Dancing with the Stars recap: Influencer Suzanne Jackson deemed 'the one to watch'
Suzanne Jackson with her Dance Partner Michael Danilczuk during Dancing With The Stars
Suzanne Jackson is "the one to watch" in this year's Dancing with the Stars line-up.
That's according to judge Arthur Gourounlian who said her Viennese waltz was "beautifully executed". She topped the Week Two leaderboard with a well-deserved 25 points.
"It was all there," head judge Loraine Barry gushed. "I’m excited to see where you go in the future."
Finishing just behind her was Brooke Scullion, the first to the dancefloor on Sunday night with a quickstep to Girls Aloud’s . Expectations were sky-high for the Derry girl after last week’s salsa which earned her a record 25 points — the highest score ever achieved for a first dance in the history of the show. Loraine said this week’s dance could have done with a “little bit” of tidying up and the singer walked away with 23 points from the judges.
Next up was fellow Derry man, Damian McGinty, taking on the salsa with pro-dancer Kylee Vincent. Judge Brian Redmond said his top half was “fabulous”, but “the bottom half looked a bit like you had sand in your shorts”. He shimmied away with 20 points.
Meanwhile, Pro-dancer Stephen Vincent was asked by judge Loraine to “push” former state pathologist Dr Marie Cassidy more, with an underwhelmed panel awarding her just 16 for her traditional tango to
Jiving around the RTÉ dancefloor in a pair of hot pink trousers was comedian Kevin McGahern, who really impressed the judges — as did his partner Laura Nolan’s choreography. "Is that really you Kevin?," Loraine said, "That was a great Jive. You two are smashing it!"
Judge Arthur, meanwhile, said: "I can tell you are really taking this seriously, and it’s paying off". He walked away with a score of 21, two points more than his week-once score.
Really keen to make an improvement this week was footballer Stephanie Roche, who was bottom of the leaderboard last week with a score of 13. Judge Loraine said she could see some improvement with her foxtrot, but said Stephanie seems “lost” when not in hold with her partner, while Brian Redmond did not hold back with his criticisms.
“I am a proud person, I don’t want to do badly,” Stephanie told Doireann Garrihy side stage, “I don’t want to be bottom of the leaderboard.” The 33-year-old looked gutted to score just 13 points again.
Derry Girls' Leah O'Rourke also got a talking-to from judge Brian for her not-so-smooth American Smooth. “It’s not called Stepping with the Stars,” he admonished. Even nice guy Arthur didn’t hold back, “you should have been gliding on the floor,” he said. Scoring just 10 points, it was the lowest score of the night, and the season so far.
Thankfully, former rugby player Shane Byrne lifted the mood with a three-cartwheel cha cha cha – even if it only scored 12 points. Judges Loraine and Brian were less than impressed with the lack of actual cha cha cha in the routine (pro-dancer Karen Byrne didn’t concur). Arthur was on the audience's side: “I can’t help myself loving you.”
Getting busy on the dancefloor with pecs fully on display this week was GAA star Paul Brogan. He was dancing the samba, which has been dubbed the ‘celebrity killer’. While judge Loraine acknowledged the “entertainment value,” was there, she said there “wasn’t enough samba" and this was reflected in a score of just 14.
Drag queen Panti Bliss delivered a "beautiful, elegant waltz" to Aretha Franklin's (You Make Me Feel Like) A Natural Woman, earning plenty of compliments from all three judges, and adding 19 to the scoreboard.
Carl Mullan shocked the judges — in a good way — with his Pasodoble, "the most improved" of the night according to head judge Loraine. The 2FM star was all smiles at the comments and the score, 23. It was the biggest level-up on the night, points-wise. He had scored just 16 last week.
With no eliminations tonight, or last week, the real pressure is on next week with celebrities facing the first elimination of the season. All votes from shows one and two will carry forward to next week.
- Dancing with the Stars airs Sundays on RTÉ One at 6.30pm
