Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT I Go to Rio!
By Kim | Season 7 | Episode 8 | Aired on 10.13.2008
Last week, Bruno said that Cody was "like a twinkling twinkie." Is that a gay reference? Anyway, the judges didn't like the routine. Julianne explains that this week, they are doing the tango, which requires intensity and passion. Cody is kind of ADD though, and Julianne gets frustrated with how distracted he gets. Julianne sets up an iChat for Cody with his high school principal, because we're supposed to believe that Cody actually went to high school while filming his television show? Whatever. Anyway, that does the trick, of course.
So they start their routine and it goes okay at first, but there are a LOT of spots where he screws up. First, he messes up the footwork on some turns and Julianne nearly topples over trying to recover. Then he fails to do some high kicks that Julianne does. At one point he dances her over into a corner and they're almost off the floor entirely. Julianne does a good job of covering, and they end strongly, but I'm sure the judges noticed. Maybe he shouldn't complain about practicing the same dance for seven hours per day when he clearly needs more rehearsal than that. Judges? Bruno thinks Cody looks confident and focused. Were we watching the same dance? Bruno liked the lack of gimmicks, but I didn't think Cody was known for gimmicks. Carrie Ann thought he did a good job with hold, but she noticed him tripping over Julianne's dress. Is that what was going on? That doesn't explain some of the missteps though. Len thinks it was their best dance so far. Man. Sometimes I wonder if the judges even watch the performances or just use their notes from dress rehearsal. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 8, and Bruno 8.
Last week, Toni went really, really, really old school with her powdered wig, but the judges hated it. This week, she's doing the samba. Toni reports to Alec that her doctor has given her a good report, so she can work it out this week. Alec spends a long time teaching Toni how to do the samba roll, because he knows that will give them higher scores. Once Toni hears "higher scores," she's totally in.
Their routine begins and it feels really slow to me. Toni gets all the steps right, but there's some energy or something missing to me. She's got the moves, but... I don't know. Maybe it's me. They execute the samba rolls nicely, and cover the floor well. It's just all around kind of boring to me. Carrie Ann says that Toni and Alec ooze sensuality, but Toni needs to work on her shoulders. Len liked the choreography, but he noticed a point where Toni screwed up a bit and it threw her off, although she eventually recovered. Bruno thinks Toni is "a tasty morsel," and he enjoyed the level of difficulty. Despite her mistakes, he thought she did a great job. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 8. Backstage, Toni reports that her doctor says that the dancing is making her better. Samantha drops the bomb that, next week, four new dances will be introduced to the competition. Really? That's actually kind of interesting and they just buried the lede a little bit.