‘Dancing With the Stars’ Recap: Melissa Rycroft Dances With a Herniated Disc

Dancing With the Stars was cut short to a one-hour program last night due to the Presidential Debate – but these All-Stars knew how to make the most of their sixty minutes. This week’s show boasted one of the best performances Bruno Tonioli while Len Goodman thought another to be a bit too raunchy. Did DWTS hear any complaints from you last night? At one point, Carrie Ann Inaba fell out of her chair… lets find out why!

But it’s a Samba! With Val! Sadly, her breakdown and loss of confidence showed in her performance. Carrie Ann said her upper body appeared tense. Bruno called her a “titillating tasty tease,” but thought the dance looked forced. Len, a self-proclaimed enemy of the unnecessary, thought they were “too much gyrating” and “a tad on the raunchy side.”

Score: 8, 8, 8.5 = 24.5 out of 30

Gilles Marini & Peta Murgatroyd

Song: “I Will Always Love You” by Whitney Houston from The Bodyguard

 It was a night of guilty pleasures and you can officially count Gilles as one of ours. He wanted his Rumba with partner Peta to be “responsible for a lot of babies” last night and he did not disappoint. “Let the baby-making begin,” Carrie Ann shouted just before she, literally, fell out of her chair.

Host Tom Bergeron joked, “When you said let the baby-making begin, I didn’t think you’d get into position.” Bruno called it one of the best performances he’d ever seen. It wasn’t so much a dance as Master-class Theater. Len called the Rumba a blockbuster worthy of being Oscar nominated.

 Score: 10, 9.5, 10 = 29.5 out of 30

Kirstie Alley & Maksim Chmerkovskiy

Song: “Mrs. Robinson” by Simon and Garfunkel

“I’m not naming names, but I don’t think everyone that’s left is a great entertainer,” Kirstie said after surviving last week’s Results show. But the self-confidence boost doesn’t last long… During Quickstep rehearsals, Kirstie finds herself dancing too slow, getting frustrated, only to break down. “I just want to be better,” she cried. You felt for her – you could tell she’s really trying.

Because sooo many older women are in love with Maks, they decide to incorporate the viewer’s guilty pleasure into the performance. Carrie Ann and Len thought this was her best dance of the season – by miles. Bruno thought she delivered it with all the fantastic footwork.

Score: 8.5, 8.5, 8.5 = 25.5 out of 30

Emmitt Smith & Cheryl Burke

Song: “Copacabana” by Barry Manilow

This performance was filled with smiles, swinging hips and Samba. And a giant Toucan Sam, but we digress. Once the couple got moving, it was clear they had this dance down pat. Cheryl was looked ready for Carnivale and the Brazilian beat had us looking up flight information.

Len thought, “Emmitt Smith plus Cheryl Burke plus Barry Manilow is an unstoppable performance” and Carrie Ann complimented Emmitt on his Samba swagger. Bruno loved how the NFL star is always switched on, delivering maximum pleasure.

Score: 9.5, 9.5, 10 = 29 out of 30

Introducing, the DWTS High School Dance Team of 2012. The first freestyle team to perform their guilty pleasure was led by Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough. Heavy on the technical and acrobatic side of dance, the team of high school jocks and cheerleaderstook quite a beating during rehearsals. Melissa Rycroft got a bit of whiplash swinging through partner Tony Dovolani’s legs and the EMTs were called. She was hospitalized yesterday and diagnosed with, “a herniated disc in her upper back.” Fortunately, Melissa was cleared to dance.

The reality star was at one point transformed into a human jump rope. Herniated disk, take that! Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff took the opportunity to redeem their hip-hop performance from last week – and there were no slip ups this time. Louis Van Amstel and Sabrina Bryan proved just how important transitions were when passing the dance floor off to Shawn and Derek.

Len thought it was fantastic. Bruno shouted, “the way you introduced each other, it was almost impossible to distinguish the pros from the celebrities!” Carrie Ann led a spirited cheer – “You’ve got spirit, yes you do, you’ve got spirit, I love you!” Watch out, “Gangnam Style”.