“I want to work hard, I want to do so good. It’s intimidating,” said Frankie Muniz before performing a tango with pro partner Witney Carson on Monday’s “Ballroom Night” episode of “Dancing with the Stars.” This week he has had to learn two dances — one for “Ballroom Night” and another for Tuesday’s “Latin Night” — and on top of that he’s physically struggling through the aftermath of a back-breaking accident as a race car driver. Despite his physical challenges, though, he is proving to be one of the biggest surprises of the season. The judges scored him a 7 and two 8s for a total of 23 out of 30 . That was only one point shy of the lead shared by Jordan Fisher, Victoria Arlen, and Vanessa Lachey. Watch Muniz’s tango above.
Judge Bruno Tonioli commented, “You were like a missile right on target: intense, precise. That music was so hard — if you listen to the beat of that track it’s almost impossible to keep on it. You didn’t miss one step.” Carrie Ann Inaba added that it was “clean, powerful, distinct — everything that you want it to be. You guys are this really incredible, dynamic couple. I wasn’t sure how this partnership was going to work. I thought she might be a little bit too fiery for you, but you guys are like fire, you are like an explosion together.”
But maybe a little too explosive for Len Goodman. “You went for that like a boiling kettle, It was full-on, it was fast, and it was sharp,” Goodman raved, but he added, “I thought it was a little over-aggressive … but overall I thought you did a good job. Well done.” The good news for Muniz is that the audience is definitely on his side. Goodman’s mild critique elicited such a strong reaction from the crowd that host Tom Bergeron noted, “That’s the most I’ve heard you booed in a while!”
What did you think of Muniz’s performance? Was it the best of the night? Was Len right that it was too aggressive? Or was it just aggressive enough? Vote in our poll below to let us know.
