Lil’ Kim and Derek Hough
Dance: Paso Doble
 
Monday night was all about a comeback for Lil’ Kim and her partner Derek. They fell from the top spot on the leaderboard all the way to #5. That’s thanks in large part to the fact that Kim turned her personality down a few notches for the Rumba.
 
“It was gut-wrenching to go from first to fifth. We have to be on point to get back into that #1 spot,” she said.
 
At first, it seemed like that might be a tall order to fill because the Paso Doble really isn’t Kim’s style. Although it’s a powerful, aggressive dance—two things she’s familiar with because of hip-hop—it wouldn’t allow her to move the way she likes to.
 
“Kim loves the rhythm dances because she loves to move her hips. In this dance, there’s no hip movement,” Derek explained.
 
She couldn’t bring back the raunch (like judge Bruno Tonioli asked to do last week), but Kim was still determined to put her spin on it.
 
“I’ve been given the green light by the judges to put all my personality into the dance,” she said. “So this is going to be 100 percent Lil’ Kim Paso Doble.”
 
The Queen Bee funneled all that determination into her dance and showed her competitors how it’s supposed to be. Her Paso Doble with Derek was fiery and flawless!
 
The rapper struck out with strength and grace, and fiercely flipped her skirt like a matador’s cape. Traditionally, the man is supposed to take the lead, but in our honest opinion, Kim dominated the floor (get ‘em, Kim!).

 
The couple got a standing ovation from the audience, whose enthusiasm was echoed by the judges.
 
“The b!#ch is back! It was a classic, classic Paso. Well done,” judge Bruno shouted.
 
“The Paso is such a great showcase for you because it shows us how dramatic, how passionate, how aggressive you are. … But it’s also showing us how far you’ve grown,” complimented judge Carrie Ann Inaba. “Your pictures were so refined, so elegant. … It was gorgeous!”
 
But did Kim and Derek finally manage to impress judge Len Goodman?
 
“I though this was going to be a bit of a disaster,” he admitted. “But I’ve got to tell you: You’ve come out with fire, with passion. I was expecting ‘oh, no,’ but I got ‘olé!’”
 
Kim was so happy she had to run up and give all the judges a kiss for such wonderful critiques. And in the end, the couple swept off with 28 out of 30. That score included a 9 from judge Len, which is the first he’s given them all season.