Dancing With the Stars: (Episode 516)

Fighting to secure their place in next week’s semifinals, each of the remaining five couples had their eye on the prize last night. While some were a little overzealous in their pursuits (Jennie, Cameron), others continued to stride ahead of the pack (Helio, Mel B.).

Jennie Garth and partner Derek started the night off with the jive. A confidence boosting tête-à-tête with Richard Simmons (sparkly tank top, booty shorts and all!) may have given Jennie the assurance she’s desperately needed, but it also seemed to backfire once she hit the dance floor. With loads of enthusiasm, Jennie couldn’t keep her routine under control, resulting in sloppy moves, timing gaps and poor posture. The judges didn’t handle Jennie with kid gloves as they previously have, and Len even told her he didn’t think that was a semifinal worthy dance. A score of 24 left Jennie stunned (Richard really worked his magic—she thought she did great!).

Shedding her Jolly Green Giant-esque outfit, Jennie came out looking very old-Hollywood glam for her foxtrot. It was a typical performance for Jennie and Derek, and the judges didn’t back down from their earlier message: Wow us! Bruno seemed especially disappointed, telling Jennie she has everything within her to be a star, yet she still hasn’t been able to unleash it. A final score of 50 left Jennie and Derek in fourth place for the night.

After whining about not getting a perfect score last week (he’s the only one in the competition yet to score a 10), Cameron Mathison declared it his week to score big. (Don’t people realize it’s never, ever a good idea to make sweeping statements like this?) Cam and Edyta’s Viennese waltz was interesting and surprisingly captivating, but it never went anywhere. Len said he grew to like it but was particularly irked by Cam’s bare chest for a non-Latin dance and instructed him to put a bow tie on next time. 9s across the board were not part of Cam’s plan, and things continued to spiral downward during his second dance.

Squeezed into tight, flesh-colored pants and a vest, Cameron took major hits from the judges for his cha cha. All three were in agreements that it was too hard and stiff without any naturalness. Carrie Ann also instructed him to watch how he moves from form to form. Although he’s hitting his lines beautifully, it’s the in between movements that are killing his overall performance. A score of 24 was a bitter pill for Cameron and Edyta to swallow and placed them in third for the night.

Citing her dad’s “the show must go on” mantra, Marie Osmond came back to the competition with the same amount of gusto and energy that she’s had each week. However, the rumba required more passion than Marie could handle without busting into giggles. At his partner’s request, Jonathan brought in his wife, fellow DWTS pro Anna (who knew!) to give him and Marie the romantic thumbs-up. With Anna’s blessing, Marie was able to relax and ended up delivering a great dance—for her. But the judges want to see much more out of this pair and couldn’t muster up more than 8s.

Marie and Jonathan, gussied up as cowboys, came back with the jive for their final dance. To put it simply, it was a little bit too much country, even for Marie! Lacking enough jive steps, the best the judges could do was enjoy the simplicity and fun of the performance. A score of 25 left Marie and Jon with a last-place score of 49 for the night.

Determined not to let Helio Castroneves repeat his prior dancing mistakes, Julianne assembled a “pit crew” of dancing champions (including the recently eliminated Tony Dovolani) to help her partner stay on top of his game. The pit crew worked wonders on Helio, especially his footwork, as he performed a hit paso doble. A score of 27 matched the high for the night, that is until Helio and Julianne took the floor again.

Jumping off the stage in his yellow zoot suit, Helio launched into a flawless, fun and intricate quickstep. In a night filled with sub par performances, this was an obvious treat based on the audience’s long standing ovation as well their cheers when Helio planted a big kiss on Julianne as their finale (wonder how his fiancé felt about that?). The judges were in love, saying the performance was exciting and effortless. A perfect score of 30 gave Helio and Julianne the top slot for the night with a total score of 57.

Last up were Melanie Brown and partner Maks. Delivering an angry and passionate tango, Bruno said, “That’s a really Scary Spice there!” And Len, usually the footwork drill sergeant, complimented Mel’s steps, saying she was spot on. Could their tango’s 27 have been a 30 if it wasn’t quite so reminiscent of their earlier paso doble? Probably.

But nevertheless, Mel and Maks came back in high spirits for their second dance of the night, the mambo. In a strictly ballroom routine filled with hip thrusts and flirting, the duo got a deserving score of 29. Even better? Carrie Ann’s observation that Maks looks like he’s—gasp!—having fun this season! Props to Mel for making this usually sour-faced pro lighten up.

Three out of the five are fair game for tonight’s elimination: Jennie, Marie and Cameron. My guess is that Marie’s fan base will keep her in the competition at least one more week, as well as Cameron’s, thus sending Jennie home by default. But really, none of these three have what it takes to make it to the finals. It’s safe to say Mel and Helio have that well under wraps.