Pure Derek Hough

See, this is how you act when you break the rules.

Daily Mail OnLine – Thanks Catherine for the heads up.

Last week judge Len Goodman issued a challenge to the stars who perform their most eye-popping routines ever: ‘Push the boundaries! Show me something amazing.’

And this week the All Stars recreated an iconic dance from past Dancing With the Stars seasons.

With creative direction left to the non-professionals, the third week of competition had many highs and a few lows for the contestants.

But the best was saved for last when Olympic gymnast Shawn Johnson and Derek Hough pulled off a high-powered acrobatic quick step, dubbed the ‘Best Dance in 15 seasons’ by Bruno Tonioli.

And everyone’s favorite, George Pennachio!

Nice article from Zap2It

Unfortunately, because the pair bent the rules a bit, their 26.5 score doesn’t reflect the rave reviews.

And that doesn’t bother them a bit.

“The judges are there to enforce the rules — I get that,” Derek told us backstage after the show. “Honestly I was expecting lower scores because of that. The fact that Carrie Ann said she had to dock Shawn and me and still gave us a 9 — I was like, She was going to give us a 10! But she wouldn’t have given us a 9 unless we did that full-out performance.

“The scores are so close anyway,” he added. “I feel like they are slightly redundant in a certain area. When they are so close, sometimes they become irrelevant. And it really is the people at home who vote who are going to get you through.”

“Best dance ever” is “quite the title,” Shawn enthused. “I love it. It just made it worth it. It was so fun — we would’ve loved it if we’d gotten 5s and 6s and the judges hated it.”

Interview with Shawn from Today:

The Clicker: You took a higher plunge off the stairs at the end of your dance than you did in rehearsal.

Shawn: I did. It was the adrenaline. It wasn’t really more dangerous. Where we were originally was pretty high. I just went a little higher.

The Clicker: Is Derek open to your ideas when it comes to pushing the envelope?

Shawn: Yes, definitely. Derek is extremely respectful. He asks for different ideas and opinions. I’ll give them. He loved the different ideas that I brought this week.