

Score: Carrie Ann-9, Len-9-, Bruno-9; Total: 27

Now for the elimination. Three couples were told they were in jeopardy: Paige and Mark; Doug and Karina; and Von and Witney. The remaining couples were told they were safe.

The couple leaving this week was Doug and Karina. Compared to the others this is probably the right call. But don’t forget to vote!

Favorite Quotes

Erin: “We got your shorts, Tom. There you are.”
Tom: “Stop yelling, I’m hosting!”
Tom: “We’ll fix it in post.”
Erin: “Who ever thought that Tom would run that fast?”
Tom: “You finally found a dance for all your facial expressions.”
Tom: “Remember, we gave you a cake.”
Len: “I am kinder as I get older.”
Len: “How many 10s have you given out, sweetheart?”
Tom: “If you decide later you want a restraining order, we can arrange that.”
Tom: “Alan and Britney, they are a chiropractor’s dream.”
Tom: “Before you dislocate something…”

Next week is Team Dance week: the men against the women! There is no Derek this time so it’s anyone’s game.

Dancing with the Stars Season 22 airs Monday nights at 8/7c on ABC.