Unfortunately, while last week we saw the show lose its soul, if you will, with Sugar Ray Leonard's elimination, this week we watched it lose its heart as Czech darling Petra Nemcova was sent packing by the voters (or, more correctly, a lack thereof). Even though her judges' points were higher than fellow-contender Kendra Wilkinson (106 to 100, respectively), she just couldn't match Kendra's fan support. And so we bid farewell to perhaps the most pleasant and good-spirited contestant DWTS has had on its show in years.
On with the Power Rankings.
By sheer coincidence, this week's power rankings are identical to the week's scoring ranks. I didn't mean for that to happen, but that's the way things turned out. (The "Power Couple" doesn't necessarily have to be the highest scoring couple for that week, as was evidenced in last week's Power Ranking.)
DWTS POWER RANKING - WEEK FIVE
#1 Hines Ward:
Hines scored triple-nines from the judges in Week 5, but honestly, I'm just not seeing what they're marveling at. Yes, he did a great job. But did he really do better than Cheslea Kane? I don't think so. It looked to me like he did a whole lot of following around while pro partner Kym Johnson carried the dance. Even so, judge Carrie Ann Inaba seems positively smitten by the football star. Remember last week when I mentioned how worried I was that the judges were going to hand the Mirror Ball trophy to Kirstie Alley (that is, before the "incidents")? Well, I'm starting to get that feeling again with Hines.
#2 Chelsea Kane:It's almost a given each week that pro partner Mark Ballas is going to dream up some kind of choreography that will highlight his own dancing skills (I think he's just as earnest in his pursuit of the show's "Design a Dance" competition, where two pros are selected to do a dance, as he is with getting his celebrity partner the MB trophy). But even so, he's very lucky in having the best dancer of the competition as his partner in Season 12. Chelsea Kane compliments Mark's moves like no other celebrity in Season 12 has been able to do with their own pro partners. While others are for the most part being led around the floor by their pros, Chelsea appears to easily keep up with Mark's choreographed antics. How she only ended up with an "8" from judge Len Goodman while Hines Ward snared a "9" from him is a mystery to me. But I'm beginning to wonder if Len isn't shaving a point off of her performance just to spite Ballas, who he's had issues with this season.
#3 Chris Jericho:
I thought Chris's dance this week was very flowing and well-balanced, if a bit flat-footed (as judge Len Goodman and our own Natasha Oreshkina mentioned). This week saw the second time Chris was placed in "jeopardy" and had to sweat out the final moments of the show. That's not really fair - he's clearly a superior dancer, and I would think that with the WWE's support (they promote his appearance on DWTS online), he'd be safe more often than not. So far, however, that hasn't been the case. But I think Chris is beginning to show the DWTS viewers that he's more than just a big bag of muscles, and as the field narrows and the choices become fewer, we'll hopefully see people making the right decisions with their votes.
#4 Ralph Macchio:
Oh, Ralph, gain some consistency, will you, please? Ralph's a great guy with a large fan base, but, sheesh, he just can't seem to put two solid weeks together. I've got him at #4 this week, which is a tumble from last week's #2 spot, but he can still go even lower as the upstart Romeo seems to be making a mid-season charge.
#5 Romeo:
Romeo goes from #6 last week to #5 this week, and with another good showing in upcoming Week 6, he could very well vault himself into the Top Three. Romeo got high praise from the judges this week, but, similar to Hines Ward, I saw a whole lot of being led around by his pro partner, Chelsie Hightower. I think the best highlight of the week from this couple, in fact, came on Tuesday's Results Show, during Mike Catherwood's "DWTS Exposed!" segment when a clip showed Cheslie's "wardrobe malfunction" as the couple practiced their routine. Funny stuff!
#6 Kirstie Alley:
I'm not really clear on why Kirstie persists in wearing those belly-revealing outfits, but this makes two weeks in a row. That being said, it may shock some of you to know that I think Kirstie's performance this week was more entertaining than Hines Ward's effort. In the end, though, she's clearly not the talented dancer many of her fans hoped she'd be early on in the competition.
#7 Kendra Wilkinson:
The former Playboy bunny had the distinction of dancing DWTS's 1,000 dance this week, and I have to say she made the most out of it. After a disastrous Week 4, she actually did pretty good this week - earning a respectable 22 points from the judges. She smiled a lot and got to dance to a fun "Yankee Doodle" song, something more in line with her "unelegant" personality.
#8 Petra Nemcova:
Sigh. The Queen of Nice on DWTS Season 12 has passed into the night. Unfortunately, we got more of the usual from Petra on the dance floor in Week 5, and it just wasn't enough. Dance pro Natasha Oreshkina said in her critique that Petra as never able to fix her posture (which Natasha blamed largely on her pro partner, Dmitri Chaplin, for not fixing). Even so, she was a better dancer than Kendra Wilkinson. Just not as popular with the viewers, I guess.
Next week we'll have a narrowed-down field of seven couples to choose from. Out of the seven, Kendra Wilkinson is clearly the weakest dancer. But is she the weakest in viewer popularity? Possibly not. Look for next week's celebrity "in jeopardy" lineup to include: Kendra Wilkinson (always my first choice), Ralph Macchio and Chelsea Kane.
No comments:
Post a Comment