Showstoppers Night on Dancing with the Stars was exactly that! Each team dances to a Broadway show tune and incorporates themes from that show into their choreography. This season, they also added team-up dances. Each couple paired with another for a performance. Idina Menzel was guest judge and she was phenomenal! This is one of my favorite nights. I love when the Ballroom and Broadway collide!
Marilu Henner is back, baby. It was so good to see her at ease on the dance floor, because it completely ups her performance. She and Derek Hough performed a Samba and it was by far their best dance of the season.36.
Since Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold were performing to "Memory" from Cats, they went to New York for some pointers from the lead choreographer of the show. They got complete cat costumes and makeup. I could watch Megatron in his cat get-up all day. I was mesmerized. Regardless, they did have a Waltz to accomplish and it was lovely. I adore the pairing of these two and I love watching Calvin perform. 37
James Hinchcliffe had another week without Sharna Burgess. However, his Jazz with Jenna Dewan did not suffer! Well, it suffered slightly, but not because of Jenna. James, for the first time I've noticed all season, missed a step. He got a little ahead of the choreography, but rebounded well. His "The Wiz"-inspired performance was Broadway-worthy, capped off with Idina telling James she'd share a stage with him any time! Now that's a compliment! 36.
Terra Jole' is a freaking force of nature. She and Sasha Farber performed a Charleston and I had legitimate fears that it was going to go very badly. The Charleston is big and Terra is little. I was sure she was going to get behind or not make her movements big enough. She kicked butt. She was a joy to watch. 38.
Watching Jana Kramer perform is a weekly emotional roller coaster. She is full of drama, but fortunately for her, that translates well into her performances. Her Waltz with Gleb Savchenko was a beautiful picture. Simply breathtaking. 40.
Laurie Hernandez blows me away on the weekly. She is so flipping unbelievable. She and Val Chmerkovskiy ROCKED their Argentine Tango. She was again all caught up in being "sexy" enough, but Idina put her in her place. She said, "You being confident and strong and yourself is sexy." Loosely, she didn't exactly say that, but that was the gist and it is correct! She is a force. 40 all the way.
Team Last Man Standing consisted of Calvin and James and CRUSHED. Their Paso Doble was full of power and confidence and fierceness. LOVED it. 37
Team Cubs was Terra and Marilu. They had a Jazz routine that was a whole lot to handle. They combined a bunch of different genres that didn't really come together until the end. tI jumped right into Broadway Finale for the last 45 seconds, and that part was great. Otherwise, I thought it was okay. 36.
Team Sisters was comprised of Laurie and Jana and was unbeatable. These 2 are phenomenal on their own, as a pair, they are out of this world. Their Contemporary had me in chills and almost brought me to tears. Truly powerful. 40.
Marilu got the boot and it was definitely her time to go. It's sad because she totally upped her game this week, but out of the 7 left, she was the weakest. On to the semi-finals!
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