“Dancing with the Stars” gave even their professional dancers a run for their money on the latest competition round for the “All-Stars” edition on Monday night, but two stars really stood out with their ballroom moves.
Gilles Marini and Shawn Johnson, who both competed against each other in Season 8 (Shawn won, Gilles was runner-up), tied at the top of the leaderboard, earning the first 10s of the season, as they performed dances chosen for them by their competitors.
It was Gilles who grabbed 39.5 out of 40 points first (Paula Abdul sitting in as a guest judge bumped up the available points total by 10 points) after taking on Bollywood, a dance that before this week, wasn’t something Peta was familiar with.
Gilles and Peta’s incredibly athletic routine had them leaping and moving across the floor to “Slumdog Millionaire” song “Jai Ho.” And, at the end of it, only judge Len Goodman wasn’t impressed quite enough to give them a 10 (he gave them a 9.5).
Paula was so moved, she took on the guise of Bruno Tonioli, imitating him as she critiqued the pair.
“That was about as smoldering [and] spicy as a vindaloo,” she said standing up the way the Italian judge often does.
A short while later, Shawn proved she had no intention of letting her returning competitor storm ahead on a path to mirrorball glory.
Her mambo with Derek Hough combined flips and kicks that had her looking like a pro herself.
“This show, you think you’ve seen it all and it keeps getting better,” Bruno said.
Again, it was Len who kept the pair from a perfect set of 10s, giving Shawn and Derek a 9.5, for a total of 39.5 out of 40.
Third in line for Monday night’s crown was “General Hospital” actress Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy, who performed one sexy contemporary number to the tune of 37.5 out of 40.
“What I love about dance is contrast… and that’s what we saw,” a very happy Len said. “And of every couple in this season, you are the biggest revelation to me. Fabulous.”
However, there was one accident during the performances.
While kicking her leg into the air, and attempting to swivel during her hip-hop routine with Apolo Anton Ohno, pro Karina Smirnoff lost her footing and fell to the floor. She quickly recovered, but was tearful over the accident.
“I slipped, I fell. I’m sorry,” she said.
The pair still scored decently (the score is based on Apolo’s dancing), as they earned 34.5 out of 40.
The full scores on Monday’s “Dancing with the Stars: All-Stars” were
Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd tackled Bollywood and earned 39.5/40
Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough brought out the mambo and earned 39.5/40
Kelly Monaco and Val Chmerkovskiy performed contemporary and earned 37.5/40
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani performed the jitterbug and were scored 37/40
Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke brought out the Bolero and earned 36/40
Sabrina Bryan and Louis van Amstel got their disco groove on and were scored 35.5/40
Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff tried out hip-hop and earned 34.5/40
Bristol Plain and Mark Ballas tackled rock ‘n’ roll and earned 32/40
Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy performed the Charleston and earned 30/40
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