We said goodbye to Motown Week, as well as to a Motown legend on Tuesday night, as Gladys Knight was sent home after the sixth week of the âDancing With the Starsâ Season 14 competition.
Parting with the Empress of Soul was such sweet sorrow. Professional dancer/cutie Tristan MacManus offered sweet words for his fallen star. âIâll probably miss Gladys as much as I miss Ireland while Iâm here,â the lucky charm said in the video compilation. âAnd I really miss Ireland.â Aw! How grand.
OK, so Gladys may not have been the best dancer in this seasonâs program (darn those Pips for never letting her bust a move!). Whatever. She was such a great, effortlessly cool, life-affirming presence on the show. Yes, Gladys wore sequins and rhinestones, as is befitting this ballroom universe, but her smile and inner sparkle shone just as bright. In the words of host Tom Bergeron, Gladys showed us during these six weeks that she really âout-Pipped them all.â And how fitting that her departing song was her own âMidnight Train to Georgia.â Hereâs hoping sheâll come back and sing it herself before the season is through. Snap, clap, move and groove!
Gladys and Tristan were beat out by fellow bottom-two dwellers Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower after a dance duel jive for their lives. But the verdict was not unanimous: Carrie Ann chose to save Gladys (which Iâm betting was more of a sentimental vote), while Len and Bruno opted to keep Roshon.
The concluding hour of Motown Week started with an upbeat Motor City medley courtesy of the Harold Wheeler band that featured the dance talents of Val Chmerkovskiy, Peta Murgatroyd, the âDWTSâ Troupe and choreographed by Louis Van Amstel.
There was a segment that interviewed the stars on the mental and physical toll that being in this competition exerts. Injury-plagued Maria Menounos feels like an old lady, William Levyâs determined he's not going to let ankle pain take him out of the competition. Gladys wakes up in the wee hours of the morning to run the routines in her head. Katherine Jenkins canât let her nerves get to her, or else she canât perform well. Melissa Gilbert knows that sheâs going to have to tap into something that sheâs never had to before.Â
The AT&T Spotlight Performance focused on the triumphant story of Michaela DePrince, a 17-year-old who was adopted as a child by a supportive American family from an orphanage in war-torn Sierra Leone, found dance, and has since started studying at the American Ballet Theater school to become one of the most promising ballerinas in the country. And her dance performance, to Natasha Bedingfieldâs pared down rendition of âWild Horsesâ and accompanied by Adé Chiké  Torbert of âSo You Think You Can Danceâ fame, was made all the more meaningful by the story that inspired it.
âSYTYCDâ was also represented in force during this weekâs Macyâs Stars of Dance performance -- a celestial contemporary piece by the Shaping Sound company choreographed by Travis Wall, Nick Lazzarini and Teddy Forance. The whole thing was like a classical painting come to life, flowing and lovely and lighter than air. The string rendition of David Guetta and Usherâs âWithout Youâ by ensemble Aston also helped to usher in next weekâs Classical Week.
Motownphillyâs back again -- Boyz II Men returned to the ballroom stage to perform their new single âOne More Dance,â accompanied on the dance floor by castaways Dmitry Chaplin, in all his bare-chested glory, and ginger Anna Trebunskaya, her skirt in tatters, dancing like they were the last couple on Earth.
What did you think, ballroom fans? Were you as sad as I was to see Gladys go? Should the judges be unanimous in their Dance Duel decisions? Is raunchy the same thing as too sexy? Who is the bigger drama queen: Katherine, or Mark?
-- Allyssa Lee
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âDancing With the Starsâ recap: Motown hits!
âDancing With the Starsâ results recap: Adios, Gavin DeGraw
Complete âDancing With the Starsâ coverage on Show Tracker
Photo: Gladys Knight and Tristan MacManus. Credit: Adam Taylor / ABC
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