DANCING WITH THE STARS WEEK 6

DANCING WITH THE STARS WEEK #6
By Armando Martin
Former US Champion and National Dance Director

As Week Six begins it is very apparent that the competition is getting tighter. There are no throwaways given the seven stars left. Marie and Helio are the weakest, but they have a lot of fans out there, especially Marie. So from here on, anything goes when it comes to which stars are going home. I made the right call last week when I said that Mark Cuban would go home. Let’s see how I do this week.

Sabrina started out the night with a fabulous Foxtrot. Her use of body shapes and musical interpretation was very good. She throws herself into every dance with absolute commitment and no inhibitions at all. Her feet can be a little heavy at times and she is very aggressive, but you can tell that she takes whatever Mark tells her to do and she does it 200 percent. She’ll be in the final three for sure.
Score - a low 25.

Jennie and Derek danced a hot, fast Mambo this week. Jennie seemed to have come out ready to dance and have a good time. She received great comments from Bruno and Len, which were well deserved, but I can’t understand how they were so nice to her and negative with Sabrina. Regardless, Jennie did her best dance so far this season. Her dancing is steppe and a bit heavy but she is definitely improving.
Score 27

Coming back from the bottom two last week were Jane and Tony. They danced the jive, which Tony choreographed to perfection for Jane. Unfortunately Jane did not step up to the plate with this dance. She was too high in her body and her legs, her posture was too upright and her knees too erect to allow her to get the right bounce and foot speed that is required in the jive.
Score 22

Cameron’s Samba was technically very good. He showed a lot of determination and passion in this dance. His footwork was correct but a little heavy. His arms and elbows were left behind him most of the time, which prevented his weight from getting forward enough to give him the right look and make him light enough on his feet to make his Samba the best dance of the evening.
Score 25

Mel B. danced a Rumba tonight that was so good it would have won a Rising Star competition in many U.S. cities. Mel’s sexuality came through from the very first basic open brake that she danced all the way through the passionate embraces she and Maks had throughout the dance. She is my favorite dancer in this competition because she has more depth than anyone else. She is technically very sound but she is also a real woman with a great face and curves and all that it takes to make dancing look good.
Score 30

Walking the Paso Doble tonight were Marie and Jonathan. Notice that I wrote walking and not dancing, because that’s exactly what she did. Marie needs to smile and bring her charm to every performance because her dancing alone will not keep her around much longer. Jonathan needs to find a way to bring the best out of Marie in every dance by creating fun and comedic moments that she can relate to.
Score - a very, very high 23.

Helio and Julieanne danced a funky Cha-Cha that impressed the judges and the audience. Helio was fun to watch and as always Julieanne did a great job of choreographing the perfect material for him, which is so important sometimes. If you are smart about how you show off your star, you can hang around the competition longer as a dancer. And Julianne does just that.
Score 28

The evening closed with a group number that was so much fun - half West Side Story, half Hairspray. The dancers did a great job as did the choreographer. The number showed how much fun it can be to dance as a group and not have to compete against anyone else. I am afraid that this week’s elimination show will send home one of my two favorite personalities - Marie or Jane - although Helio is close behind.