'Dancing with the Stars' dance-by-dance recap: Audrina Patridge Waltzes Her Way to the Top

10/04/2010 by Cari Skillman

Its story night on Dancing with the Stars, and that means wild costumes and props are encouraged. But whats the big story on story night? Jennifer Grey was great. Rick Fox was sexy. The crowd loves Kyle Massey. Oh, wait, those arent really new stories. How about this: Audrina Patridge hit the top of the leader board!

So who else strut their hot stuff on the dance floor while others left judges cold? Check out the recap below but be warned, spoilers ahead!

Audrina Patridge and Tony Dovolani- 26 out of 30
Frankly I was a bit worried when Audrina said she has trouble showing her emotions and this is story night. Obviously, the girl is not an actress. But give her credit for working hard AND listening to the criticism of the judges AND not battling with Tony. The storyline is dreamlike (cue smoke machine!) with a young woman thinking of her dead soldier boyfriend. The waltz is graceful and elegant, with head judge Len Goodman telling Audrina it reminded him of an old dance teachers philosophy: walk with your feet, dance with your heart.

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough- 24 out of 30
The couple reverses their teacher/student roles for the story part of their dance: Dereks the student, and hes hot for teacher. Their dance is the samba so theres plenty of room for heat. Derek is really pushing Jennifer with his choreography. He tries to teach her the dreaded samba roll (apparently a very advanced dance step), and she gets the line of the night with a quip that Nicole Scherzinger could have gotten it like THAT (insert finger snap). Their samba was terrific, and all three judges were impressed with their story and the way they kept true to it during the entire number. They werent perfect, and got marked down for it this week. But barely.

Brandy and Maksim Chmerkovskiy-24 out of 30
Brandy seemed disturbed that their taped piece last week showed lots of fighting between her and Maks. So she went into rehearsal this week with a roll of duct tape to place over her mouth. She said Maks is boss and she will listen. You can tell his teaching techniques sometimes get under her skin but she told him, I am sensitive but not weak! Their storyline for their samba reflects the movie The Bodyguard. Truth be told, I didnt quite get that, but the dancing was good. Bruno Tonioli called her the comeback kid!

Rick Fox and Cheryl Burke- 24 out of 30
I seriously thought of making Ricks costume choice my headline for the night but Ill simply say thank you to Cheryl for her last minute decision to rip open that shirt. Rick said he loved being called a contender last week and hes clearly invigorated to compete even harder. Their dance this week is the sexy samba and Cheryl tells Rick if he cant be sexy when he needs to be, then were all in big trouble. Rick questions her during rehearsal, thinking she may be dumbing down some of the steps for him. Her answer is to simply trust her choreography; shes just changing things to always make him look his best. It worked big time for this dance, and the judges all had high praise for his continued improvement. And again, thank you Cheryl.

Kurt Warner and Anna Trebunskaya- 23 out of 30
They play to their strengths and their personalities this week with a completely charming foxtrot. Kurt and Annas song is Bad Day and their story makes it seem like Kurt really never has one. He is still worried about being such a big guy; his frying pan hands are anything but delicate, which is what he needs for this dance. And sure, its all staged, but Kurt had an adorable tea party with his two very little girls so they could teach him about being more delicate and feminine. Whatever those little munchkins taught him stuck, because the judges were more complimentary than ever.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer- 23 out of 30
The youngest competitors get a waltz. Kyle bravely admitted he has no idea what a waltz is. Lacey tells him to think walking on clouds. The two also reject their first song; its by some old band called the Eagles and theyve never heard it. Wow, Im old. They get a second choice, and are pleased to have Landon Piggs Falling in Love at a Coffee Shop. They also take the title literally and use it for their storytelling. Kyle is the exact opposite of Audrina, Bristol, and the Situation; he can act. Hes great at getting into character. The judges all agree, but tell him hes got to start focusing more on the technique and footwork as well as the fun.

Florence Henderson and Corky Ballas- 20 out of 30
Long before she was Carol Brady, Florence Henderson made her name singing and dancing on Broadway. One of her first roles was in The Sound of Music, so Flo gets to experience a bit of a flashback with her waltz; theyre dancing to "Edelweiss". And she said their storyline would be a simple one: two people at the very beginning of a romance. Florence has everyone feeling a little weepy when she recalls her own love story with her late husband, John. The judges praised the couples heart, and story, but said they need to push it a little more in the technique department.

The Situation and Karina Smirnoff- 20 out of 30
I know sometimes Karina can be a little tough to understand, but I was with the Situation when she was trying to explain her out of this world, time traveling storyline. "The Situation" knows better than to argue with her and he just throws himself into rehearsal. And when the rules for this round said they could use props, Karina took that to heart. We have fire! We have smoke! The time machine idea kind of works, and Carrie Ann Inaba probably described it best: "The Situation" is baby stepping his way to becoming a dancer.

Bristol Palin and Mark Ballas- 19 out of 30
Bristol has the same issue as Audrina when it comes to the performance side of the competition; they are not actors. Shes definitely looking more comfortable with the process, but the idea of getting into character just doesnt compute. The judges say as much, complimenting Bristol on her movement and clean execution, but all three want more expression.

Margaret Cho and Louis van Amstel- 18 out of 30
It was samba, it was Copacabana, and the costumes were rainbow bright; you know these two were planning a good time. Margaret had a tough rehearsal week because she had a lot of traveling to do with her comedy tour. It showed on the dance floor; the first third was pretty good, and then it all fell apart. At one point, it seemed like Margaret was kind of making it up as she went along. Still, they made a great statement about Gay Pride and said they just wanted to give hope to any young people who feel they have to hide their sexuality. Not a bad reminder in the wake of what recently happened at Rutgers.

Tuesday night: Michael Bolton replaces an ailing Susan Boyle as one of the musical guests. Ne-Yo is the other; and someone goes home!