Dancing with the Stars – Season 20 Odds (Episode 7)

The first six episodes of Dancing With the Stars have featured plenty of excitement and entertainment, but not a lot of surprises. That all changed on “Eras Night” yesterday, as judges Len Goodman, Carrie Ann Inaba, Julianne Hough, and Bruno Tonioli (as well as voters online) sent home one couple that had been among the mirrorball favorites.

Meanwhile, another made a significant jump on the leaderboard.

Previously listed at 5/1 to take home the trophy, Hunger Games actress Willow Shields and professional dancer Mark Ballas didn’t survive Episode 7. However, Riker Lynch and Allison Holker continue their rise up the ranks.

Heading into Episode 8, six couples remain, but the race for the mirrorball trophy looks like a three-horse affair. Here are the odds on each of the six remaining dance teams after Episode 7:

Nastia Liukin (with Derek Hough): 1/1

• After getting injured on set last week, Derek Hough was replaced in the most recent episode with professional dancer Sasha Farber. In true Hough fashion, the injury wasn’t a set back at all as Olympic artistic gymnast Nastia Liukin and Farber (along with help from a hopping Hough) had the high score of the evening. Having proved that Hough’s injury is surmountable, Liukin is now an even-money favorite to win (up from 3/2 last week).

Riker Lynch (with Allison Holker): 5/2

• The rise of rocker Riker Lynch and his partner Allison Holker continued as the impressive dance duo tied for the second-best score of the night. At the start of the show, we thought the writing was on the wall and Lynch was on his way to an early exit. Now it appears the writing could be on the mirrorball soon. Lynch rises from 5/1.

Rumer Willis (with Valentin Chmerkovskiy): 5/1

• Dropping from 4/1 to 5/1, Rumer Willis and dance partner Valentin Chmerkovskiy were the last to be called safe with a pedestrian score of 35. Next week, we’ll truly see if Die Hard is in her family genes.

Noah Galloway (with Sharna Burgess): 15/1

• A week after Noah Galloway and his partner Sharna Burgess fought on camera during rehearsals, the couple has seemingly cleared the air and focused on the dance floor. The results have been impressive, which is why the duo has jumped from 35/1 to 20/1 over the past two weeks.

Robert Herjavec (with Kym Johnson): 35/1

• [Insert “Jaws” theme music here.] After starting out so strong, Robert Herjavec and Kym Johnson tied for the lowest score on the most recent episode. Herjavec isn’t dancing with the same fire he had earlier in the season, and the score showed that. He remains at 35/1.

Chris Soules (with Whitney Carson): 40/1

• The luck of Chris Soules (of The Bachelor fame) and professional dancer Whitney Carson is about to end. The pair had another lackluster performance – tied for the lowest score in the most recent episode – nearly guaranteeing their departure next week and keeping the pair at 40/1 in the odds.

(Photo credit: Ailura (Own work) [CC BY-SA 3.0 at (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/at/deed.en)], via Wikimedia Commons. Photo has been cropped.)