Dancing with the Stars: Athletes semifinals power rankings

The Ballroom Battles

Cha cha: Jennie Finch Daigle and Keo Motsepe vs. Tonya Harding and Sasha Farber (Winner: Tonya and Sasha)

“This is difficult to judge!” Len said. Carrie Ann by calling it “a well-matched battle.” So it was — with Jennie and Keo winning the fan vote — but it seemed like Tonya and Sasha had the better cha cha all around anyway. Compared to the other two, however, it was the least interesting.

Salsa: Chris Mazdzer and Witney Carson vs. Josh Norman and Sharna Burgess (Winner: Josh and Sharna)

This quickly devolved into the battle of shirtlessness, and while Chris and Witney pulled out more tricks, Josh and Sharna’s lifts felt a bit more well-placed with the song and their routines.

Len didn’t like the shirtlessness, but he did call them “terrific.” Bruno opened his own shirt (popping a button in the process) and said he hadn’t paid attention to anyone’s feet … which is completely fair. There was a lot of shirtlessness.

Jive: Mirai Nagasu and Alan Bersten vs. Adam Rippon and Jenna Johnson (Winner: Adam and Jenna)

Is there any way that this wouldn’t rank as the best battle? These two came to play, bringing out all the stops — and they didn’t dare stop moving once they got started.

Bruno commented that it was all about “taste” for the votes, and Len put a finer point on it: one had “razzmatazz” (Adam) and the other had “clarity of movement” (Mirai). America went for the “razzmatazz” over Mirai’s less tricks-oriented jive, and so Adam pulled the win out. Either way, this reviewer is with Carrie Ann: I’d watch that again and again.