‘Dancing with the Stars’ week 3 rankings: Brant Daugherty rises; Amber Riley still #1
We’ve seen all of the contestants on “Dancing with the Stars” now perform two separate routines, and we like to think that this gives us a good idea as to who are the contenders; also, the first batch of results help to show who has a fan base that could be possibly lacking when it comes to getting their votes in. With the dances getting more intense from here on out, we anticipate that there will be a divide that starts to form, and some of our more likable performers may not be able to keep up.
New to the page? Well, know that we’re basing these picks off of performance quality, likability, and perceived fan-base size.
11. Bill Nye and Tyne Stecklein (last week: 11) – Let’s start here with the obvious: Bill is injured, so the odds of him even performing on this next episode are not exactly astronomically high. If he does, he’s not going to be very good, and while we love the Science Guy and want to see him last a while, we think that he is about to become an object in motion that may break Newton’s first law.
10. Bill Engvall and Emma Slater (9) – While being “in jeopardy” at the end of a show may not mean much, it doesn’t typically happen in the first week to someone receiving a mountain of votes. Bill is a better-than-expected dancer, but we can’t shake the feeling that there is going to be some turbulence ahead.
9. Valerie Harper and Tristan MacManus (8) – Still, we feel like she will be safe for a few more weeks thanks to her story, but eventually we fear that the rigors of doing this every week, especially given what she has been through already this year, are going to prove themselves to be a little too much.
8. Elizabeth Berkley and Val Chmerkovskiy (5) – Is she a great dancer? Sure, but being in jeopardy proved what we were worried about with her since the beginning: She may not have as huge of a fan following as you would initially perceive. She and Val need to bring the entertainment if they want to make it past the midway point in the show.
7. Snooki and Sasha Farber (3) – The biggest fall of the week for a pair that seemed to be somewhat out-of-sync for their most-recent performance. The issue that Snooki runs into with this show is that we don’t see her winning any new fans with her “I want to be taken seriously” shtick. She needs to keep the ones that she has and produce big dances to boot. She is one of those people who could leave early in a surprising decision, since “Jersey Shore” is not what it once was.
6. Leah Remini and Tony Dovolani (6) – There may be movement around Leah, but she is pretty constant and almost exactly what we expected from her. She’s a classy, lyrical dancer with a background in entertainment. We don’t know if she is flashy enough to make the finale, but we wouldn’t be shocked if sixth is where she finishes the season.
5. Christina Milian and Mark Ballas (10) – We still wonder about likability, but we don’t doubt dance ability at all. She is going to be a contender in that department for weeks to come, and she is the biggest gainer this week after recovering from what was a surprisingly-pedestrian start to the season.
4. Brant Daugherty and Peta Murgatroyd (7) – Some of the concerns that we had about his lack of name recognition among older viewers are starting to go away, mostly because he is so likable and seems to be having a good time doing the show. This right now is the dark horse of the competition; if he can survive a few more weeks, he could start to become a serious threat.
3. Jack Osbourne and Cheryl Burke (4) – We don’t know why we are surprised that Jack is as good as he is, given that we already were surprised when Kelly was. The thing about him is that even though he is the son of rock royalty, there is still an everyman quality to him that makes him a guy that’s easy to relate to.
2. Corbin Bleu and Karina Smirnoff (2) – Want to find a bona fide way to be an audience favorite? Throw nostalgia in their faces. Not shying away from his “High School Musical” roots worked wonders for Corbin, and he probably gained some fans in doing so for a run a little deeper in the season.
1. Amber Riley and Derek Hough (1) – Amber wasn’t the best this past show, but we still have a hard time imagining either her or Derek getting booted anytime before the finale. They are just too popular on their own, and if we were to look at this in a way similar to “The Celebrity Apprentice,” their rolodex of stars who can support them is far too impressive.
Who is your favorite right now? Be sure to vote in the poll below!
Photo: ABC