Dancing With the Stars: J.R. Martinez is Perfect, Twice
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J. R. Martinez had two chances to redeem himself from a ghost-busting performance last week and he did not disappoint Monday night on “Dancing With the Stars.”
Martinez scored, not one but two, perfect 30s, the first dancer to do so in season 13.
His first perfect score came with a waltz --to Burt Bacharach’s romantic “What the World Needs Now.”
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The judges were more than satisfied.
“It was like a musical Valentine card,” dancing expert Bruno Tonioli said. “You dance with your heart on your sleeve. Totally involved, totally dedicated.”
Tonioli added that Martinez and his dance partner Karina “were so in tune.”
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“It was divine,” Tonioli said.
Carie Ann Inaba commented on Martinez’s “incredible natural grace and fluidity” when dancing.
“Tonight, something happened there in the middle that was just magic,” Inaba said. “The whole room was caught up in the magic. It felt like you brought all of us into that dance. It was a wonderful feeling.”
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Len Goodman, known to be DWTS’ hardest critic, told Martinez he certainly made a comeback from last week.
“This is a war on the floor,” Goodman told the army vet. “Each week is a battle.”
“Last week you retreated a little bit,” he continued. “But, like the soldier you are you came back all guns blazing.”
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As Goodman finished his sentence, Martinez looked into the crowd where men and in women in uniform gave him a standing ovation.
“I really want to push myself to do well,” Martinez said. “I really wanted to work hard and focus on technique.”
For his ‘instant dance’ Martinez had to jump and jive in the hopes of impressing the judges once again.
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The energized Martinez twisted to Little Richard’s 1955 classic “Tutti Frutti” and nailed the performance.
“You were like a rocket!” Tonioli said. “Your side kicks were sensational!”
Inaba, agreeing with Tonioli, told Martinez he and Smirnoff are “in a class all of your own.”
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“There’s nobody even coming close to you guys tonight,” Inaba said.
Goodman was too was pleased.
“You’ve got the X-Factor and the feel-good factor, mixed together.”
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DWTS is a weekly dance competition and reality show in which celebrities are paired with professional dancers and compete for the opportunity to win the coveted disco ball-shaped trophy. Past winners, such as Nicole Scherzinger from the X Factor, Olympic gold medal gymnast Shawn Johnson and singer Donny Osmond, have taken their careers to the next level after winning the competition.
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