Dancing with the Stars - Week 5 Commentary

Season 12 of Dancing with the Stars is finally upon us. Each week Syracuse, NY FADS co-owner and award-winning ballroom dancer Natasha Oreshkina will be sharing her thoughts on the competition and giving us her take on which celebrities had the best week on the dance floor and which ones should be getting ready to pack their bags.


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WEEK FIVE

[Natasha] This week was all about celebrating America, so the couples danced to songs with American themes. We had three couples tied at 22 for last place this week. As I mentioned before, because everyone goes up and down the leaderboard, we haven't really seen a clear leader for this season's competition.


Tonight's Scores:

1st Place - Hines Ward/Kym Johnson (W1:21 + W2:23 + W3:25 + W4:25 +W5:27 = 121 total) [Overall position: 1st.]
This week Hines and Kym did the Rumba. It was a very romantic dance. His technique was good and he did a solid job. As [DWTS judge] Carrie Ann mentioned on the show, he showed lots of hip action. So it was very good.

T-2nd Place - Chris Jericho/Cheryl Burke (W1:19 + W2:23 + W3:21 + W4:23 +W:26 = 112) [Overall position: 4th.]
Chris and Cheryl did the Viennese Waltz. I'm definitely seeing improvement in Chris. Their dance was very smooth and strong. Chris was a little flat-footed (as DWTS judge Len Goodman mentioned). We should see a foot-rise in the Viennese Waltz, and Chris looked like he was skating.


T-2nd Place - Romeo/Chelsie Hightower (W1:19 + W2:23 + W3:20 + W4:23 +W4:26 = 111) [Overall position: 5th.]
Romeo and Cheslie did the Foxtrot to New York, New York - one of my favorite songs. It's a powerful song and Romeo showed lots of energy dancing to it. It was one of his best dances.


T-2nd Place - Chelsea Kane/Mark Ballas (W1:21 + W2:18 + W3:23 + W4:26 +W5:26 = 114 total) [Overall position: 2nd.]
Chelsea and Mark did the Samba this week. This couple, I liked what they did. They were confident and showed good technique. I think this couple can be the leaders. I like Chelsea's technique, her personality and her confidence. I think she's ready to compete for the top spot.


5th Place - Kirstie Alley/Maksim Chmerkovskiy (W1:23 + W2:20 + W3:21 + W4:21 + W5:23 = 108) [Overall position: 6th.]
Kirstie and Maks did the Foxtrot, and I don't think this was the best dance they did [this season]. I think Maks should concentrate on helping his partner look good on the dance floor. He should pay more attention to Kirstie and not so much on himself. But they both had good attitudes and presentation in the dance.

T-6th Place - Ralph Macchio/Karina Smirnoff (W1:24 + W2:21 + W3:21 + W4:25 + W5:22 = 113) [Overall position: 3rd.]
Ralph and Karina did the Samba this week. It's very interesting this season how the leaders keep changing - one week they have a good week, the next week, not so much. This week Ralph's dance was too loose - he didn't look so well-controlled. He's just not consistent in his dances week-to-week.

T-6th Place - Petra Nemcova/Dmitry Chaplin (W1:18 + W2:18 + W3:25 + W4:23 + W5:22 = 106) [Overall position: 7th.]
Petra and Dmitry danced the Quickstep. This would be their last dance before being voted off on Tuesday. For once, I'm surprised by the elimination because two weeks ago Petra was at the top of the leaderboard. But I just didn't see any improvement in her posture at all. She doesn't look graceful and doesn't look correct, which probably gives her problems with her balance. She also made several mis-steps in this week's dance.


You know, I think if Petra danced with someone else she might have done better. Petra is a beautiful woman, and when she danced on her own she was nice. But when she and Dmitry danced together, her position was terrible. The pro should be fixing her problems with position and posture, but she had the same problem every week.

T-6th Place - Kendra Wilkinson/Louis van Amstel (W1:18 + W2:19 + W3:23 + W4:18 + W5:22 = 100) [Overall position: 8th.]
Kendra and Louis danced the Foxtrot to Yankee Doodle. I think this couple should have been the one eliminated before Petra. But the judges votes are only a part of it,and Petra doesn't have as many fans as Kendra.

Kendra's not the strongest dancer, and this week she was still a little weak. Last week was terrible, though, so it was better. I thought her dance was entertaining and it was fun music, but she was a little stiff in her movements.

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So now we're halfway through the season and we still don't have a strong leader. My prediction for next week, though, is that Kendra should be the one eliminated and Chelsea should be on top.

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