Couple: Mya and Dmitry Chaplin

Dance: Quickstep

 
It’s hard to believe that next week is the semi-finals of “Dancing With the Stars,” and that Mya is still there. This isn’t to say that Mya doesn’t dance like a dream, but Judge Len Goodman has been going in on her for weeks. Nothing seemed to be good enough for that man.


When you add that to the fact that Mya was at the lowest scoring woman last week, things weren’t looking good for her.
 
"This week, I've been working harder than ever before because I feel like I really need to prove myself,” Mya said during practice. And she took that mentality to heart as she became her own worst critic in rehearsals, really pushing herself.
 
Dmitry thought that Mya was going a little to hard on herself, so he took her out for a break at ranch for a little horseback riding. The fieldtrip didn’t really seem to have anything to do with dance, but it was just the breather Mya needed to truly recharge for their Quickstep.
 
This time Mya and Dmitry seemed to strike a balance in their showmanship: There were a few tricks and gimmicks, but they were tight on technique. Dmitry kept Mya on her toes for this kicky number that had them flitting across the floor.
 

 
“My priority is the how you dance, and it would appear that your priority is to wow when you dance,” said Len, who acknowledged that they had gotten off to rough start because of his distaste for all their tricks. "Again there is a disappointment for me because I couldn't find anything to criticize."
 
Judge Carrie Ann Inaba was floored by how easy Mya and Dmitry made the Quickstep look. “You made something so difficult and very intricate look like it just flowed out of your body with ease and grace,” she critiqued.
 
“Ladies and gentlemen, this is quality,” Judge Bruno Tonioli added, comparing their Quickstep to champagne. “Light, sparkling, full of flavor. After you taste it nothing else will do.”
 
After such glowing remarks, we hoped that that Team Dmya would waltz off with the first perfect score of the season. Alas, it was no to be as they only got 29—including a 10 from Len (we almost fell off the couch).  But their night was only half over. There was still a Samba that could make or break them.