‘Dancing with the Stars 22’ review: Nyle DiMarco, Von Miller, and Ginger Zee tackle Switch-Up week
When you are talking about dramatic weeks on “Dancing with the Stars,” Switch-Up week is arguably one of the most dramatic. After all, this is where you are forcing someone to undergo a complete switcheroo when it comes to their dancing partner, and expecting it to be the same when it comes to overall performance and chemistry on the other side. That’s no easy task, and for some people it is certainly easier than others.
For this review, we’re tackling it in the same way we do all of them: Live! With that, be sure to check back to this article often.
Wanyá Morris & Witney Carson – Tango – “Hold Back the River” by James Bay. How entertaining was Wanya’s latest routine? It was fun and it was cool that Bay was there to perform, but this was his weakest routine in some time. The chemistry was not there, which is another reason to curse the Switch-Up. Score: 30.
Kim Fields & Keo Motsepe – Viennese Waltz – “These Arms of Mine” by Otis Redding. How did Kim and Keo fare in their first outing? For those who want controversy, here it is! Carrie and and Bruno loved it, while guest judge Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Len were critical of how there was almost no traditional hold here, which Keo blamed on the height difference. Score: 28.
Doug Flutie & Peta Murgatroyd – Tango – “Black & Gold” by Sam Sparro. Was Doug this time worthy of gold? Maybe it’s silver. Anyhow, this was probably Doug’s best dance of the season for our money. Peta did get the best out of him, though we still don’t think he is particularly long for the competition. Score: 28.
Ginger Zee & Mark Ballas – Salsa – “La Malanga” by Eddie Palmieri. How did Ginger fare with a very different sort of partner? Mark did throw a lot in here, and we do feel this was easily the best dance of the night at this point. It maybe needed a little more reckless abandon and passion, but technically, it was solid. Score: 32.
Antonio Brown & Karina Smirnoff – Cha Cha – “Son of a Preacher Man” by Dusty Springfield. Was this dance worthy of a celebration? We think it’s probably the most underscored of the night, almost like the judges wanted to wag their finger at him for not rehearsing enough and showing up late. Score: 26.
Paige VanZant & Sasha Farber – Rumba – “Perfect” by One Direction. Did Paige cement his status as favorite? She didn’t do much to lose it thanks to a pretty beautiful dance … though we do like Maks being here to be super-hard on the choreography. The lack of rumba steps hurt the score slightly. Score: 31.
Von Miller & Lindsay Arnold – Jive – “Hips” by Beans & Fatback. Did Von finally emerge from the pack? On a night where there were some other struggles, Von’s score doesn’t look so bad. One of the better things about it was that after an early hiccup, he got better and better as time went on. Score: 29.
Nyle DiMarco & Sharna Burgess – Viennese Waltz – “I Get to Love You” by Ruelle. Was Nyle about to overcome a big challenge going into the night? He certainly did, and this was beautiful. He showed no struggle of having to change partners at all. Really beautiful stuff, and the first 10 of the season! Also, there probably would have been higher scores had Maks and Bruno already written down 9s. Score: 37.
Jodie Sweetin & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – Paso Doblé – “Under Control” by Calvin Harris & Alesso. Did Jodie muster quite a comeback tonight? It was a huge step in the right direction. It was almost like Jodie actually used the weak outing last week as motivation. Score: 35.
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