Monday, Oct. 19, 2009

Dancing with the Stars recap: Donny Osmond leads, Maksim Chmerkovskiy dances

The flu wasn't kind to the professional dancers on "Dancing with the Stars" this week. Derek Hough didn't dance on Monday's show and Mark Ballas missed several rehearsals due to the illness. Monday was the first group dance of the season. The celebrities and their professional dance partners brought back the 1970s to a cheering audience with a fun, if not a technically strong, hustle.

Scores will be added to viewers' votes overnight and the star with the lowest combined total will be going home after Tuesday's results show. Singer Donny Osmond has the highest judges' score with 29 points. Michael Irvin is the celebrity with the lowest score with 21 points. Swimmer Natalie Coughlin and snowboarder Louie Vito both have 22 points.

Here's a recap of Monday's show:

Model Joanna Krupa's partner Derek Hough was not on the show because he had the flu. Maksim Chmerkovskiy, who was eliminated two weeks ago with actress Debi Mazar, stepped in to take Derek's place. Derek joked that he shouldn't have taken his shirt off last week because that's probably how he got the fever. Joanna and Maksim earned 24 points for their Argentine Tango. Maksim and Derek said they were both proud of how well Joanna did despite a slight stumble at one point during the dance.

Bruno Toniolo, 8: "I was living my fantasies up until that stumble."

Len Goodman, 8: "Getting a new partner is a bit like getting a new pair of shoes... I think you did a great job under the circumstances."

Carrie Ann Inaba, 8: "You guys matched so well. The glamour was there." She encouraged Joanna to work on her flexibility so her "hips don't lock."

Singer Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel scored 24 points for their Paso Doble. They danced to "Crazy Train," a song that Kelly's dad Ozzy Osbourne made famous. Ozzy was in the audience to watch his daughter. "It's so nice to be able to look over and see my dad is smiling at me," Kelly said. She admitted that having her dad watch her dance to his song made her "so scared."

Len Goodman, 8: "You were dancing tonight with much more authority. There wasn't that nervousness that we sometimes see."

Carrie Ann Inaba, 8: "This is why I love my job... The intensity is so great you have to stay in it."

Bruno Toniolo, 8: "You did a very difficult routine all the way through. You never went wrong... Stay on it."

Actress Melissa Joan Hart and partner Mark Ballas earned 23 points for their Argentine Tango. Melissa said she was pleased with the point total especially because Mark was sick and missed a few rehearsals.

Len Goodman, 8: "It did lack a little bit of the seduction between the guy and the girl... You coped with all that difficult choreography."

Bruno Toniolo, 7: "You lost it a few times... You looked slightly grumpy more than sexy."

Carrie Ann Inaba, 8: "Disagree," Carrie Ann said to Bruno. "This week you nailed the character... (But) you had a few stumbles tonight."

Snowboarder Louie Vito and partner Chelsie Hightower got 22 points for their Argentine Tango.