‘Dancing with the Stars 21’ week 3 rankings: Nick Carter, Tamar Braxton, Bindi Irwin remain in top positions

“Dancing with the Stars” season 21 is now three routines in, and the great thing is that we’ve got a pretty good sense now about who is seriously in this competition to win it, and who is mostly just the show as a seat-filler for the time being. We still think there is a sizable divide between first and last, and we’re not entirely sure if that will change at any point before the finale.

We are taking into account scores here first and foremost, but then also bringing in public perception, popularity, and whether or not there are any intangibles that may have someone getting a little more support than they would otherwise.

11. Gary Busey and Anna Trebunskaya (last week: 9) – Gary has had a fun run on the show, but with the lowest score going into the show Monday plus some apparent near-eliminations, we think he will be going off to the cosmos he came from soon.

10. Kim Zolciak and Tony Dovolani (13) – She showed improvement this past week, and thanks to the public vote being from this past episode rather than the current one, we feel like she’ll probably make it through. Here’s the concern moving forward: She’s been hospitalized over the past several days, so we cannot imagine she’s had much time to prepare.

9. Paula Deen and Louis van Amstel (10) – Paula still is for the most part being carried around by her partner across the stage, but she is probably well-known enough to make it through another week or two pending a disaster.

8. Alek Skarlatos and Lindsay Arnold (8) – Maybe we’re still being hard on Alek, but we don’t think he’s got a breakout performance on the show and he needs one. Right now, he feels destined to be the guy who somehow goes home over one of the three people mentioned above.

7. Hayes Grier and Emma Slater (7) – We’re still nervous about ranking Hayes that high, mostly because of a similar reason plus the fear the nobody over 25 who watches this show has any clue who he is.

6. Carlos PenaVega and Witney Carson (5) – This will probably be his lowest rating for a little while, if for no reason than that we feel he dipped slightly in his routines versus our expectation. With his following, he needs consistency.

5. Andy Grammer and Alison Holker (6) – We’ve been a little more impressed with Andy than we thought we would be. He’s a little stiff, but he does have a little bit more charisma and energy on the stage than we thought he would be.

4. Alexa PenaVega and Mark Ballas (4) – We’re still a little nervous about Alexa’s fan base, but she actually outscored her husband on the last show! She’s got the tools to go really far in this competition, if she continues to find unique ways to stand out.

3. Bindi Irwin and Derek Hough (2) – Bindi is still getting great scores. Therefore, there’s no immediate reason to worry about her despite a drop in our rankings. America seems to love her, and she’s got a great partner.

2. Tamar Braxton and Val Chmerkovskiy (3) – This was a great week for Tamar, capped with that New York routine with Val. While we weren’t that familiar with her going into the show, we feel like she’s really making use of her airtime to show her personality.

1. Nick Carter and Sharna Burgess (1) – How do you not still put nick at #1? He struggled at first last week, but came back in the second show. This is still a popularity contestant more than anything else, and we just have a hard time selling it in our head that someone is more popular than a Backstreet Boy.

Who tops your ranking going into this week’s show? Share now in the attached poll, and head over here to see some of what the dancers will be performing on this upcoming show! Also, you can sign up here to get some more TV news worth dancing about via our CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)