Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Chasing the Mirrorball
By Kim | Season 10 | Episode 18 | Aired on 05.24.2010
Evan and Anna want their freestyle to be their best dance of the season. Anna starts working on the choreography but Evan protests that it's too Broadway, and starts offering up his own suggestions. That he's just making up as he goes along. And frankly, sound like some of the choreography my friends and I used to do when we'd make up routines to the Grease soundtrack in fifth grade after watching the inspirational twofer of Solid Gold and Dance Fever with Deney Terrio and Motion, who like Dawn (of "Tony Orlando and" fame), were two women with one name. Those of you born after 1975 are so confused right now. Anyway. Evan basically tells Anna that her style isn't going to work, and he kind of shoots down her choreography skills. She seems pissed, and Evan doesn't seem to get it. After he leaves to go skate, Anna starts crying and admits that she's scared and freaked out about the pressure. Then they do the lame commercial break in the middle of the package, like when Tony quit on Kate, as if we think Evan and Anna are just going to forfeit the freestyle round. Anyway, the solution was to bring in choreographer Bobby Newberry to help them.
So after all that drama, how is their freestyle to "Footloose"? Evan opens with a HUGE leap off the stage. It's much like the huge leap Jack did on Lost last night. You know the one. It's sort of a jive, and they actually do dance steps instead of Evan throwing her around. I mean, he does that too, but there's dancing in between. I like it. And they have a great connection in this one. I don't love it because Evan looks super dorky and kind of wild, but a hip hop dance by Evan would have been horrible.
Bruno tells Evan that he was jumping around and so excited that he lost a little of the precision. Carrie Ann thought it was odd, because they seemed to be dancing two different dances. Len thought they compromised, and neither of them are doing the dance they wanted to do. What exactly did the judges want? I bet that will play better at home than it did for the judges. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8. Evan gives his usual diplomatic response to the scores while Anna looks disappointed.
And Nicole and Derek are last, and you know they are going to get a perfect score. Between Nicole's skill and Derek's choreography, they will be awesome. Derek says that they're doing some lifts that he's never tried before, and he's nervous. Nicole wants everyone to dance along. Fat chance of that, sister. Anyway, they both start out in sequined tuxedos and dance to "A Little Less Conversation" by Elvis. It's sort of a combination of jive and swing and quickstep and a billion other dances, I guess? I'm not digging it. You know what? Every season, I'm surprised that I don't like freestyles, and yet every season, I don't like the freestyles. I'm too lazy to look back through my recaps, but I can't think of one that I really loved. I always thought Drew and Cheryl's "Save a Horse" freestyle was way overrated, and that's the one people usually point to as the gold standard. I watch this show to see ballroom dancing. Back to the routine, just as I'm thinking that it's a waste of Nicole's smoking body to cover it up like this, they rip off their suits to showcase much less clothing, but it takes up way too much time. And then their final lift goes horribly wrong. Derek pulls it off, but it's not good and that's the final impression. I would say that theirs was definitely the most difficult, and they did a good job of the first four/fifths of it. Nicole is clearly really disappointed that they screwed the pooch at the end.