Dancing with the Stars recap: Quarter-final dance-off sees Nicolas Roche jetting home
It was ‘Around the World’ week on Dancing with the Stars on Sunday evening, but cyclist Nicolas Roche got a one-way ticket home.
He faced Ellen Keane in the dance-off but ultimately the judges chose to save the Paralympic swimmer, who will progress to next week’s semi-final show.
Keane opened the individual dances, paired this week with Ervinas Merfeldas after her usual pro-partner Stephen Vincent tested positive for Covid-19 the night before the show. Keane hoped her Olympic luck would help her Japan-inspired salsa and the judges praised both Keane and Merfeldas for pulling everything together with such short notice. “You are both warriors,” Loraine Barry said. Brian Redmond too was impressed: “You proved this week again you’re a fighter.” Their performance received 26 points.
Roche’s French foxtrot surprised the judges, with Arthur Gourounlian revealing he did not expect the cyclist to still be in the competition at this stage: “The first time we saw you dancing we didn’t think we’d see you in the quarter-finals. Who’s laughing now?” Redmond commended Roche for “capturing the character” of the foxtrot and Barry said it was a “very difficult but pure foxtrot”. Roche received 21 points, the lowest of the night.
Walking like an Egyptian onto the dancefloor was Jordan Conroy, who was also affected by Covid changes. His usual partner Salome Chachua was absent and he danced with Emily Barker. Barry said they did a “wonderful” Charleston with “amazing lifts”. Gourounlian praised the “flawless, amazing, gorgeous Charleston”, describing it as "a winning dance”. Conroy earned 29 points.
It takes two to tango and Matthew MacNabb and Laura Nolan showed it can be done passionately too. Redmond said their Brazilian display was well interpreted in MacNaab’s body, though he thought his facial expressions didn’t quite keep up. “Tango is a story of passion and intrigue and your body brought us on that journey,” he said. MacNabb received 23 points.
Barry described Erica Cody’s cha cha cha as a “cha cha fabulosa.” The singer was reunited with Denys Samson and their winning combo received 30 points, her first of the season. Redmond described it as the best cha cha of the year, adding: “If you’re going to dance a cha cha like that, I’ll dance with you any time.” Gourounlian said he was transported by her “spellbinding, memorable” performance “You flew me to Italy with that dance, the only thing missing was gelato.”
The final individual dance was with jockey Nina Carberry, whose American smooth was “soft, flowing, glitzy, glamourous,” according to Barry. "Nina, for me you put the ‘zing’ in ‘amazing’.” Redmond was impressed that she combined “power with technical profiency”. She received 29 points.
This week the contestants were grouped into teams to earn extra points. The Cuban Groovers - Keane, Roche and Conroy – took on the Turkish Delights - McNaab, Cody and Carberry. Their two performances were judged and the points each earned were added to their individual scores. The Cuban Groovers got 27 points but outperforming them, the Turkish Delights impressed the judges and received 29 points.
