Dancing with the Stars Season 10: Week 3 Performance Show Recap - Live Blog!

Dancing with the Stars Season 10 premiered on March 22, 2010 with 11 new stars gracing the stage. If you want to keep up with the action, but can't tune in, keep up with my Live Blog to find out all the important happenings AS they happen! Since this is a blog, there will be some personal opinion thrown in.

Who's Left?

Shannen Doherty was eliminated last week leaving 10 stars to battle it out. Below are the combined scores from last week. Let's see if they do better this week!

- Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough - 53/60
- Evan Lysacek with Anna Trebunskaya - 47/60
- Erin Andrews with Maksim Chmerkovskiy - 44/60
- Pamela Anderson with Damian Whitewood - 43/60
- Jake Pavelka with Chelsie Hightower - 40/60
- Niecy Nash with Louis Van Amstel - 39/60
- Chad Ochocinco with Cheryl Burke - 34/60
- Aiden Turner with Edyta Sliwinska - 34/60
- Kate Gosselin with Tony Dovolani - 31/60
- Buzz Aldrin with Ashly Costa - 26/60

Now on with the Show!
Last week, Len challenged the contestants to tell a story with their dance tonight. To start off the show, the pro dancers demonstrated how different dance styles could be used to tell a story of a relationship that ends in True Love. I'm surprised they are using filler since the last few episodes they've barely managed to fit all the dances in. Tonight the stars will be dancing a Waltz, Paso Doble or Quickstep.

Evan Lysacek with Anna Trebunskaya kicked off the night with a Quickstep. Evan is dancing with broken toes but he's going to push through it. Their story is of husband and wife, with the husband being mad when the wife is late. Evan liked having a story to tell, but was worried about staying in hold the entire time. Evan started out alone dancing and showing frustration about his missing partner. Once Anna joined, this loked like a nice old fashioned Quickstep. It was cutesy and smooth and overal fun to watch.

The Judges: Len said he got the story and "it cheered me up to watch that", but he did say he has to work on his footwork. Bruno had similar comments about the footwork but it seemed like he liked it. Carrie Ann said it was great and she loved the characters. Scores: CA - 9, L - 8, B - 9, Total: 26.

Buzz Aldrin with Ashly Costa had to do a Waltz, which once again is probably the easier of the 3 dances tonight. Coincidence? I don't think so. Their story is of a daughter welcoming home her father from war. Buzz said he's a slow learner so he videos Ashly dancing so he can remember the steps later on. Buzz hoped his dance will satisfy the judges tonight. The Waltz was slow and pretty simple. Of course Buzz is older and has a harder time with this, so they make it easier. But he's trying at least... unlike Cloris Leachman in the past who just made a fool of it all the time. Overall though, Ashly does most of the work.

The Judges: Bruno said he had some problem with the movement and it didn't really flow, but he "looked very regal". Carrie Ann said she believed the story and it worked in their advantage. Len said "it had an innocent charm about it which I liked very much" but thought the technique was poor. Scores: CA - 5, L - 4, B - 4, Total: 13.

Jake Pavelka with Chelsie Hightower choose to do an Egyptian story with Chelsie being Cleopatra. Chelsie planned to really push him with the Quickstep. She pushed him so much that Jake needed to take a break. They talked it out and Chelsie agreed to be nicer, even though I think he was just being a bit of a baby :) Jake found his Cleopatra and tried to pull out his acting chops. It was cute, but Jake is still a bit stiff compared to dancers like Evan. At least he isn't as stiff as Buzz!

The Judges: Carrie Ann loved the Egyptian theme but thought they set the bar too high with all the props and such. Len tried to give him some advice about his legs but said "it was great entertainment". Bruno thought it was a very good performance but mentioned the same technique issues that Len pointed out. Scores: CA - 7, L - 7, B - 7, Total: 21.

Niecy Nash with Louis Van Amstel were doing the Waltz as an inter-racial couple from the 60s. Niecy channeled her own love for her boyfriend and imagined what it would be like if she could not be with him. Niecy and Louis planned to use this emotion in their performance. Niecy put away the comedian for the night because this was a more serious story. She took a few missteps at the beginning and while there were some nice things in the dance, overall it felt like she was just trying to get to the next big trick and not focusing as much on each step.

The Judges: Len thought they were brave to do a story with no props and he saw the emotion in the dance, but said they have to work on technique. Bruno said the acting was good but noticed the same stumbles I did and received some boos. Carrie Ann was confused by the ending of the story but said Niecy is definitely an emotional dancer. Niecy explained she stumbled because she felt vulnerable by not being a comedian this time. Scores: CA - 7, L - 7, B - 7, Total: 21. Based on what I'm reading on Twitter right now, many people may vote for Niecy just because of the story about gay rights and how everyone should be able to marry, regardless of how well they did technique wise.

Chad Ochocinco with Cheryl Burke were the first to do a Paso Doble. The story was about a guy trying to seduce a girl who wants nothing to do with him. Chad and Cheryl had some frustrations during practice and he had to hype himself up by talking to himself - silly! Their Mexican themed Paso had Chad trying to pull some emotion out but he only kind of did that. Chad hit many of the steps but he was a bit stiff. Even so, George Lopez still gave him a thumbs up.

