Dancing's Derek Hough: I'm Making the Routines Harder

Hey everyone,

Happy Halloween!

Thanks for your votes! How'd you like Team Itsy Bitsy? We had so much fun doing that. The team dances are always fun to perform because you get to share the experience with more people. And Bethany did a great paso too. I was really happy with everything and to be on top of the leaderboard is a bonus. It was also great to have Len back this week. It's not the same without him, and getting a 9 from him is like getting a 10. He looks well rested, doesn't he?

This week, we have the salsa and we're doing an I Love Lucy theme. I have some fun ideas for it that I haven't completely settled on yet. I'm also starting to make the routines a little harder for her. You have two choices. You can do a routine that's not the most difficult one to do, but your partner would look solid, and I've done that. It's not that they're not difficult, but they're not as intricate as they could be. So far that's been the right approach, especially with Bethany's ankle injury. This week, I'm gonna step up the intricacy and add some more things and more tricks. Dangerous is not the right word, but it's a risk you have to take. And at this point in the show, it's time to step it up and challenge yourself, and I know Bethany can handle it. I also think people are gonna be really strong this week. There are some jazz and contemporary routines. It's always difficult when you're on top of the leaderboard becauseit's hard to stay on the top the next week.

Salsa's also a hard dance because there are so many steps. You have to be careful. You can do the club style, but the problem with that is you can look sloppy with a non-dancer. It has to be more structured. I also really want to interject some fun and humor. And yes, we've been working on our Lucy and Ricky impressions all week. She goes, "Oh, Ricky!" And I'm like, "Lucy! You got some 'splaining to do!" I think my Ricky is pretty good if I do say so myself!

The first place team will be immune from elimination this week and everyone else will have to do the dance-off. If you're in second place, you chose who you want to dance against and they chose the dance style. The options are cha-cha, jive and rumba. Not gonna lie, we haven't prepared for that yet! We're going to start later today. It's more work, but it's all good.

I am heading to a children's hospital to spend Halloween with the kiddies. Hollywood Halloween parties are fun and all, but I really miss going trick-or-treating with my nieces and nephews, so I thought it'd be nice to see some kids for Halloween. Before you ask, I don't have a costume. I know, I know. I'm pretty terrible with costumes. Because we're always in the middle of the season when Halloween rolls around, I don't have time to plan anything, so my default costume is gothic or punk rock. I actually have eyeliner on right now, so I'm gonna tell the kids I'm Eyeliner Man. They probably won't have any idea what eyeliner is! Eyeliner Man is the newest superhero — coming soon to a theater near you!

Happy Halloween and stay safe! See you Monday!

Derek