Sparks fly, tempers flare on 'Dancing With the Stars'

Week six of “Dancing with the Stars” brought out the good, the bad and the ugly. And it was “Broadway music night” to boot.

Some of the evening’s dancing was good, as in the quickstep performed by David Arquette and his partner Kym Johnson. It wasn’t great, as they were out of synch in several spots, but it was good and fun to watch. Score: 23

Some of the evening’s dancing was bad, as in the awful tango performed by Chaz Bono and his partner Lacey Schwimmer. And though the judges tried to couch it as “lacking personality,” the dance lacked, well, dancing. Bad footwork, bad choreography (though to Lacey’s credit she too was frustrated in rehearsals for not being able to up the ante in the footwork department). Score: 19, the lowest of the night. Even judge Bruno Tonioli quipped to Bono: “It was like a cute little penguin trying to be a menacing bird of prey.”

And some of the dancing was ugly, or at least the outcome of the routine was ugly, as in the disgraceful exchange that occurred between judge Len Goodman and pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy. Coming out of a really bad rumba routine with Hope Solo (who really just never grasped the idea of the sexiness of the rumba), Len laid into both of the dancers, citing Hope’s flat-heeled boots (and her flat-footedness) and Maks’ poor choreography (“50 percent is your fault,” Len chirped). Maks couldn’t stay quiet any longer and basically told the veteran judge (who had just stated he’d been in the ballroom dance business for nearly 50 years): “Maybe it’s time to get out.” A whole bunch of yelling and talking over one another and the audience booing and screaming then ensued with judge Carrie Ann Inaba telling Maks not to disrespect Len. (Let’s not forget the run-ins that Carrie Ann and Maks have had in previous seasons, either). No matter. It was an ugly moment. Made even uglier by Maks, who, after receiving a score of 20 for their routine, proclaimed “This is my show. I help make it what it is” in disdain of his low score.

Can’t we all just get a long?

There was also plenty of beautiful dancing tonight, especially from Ricki Lake and J.R. Martinez. who tied for the top of the leader board with scores of 29. Lake and partner Derek Hough turned in an electrifying quickstep, full of razzle-dazzle, style, glamor and incredible speed. It was breathtaking. J.R. and his partner Karina Smirnoff were also exciting to watch, stylish and dazzling in their quickstep.

As for the rest, Nancy Grace surprised everyone with a well-danced fox trot that was cheeky and fun and earned her a 24 from the judges. Rob Kardashian earned a 22 for his OK take on the cha cha; it was not his best dance this season.

The troupe came together as one for the big group dance (no judges’ scores applied) in which everyone got the chance to show they can dance as a group and as individual pairs all in the same number.

So who goes home Tuesday night? By all rights, it should be Chaz for consistently landing at the bottom or near bottom of the pack. It’s week six already…. there’s just way too much serious and impressive dancing going on out there. The “sleeper” could be Hope Solo, who, like Chaz, just can’t compete with the rest of the pack at this stage of the competition.