UPDATE: Scroll down or click here to find out which couple was eliminated in Tuesday’s results show!
Spoiler alert: Don’t read on if you haven’t caught up on Monday night’s episode.
No protesters rushed the ballroom stage this week on Dancing With the Stars, only ghosts of TV shows past. After last week’s excitement, when two men tried to attack controversial Olympian Ryan Lochte, this week on DWTS was decidedly calmer, with the drama (mostly) limited to the variety of dances delivered by the stars and their partners to the tune of some classic TV theme songs.
Perhaps the best known TV theme of all time — The Brady Bunch — kicked off the night and Marcia – er, Maureen McCormick – was out to improve over her 11th-place dance last week. “I need to change whatever I need to change or do whatever I can” to improve, she said, reuniting again with Brady Bunch co-star Florence Henderson and partner Artem Chigvintsev.
Best Judge’s Remark: Carrie Ann Inaba: “Your confidence is through the roof. I expected you to nail the role; it is you after all.”
Final Score: 26/40
Rank: 6
One Tree Hill star Jana Kramer and Gleb Savchenko danced to the theme song from her early 2000s hit in way sexier outfits than were allowed in high school, as Gavin DeGraw jammed through “I Don’t Wanna Be” at the piano. Jana was in pain, having pulled muscles in between her ribs earlier in the week. Savchenko expressed concern: “She’s in a lot of pain. I’m really worried.”
Best Judge’s Remark: Bruno Tonioli: “I don’t know why after watching them dance I feel like going to confession.”
Final Score: 29/40
Rank: 4
Former Texas Governor Rick Perry used some politicking skills to try to curry favor with voters, reminding America that he’s dancing to benefit veterans, following a lackluster but better-than-last-week showing. Perry and partner Emma Slater donned farm gear and held a rhinestone-encrusted pitchfork to quickstep to the theme from Green Acres. “I grew up on a cotton farm. Brown acres might have been a big hit,” Perry quipped.
Best Judge’s Remark: Len Goodman: “It’s a heck of a journey from politician to ballroom dancer.”
Final Score: 22/40
Rank: 8 (last)
Uh…. Did I do that? Former DWTS contestant Jaleel White popped up following football star Calvin Johnson Jr. and Lindsay Arnold’s interpretation — suspenders and all — of the Family Matters theme song. “These are the longest suspenders I’ve ever seen…He gets straight 10s from me! You guys are in the game man, good luck,” White encouraged.
The judges were almost as hot as White on the performance.
Best Judge’s Remark: “There’s this unexpected spark about you,” Julianne Hough said, “and you’re one of those people who’s going to improve each week, and I know that.”
Final Score: 28/40
Rank: 5
It was too steamy for winter to be coming in Amber Rose and Maks Chemrkovsky’s rendition of the Game of Thrones theme song. The duo did the Viennese waltz dressed as Khaleesi and Khal Drogo from the HBO hit. “I love Khaleesi because she’s a powerful woman, she’s not going to stop until she gets the throne,” Amber said.
The judges were critical.
Best Judge’s Remark: “You have to respond,” Bruno said. “You have so much to work with. You have to do that without losing the flow of the dance as well.”
Final Score: 24/40
Rank: 7
Jake Austin was thrown back to when he was just a kid this week, reprising first role as an animated character on the Nickelodeon show Go Diego Go. His partner Jenna Johnson chose a “Jake 2.0” jungle theme and they made it work. “It felt like I was stepping back in time. I actually felt like getting into character,” Jake said.
But their timing was off and the judges noticed.
Best Judge’s Remark: Len: “I can’t give a higher score because you lost timing and that’s because you’re out here, the adrenalin’s pumping and you tend to rush it a little bit.”
Final Score: 24/40
Rank: 7
Vanilla Ice showed his softer side this week, joining partner Witney Carson for a foxtrot turn to Frank Sinatra with the Married With Children theme song. With Witney a dead ringer for Peggy Bundy in her gold lame dress, the pair put on a heartfelt performance — even though Witney, who is just 22 — had never seen the 1990s sitcom and said she caught up by watching episodes on YouTube. “People don’t think of Vanilla Ice as married with children, so it’s a different side to Rob,” she said.
