DWTS10 Week 8 Power Rankings

Thank goodness – back to a week of normal scoring after weeks of inebriated scores from the judges! Thought that, for the first time since week 2, the scores were actually spot-on tonight.  Definitely refreshing 😉 

Suffering from a wicked sinus infection, so I’m gonna try and bang this out before my Benadryl kicks in…bear with me!

 1.)    Nicole & Derek – I can’t argue with 1 point away from a perfect score for the evening J Glad these two FINALLY got their much-deserved perfect 30 for that paso – I had my doubts, but Derek managed to make it feel like it was both from the 50’s and a legitimate paso doble.  I don’t know if I smell any Emmy buzz, but it was a worthy performance nonetheless.  Foxtrot was adorable – these two are great at telling a story.  I was a little worried that Len was gonna scold them for too much open work, but he managed to actually relent and give props where they were due this week – for BOTH of Nicole’s dances.  I’d also like to point out something very interesting Nicole said in her package – “Everyone assumes it’s so easy for me.  But it’s really HARD!” People have been giving her crap for her perfectionist attitude for weeks, but honestly – it might actually be very hard for her, and she’s not just being a drama queen.  Just sayin’.  Well I think these two ought to be safe based on scores alone, and based on some Twitter recon I’ve done, it seems like quite a few Pam fans are now voting for Nicole. I know me & my mamacita are – except for one vote, when mom dialed the wrong number and accidentally voted for Niecy.  She’s a little foggy after Mother’s Day festivities, forgive her 😉 

2.)    Erin & Maks – I will commend these two this week – they had two really good dances, and managed to get through them with a minimal amount of drama.  I actually thought Erin’s tango was better than Evan’s last week – maybe not quite 30-worthy, due to the level of difficulty, but she still had crisp footwork and generated a good amount of heat with Maks.  I’ll give them that – these two have the best romantic chemistry of the couples this season, when they can stop fighting (and Erin can shake off her insecurities) long enough to let it show.  Her insecurity is really the only thing majorly hindering Erin at this point – it prevents her from really committing to the dance, and from really moving to her full extent.  Their rumba was actually pretty cute – I do have a soft spot for that John Waite song – and while they didn’t really do any 80’s choreography, it was still apparent what decade they were channeling.  The only problem is that Erin still seems a bit uncomfortable with her arms & legs due to their length, which resulted in her rumba indeed feeling a bit “jerky” and almost like more of a cha-cha.  Girl, those arms & legs are an asset – don’t be ashamed of them! Anyway, fans will rally this week after their bottom 2 scare, and some remarks made by a certain boneheaded talkshow host…they’ll be fine. 

3.)    Evan & Anna – Now I could see these two in a surprise or faux bottom 2, not just for shock value, but also because they seemed a little…well, bland this week.  The waltz, while “pretty” was also pretty unmemorable.  Even the costumes felt a little ho-hum to me, and I caught Evan reverting back to his “deer in the headlights” face a few times as well.  The futuristic cha-cha was pretty cool, but seemed to lack the a little bit of the drama that last season’s paso did.  I’m honestly left with not a whole to say about these two tonight – they did good, but not great, and tended toward the unmemorable.  I would say that Evan is 100% safe based on fanbase, but as we saw last week – we’re now headed into “shocker” bottom 2 territory, and it wouldn’t surprise me if they were in it as a scare tactic to his voters to step up their game.

 4.)    Chad & Cheryl – Don’t ask me how, but Chad still managed to skate by this week by letting Cheryl do most of the work.  He moved ever-so-slightly more in his tango this week than he did in his Argentine tango – but again, Cheryl doing most of the dramatic movements, and Chad just sort of “being there” for her.  Not sure what Cheryl was talking about when she said Chad had great posture – I honestly think he’s slouching a bit to compensate for their height difference, and it’s limiting his range of motion.  The jive was just as I predicted: Chad barely got his feet off the ground.  Don’t know what Len saw, but that wasn’t high-energy to me – it was maybe one step above Niecy’s low-energy jive from a few weeks ago.  And honestly – did anyone else notice that there wasn’t a whole lot of actual jive choreo in this one? Granted, they were running with a theme; but all the other couples seemed to still fit a good amount of basic steps into their routines, and this seemed more like…fluff.  Definitely beginning to think Chad is in danger this week, for two reasons: 1, he stinks; 2, I don’t see Bengals fans outnumbering Olympics fans, Hasselbeck haters, and male fans voting for a hot body.  He also danced in the crap spot. You’ve been warned, Chad…

5.)    Niecy & Louis – No big surprise here.  Niecy was the weakest dancer yet again…but this time, there just isn’t anyone else that she can outvote to get saved once more.  I actually was pleasantly surprised by her Viennese waltz – she managed to be lighter on her feet than I’ve seen her so far, and kept up with Louis, even if her feet got a little shuffly.  But will it be enough to save her after an atrocious paso? Doubt it.  What can I say about that paso that wasn’t blatantly obvious? It was heavy.  It was boring.  It didn’t feel the slightest bit 90’s-y to me (but then again, I think whoever gets the 90’s as their era is screwed anyway).  Niecy should (and likely will) go home.  Sorry kid – your jiggly parts can only carry you so far.

Well that was pretty painless…easiest ranking I’ve done in awhile! Now I am gonna go let the Benadryl do its thing and pray that I don’t have viral pneumonia – everyone on Twitter has been telling me that’s what my chest pain could be.  Yikes!

Oh, and one more shameless plug for tomorrow night’s college competition – as I mentioned in the comments of Heidi’s post earlier today, my old college team from Purdue is competing tomorrow night, and they’re a hard-working group of students who really deserve this opportunity.  It’s because of my experiences with the team 7 years ago that I am involved with dance today, and it’s always nice to support the alma mater.  So please…vote 😉