Week 9, "Showstoppers" Week

Showstoppers Week.


“Episode 2309” – The six remaining celebrities will dance two show-stopping dances – one from some of the hottest Broadway musicals, and a second where they are paired up for a “Team-Up Challenge” – as “Showstoppers” night comes to “Dancing with the Stars,” live, MONDAY, NOVEMBER 7 (8:00-10:01 p.m. EST), on the ABC Television Network.

Idina Menzel will perform her new single, “Queen of Swords,” and join Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Julianne Hough as a guest judge.



For the first dance, the couples will each dance a style they have not yet danced to a song from a hit Broadway musical. The teams traveled the country to see famous shows in person to get inspiration for their dances in the ballroom on Monday night.


Couples will re-create dances from “Chicago,” Broadway’s longest-running American musical, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this month and playing at the Ambassador Theatre in New York; the Tony and Grammy Award-winning hit musical “Jersey Boys”; multi-Tony Award-winning “Cats,” one of the most recognizable and longest running shows, recently revived on Broadway; “Sweet Charity”; “The Wiz” and the Tony-nominated “Waitress.” Each couple will perform either a samba, Argentine tango, waltz, Charleston, paso doblé, contemporary or jazz. What we know thus far is that everyone will be doing Broadway-type songs.


The couples will dance to the following “Showstoppers” songs (in alphabetical order):

Marilu Henner & Derek Hough – Samba – “December, 1963 (Oh, What a Night)” from “Jersey Boys,” featuring a guest performance by Mark Ballas and his “Jersey Boys” co-stars, Michael Lomenda, Kristofer McNeeley and Adam Zelasko

Laurie Hernandez & Valentin Chmerkovskiy – Argentine Tango – “Cell Block Tango” from “Chicago”

James Hinchcliffe & Sharna Burgess – Jazz – “A Brand New Day” from “The Wiz”

Calvin Johnson Jr. & Lindsay Arnold – Waltz – “Memory” from “Cats,” featuring a guest performance by Leona Lewis

Terra Jolé & Sasha Farber – Charleston – “If My Friends Could See Me Now” from “Sweet Charity”

Jana Kramer & Gleb Savchenko – Waltz – “She Used to Be Mine” from “Waitress”



Following their first dance, each couple will be paired up with another couple to perform in the “Team-Up Challenge.” Each team will dance together to one song, and for a portion of the dance, the two celebrities will dance together for 30 seconds without the assistance of their professional partners. Each team will perform either a paso doblé, contemporary or jazz routine. The judges will score the “Team-Up Challenge” dances. The points from the “Showstoppers” routine and the “Team-Up Challenge” will be added together for the final judges’ scores. 





The Team-Up Challenges are as follows and will dance to the following songs:

Team-Up #1: James & Sharna/Calvin & Lindsay – Paso Doblé – “No Good” by Kaleo

Team-Up #2: Jana & Gleb/Laurie & Val – Contemporary – “Bird Set Free” by Sia

Team-Up #3: Marilu & Derek/Terra and Sasha – Jazz – “Big Noise from Winnetka” by Bette Midler


At the end of the night, one couple will be eliminated, and the five remaining couples will advance to the semi-finals.

Hosted by two-time Emmy-winning host Tom Bergeron and Erin Andrews (sports host and ”Dancing with the Stars” season 10 finalist), “Dancing with the Stars” is the hit series in which celebrities perform choreographed dance routines which are judged by a panel of renowned ballroom experts, including dancers/choreographers Bruno Tonioli, Carrie Ann Inaba and Julianne Hough. 

For week nine, viewers may cast their votes for their favorite couples via phone on Monday night during and up to 60 minutes after the end of the “Dancing with the Stars” broadcast in each time zone. Online voting at www.ABC.com and on Facebook at https://apps.facebook.com/votedwts/ is open for 24 hours, beginning from the start of each episode on the East Coast at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST and closing at 8:00 p.m. EST/5:00 p.m. PST on Tuesday evenings.

updated.

It is great that the show invited Mark Ballas to perform with his Jersey Boys cast mates after all the memorable performances that he created for DWTS. And he gets to do it with his pal Derek.

Looking forward to the James/Calvin paso. The music fits an energetic and aggresive paso, Sharna and Lindsay are great paso choreographers, and both James/Calvin are in top shape.

The Jana waltz should be extremely emotional. The song is beautiful and perfectly fits Jana's experience. There will be tears. Not so interested in the Sia song that she got for her contemporary with Laurie.

As a person that was forced to retire, Calvin may also identify with Memory, and may help to bring depth to his performance.

I'm intrigued on how Val is going to get Laurie into character for Chicago's Cell Block Argentinian Tango. Calculating, cold-blooded femme fatale killer doesn't seem to describe Laurie. This dance will be critical on determining her chances to get that MBT from James.

Tonight's performance order:

Marilu, Calvin, James, Terra, Jana, Laurie.

My votes tonight:

3 for Laurie
3 for Jana

Cannot complain about that ending.  Marilu went out on a high note, sixth place finish.  Derek (and Marilu) will be able to fly to New York for GMA with Mark and his three new friends on the ABC plane and maybe stay for a Jersey Boys performance tomorrow night. 



Happy that Terra got to stay for another week.  Her dance had me clapping tonight. 



The Scores: (CAI, Idina Menzel, JH, BT)

 
Laurie & Val          (10, 10, 10, 10) = 40 + 40 = 80
Jana & Gleb           (10, 10, 10, 10) = 40 + 40 = 80
Calvin & Lindsey  (9, 9, 10, 9) =37 + 37 = 74
Terra & Sasha       (10, 10, 9, 9) = 38 + 36= 74
James & Jenna     ( 9,  9,  9,  9) =36 + 37 = 73
Marilu & Derek      (9, 9, 9, 9) = 36 + 36 = 72  eliminated

Lesallee wrote:Oh you'll never be out of the family, sis. You are stuck with us. To each his or her own and all that! I will just like Jana and you won't, no biggie. 


The important thing is Team StopAndGo and we are in complete agreement ther  

I loved Jana and Gleb's dances tonight, sis.  They're my second favorite team after Team StopAndGo. Sister Kincaid
is entitled to her opinion.   After all, she's done a heck of a job as mayor. Let's all unite in the hope that Sharna's
knee will be healed for the finals.  She's overdue for the MBT!