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Dancing with the Stars: Most Memorable Year

Posted at 3:08 PM, Apr 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-04-11 15:08:24-04

Dancing with the Stars "Most Memorable Year" was of "The Bachelor"-esque emotional proportions. I really don't remember crying this much in seasons past. Everybody had a story to tell and (almost) all of them were moving.

I had chills throughout Normani Kordei & Val Chmerkovskiy's Rumba. She is just that good. Her most memorable year was the year she started with Fifth Harmony and the sacrifices her family made for her. She had her 5H girls backing her up on vocals and it was a perfect combination. Love me some Normani.  32

I was surprised to have chills throughout Nick Viall & Peta Mergatroyd's Rumba, only because he hasn't really delivered for the past few weeks. Of course his most memorable year was 2016 when he found love on "The Bachelor". He started out juggling girls on the dance floor, like he did on the show, really stepped up his game with just Peta, then closed it out with his fiancee. It was sweet. And hot. 30 with 8's from the female judges, 7's from the boys.

Nancy Kerrigan was the first to make me cry. She opened up about her struggles with infertility. After having her first child, she had 6 miscarriages in 8 years. She talked about feeling like a failure. She finally turned to in vitro fertilization and was able to add 2 more beautiful babies to her family. Meanwhile, I was mesmerized by her Foxtrot with Artem Chigvintsev and didn't want it to end. She looked SO relaxed. Finally! 33, with a 9 from Len, which I found surprising and generous.

Mr. T's most memorable year was when he was diagnosed with cancer. He turned to God to get him through, so he and Kym Herjavec danced his Waltz to Amazing Grace. He is not a fantastic dancer, but to see how much he tries almost moved me to tears. Of course it moved Carrie Ann Inaba to tears. It's really something to see him out there doing his thing. Unfortunately, his technique is not quite up to par with the rest. 28

Heather Morris chose the year she got married as her most memorable. She and Alan Bersten (still filling-in for Maksim Chmerkovskiy who has an injury) were phenomenal together. She was just so good. I could watch her Cha Cha all night. 35

Big shock that David Ross' most memorable year was winning the World Series with the Cubs. He performed a Viennese Waltz with Lindsay Arnold and it was adorable. His charm overtakes his lack of finesse. He needs some work on the technical side, but he dances with heart and that definitely helps with the judges. 31

Rashad Jennings' Most Memorable year was 2006, when he "realized what unconditional love" was. He quit school to be with his dad who had had a stroke and had his leg amputated. His Contemporary was overwhelming by itself and finished off with Rashad collapsing into his father's arms. It was so unbelievably touching. He completely crushed his performance. Emma did an amazing job with the choreography. This performance proved what a class act, Rashad is. 39!!! Highest score of the season!

Erika Jayne's most memorable year was when she moved from NY to LA and finally "made it". She performed to "Express Yourself" by Madonna. I didn't think it was very Cha Cha-like, but it was fun. I don't know if it was because this was the most upbeat dance of the night, but I definitely didn't get the emotional-connection vibe that I did from the others. 30

I knew Simone Biles was going to kick my butt from the pre-show package. Her most memorable year was when she was adopted. I thought she might not make it through her Viennese Waltz with Sasha Farber without breaking down, because she started it in tears. Her performance was beautiful and I loved watching her dance, but of course, the most amazing part was her hugging her mom and dad, in tears, at the end. Killing me. Tom Bergeron asked how, when starting off so emotionally, she was able to get the dance done. Her response? "Muscle memory". She is adorbs. 36

Bonner Bolton is coming off a pretty unbelievable year. He was paralyzed 12 months ago. Paralyzed. What a remarkable story. I started to realize this week that his limitations due to his injury could be a real problem moving forward. Sharna Burgess had a beautiful concept for their Foxtrot and Bonner was good, but needs a little more fluidity. Hopefully he can work around it. 32

Unfortunately, Mr. T got the boot. He's definitely the weakest dancer left, but I appreciate his personality. Erika Jayne seems like such a grump, I'm looking for her to get the boot next week. I fear that there will be a "shocking elimination", because those in the bottom 3 score-wise have pretty big followings. We shall see. Looking forward to Disney night next week!