DWTS13 Week 5 Power Rankings

COWABUNGA!!! I don’t know about you guys, but I sure had fun during 80s night 8) I love how it brought out the fun side in all of the couples.  Plus it felt like I was listening to the 80s mix on my iPod.  Always a plus 😉

Can’t say I’m terribly surprised at how things stacked up tonight, although I hope that the voting does help a few couples who I’m not quite ready to let go of yet.  Gotta say – song selection tonight really seemed to trip some up and help others out.  Hope it’s not the final nail in the coffin for a few couples!

1.) JR & Karina – I definitely breathed an audible sigh of relief about 15 seconds into this dance when I realized that JR was gonna slay it, instead of going down in flames like I thought he would with that wretched song 😛 It was one of the better sambas I’ve seen on the show – JR managed to cut loose and really get his hips working in a way that most celebs attempting the samba can’t.  The bounce wasn’t quite there, but he more than made up for it in sheer energy & fun.  The dude even managed to do SEVERAL samba rolls in a row! Quite a feat, considering my bf doesn’t even like to do them in competition…let alone teach them to newbies.  And best of all – it was nice to finally see him getting proper credit from the judges, both in comments and in critiques. No wishy-washy “8” paddles, no “Well, it was pretty good, BUT-“…just a sincere, “Well done, JR!” Considering the kinda crazy points spread tonight, I think the likelihood of them being in danger is about the same as Len doing the Safety Dance tomorrow night 😉

2.) Ricki & Derek – Wish I could say these two conquered their crummy song the same way JR did, but unfortunately Heidi & I’s qualms about “Easy Lover” as a foxtrot weren’t unfounded – this dance felt awkward & disjointed, although not necessarily terrible in the technique department.  The judges were right about one thing – the parts in hold were actually quite lovely, and were indeed a proper foxtrot.  The parts not in hold weren’t quite so lovely, but in the same token, why harp on someone for doing the Roger Rabbit if it’s freakin’ 80s week? It’s not like they did it for a very long time, and I felt like it was in the character of the dance, with the “80s prom” kinda theme it had going on.  It’s the same beef I had with the judges last season when they ripped apart Ralph’s “Sweet Home Alabama” samba – honestly, what did you expect them to do, given the song & the theme? *sigh* Whatever…I kind of expected them to manipulate things so that Ricki had an “off” week, so I can’t say I’m shocked and awed.  Just annoyed, as usual 🙂 I wouldn’t go so far as to say they’re completely safe (the points spread this week is looking pretty precarious…), but I will say that I think there are couples more LIKELY to head home.  Besides, they might benefit from a bit of rage-driven power voting this week, since the judges decided to be asshats 😛  Read more..