The Judges: Bruno said that Chad goes all over the place at times, but overall what a difference. Bruno said Chad danced like a Kraken (mythical creature like the one seen in the Pirates of the Caribbean movies) but many people on Twitter seem to think Bruno said Chad dances like a Crackhead! Carrie Ann said the energy worked perfectly in this dance but he's still got to work on his shoulders. Len also said it was better than last week and it was well done, besides his posture. Scores: CA - 7, L - 6, B - 7, Total: 20.

Pamela Anderson with Damian Whitewood was surprised to be in the bottom two last week and hoped to pull herself up with their Paso Doble. Their story was one of love, where Pamela loved the Matador but hated what he did with animals. Charo came to give Pam some Flamenco dancing tips. Their dance started right off with a lot of energy, with the story really coming through. However there was one part in the middle where I think she lost it. Oh, and her hair was in her face a lot and that always bugs me! In the end, Pamela's character choose to leave Damian because of his cruelty to animals.

The Judges: Carrie Ann said Pamela has "this certain artistry to all your movements" but this time she through herself off by doing too much. Len saw the intensity and focus but said they needed to refine it a bit. Bruno said "it was like watching the gypsy queen played by Bridget Bardot at her peak". Scores: CA - 7, L - 7, B - 7, Total: 21.

Aiden Turner with Edyta Sliwinska story was about a painter whose painting (a woman) comes to life. The Quickstep was really wearing him out during rehearsal so Edyta got his family to show up to help him relax. His 7 month old daughter was so cute! Their story was ok but... after the first 10 seconds the story didn't seem to matter anymore. Their Quickstep was slower than the previous ones tonight, but Aiden stayed with it and it was decent. They left off a positive energy that was enjoyable to watch.

The Judges: Len didn't think it was carefree enough which the Quickstep is supposed to be. Bruno thought he looked like "a kid skipping around a meadow" but overall better. Carrie Ann thought he was "too bubbly" but she saw improvement. Scores: CA - 7, L - 6, B - 7, Total: 20.

Erin Andrews with Maksim Chmerkovskiy Waltz was about trust and Erin letting Maks guide her. To help her learn trust, she would be dancing with a blindfold on. Erin said "I vowed to myself this week to fully dive in and give him what he wants". Erin's Waltz started out ok, then they put the bilndfold on and it was actually pretty cool to see her able to move without being able to see. She had a few slip ups, probably because of the blindfold, but overall it was as if she didn't have the blindfold on at all. Maybe the blindfold helped her confidence!

The Judges: Bruno thought the hold was fantastic but she needs to work on the parts she does alone. Carrie Ann said it was beautiful storytelling and the prop "worked right into the story". Overall she thought it was "breathtakingly artistic". Len thought the start was boring but he did like the Waltz they did when they finally got to it. Scores: CA - 8, L - 7, B - 8, Total: 23.

Kate Gosselin with Tony Dovolani decided to use their Paso Doble to tell a story about how she is a victim of the Papparazi (as if she is forced to keep putting herself out there every day!! She could go home and just be a mom and probably would be left alone). Tony brought in an acting coach to help her let out her emotions (and probably to help her get more votes by making people feel sorry for her :P). Dancing to Lady Gaga, the people on Twitter were not looking forward to seeing Kate. As expected, she started of horrible and couldn't even act like she was getting a picture taken. Kate may think she is dancing but really she is just walking around the stage. AWFUL. She may show confidence back stage, but when she gets out there she looks like she is redy to cry the whole time.

The Judges: Carrie Ann said it was "odd" and "hard to watch". Carrie Ann and I agree completely! Len said it was "too pedestrian", I agree again! Bruno said Kate played the character of the "super bitch from hell". Wait, that was a character? I thought that was her real personality :-D Scores: CA - 5, L - 5, B - 5, Total: 15.

Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough were a little worried of having to live up to the 10s they earned last week. Their Quickstep was meant to be a slapstick comedy about two sailors goofing off. Nicole has high expectations and it leads to a lot of stress during rehearsal. People on Twitter may think it's unfair that she has dancing experience, but I don't care because she doesn't have Ballroom experience. She seemed to lose the stress once she got on stage as she moved almost flawlessly through their upbeat Quickstep.

The Judges: Len thought they lost the Quickstep and broke the rules by doing a lift and not doing a lot of hold. It was "beautifully done but not a Quickstep". Bruno agreed it was a good performance but was not a Quickstep. Carrie Ann said she saw the two rules broken but still thought it was entertaining. Scores: CA - 8, L - 6, B - 9, Total: 23.

Did you vote yet? If not, go to ABC's Dancing with the Stars website to vote now!

Next Show:

Tuesday, April 6th, 2010 @ 8/7c - A second star will be eliminated! Who'd you vote for? Who do you hope goes home tomorrow?

Past Shows:
Week 1: Performance Recap
Week 2: Performance Recap | Results

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