Mel B is perfect again on 'Dancing With the Stars'
Melanie Brown, aka Mel B, of the Spice Girls and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy received perfect scores for the second week in a row to emerge as the judges' favorites Monday on "Dancing With the Stars" after Orange County's Sabrina Bryan and partner Mark Ballas were surprisingly eliminated the previous week.
The couple's passionate paso doble, a week after their rumba also received a perfect 30 points, drew passionate praise from all three judges
"That was an adrenaline charge! Dominatrix! Gut-wrenching!" said the always-effusive Bruno Tonioli. "My jaw was on the desk. Top that!"
The more measured Carrie Ann Inaba gave an equally positive assessment: "I think you guys kicked some serious booty."
The pair's perfect score of 30 came after less well received rendition of the foxtrot in the first week that dancers were required to perform two dances. That dance received a lackluster 24, with Inaba saying the pair "felt just a little out of sync."
Nonetheless, the second dance was enough to give Brown and Chmerkovskiy the lead in the judges' scoring with a combined 54. In a prerecorded segment, Brown said she felt the pressure after the elimination of Bryan and partner Mark Ballas last week. That outcome, which sent home the Yorba Linda native and member of the Cheetah Girls singing group, elicited howls from the studio audience and expressions of dismay from judges.
"With Sabrina gone, anything could happen and anyone could be going," Brown said.
Judges' scores will be combined with viewer votes, with the low scorers eliminated Tuesday. So who's on the bubble? Actress Jane Seymour and partner Tony Dovolani had the lowest judges' scores, with a combined 50. TV actor Cameron Mathison and partner Edyta Sliwinska, who were in the bottom two last week with Bryan and Ballas, were next-lowest with 51. Others with relatively low scores were Marie Osmond and Jonathan Roberts, along with race car driver Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough, both with 52.
The other couple in the competition is former "Beverly Hills, 90210" actress Jennie Garth and Derek Hough, who received a combined 53.
