Dancing with the Stars semi-finals power rankings: Who’s in the best position to win?

Is an upset on the way for Dancing with the Stars season 27, or will one of the top couples take the Mirrorball Trophy next week?

Well, Dancing with the Stars fans, things have gone horribly, terribly wrong as we move towards the finals. Last night’s semi-finals showed big strides, great dances, and then proceeded to eliminate two couples.

One of those couples had to have known it was coming.

The other couple probably should have been in the finals.

Let us do our final power rankings of the season.

Eliminated: Joe Amabile and Jenna Johnson (46; 22/24)

Even though Joe and Jenna had a contemporary in the first round, it was easy to notice that he really didn’t do much that could be construed as dancing. Did he have some good lifts? Yes, he’s strong. It was quite “minimalistic,” as Bruno put it, and all three judges had a lot of trouble finding something nice to say; Len was politely brutal: “You didn’t do much, but you didn’t do much very well.”

Carrie Ann took over their second-round quickstep, challenging him on musicality, specifically. Although it started on more of the same from his contemporary, once the music really kicked in, he did really improve. It’s a shame she couldn’t have mentored him earlier, because she got through to him and got him to dance. “That was a proper dance … a recognizable quickstep!” Bruno said.

As Carrie Ann noted in their package, he has a really big fanbase, but it finally didn’t save him tonight.

Juan Pablo Di Pace and Cheryl Burke: (60; 30/30)

Juan Pablo dedicated an Argentine tango to his mom, and I can’t even find something funny to say about it because it was so sweet. There was absolutely nothing sweet about the dance itself, though, which is as it should be for an Argentine tango, and to get the audience cheering for a footwork section, not a lift, is nothing short of completely wild. (To be fair, it was also completely gorgeous.) All three of the judges stood up at different times; Len stood to deliver most of his comments. Bruno said that same gancho sequence topped anything he’d seen on the show in 27 seasons. Just look at it! Look at it.

Then look at his salsa:

Bruno arrived in a mesh shirt to challenge them on the salsa to step it up in body control in particular, and you could see it from the smile on Juan Pablo’s face: he brought out a performance to die for. Those shoulders worked with those hips, and he got the crowd on its feet again. Carrie Ann screamed “yas” for a solid 10 seconds. Len basically said he needed this couple in the finals.

Here’s the thing: they are not in the finals. The judges basically lodged the most formal protest they could, and it only makes sense. This was the most complete couple on the show, and after three — three — perfect scores, it wasn’t enough.

Rude, voting fanbase. Rude.