Tristan MacManus and dance partner Gladys Knight didn’t receive the most stellar scores this week on ABC’s ‘Dancing with the Stars,’ but their spirits are still high and are looking forward to weeks more of competition.

During Monday night’s show, MacManus and Knight received mixed reviews and a rather low scoring after their quickstep. The duo were awarded 7 points apiece from judges Carrie Ann and Bruno, but only 5 from Len.

MacManus, who will be blogging for Entertainment Weekly throughout this season, discussed this week’s turn of events when he received an atypically low score from judge Len Goodman of a depressing 5 points.

Ever the charmer, MacManus began his blog with “I’m Tristan MacManus — I’m ‘the hot one’ on ‘Dancing With the Stars.’ (That was just a bit of fun.)”

MacManus got down to business then analyzing how this week’s episode played out. He and Gladys Knight danced a quickstep to Stevie Wonder’s ‘Sir Duke’ after Knight had indicated she was a big fan of Wonder.

Of judge Len Goodman’s score of a 5 out of 10 points, MacManus wrote “Yeah, I was surprised he scored us that low. I know it’s not personal. I understand where Len was coming from with his comments.”

“All of the judges’ comments are things we can work on for next week; it’s all constructive. Anything they say, we can use, and we will. But I was a bit annoyed that he gave us the 5. If you consider the dance on the whole — he was complainin’ about the frame falling apart, that she needed to work on her frame. But that’s just one part of the whole dance. I thought we deserved higher.”

“As soon as the dance ends you look forward to the next week. We will certainly be working on the frame if it is a ballroom dance but not to the detriment of the entertainment factor of it,” said MacManus to RadarOnline.

Despite a low score, Knight remains wholly dedicated to MacManus: “I’ve got the best partner in the world,” she added of her pro. “The way he teaches, he’s very patient, but he’s direct… He paints pictures for me,” said Gladys Knight to Access Hollywood.

Tune in Monday night for the next round of competitions on ‘DWTS’ that showcases a dance theme of “a memorable event in the lives of our stars.” Should be interesting!

Below, catch Tristan and Gladys’ quickstep to ‘Sir Duke’ that channels the piano from the film ‘Big’!