SAN DIEGO, April 23, 2012 – Gladys Knight called it a night and a season to finish out Motown Week on “Dancing With The Stars.”
There was a clear divide between the top half and bottom half of the scoreboard this week. Viewers were not left in suspense too long with Katherine Jenkins, Donald Driver, Jaleel White, and William Levy all called out as safe in short order.
The remaining competitors joined Knight at the bottom: Melissa Gilbert, Maria Menounos, and Roshon Fegan. Fegan has found himself and partner Chelsie Hightower in jeopardy before, to the surprise of many viewers. It hasn’t been due to his scores so much as a lack of fan support. He clearly isn’t getting enough votes from viewers.
While Melissa Gilbert’s scores have often been among the lowest in the competition, fans supporting her and Maks Chmerkovskiy are extremely active and aggressive at getting out the vote. They saved her again this week.
Maria Menounos survived (barely) to make it another week on Dancing With The Stars. Photo: ABC/Adam Taylor.
Maria Menounos stumbled this week, literally. She seemed sure she would be fighting it out in the dance duel. During breaks on stage and while commercials were airing, Menounos and partner Derek Hough were diligently rehearsing their dance duel jive routine. But to her surprise and delight, the fans saved her.
Once again Roshon Fegan found himself in the bottom and in the dance duel for the first time against Knight, the youngest (20) and oldest (67) stars in the competition.
The dance was the jive, which neither of them had performed before. It might seem like a slam dunk for Fegan. He was sharp and energetic, but Knight performed her best dance of the season with a crisp, determined jive. Knight made it surprisingly competitive. Carrie Ann Inaba chose Knight as her winner; but Len Goodman and a reluctant Bruno Tonioli declared Fegan the winner, sending Knight home.
Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower saved themselves from elimination by winning a split decision in the dance duel. Photo: ABC/Adam Taylor.
It was fitting that Knight both opened and closed out Motown Week, and it wouldn’t have been the same at all without her making it this far. Knight can hold her head high. She performed well, improved throughout, and no doubt she inspired a lot of seniors to hit the dance floor. Gladys Knight won a lot of new admirers and reminded people why she’s been a beloved entertainer for so many years.
Special performances tonight included an appearance by the best selling R&B group ever, Boyz II Men. The boyz sang their latest single “One More Dance” from their 20th anniversary album, “Twenty.” Dmitry Chaplin and Anna Trebunskaya danced to their performance.
The “Macy’s Stars of Dance” performance featured the debut of a new contemporary dance company, Shaping Sound. Several performers are familiar to viewers of the dance competition show “So You Think You Can Dance,” including last year’s winner, Melanie Moore. Dancers were accompanied by an arrangement recorded by Aston, a classical group from Sydney, Australia that creates symphonic style songs out of pop music. It was breathtaking and a fitting preview for next week, Classical Week.
Applause to Macy’s for sponsoring this segment, which gives talented dancers a chance to shine before a nationwide television audience and a few lucky fans like me who was in the ballroom this week to see it all in person.
Watch competition in week 7 on Monday, April 30 at 8 p.m. Eastern/Pacific on “Dancing With the Stars” on the ABC Television Network, then read about them here on Communities at Washington Times.
Gayle Lynn Falkenthal, APR, is President/Owner of the Falcon Valley Group in San Diego, California. Read more Media Migraine in the Communities at The Washington Times. Follow Gayle on Facebook and on Twitter @PRProSanDiego.
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