‘Dancing’ Week 2: Surprising Star Tops Leaderboard

A new star has jived her way to the top of the “Dancing with the Stars” leaderboard.

On “My Jam Monday,” the theme of Week 2 of Season 19, actress Lea Thompson and her professional ballroom partner, Artem Chigvintsev, showed off some fast footwork that helped them lead the pack.

And their routine to “The Land of 1000 Dances” (Wilson Pickett), left the judges buzzing with glee.

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“You’re killing it every single step,” Carrie Ann Inaba said. “That was so exciting.”

“You gave me chills more than one time during that dance,” Julianne Hough commented. “There is something so feisty about you. … You are like a hot mama leopard. … There was no relying on Artem. You held your own completely.”

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It was a 35 point score (out of 40) for Lea and Artem. They held a one point lead above second place finishers on Monday – “Pretty Little Liars” star Janel Parrish and her pro, Valentin Chmerkovskiy, who took home 34 out of 40 for their Foxtrot to “Call Me Maybe” (Carly Rae Jepsen).

“That wasn’t a really traditional foxtrot, but I say screw tradition, because I loved it,” Julianne raved.

Bruno Tonioli said, “it was almost perfect.”

Despite an injured ankle, it was another strong week for YouTube star Bethany Mota and Derek Hough. They also had the foxtrot (to Meghan Trainor’s “All About That Bass”) and Len Goodman (who said he will not be present next week) was floored.

“That’s a great number,” the Brit said. “The best I’ve seen tonight.”

Here’s the full leaderboard from Monday’s “Dancing”:

Lea Thompson and Artem Chigvintsev 35/40
Janel Parrish and Valentin Chmerkovskiy 34/40
Bethany Mota and Derek Hough 33/40
Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson 32/40
Antonio Sabato Jr. and Cheryl Burke 31/40
Sadie Robertson and Mark Ballas 31/40
Jonathan Bennett and Allison Holker 30/40
Randy Couture and Karina Smirnoff 28/40
Tommy Chong and Peta Murgatroyd 28/40
Betsey Johnson and Tony Dovolani 28/40
Tavis Smiley and Sharna Burgess 28/40
Michael Waltrip and Emma Slater 24/40

On Tuesday, one pair will be eliminated on the show.

Jolie Lash

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