"Dancing with the Stars" Week 3 Performances:" Who Knew Depression Could Be This Fun?!"

So after last week's total snooze fest of an episode, Dancing with the Stars decided to kick it up a notch this week by making it a Sad Stories episode. The celebrities are given the vague assignment to do a number that reflects their most memorable year, which somehow translates to most of them as "tell everyone your most depressing memories".

Side note: this is exactly what I don't understand about most reality TV- why are their so many people that are desperate to share their darkest moments with millions of people? Maybe it’s because I'm one of those people who would rather set myself on fire then cry in public, but I seriously don't get it. This is why I will never be allowed on a reality show- people will be having their big, emotional moments and I will just be in the background pretending not to notice.

But back to the recap!

Performances- Most of the performances were much better this week, and dare I say it, good? Rob Kardashian continues to surprise me, because he doesn't come off as nearly as big a douchebag as I was expecting when this season began, while that blonde girl continued to be forgettable. Chyna Phillips and Ricki Lake impressed the judges once again, getting some of the highest scores of the evening. Hope Solo decided that her best bet to impress the judges was to go full-on tramp mode. Considering that one judge is a stodgy traditionalist and one is totally gay, that worked out about as well as one would expect (as in- not). David Arquette did much better this week-- apparently recounting your experiences with crippling depression and alcoholism just puts you in the dancing mood.

Team Acronym- The good news is that both Chaz Bono and Carson Kressley improved their scores from last week, but unfortunately Chaz ended up with the lowest scores of the group. Chaz did an understated dance to the song "Laugh At Me", which was a perfect response to his many, many critics, but didn't earn him too many points with the judges.

Carson was one of the few stars who didn't have me wishing for a Valium this week and he reminded me why I love him once again (seriously, they are bringing back Arrested Development, can't they bring back Queer Eye as well?), talking about being the dorky kid in high school and feeling different for being the gay kid. Even when he is talking about serious topics, Carson still manages to be hilarious and fun, and I am glad he is not taking himself too seriously. He was also really enjoyable to watch, earning a respectable 23 points for his dance to "It's My Life".

Emotional Resonance- For as much as I mock this show, this episode did have some very touching moments. Rob's story of losing his father at a young age came across as being very honest and David Arquette's pain at losing his family was palpable.

Of course, the performance of the night goes to J.R Martinez, who recounted his experiences in Iraq that led to his injuries, as well as his long recovery, before performing a beautiful dance to the Tim McGraw song "If You're Reading This". By the end of it, the entire audience was in tears, and even my Grinch heart grew three sizes that day. It was a very touching moment, and I will be shocked if J.R doesn't end up in the top Three.

So that was it for this week's dancing. Unfortunately, Chaz is still hanging on by a thread, and with substantially lower scores than any of the other contestants, he definitely has his work cut out for him. Carson continues to be hilarious and I have my fingers crossed that he will be around for a long time.