It feels like a million years since someone was eliminated on Dancing with the Stars season 18. After the double elimination in week 2, Billy Dee Williams withdrew in week 3 and no one was sent home during week 4’s Switch-Up, despite my predictions.
Now it’s week 5 and one couple is definitely going to be eliminated from DWTS. A week ago I predicted that NeNe Leakes would be eliminated, but did the scores and performances from the Switch-Up change my mind?
DEFINITELY SAFE
I still believe the Top 5 couples are solid and destined to be the Final 5 of the season. Those would be ice dancers Meryl Davis and Charlie White, inspirational double amputee Amy Purdy, Sexy Hall of Fame member James Maslow and winsome Winnie Cooper herself, Danica McKeller. Those five routinely top the leaderboard and have proven themselves in terms of dance ability and charisma.
IN THE MIDDLE
Cody Simpson remains in the middle. He consistently comes in just below the Top 5 and the Switch-Up revealed that the judges are getting sick and tired of the fact that he does the same hip-hop dance style every week with no real growth or desire to embrace the challenges of ballroom. If he doesn’t turn it around soon, he could easily go home sooner rather than later.
IN DANGER
The Bottom 3 dancers are the same as last week, though the scores changed a bit. Based on the two week totals, Candace Cameron Bure is in last place, followed by NeNe Leakes and Drew Carey. This week’s elimination will be based on those combined scores plus the combined viewer votes from the past two weeks.
The fundamental question is simple: Bure needs half a percent more votes than either NeNe or Drew to overcome the scoring deficit. If she doesn’t, she’s almost certainly going home.
Will going first and having a horrible Switch-Up dance hurt Candace? Will the fact that Drew had such a better performance last week and NeNe got paired with the good luck charm known as Derek Hough help them?
MY PREDICTION
I now predict that Candace Cameron Bure will be eliminated. Yes, I’m switching my prediction based on the Switch-Up week. Drew and NeNe needed help and they both got it. They were the only couples who actually improved their scores with the Switch-Up. Drew’s playful dance with Witney Carson and NeNe’s good fortune of getting Derek Hough most likely helped get them a lot more votes last week than the previous week. Meanwhile, Candace probably lost a lot of votes performing first in the Switch-Up and delivering a boring performance.
So between the probable lower voter support and having the lowest combined score, I predict that Candace Cameron Bure and Mark Ballas will go home. It wouldn’t be a huge shock since Ballas has an unusual tradition of doing very well or very poorly. He’s been in the Finals five times, but he also failed to reach the Top 8 five times as well, which is precisely what will happen if they are sent home this week.
Dancing with the Stars airs Mondays at 8pm on ABC.
(Image courtesy of ABC)
Senior Writer, BuddyTV
John watches nearly every show on TV, but he specializes in sci-fi/fantasy like The Vampire Diaries, Supernatural and True Blood. However, he can also be found writing about everything from Survivor and Glee to One Tree Hill and Smallville.
