“Dancing” officially has a new queen.
For the second week in a row, Brandy and professional partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy out seated Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough at the top of the leaderboard, making them the new frontrunners on ABC’s “Dancing with the Stars.”
Fully embracing the “Rock Week” theme on the show, the R&B singer and Maks, the ballroom’s bad boy, churned out a tango that made groupies of the judging panel.
“Without a doubt, the dance of the night for me,” British judge Len Goodman raved.
“Was it Brandy or was it Tina Turner in ‘Mad Maks!’” judge Bruno Tonioli added as the pair earned two 9s and an 8 (the latter score was from Carrie Ann Inaba), to take the lead in the first round of competition.
But the two weren’t done. Despite being the last pair to perform before the group “Rock ‘n’ Roll Dance Marathon,” the dedicated duo jived, swung and shook their hips in the second round, breathlessly beating out their competition to add on another 10 points – the highest group score – to their total – 36 out of a possible 40.
While it was good news for Brandy, Jennifer hit a stumbling block for the second week in a row. Her dance with Derek in the first round – a paso doble – was intense and so full of gusto that she noticeably lost her footing, causing Derek to slip up, something Carrie Ann really noticed.
“The dance was totally disjointed, you’re all over the place, leg came off the ground, I don’t know what’s happening,” the stunned judge commented. “You’re like the chosen one and yet, something is going terribly wrong and you’re going down hill.”
Jennifer and Derek took just 20 for the number, the second lowest score in the first round. They were saved somewhat by the 9 points they took for their excellent second place showing in the dance marathon, helping them take a fifth place finish overall.
It was former Arizona Cardinals quarterback Kurt Warner and his partner, Anna Trebunskaya, however, who fell to the bottom of the leaderboard. Despite help in rehearsals for “Rock Week” from Bret Michaels, and hefty cheering on from the crowd as they performed, the panel panned Kurt and Anna’s paso doble.
“It looked like Jackie Chan,” Bruno said of Kurt’s choppy ballroom moves. “We want Banderas!”
A last place finish in the group round didn’t help the pair’s overall total, as they added just 5 points for a total of 22 out of 40 for the evening.
Last week she forgot her number, but on Monday, Bristol Palin and partner Mark Ballas managed to make a big comeback with their first round dance, a tango Carrie Ann called, “ridiculously amazing.”
“Last week a chimp, this week, almost a champ,” Len chimed in as they took home 23/30.
Unfortunately for the newly 20-year-old and Mark, they finished second to last in the marathon, dropping them to sixth place.
The full scores for the night (including their extra points for the group round) were:
1. Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s tango was scored 26/30 + 10 = 36/40
2. Audrina Patridge & Tony Dovolani’s paso doble netted 24/30 + 8 = 32/40
3. (Tie) Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke’s tango earned 24/30 + 6 = 30/40
3. (Tie) Kyle Massey & Lacey Schwimmer’s tango took home 23/30 + 7 = 30/40
5. Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough’s paso doble was scored 20/30 + 9 = 29/30
6. Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas’ tango netted 23/30 + 5 = 28/40
7., Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya’s paso doble earned 18/30 + 4 = 22/40
In addition to the competition, “DWTS” co-hosts Tom Bergeron and Brooke Burke revealed the All-Time Top 10 from the past 10 seasons, as voted by the viewers. They were:
(Click HERE for a “Dancing” stroll down memory lane!)
10. Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas’ freestyle from Season 8
9. Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson’s Argentine tango from Season 9
8. Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough quickstep from Season 5
7. Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough’s freestyle from Season 4
6. Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough’s futuristic paso doble from Season 9
5. Mel B. and Maksim Chmerkovskiy’s paso doble from Season 5
4. Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough’s ‘50s-style paso from Season 10
3. Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough’s samba from Season 4
2. Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke’s Argentine Tango from Season 8
1. Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke’s freestyle from Season 2
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