Sunday, April 15, 2012

'DWTS' Season 14 Week 5 -- Who's Dancing What and Predictions

Martina Navratilova is gone. Jack Wagner is gone. Sherri Shepherd is gone. None of these eliminations were gut-busting shockers. Martina, though a classy lady who clearly tried really, really hard, wasn't a good dancer. Jack fell through the cracks as the guy without an enormous fan base. And Sherri? Her exit was the result of a culmination of different factors: low scores, limited recognizability and the 'oh, she'll get enough votes so I'll cast mine for x' effect. (Okay, and her perkiness was annoying.) With respects paid to the departed celebs, here's a look at what's to come this week.


It's William Levy... er, Latin Week in the ballroom. The stars will dance one of three different styles, the Salsa, the Samba or the Argentine Tango. Here's a look at who's dancing what, grouped by style.

Salsa
Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower
Maria Menounos and Derek Hough

Samba
Gavin DeGraw and Karina Smirnoff
Gladys Knight and Tristan MacManus
Jaleel White and Kym Johnson

Argentine Tango
William Levy and Cheryl Burke
Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas
Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd

At first glance, it looks suspiciously like they're grouped by skill level, with the weakest performers assigned the Samba. I'm sure it's just a coincidence (maybe) but the implications could be wide-reaching when it comes to results night. Let's predict which couple will 'win' their respective group.

Salsa

Melissa's returning from a head injury, which is hella scary, so she'll get props from the judges for having the guts to come back at all. But she hasn't been especially good this season. She hasn't yet managed to really relax into her routines, and as a result she's looked strained, frenetic and unsure of herself in the ballroom. There's just something unnatural about the way she performs. Hopefully she'll get it together and stick around for a few more weeks because I'd love to see Half Pint succeed, but she's easily the third-place finisher in Group Salsa.

Predicted scores: 7, 7, 7 = 21

I don't know Roshon personally, but I do know that he seems to have an extremely high opinion of himself, and it makes him abrasive. I know you're young and all, but a little humility goes a long way, dude. With that said, he does have some natural talent when it comes to hoofing it, and he and Chelsie are a good match. They'll get good scores. Not tops, but good.

Predicted scores: 8, 8, 8 = 24.

And that leaves us with the projected winners of Group Salsa, Maria and Derek. They've only had one disappointing week, and luckily for them, it was week one. On the downside, Maria's strength is probably her near-impeccable form, which isn't useful with the Salsa. On the upside, she can do Latin dances, too. Their Rumba was one of the steamiest, bedroom-worthy numbers I've ever seen. They won't top the leaderboard, but they'll score quite well.

Predicted scores: 9, 8, 8 = 25.

Samba

At long last, Gavin and Karina managed to escape the bottom two last week! But I'm predicting a short-lived respite from the danger zone. I like Gavin, especially since we've gotten to 'know' him a little better. And I like the effect he's had on Karina. But he's not a natural hip-wiggler, so I expect this dance to be painfully awkward. And I also expect the round of 'oh no, we can't let them wind up in the bottom two AGAIN' votes to recede.

Predicted scores: 7, 6, 7 = 20.

Gladys is a rock and roll legend. She's amazing. I have nothing but respect for her amazing musical career. And Tristan? Mmm, mmm, good. But this dance smells like disaster. I'm hopin' for the best, but bracin' for the worst. The worst performance of week 5.

Predicted scores: 6, 6, 7 = 19.

It's been a tough competition for Jaleel. If he hadn't made that bizarre and egotistical comment about Urkel being his personal Mickey Mouse, I'd almost feel sorry for the guy. (I most defintely do feel sorry for Kym.) They've been one of the most inconsistent couples of the season, but I'll gamble and call it an up-week, just because I know Jaleel has talent.

Predicted scores: 8, 7, 8 = 23.

Argentine Tango

Ah, dear William. If America didn't know you before, we certainly do now. Never has the ballroom known such catcalling. (Or so much drool from Carrie Ann and Bruno.) But he's probably the weak link in this very strong Group Argentine Tango. He's scored well in the past, but at the same time, the judges nailed him last week for letting the quality of his dances go downhill. He's gotta get it together. Don't get me wrong. William and Cheryl will steam up the ballroom. But it won't be the stuff of Gilles Marini.

Predicted score: 8, 8, 8 = 24.

Donald and Peta sit at the top of the leaderboard entering Latin Week. But honestly, their Paso Doble was overscored and the rest of the competition was comparatively weak. So, I'm not sure that it says much. Still, this is Donald's kind of dance. For an athlete, he's pretty good at conveying emotion when he dances, and the Argentine Tango is all about great movement, great lines, great emotion, great everything. It's a restrained power-dance. He can do this.

Predicted scores: 9, 8, 8 = 25.

Katherine and Mark had an off-week, but I'm betting they'll come back in a very big way on Monday. She's just so, so good. She's naturally graceful and elegant. I can see them pulling out the stops and putting some serious romance (or maybe just fauxmance) on display. It'll be good. Really good.

Predicted scores: 9, 9, 9 = 27.

So that's what I think is in store for Dancing with the Stars this week. What do you think will happen?

1 comment:

  1. Great to see you back here! I look forward to comparing your predicted scores to the actuals : )

    ReplyDelete