Broadway week certainly perked up the participants of “Dancing with the Stars” with the two leaders each landing near perfect judges’ scores that were the highest so far for the season.
Ricki Lake and last week’s leader, J.R. Martinez each scored two 10s and a 9 for their quickstep routines Monday – he for “Hot Honey Rag” from “Chicago”; she for “Luck Be a Lady” from “Guys and Dolls.” Judge Len Goodman was the sole holdout, giving each a 9 for their routines.
It was one up from Martinez’ score last week, but a leap of five points for Lake, who had been the leader in three of the previous five weeks and had previously scored a 29 two weeks ago.
The two were five full points ahead of their nearest competitor – Nancy Grace, god help us, who scored a season-best 24 for a foxtrot to a song whose sardonic tone may have been fitting — “Always Look on the Bright Side of Life” from “Monty Python’s Spamalot.”
Martinez and Lake were a full 10 points ahead of frequent bottom dweller in judges scores, Chaz Bono, who could manage only a 19 – his worst score in four weeks — for a tango from “The Phantom of the Opera.”
In the middle were David Arquette with a 23, a two point drop from last week; Rob Cardashian with 22, a three point drop; and Hope Solo with a 20, a four point drop. The remaining seven contestants and their partners also danced a group number to a Broadway medley that wasn’t scored by judges (but did have as “creative director” Carson Kressley, who was just eliminated from the show last week)>
Kristin Chenoweth sings in the results show Tuesday, when the only thing that can save Bono is fan support and the relative obscurity of Solo’s name.