The judges also warmed to the pair.
Best Judge’s Remark: “This week was more revealing,” Carrie Ann said, but warned: “No lip syncing! We want to see you dancing.”
Final Score: 26/40
Rank: 6
Little Women L.A. star Terra Jolé stole the show last week, and she had a repeat performance this week, with a classy quickstep adaptation of the Bewitched theme song with partner Sasha Farber. “My little legs are trying to keep up. It’s such a hard challenge for me. I’m still scared but it’s getting there,” she said ahead of their performance.
The judges were charmed — Julianne even stood up from her seat.
Best Judge’s Remark: “That performance was made for you,” Julianne gushed. “The best frame we’ve seen all night. For me that was my favorite dance of the night.”
Final Score: 31/40
Rank: 2
It was time to mix it up. After a sea of foxtrots and quicksteps, Kenneth “Babyface” Edmunds and his partner Allison Holker took on the tango. The suspenseful dance was a perfect match for The X-Files theme song and Babyface took his role of Fox Mulder very seriously. He even called in some moral support from a friend — singer Toni Braxton. “He’s great but he’s a little shy,” Toni admitted.
Best Judge’s Remark: Carrie Ann: “It was really yummy.”
Final Score: 30/40
Rank: 3
Laurie Hernandez got to live out every kid of the 1990s’ dream on this week’s show: jumping in a pile of money like in the DuckTales credits. And jump she and partner Val Chmerkovskiy did in their top-scoring jive. Wearing adorable shoes with pom-poms, Laurie explained, “I’ve had two dreams since I was a little kid: The first was to go to the Olympics. The second was to be on Dancing With the Stars.” And Val didn’t want to let anything overtake Laurie’s moment. Commenting on the Lochte interruption last week, Val said: “I felt like it took away from Laurie’s moment.”
This week there was nothing to distract the pair — or the judges — in their DuckTales dance. The pair went away with the highest score of the night.
Best Judge’s Remark: Len: “I thought it was full of snap, crackle and pop!”
Final Score: 32/40
Rank: 1
Indy driver James Hinchcliffe zoomed back to the ballroom from a race in Sonoma this week, cutting down on his practice time, but not his grace or enthusiasm. He and partner Sharna Burgess danced a paso doble — make that a zombie-apocalypse paso doble — to the theme from The Walking Dead.
If fans didn’t know James before, they’ll remember him now after two solid performances.
Best Judge’s Remark: Julianne: “Your facial expressions! You should go into acting after this.”
Final Score: 29/40
Rank: 4
Marilu Henner is best known for her role as Elaine on Taxi in the late 1970s and early 1980s. But her partner, Derek Hough, struggled to find a theme that fit the music at first. “I think he has to be inspired by the music, and I’m not sure it was so inspiring to him,” Marilu said. Derek was a good sport, figured it out, and even donned some double denim for the ’80s-themed occasion. The pair were talking a mile a minute like old friends after their well-received performance.
Best Judge’s Remark: Len: “The car’s a taxi, the dance is a Rolls Royce. I thought it was smashing.”
Final Score: 29/40
Rank: 4
After last week’s dramatic finish, it was a relief that Lochte and Cheryl Burke’s performance went off without a hitch — or at least without one supplied by people not on stage. Lochte teared up when he talked about seeing his mom in the stands during last week’s incident: “This whole situation has impacted me so much. It’s just, how far can I put it back in my head and move on?” It was the Muppets to the rescue: “Every time you hear that song you can’t help it but laugh,” he said.
The pair’s rendition of The Muppet Show theme song was a little awkward, with Ryan and Cheryl dressed in green and pink outfits reminiscent of Kermit and Miss Piggy… without the chemistry. The judges noticed several mistakes in the dance, most significantly Lochte’s hunched posture, but forgave much due to the difficult circumstances of the prior week.
Best Judge’s Remark: Bruno: “It’s great that you embraced the characters and had fun. You’ve gotta really get that straight back.”
Final Score: 24/40
Rank: 7
ELIMINATED! Jake and Jenna were eliminated in the Tuesday, Sept. 20, results show.
