Dancing with the Stars recap: Judges crown the best rumba in the show's history
Rose of Tralee Katelyn Cummins' rumba was declared the best female celebrity rumba in the show's history. Pictures: Kyran O’Brien /kobpix
Niamh Kavanagh has been eliminated from Dancing with the Stars.
The Eurovision winner faced star Jordan Dargan in this week’s dance-off, but her tango to Destiny's Child’s wasn’t enough to secure a place in next week’s landmark 100th episode.
Although the judges praised Kavanagh’s steady improvement, Dargan has been a frontrunner since the start of the competition and his quickstep this week earned an impressive 35 out of 40 points.
As she exited the show, Kavanagh joked that she was relieved not to have to endure any more of her “magnificent” partner Stephen Vincent’s “dad jokes.”
“I’ve done something I never thought I’d be able to do… I will take this right into the next decade,” she added.
Elsewhere, current Katelyn Cummins continued to impress. Judges Karen Byrne and Brian Redmond both declared her rumba “the best female celebrity rumba” in the show’s history, while head judge Oti Mabuse called it “the rumba of dreams.” The 20-year-old scored 39, missing out on the perfect 10 only from Redmond, and soared straight to the top of the leaderboard.
Close behind were singer-songwriter Tolü Makay and Olympic rower Philip Doyle, who had faced the dance-off the previous week.
Redmond described Makay’s salsa as “full of fun and energy" but said it was "a bit messy in the feet".
Gourounlian disagreed, awarding her a perfect 10.
“You were igniting the dancefloor… electric, intoxicating, exhilarating!” he said. She finished with 36 points.
Doyle’s Charleston to Girls Aloud’s went down a treat with Gourounlian dubbing him “the king of lifts” while Mabuse said there seemed to be “no end” to his talents. He tied with Dargan, scoring 35.
Following his own leaderboard-topping Charleston last week, presenter Eric Roberts delivered a lively cha-cha-cha. Unfortunately, the judges all noted that he was out of time in parts, which led him to drop a few points, bringing his score down to 32 this week.
actress Stephanie Kelly impressed with a “whimsical” and “connected” Viennese waltz, according to Mabuse, while Byrne said she had mastered “the flow" of the notoriously difficult ballroom number. She scored 31.
Way down at the bottom of the leaderboard was Limerick man Paudie Moloney.
Redmond said contestant's “movement wasn’t strong enough”, but he did earned some praise from the other judges. Byrne said his “timing was really clean” and Mabuse said he had “the best tango frame.” Still, he scored just 22.
The annual Team Dance challenge also took place this week. Presenter Jennifer Zamparelli captained the boys’ team — Eric Roberts, Jordan Dargan, Paudie Moloney and Philip Doyle and their respective partners — who scored 33 out of 40.
The ladies’ team, led by presenter Laura Fox and featuring Katelyn Cummins, Niamh Kavanagh, Stephanie Kelly and Tolü Makay, and their respective partners, claimed victory. Their routine to the Spice Girls' hit earned an almost-perfect 39 from the judging panel.
- Dancing with the Stars continues Sundays on RTÉ One at 6.30pm and is available on the RTÉ Player
