Episode Report Card Kim: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Swing a Ding Ding
By Kim | Season 10 | Episode 10 | Aired on 04.26.2010
Erin and Maks are up next. Erin hopes to keep up with Maks on the samba, despite the fact that he has so much more experience. Erin worries about overthinking, because she does well when she doesn't think about it too much. But that's not her way; she's a worrier. She and Maks argue some more and he says he's going to be institutionalized when the season's over. This is like watching a romantic comedy. Hey, it could be the next The Cutting Edge. A couple assigned to work together on a televised dancing competition, and they hate each other, but then they fall in love! Copyright, I call dibs. Anyway, their samba. Is. Awesome. I love it. Erin has a slight bobble in the very beginning, but throughout the dance, she removes various parts of Maks's outfit -- his jacket, his tie, his suspenders, his sleeves, and finally his shirt. Maks knows what the ladies want. But didn't he criticize Jake for dancing in his underwear last week? Hmm. Anyway, Erin really gets into it and it's easily her best dance yet.
Len says that he's given Erin a 7 every week, and she'll get another one tonight because she should be getting higher scores. Tom asks the obvious question, which is how she's supposed to do that. Len says he wants to see a proper dance and blames Maks for the buffoonery. Maks asks the audience what they think and they cheer. Bruno thought Erin danced it really well all the way through. Carrie Ann says that the samba is difficult and she nailed it. Seriously, Len. I thought that was a pretty good samba. Definitely the best of the night. Usually Len and I are simpatico, but I have to disagree with him on this one. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 7, and Bruno 9. Maks and Erin are thrilled.
Chad and Cheryl fell apart last week. But Chad went to visit his fans and it gave him a confidence boost, so now he's ready to tackle the Argentine tango. Cheryl urges Chad to lead, so they don't have to fake it like they've been doing. Their routine is better; he seems more confident and his footwork is better. His posture still sucks, though, and there's a lot of him standing there while Cheryl poses around him.
Bruno thinks Chad proved tonight that he can actually dance. Carrie Ann thought it was really amazing, and they were hard on him before because they knew he could do that. Len says that on this show, you have to either grow or go, and Chad grew. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total of 24, which is their highest score ever.
Last week, Derek and Nicole were only one point shy of a perfect score. This week, they have the samba. Nicole got all excited because she thought they were doing the salsa. She struggles to get the technique, and Derek thinks she's overthinking everything due to the pressure to stay on top. She's even trying to figure out the best camera angles, instead of just dancing. Can she set it aside to do her samba? They burst onto the floor and take over, but it almost seems angry instead of fun. Like isn't the samba a party dance? Why so angry, Nicole? And it's almost raunchy with the gyrations. She's amazing as always, but it doesn't feel like a samba until the very end when they throw in a few samba rolls.