On Sunday night we got to watch the third instalment from this year’s Dancing with the Stars. The first two episodes from this season saw the celebrity couples split into two groups of six, performing on two separate weeks.
However, last night we got to watch all twelve couples perform on the same week, as well as having our first elimination.
As usual, we had our three fabulous judges, Loraine Keane, Brian Redmond and new to the show, Arthur Gourounlain. There was a change in judges this week as Jennifer Zamparelli tested positive for Covid-19, and previous winner Lottie Ryan filled in! Read all about that here.
Kicking off the show with a lively cha-cha-cha was Paralympian, Ellen Keane. Partnered with pro-dancer Stephen Vincent the pair danced to Get Out Of My Head which scored them 21 points.
Arthur shared; “Your body language is beautiful, you need to just go for it a bit more” and Brian Redmond commented; “If you’re not here next week, I’ll be so shocked I will wear my swimming costume in protest!”
Next out on the floor was former news reader Aengus MacGrianna who is paired up with professional dancer, Emily Barker.
They danced a waltz to Seal’s If You Don’t Know Me By Now and scored an 11 from judges.
Arthur said about their performance; “Unfortunately tonight on the dance floor I feel you could go harder and deeper, I wanted to see more.”
Loraine commented; “He has worked hard, and you were definitely out there trying your best but we need more.”
Funny man, Neil Delamare was third to perform with pro-dancer, Kylee Vincent. The couple danced a high energy charleston to I Don’t Feel Like Dancing by The Baseballs which scored them a 22 with the judges.
Brian was impressed with the performance saying; “It was pretty good, nice comedic value to it overall” and Loraine was also a fan; “I really liked it! So much variety, lots and lots of charleston.”
Irish author, Cathy Kelly was next performing a tango with her partner, Maurizio Benenato, to Blondie’s classic, ‘Call Me’ which earned them 15 points. In the end their performance was not enough to keep them in the competition and it saw Cathy and Maurizio as the first to be eliminated from the show.
Giving their comments after her performance, Loraine said; “Very good position, the heartbeat of the tango are slows and quicks, if we could have had that a bit clearer, it would have been better.”
Arthur commented; “You have passion, I’m not talking about your writing, I’m talking about your dancing” and Brian shared; “It was probably a bit too Debbie Harry and not quite Dirty Harry. It was OK, but didn’t quite make my day.”
Speaking about the experience Cathy said: “It has been an amazing experience, it was been so much fun, I have had so much fun with Maurizio.”
Model and social media star, Missy Keating was next to take to the floor with pro-dancer, Ervinas Merfeldas. They performed a sizzling samba to Dynamite and scored well with the judges, getting 21 points.
Arthur shared some words of encouragement for next week saying; “Give me more, hit twice as hard, you can do it.”
Brian commented;”Erica set a record-breaking samba last week, did you get there, not quite. The technique is there, just believe in it.”
Pro cyclist, Nicola Roche hit the dance floor next with his partner, Karen Byrne and they performed a Viennese Waltz to Damien Rice’s Unplayed Piano, which scored them a 16.
Loraine was delighted with their performance; “I want to commend you both, I think this is a very beautiful presentation.”
Brian was also impressed with their improvement on the previous week; “I love when someone takes our critique and comes back and absolutely shoves it in our face!”
Next we got to see Love Island star, Matthew McNabb perform a jive to Overpass Graffiti with his partner, Laura Nolan. They scored 11 points from the judges.
Arthur shared; “The only thing I saw was ‘delay, delay, delay’, you really need to work on your musicality.”
Brian offered his thoughts on the performance; “Is your belt a bit tight? Because sometimes the signal doesn’t get down to the leg. It was on in places, but not everywhere.”
Gráinne Seoige and pro-dancer, John Nolan were next with a dramatic paso doble to the the music of Devil Woman, which saw the TV presenter oozing with confidence. The pair scored 17 points from the judges this week.
Brian Redmond shared; “Definitely captured the atmosphere and the characteristics of this dance.”
Rugby star, Jordan Conroy was back this week with another energetic performance. With professional dancer, Salome Chachua they danced a quickstep to Jake Bugg’s Lightning Bolt which scored 19 points from the judging panel.
Loraine said; “I do salute you, it was extremely fast but sometimes a little bit erratic.”
Arthur was also impressed; “I had high hopes for you guys tonight and I can reveal, you absolutely smashed it.”
Last week saw Erica Cody and her partner, Denys Samson make DWTS history with the highest opening scores ever, and scored high again this week. They danced a foxtrot to the music of My Girl and scored 23 points from the judges.
Once again they were full of praise with Arthur saying; “Erica, you are like a chameleon, very different from last week – a born performer.”
Brian added; “Overall, not maybe quite as good as your samba last week, but for a foxtrot, I’ll take it.”
Nina Carberry and pro-dancer, and past DWTS winner, Pasquale La Rocca hit the dance floor next with a sensual rumba to Yola’s Starlight. The former jockey scored an incredibly 25 points with the judges.
Loraine was stunned by the performance; “It was so good, it was SO good. It’s the hardest dance to learn, I’m a little bit tongue-struck I really am.”
Arthur added; “You are s-e-x-y sexy, you are. Rumba is a very controlled dance, the way you were moving your body is like a panther out seeking its prey.”
Last to perform on Sunday’s show was Aslan’s Billy McGuinness and pro-dancer Hannah Kelly. They danced a salsa to Papa Loves Mambo and scored a 13 from the judges.
Speaking about the performance Brian said; “Well, Billy, you are definitely here for a good time, I’m just not so sure you will be here for a long time!|
Arthur said; “What a fabulous way to close the show, unlike Loraine, I love cheese.”
Next Sunday will see Dancing with the Stars return for it’s fourth episode, and the theme for next week’s show is Movie Week!
