Flu Strikes "Dancing with the Stars"
Flu again took a toll on "Dancing with the Stars" Monday night, keeping "Iron Chef America" star Mark Dacascos' professional partner, Lacey Schwimmer, off the dance floor.
His samba with substitute dancer Anna Trebunskya suffered as a result. Judge Bruno Tonioli said, "It was like Kung-Fu Panda does the samba on Planet of the Apes." He scored 19 on his individual dance, the lowest score of the night, and couldn't bring it back up with the team dance, which gave him another 24 points for a total of 43, again the lowest of the night.
Entertainer Donny Osmond also complained about feeling ill and co-host Samantha Harris commented on all the makeup he was wearing to mask his peaked complexion. But you couldn't tell it from his scores. Though Tonioli said his quickstep was "riddled with mistakes," he earned a 24 for it and ended the night (after teams scores were added) with a total of 53.
Highlights of Past Seasons
Photos: "Dancing With The Stars"
"I'm not sick now," he exclaimed to co-host Harris after getting his scores.
Tied with him at 53 for the night were singers Aaron Carter and Kelly Osbourne. Carter 's jive won him the top individual score of the night - 29 - and praise from the judges. It put him at toward the top of the leaderboard for the second week in a row.
Osbourne's teary meltdown, seen in rehearsal footage, gave way to a glittery salsa that earned her kind comments from the judges and an individual score of 24.
Singer Mya, who has consistently been at the top of the scoring, fell into the bottom half this week with a foxtrot that brought her an individual score of only 25 for a total of 49.
That was only two points ahead of NFL star Michael Irvin, whose foxtrot garnered an individual score of 23. Irvin barely survived last week after low scores put him in a dance-off against snowboarder Louie Vito, one of the two contestants sent packing last Tuesday.
The top scorer of the night was model Joanna Krupa, whose sizzling rumba earned her an individual score of 27 for a total score of 56.
The make-or-break moment came during the team dances with Team Paso vs. Team Tango.
Team Paso (Aaron, Mya , Mark and Michael) earned 24 from the judges, who said they were not always in synch and noted that the choeography to Joan Jett's "I Hate Myself for Loving You," was a little basic.
Team Tango (Joanna, Donny and Kelly), however, earned a 29 for a tight, professional tango to Bon Jovi's "You Give Love a Bad Name" that had a finale of coordinated high kicks and, according to Judge Carrie Ann Inaba, a lift.
Two dancers will be eliminated in tonight's show, which also will feature a performance by Rod Stewart and the debut of a new single by professional dancers - and musicians - Mark Ballas and Derek Hough.