It was a night of tremendous highs and heartbreaking lows, as Dancing with the Stars returned to our screens over the weekend.
Opening the show, Ryan Andrews and his partner Giulia Dotta performed a fun-filled quickstep to the Jonas Brothers’ new song, What A Man Gotta Do.
Judge Darren Bennett said, “I really enjoyed it -there was a calmness to it. You let all your body and feet do all the talking tonight. The foot perfect all the way through. Great synchronisation. With three weeks to the final, keep that standard up – well done.”
They scored 27 points from the judges.
Grainne Gallanagh and Kai Widdrington danced a paso doble to I Would Do Anything for Love by Meatloaf, receiving 25 points for their efforts.
Judge Loraine Barry loved the routine, telling the pair: “Tonight is a first for me. I really, really enjoyed it. I sensed the passion, the force, the love, the strong, the soft. You are consistent. You are definitely surprising me week in week out.”
Darren Bennett added, “This was a journey into darkness. I really, really loved it. It was absolutely spot on. What could have been a gothic nightmare was absolutely a judge’s dream.”
Fr. Ray Kelly and Kylee Vincent performed a quickstep to the Monkees’ track I’m A Believer, but failed to impress the judges.
Loraine said: “I love the quickstep – I was waiting and waiting. I didn’t get the quick step. I Let’s be honest it wasn’t your fastest week. I know you try your best but maybe it was too quick for you.”
They got a score of 13 points for their efforts.
Sports star Aidan Fogarty and Emily Barker danced a rumba to U2’s son, One, but found the routine quite difficult.
“It’s the hardest dance; it’s intense, emotional, soft, exposed – everything I am not. No man should be exposed to a dance like that.”
Scoring 23 points, judge Brian Redmond told them, “I don’t think this was your greatest dance to date – I do think it was your greatest achievement to date.
“A little bit more help on the footwork. You are to be really well commended on what was a really solid rumba.”
Lottie Ryan and Pasquale La Rocca performed a samba to Tip Toe by Jason Derulo, and received an almost perfect score of 29 points.
Impressed, judge Darren said, “After last week, being in the bottom two, you could have played it safe but you through everything at that. For me, that was almost like competition level. You live every single dance. Well done.
Mary Kennedy and her professional partner John performed a cha-cha-cha to Candi Station’s hit track Young Hearts Run Free.
Judge Brian Redmond told them, “That made me feel young at heart at times. It was maybe a little bit forced. The atmosphere was great the whole way through. That was the first time I’ve seen you look that relaxed in a Latin dance.”
Mary found herself in the bottom two, and sadly lost her place in the competition.
Catch the show, Sunday nights on RTE One at 6.35pm.