She may not be a household name stateside just yet, but British classical singer Katherine Jenkins is fast becoming a superstar in the “Dancing with the Stars” ballroom.
On Tuesday night, courtesy of what professional partner Mark Ballas dubbed her “Welsh Wiggle” on the jive, the 31-year-old blond beauty shook her “naughty bits” all the way to the top of the leaderboard for the second week in a row.
“I’m all hot and bothered by that one,” judge Carrie Ann Inaba said, still caught up in the excitement of the sassy number, which earned the pair 26 out of 30 and a tie for the night’s top score.
Joining Mark and the beautiful singer – who has performed for the Pope and Britain’s Queen – at the top of the leaderboard was another performer looking to grow his profile – “Shake It Up’s” Roshon Fegan, and his professional partner, Chelsie Hightower.
The 20-year-old television star (who Britney Spears came out to see last week with her fiance, Jason Trawick – a friend of Roshon’s), tackled a quickstep that left even notoriously tough judge Len Goodman, impressed.
“Roshon – look at my face,” Len said, breaking into a smile. “I liked it… It was young, it was fresh and I thoroughly enjoyed it.”
William Levy once again didn’t quite earn enough points to top the leaderboard (he came close with 25 out of 30), but performing at the end of the “DWTS” broadcast with partner Cheryl Burke, he created a serious sensation.
His quickstep was fast and fun, and, just like on Season 14’s opening night, it left the crowd on its feet, screaming with glee, something judge Carrie Ann remarked on.
“Man, William, you know how to turn the heat up in this ballroom. I’ve never seen anything like this before,” Carrie Ann said, marveling at the response. “But, quickstep is not just about [being] sexy, and about the heat factor. It’s about the technique.”
And, according to the lone female judge, William had the right touch.
“You’re like the Harry Connick Jr. of the ballroom,” she said, smiling and cheering.
Bruno Tonioli too was delighted with the model-turned-actor, whose little son, Christopher, happily watched dad from the sidelines.
“William, listen to me — even fully clothed, you have the ability to dazzle,” Bruno said. “Week 2, coming out with a quickstep of this standard… You played it like a matinee idol as [good as] I’ve ever seen. You remind me of ‘The Artist,’ you know, Jean Dujardin! That sparkle… superb.”
While she didn’t quite land in a top spot, Sherri Shepherd – with partner Val Chmerkovskiy – had the crowd going — by channeling Tina Turner as they performed a jive to “Proud Mary.”
“Girl! Girl!” Bruno screamed at Sherri, who wore a Tina-worthy gold mini dress for the number, “You know how to work your magnificent equipment. Shake, rattle and roll. Tina would be proud. You missed a part, but I don’t’ care. I loved it.”
And “DTWS” alum Kirstie Alley too Tweeted her own praise.
“SherriEShepherd !!!!!!! Girl u are the funniest person EVER on DWTS!!!!! and you can move that a**!!!! Woo Hoo!!!” she wrote as the pair took 23 out of 30 and a sixth place finish for the night.
Things went well for Sherri, but Jaleel White and Kym Johnson, who tied for the top spot in Week 1, fell to seventh with just 22 out of 30 points. It was also an off night for Martina Navratilova, who stumbled with partner Tony Dovolani on the jive, which earned the lowest score on Monday – just 17 out of 30.
On Tuesday, one pair will be eliminated.
The leaderboard on March 26 was:
Katherine Jenkins and Mark Ballas tackled the jive and earned 26/30
Roshon Fegan and Chelsie Hightower took on the quickstep and earned 26/30
William Levy and Cheryl Burke performed a quickstep and earned 25/30
Maria Menounos and Derek Hough tackled the quickstep and earned 25/30
Donald Driver and Peta Murgatroyd performed the quickstep and were scored 24/30
Sherri Shepherd and Val Chmerkovskiy performed the jive and were awarded 23/30
Jaleel White and Kym Johnson tackled the jive and earned 22/30
Jack Wagner and Anna Trebunskaya tried out the jive and were scored 21/30
Gavin DeGraw and Karina Smirnoff broke out the jive and earned 21/30
Melissa Gilbert and Maksim Chmerkovskiy tackled the quickstep and earned 20/30
Gladys Knight and Tristan MacManus performed the quickstep and were scored 19/30
Martina Navratilova and Tony Dovolani tried out the jive and earned 17/30
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