Aly Raisman Dances Into First Place On ‘DWTS’
Aly Raisman danced her way into first place during last night’s Dancing With the Stars.
The 18-year-old Olympian’s performance, a contemporary routine set to David Guetta’s “Titanium,” received glowing reviews from the judges. Raisman and her dance partner, Mark Ballas, earned the highest marks of the evening with an impressive 27 points — the highest score awarded so far this season.
Aly Raisman, the most decorated American gymnast to compete in the 2012 summer Olympics, even managed to work some gymnastic moves into her routine. The athletic elements went hand in hand with the show’s theme for the evening, “The Best Year of Your Life.”
Raisman’s song choice was also inspired by her time at the Olympics. It’s the same tune she listened to while training and before each day’s competition.
In keeping with Aly Raisman’s assertion that 2012 was her best year, Olympic teammates Gabby Douglas and Kyla Ross were on hand to watch her DWTS performance and lend their support.
“I’m excited that this is the show they’ll be at because it’s all about the Olympics,” Raisman explained a few days before the show.
Earlier this week, Aly Raisman confessed how much she wanted to earn praise from the DWTS judges with her modern dance performance, particularly Carrie Ann Inaba.
“I want to impress Carrie Ann,” she explained. “She said I held back the first week and that I went out of character last week, so I don’t want her to think that again this week.” Raisman certainly achieved her goal, garnering positive reviews across the board from the judging panel.
“I’m very proud of you,” Inaba gushed following the performance. “Perfection of movement is all you know, but contemporary dance is about perfection of emotion. This dance had perfect movement and perfect emotional connection. It was profound.”
Backstage at #DWTS with Aly Raisman (@aly_raisman) Karina Smirnoff (@karina_smirnoff) twitter.com/DancingABC/sta…
— Official DWTS (@DancingABC) April 9, 2013
Her fellow Dancing With the Stars judges echoed the sentiment. Len Goodman heaped praise upon the athlete, calling her contemporary routine “worthy of an Olympic champion.”
Bruno Tonioli lauded the gymnast for turning in an emotionally intense and dramatic performance. “Forget about titanium, you are going for gold,” he remarked in reference to lyrics from the song Aly Raisman chose for her DWTS routine.
“I’m bulletproof, nothing to lose … You shoot me down, but I won’t fall,” the song appropriately states. “I am titanium.”
[Top image via s_bukley / Shutterstock.com]
