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‘Dancing With the Stars’ Semi-Finals 5/12/2014: Top 10 Highlights & Recap

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Tonight was “American Icon Night” on Dancing With the Stars with the semi-finals in full effect. The night was filled with surprises and some of them were not good ones. Read on for the full recap on tonight’s show and see some of the best performances of the evening.

1. Kenny Ortega Was Guest Judge

The standard he was looking for tonight was enjoyment, “surrending to yourselves and taking him to a place he’s never been.”

2. Candace and Mark Were the First Couple on the Floor


While Candace wanted to put in some funky moves from the 80s in their dance, she joked that partner Mark wouldn’t let her. This week each contestant is supposed to focus on their inspiration and Candace is focused on her love of God. Though Candace did a beautiful job, a small mistake showed on her face and the judges made note of that. For their first dance, they got a score of 34 out of 40.

For their second dance, Candace wore her most sexy outfit on the show in a half sheer leotard, strutting her stuff to Janet Jackson. However, it looked like she messed up a little and it showed on her face once again. Though we love her, we wonder why she wasn’t in jeopardy tonight. Nevertheless, Candace received a 38 out of 40 on her second dance, giving her a total score of 72 for the night.

3. The Couples In Jeopardy Came as a Surprise

As a big surprise to viewers, Candace Cameron Bure was announced as the first contestant who is moving on to the finals. Then, after a commercial break, two more big surprises were delivered. Not only was Charlie White and Sharna Burgess announced as being in jeopardy, beloved dance couple Amy Purdy and Derek Hough were also announced as being in the bottom. Later on in the show, it was Meryl and Maks who were another favorite couple in jeopardy. This was sad news all around.

4. Charlie White Brought New York to the Ballroom

Dancing to the classic Sinatra hit New York New York, Charlie White showed off his fancy footwork and spins, getting a standing ovation from guest judge Kenny Ortega who called them “indescribably delightful.” And, even though the couple was in jeopardy tonight, they still pulled a perfect score on their first dance with a 40 out of 40.

As for Charlie’s icon, Scott Hamilton was his and even came by to speak with White before the show.

For Charlie’s second routine, the judges basically felt he needed to take charge a bit more in his dances. The judges also felt he was a bit heavy-footed in his routine.

5. Oprah Surprised Had a Surprise for One of the Contestants

For this week, Amy Purdy had a quickstep routine and a jazz routine. In order for her to keep up with the quickstep, she used her “running legs” that bounce off the ground. Oprah Winfrey is Purdy’s inspiration and she even got a phone call from Oprah during one of her rehearsals with partner Derek Hough. She also told the dancing couple that when they win, she’s going to take them both out to dinner.

Click the “Next Page” button below to see more performances and read about tonight’s sad elimination.

6. Purdy Killed It in a Quickstep

The quickstep was their first dance and Purdy did amazingly well in a flawless performance. It was so light and bouncy that it was nothing but praise across the board. Judge Len Goodman told Purdy, “You inspire me to do something, I don’t know what.” The couple got a 39 out of 40 for their quickstep score.

For their second routine, Purdy pulled off another stellar performance and this time it was a sexy jazz number. The judges were overcome and gave Derek Hough an outstanding amount of praise on his choreography skills. Receiving a 39 out of 40, the couple had a total of 78 for the evening.

7. The Last Macy’s Stars of Dance Was Tonight

As an inspiration, Derek Hough used movie sets as the theme of the performance for the last Macy’s Stars of Dance routine of the season.

Dancing to MKTO’s song “Classic,” Hough and the rest of the professionals put on an adorable performance filled with tons of props and several different backdrops.

8. Maksim Chmerkovskiy Becomes Very Frustrated

Before the show, Davis got a visit from icon Kristi Yamaguchi, but things weren’t all sunshine and roses. Maks was determined to give Meryl a perfect routine because he believes she is the best dancer on the show. He was so worried about disappointing her and their viewers that he had a bit of a meltdown and threw his microphone pack on the floor.

This clearly did something for the routine as Maks and Meryl got stellar reviews from the judges, getting a score of 40 out of 40. And, something came over Maks even before he received his perfect score as he dished out love to each of the judges. Maks kissed Carrie Ann, gave Bruno a smooch, and gave out hearty hugs to Len and Kenny.

For their other performance, the two shared romance, passion and seemed to be depict a great love affair in the story of their dance together. The couple made off with a perfect score overall for the entire night with an 80 out of 80.

Read More From Heavy

The Top 5 Reasons Meryl Davis & Maksim Chmerkovskiy Should Be Dating

9. James Maslow Danced to Michael Jackson’s New Song

James Maslow’s icon is Michael Jackson and Team Jeta was given permission to dance to the new Michael Jackson single from album “Xscape.” Maslow felt a lot of pressure dancing to “Love Never Felt So Good,” but he was put a little at ease when L.A. Reid came to visit him during rehearsals.

Once the couple hit the dance floor, Maslow was the smoothest he’s ever been in the ballroom. It was truly an “iconic” performance and it received a perfect score of 40 out of 40. As for their second performance of the night, it was western themed and full of passion, earning them a 36 out of 40. Their total score for the night was a 76 out of 80.

10. One of our Favorites Was Sent Home

As if having three favorite couples in the bottom three tonight wasn’t enough, we had to say goodbye to a beloved pair tonight. Amy and Derek were announced as safe, leaving the Olympian partners in the bottom two. Charlie White was ultimately sent home.

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