Dancing with the Stars pro Cheryl Burke admits she and celebrity partner Ryan Lochte really need to bring their A-game this week.

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Burke and Lochte lost last week's face-off against James Hinchcliffe and pro Sharna Burgess by four judges' points.

"It was really hard to see Ryan still getting 6s, but it meant a lot to see Len Goodman give us a 7 and say that our cha cha was the better one out of the two," Burke wrote in her People blog.

"Getting those scores was difficult, but not just because it meant we were in jeopardy of going home Tuesday. Because Monday's show was only an hour, we didn't get to hear the reasoning behind the scores until the next day."

Footage of the judges deliberating over Monday night's dance routines was shown on Tuesday night's results show.

"It was important for us to hear that the judges didn't think there was enough content in our cha cha and that it looked as though I was just dancing around Ryan. That gave us concrete things to work on going into tonight's show," Burke said.

The next show will feature a Cirque du Soleil theme, during which Burke and the Olympic gold swimmer will perform the Viennese waltz to a song from the Cirque show O.

"The Viennese waltz is a very classic dance but we're getting to use a lot of props and amazing effects from the actual O show in Las Vegas," Burke said in her blog.

"We got to go see the show at the Bellagio last week, which was really fun and inspiring, but the travel meant less rehearsal time. That said, Ryan picked up this dance faster than any of the other dances, which means we've had a lot more time to work on the small details."

Burke admitted Lochte shines when he's able to play a character in the competition.

"[It] is helping Ryan this week. He struggles with confidence at times and can really get in his own head. But putting on a character makes him feel like it's not just him exposed out there on the dance floor," Burke wrote.

"I'm so glad we've made it through the first two eliminations, but the competition is getting tougher and tougher and I know we need to get our scores up."

Burke acknowledged, however, Lochte fortunately has "nowhere to go but up" from here.

"He definitely doesn't want to be in the bottom anymore," Burke confessed. "Ryan knows he has to step it up. But he's an Olympian, so I know he's ready to rise to the occasion."


About The Author: Elizabeth Kwiatkowski

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