Oh, what might have been! We’re still waiting for the first 10s on “Dancing with the Stars,” and James Van Der Beek was thisclose to getting them. He would have been perfect had it not been for the damn fog. Watch his (almost) flawless Viennese waltz above.
Van Der Beek handled the samba in week six. That’s the hardest dance style on the whole show, and he nailed it. His pro partner Emma Slater even told him that he allayed her fears about choreographing that style for a celebrity, which is high praise from a seasoned “DWTS” professional. So it should have been smooth sailing for him from that point forward.
On “Halloween Night” he got a Viennese waltz, and Slater gave the choreography an eerie twist: Van Der Beek was to portray a demon trying to steal her away from her mortal lover. That gave Van Der Beek a chance to bring out his inner villain — less “Dawson’s Creek,” more “Rules of Attraction.” His posture was as good as I’ve seen it. He effectively conveyed the sexy/creepy character of the dance. Not a single foot was out of place.
And then he slipped on some fog.
I didn’t actually notice the stumble, but the judges sure did. Bruno Tonioli thought he was “mesmerizing” as “the prince of darkness,” but he went wrong at one point. That was when Van Der Beek explained that the fog machines that gave the routine its eerie ambiance actually caused him to slip on the dance floor. Carrie Ann Inaba felt like “bawling” for him since it was “perfection” until the mistake. Len Goodman even told Van Der Beek that it was “going to be a 10” until the error.
All because of fog. Is there nothing climate change can’t ruin?
Nevertheless, Van Der Beek got straight 9s across the board, which was still enough to put him at the top of the leaderboard again and keep him safe going into next week’s show. But the judges are still withholding those 10 paddles. Not a single perfect score yet. Will they make it up to Van Der Beek next week? And will they reinforce his shoes for better traction?
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