They’ve each had two opportunities to impress viewers, but like it or not, someone is going home on Dancing With the Stars Tuesday.
Tennis champion Martina Navratilova, 55, earned the lowest score Monday night with 17/30 points. “I’ve been very patient and have given my best effort,” Navratilova said. “I’m such a perfectionist. Of course, I want to win. I want to feel like a dancer.” The athlete and partner Tony Dovolani fared slightly better a week earlier during the March 19 premiere, scoring 20/30 points.
Legendary soul singer Gladys Knight, 67, didn’t perform to the best of her abilities, either. She and partner Tristan MacManus earned 19/30 points, but not for lack of effort. “You were too busy gazing into Tristan’s eyes,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba, 44, told her.
“I’m out of my element! I’ve never been a dancer, and I don’t have a mic or a song I’m singing. So I’m in a different place,” Knight told Us Weekly post-show Monday. “I feel the music but this time it’s through my feet! It’s a whole other ball game.”
Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy‘s quickstep failed to impress judges Inaba, Len Goodman, 67, and Bruno Tonioli, 56. Though the Little House on the Prairie star butted heads with her hotheaded partner during rehearsal, “When he tells me that I’m dancing like an old lady, like someone’s grandma, it’s not because I literally look like someone’s old grandma,” she explained. “He wants me to stand up straighter. To bring a little more vitality to it. It’s not personal.”
“Chariot” singer Gavin DeGraw, 35, made minor improvements to his second performance, garnering 21/30 points — just one more than his Dancing With the Stars debut. Still, it was enough to earn the judges’ respect.
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“Part of this competition is pushing your boundaries which you are starting to do,” Inaba told DeGraw and partner Karina Smirnoff.
Said judge Len Goodman: “I liked your attitude. I liked your energy. For me, this is an improvement from last week.”
Who should go home first on Dancing With the Stars? Cast your vote (above) and tune in for the live results show at 8 p.m. EST on ABC.
