“Dancing” Served Up Some Drama On The Performance Show

Last night’s performance show was a dramatic one on “Dancing With The Stars.”

Muhammad Ali was in the audience to support his daughter, Laila, along with the entire Ali clan. The boxing legend received a standing ovation upon his introduction.

“It was nice,” Laila told Access. “My grandma was here for the first time, my mother’s here every week. My father was here, I saw my sister who I haven’t seen in forever. So it wasn’t just my dad, it was the whole family being here, and it was wonderful.”

Laila made her family proud, as she went on to impress the judges with her elegant waltz and energetic jive dances, scoring a combined total of 53 out of 60.

Apolo Anton Ohno also had a great night, scoring perfect 10’s from the judges on his second dance, for a combined total of 58. But he has no intention of resting on his laurels.

“That worked, that was awesome,” he said of the perfect-scoring Paso Doble dance. “I mean that was perfect. The last dance, three 10’s again, back on top. This is when you got to start turning the fire on you know.”

Joey Fatone continued to perform well, getting a combined score of 55 out of 60 for his two dances, while Ian Ziering faltered a bit — receiving only 47 points overall. Judge Bruno Tonioli said of his first performance (a foxtrot) that Ian’s body “was like a jumping goat.”

Ian was exasperated when Access spoke to him after the show, frustrated with the inconsistency of the judges’ comments from week to week.

“First of all, I thought our first dance was great. I don’t know what they’re talking about,” said Ian. “I had so much fun. All our steps were right on. When the judges want a serious face, I give them a happy face that they wanted from the previous weeks. When I give them a happy face, they go ‘oh this has intensity and your face is…’ You know it’s like trying to hit a moving target. It goes in one ear and out the other. The bottom line is I just try and make it better for the next dance.”

Billy Ray Cyrus has faced negative criticism from the judges at almost every turn, and he received only a 38 out of 60 last night. But the country singer took an exceptionally hard hit from Bruno, when he said of Billy’s foxtrot dance, “You always are deliciously awful. This was terrible, it was crap.”

And this was said while Billy’s daughter, Miley, was in the audience.

Judge Carrie Ann Inaba spoke with Access, and expressed her disappointment with Bruno’s comment to Billy.

“I thought he was a little harsh on him tonight,” she remarked. “I back up my judges, and we all have our own [opinions], and yeah — Billy didn’t dance that well tonight. This is what I think. Billy danced well for Billy, and that’s why you can’t say something like that to somebody. I think Billy Ray has always tried his best on this dance floor, and you can’t knock somebody for trying. I don’t believe in that.”

She jokingly added that she fears for Bruno’s safety:

“I know I’m a little frightened for Bruno. I think Bruno doesn’t know what he’s done.”