Dancing with the Stars: Athletes: Week 2 power rankings

The eliminees

8. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Lindsay Arnold: 26 (7, 7, 6, 6)

The big smile on his face made this dance a lot of fun, and he even lifted Lindsay. She actually sat on another dancer’s shoulders for part of the routine — and was actually taller than Kareem!

In the package, he mentioned that he wanted to dance in honor of his dad. He definitely brought the energy, and I can’t believe I’m saying this, but Kareem Abdul-Jabbar rocked a shimmy.

“It was so clever!” Bruno exclaimed, particularly in relation to the first half’s choreography. Len praised the improvement in both rhythm and content, and then still gave it a 6.

7. Arike Ogunbowale and Gleb Savchenko: 33 (8, 9, 8, 8)

If Arike and Gleb hadn’t been eliminated, they would have placed fourth in these power rankings. She had a hard routine to follow up, and while Mirai went for Disney magic, Arike’s foxtrot was a lot more emotionally charged, helped along by the song. Her lines improved greatly, and she definitely danced a little better in those heels.

“The heels did the trick!” Bruno said, which definitely made me feel good for noticing it before he said it. Carrie Ann told her that she cried. “Now listen to me: you did fantastic footwork,” Len declared. This season is getting hard to judge, and the scores are comparatively high already. It’s really a shame that she’s been eliminated after her really strong moment in the team dance and that solid foxtrot.

The lower tier

6. Jennie Finch Daigle and Keo Motsepe: 26 (6, 7, 7, 6)

The pre-dance package was all about how these two had a song change late in the week. It showed in the choreography and performance, which felt a little less smooth than last week’s good showing from Jennie and Keo, where they placed seventh in our power rankings. However, with her new song, she couldn’t not have some good fun.

Len called it a “very competent performance,” and the way he said it made it sound like damning with faint praise. Bruno also pointed her timing out as an issue; Carrie Ann praised her for being able to change the song but suggested her performance could have to do with the late change.