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David Ross rips off his shirt during boy band week on 'Dancing with the Stars'

David Ross and Lindsay Arnold finishing their NSync tango. (Hulu/ABC)
David Ross and Lindsay Arnold finishing their NSync tango. (Hulu/ABC)

Last week, it looked like Chicago Cubs retired catcher David Ross was going to get the boot from “Dancing with the Stars.” He had the lowest score of the week, and it would be up to the voters to save him.

Well, the voters did indeed save him. David and his partner, Lindsay Arnold, avoided elimination. But on this week’s show, we saw a different David Ross than we’ve seen in the past. A more frustrated and bruised David Ross.

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But before we talk about David and Lindsay, we have to talk about this week’s theme, which was girl groups vs. boy bands. The remaining women and men in the competition were put into two teams, with the women dancing to songs that had been performed by girl groups (like Destiny’s Child) and the men dancing to songs released by boy bands (like the Backstreet Boys). Not only is that a super fun idea, but the songs in those genres are perfect for dancing.

And they had so much fun with it. Team Boy Band did their own routine, and as you would expect, David had an absolute blast.

It’s hard to tell if David was channeling boy bands or a Chippendales dancer, but it didn’t really matter. He had a lot of fun, and afterward used his own special brand of humor to let everyone know:

As David and Lindsay prepared for their dance this week, David was not really feeling it. He was still down in the dumps from his performance on last week’s show. Video of their pre-dance video package isn’t available, but People Magazine captured a few of the quotes, and it definitely seems like David is feeling tired and frustrated.

“It’s hard,” he admitted.

“Of course it’s hard,” Arnold responded. “Did anyone say this was going to be easy? Did I ever say, ‘This is going to be such an easy dance for you’?”

“I didn’t say you said that,” Ross told his pro partner.

“So then why are you being so hard on yourself?” Arnold questioned him.

Clearly frustrated, the former pro baseball player asked, “What do you mean why are you so hard? You’re hard on yourself.”

This isn’t the David Ross we’re used to seeing on the show. Or anywhere, really, unless he’s arguing with an umpire. And the tension seemed to spill into David and Lindsay’s dance, an Argentine Tango done to the tune of “I Want You Back” by NSync.

More than anything, he didn’t look like he was having fun. During the lift, he looked like he’d rather be anywhere else, perhaps because he was afraid of dropping his partner on the hard wooden floor. And when it ended, he and Lindsay hugged, but David’s signature laugh was nowhere to be found.

And the judges noticed. Carrie Ann Inaba was willing to chalk up some of David’s demeanor to him wanting to fit the part (an Argentine tango is a more serious, sultry dance), but he seemed so off that she actually asked him if everything was OK. David’s response was classic: “I’m just trying to be more sensual and sexual. I don’t think it comes off real good. … I think I come across as grumpy when I’m serious.”

They scored a 29/40, which was the second lowest score of the night. (To find out how everyone else did, check out Victoria Lee Miller’s excellent Week 6 recap on YahooTV.) We won’t find out until next week if David’s lack of laughter and fun affected the voting public, but they haven’t let him down so far. The only way to know for sure is to wait and see.

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Liz Roscher is a writer for Big League Stew on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email her at lizroscher@yahoo.com or follow her on twitter! Follow @lizroscher