‘Dancing with the Stars’ 20 rankings: Nastia Liukin, Riker Lynch, Rumer Willis solid before week 8

We’ve said for weeks now that there are two very distinct tiers of talent on “Dancing with the Stars” this season, but what this past week of the ABC reality show did was serve up a swift, harsh reminder that this does not even remotely mean that this does not secure a dancer a spot in the finale. The reality here is that it is sometimes hard to gauge how the public is voting. Given how much Sadie Robertson was supported last year, it was easy to assume that Willow Shields would get the same love. That just didn’t happen.

We’re considering popularity a factor still in our contestant rankings, but at the same time we are also considering performance quality since the judges do get a big stake in how far a celebrity goes.

6. Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson – If nothing else, Robert can rejoice doing better than his fellow “Shark Tank” star Mark Cuban. He has made it all the way to the top six, and found himself many fans at the same time. We just don’t think he has the same following as Bachelor Nation does for Chris.

5. Chris Soules and Witney Carson – If Chris can make it through this week, he will be the most-successful man in the franchise since Sean Lowe. Unfortunately for him, we’re not entirely sure that is going to happen. He’s never been the best dancer, and you add to that him not having many shields to hide behind anymore.

4. Noah Galloway and Sharna Burgess – He is coming off of his best-scored dance of the competition, and the thing with Noah is that while he didn’t have a following before the story, he has a human story. He isn’t just getting votes from “Bachelor” or “Shark Tank” fans. His story really translates and will appeal to many.

3. Rumer Willis and Val Chmerkovskiy – The best thing to happen to Rumer was Willow going home, mostly in that it allows for more focus to be put on her own dance quality and it also means that a major threat for the championship is gone early.

2. Riker Lynch and Allison Holker – This is where things get interesting. We’ve been so impressed by Riker’s consistency, and were it not for the fact that he is up against a former Olympian (who are always popular), we’d be inclined to put him at the top.

1. Nastia Liukin and Sasha Farber – She had another great week even with a partner in Sasha who is replacing Derek Hough and limited rehearsal time. Given her narrative and her natural dance ability, her losing will be one of the most shocking stories of the season.

If you missed it, head over here to see some of the specific spoilers for the upcoming week of performances! Also, head over here to get some other TV news worth dancing over via our official CarterMatt Newsletter. (Photo: ABC.)