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Ward dances to next round of TV competition
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Hines Ward and Kym Johnson gave an encore performance on Tuesday of their samba on "Dancing with the Stars."
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Hines Ward did it again.
The Steelers wide receiver and his professional dance partner Kym Johnson raked in enough viewer votes and points from judges to live to dance another week on ABC's "Dancing With the Stars."
For the second week in a row, Mr. Ward was the first celebrity to be pronounced safe during Tuesday night's results show. Judges Carrie Ann Inaba, Len Goodman and Bruno Tonioli even tapped Mr. Ward to dance an encore performance of his samba to Earth, Wind and Fire's "Fantasy."
Monday night's contest required celebrities to dance to a song that told a story about their lives. Mr. Ward declared his routine a celebration of his mother. The dance earned him one of the first nines from judges this season and tied him for first place with model Petra Nemcova.
Just like on Monday, Mr. Ward was light on his feet and maintained good posture and that infectious grin.
TV personality Wendy Williams and wrestler Chris Jericho, however, weren't so lucky. They were the last two left in jeopardy, with Ms. Williams being ousted from the competition.
The eliminated pair danced a fox trot to "Last Night a DJ Saved My Life" that was a bit clumsy and too safe. She finished Monday's competition with a 15 out of 30 -- the lowest score of the night.
Another star that had a tough time Monday night was actress Kirstie Alley. Her rumba to "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" about overcoming adversity got off to a rocky start when her partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy toppled over from a muscle strain.
But the spill wasn't enough to keep away the votes or the judges' support. (Ms. Alley apparently wasn't fazed by the incident, either. She tweeted that after Monday's show she got a tattoo in honor of the "magical night.") Mr. Chmerkovskiy also bounced back well, telling host Brooke Burke Tuesday night that he's fine.
Another highlight of Tuesday's show was a performance by music group One Republic as "DWTS" pro dancers Lacey Schwimmer and Dmitry Chaplin shared an expressive duet to the band's new single, "Good Life." Teen pop star Selena Gomez also serenaded the crowd.
Candid videos of the stars' lives outside of rehearsal also lightened the elimination night tension. Celebrities filmed themselves hanging out with friends and family, goofing around with their dance partners and icing dancing aches. Mr. Ward shared footage of him taking his son to Disneyland for his birthday.
As couples head into the fourth week of dancing, the competition is still anyone's game. But according to a CBS.com poll as of early Tuesday, voters anticipate that Mr. Ward will run off with the Mirror Ball trophy, while Ms. Alley and "Karate Kid" actor Ralph Macchio will be the second and third stars most likely to win, respectively.
The remaining nine couples will head back to the studio to cook up a new dance for next Monday's show.
First Published April 5, 2011 10:21 pm
