Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Surfer Flamenco? Really?
By Kim | Season 15 | Episode 16 | Aired on 11.19.2012
Val and Kelly have the surfer flamenco, and it causes some friction in rehearsals as Kelly struggles to get the moves. That seems like a recurring theme this week. So the first two thirds of their dance is straight flamenco and it is great, but I'm wondering where the surfer part comes in. And then for the last third, they stand on some water and do their moves with the water splashing around. It looks amazing, but I can't help but feel that they kind of cheated - all of their moves were just flamenco, and the other teams took the challenge of adding more to their routines. It was a really intense flamenco, though. And Val ending up in a Speedo didn't hurt.
Judges? Bruno tells Kelly that she was upstaged by the Speedo, and then adds seriously that she had a lot of fire and intensity, but the placement of the arms wasn't there. Carrie Ann agrees that it was all paso and there wasn't much flamenco, and I agree. Len says that they went all in on this dance, and it had verve and attack, and their energy was fantastic. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 9, and Bruno 8.5. That seems fair since it was a good dance but it wasn't the dance they were assigned.
Melissa and Tony have the Argentine tango, and Melissa is glad to have a chance to take out her frustrations. They are dancing to "Dirty Diana," as we've now entered the Michael Jackson portion of the evening. Okay, I do NOT know how Tony did that routine with a bad back. He was carrying Melissa or lifting her for like three quarters of the routine, and the lifts were flawless. Not a missed step. Amazing. That said, I thought Melissa's posture was a little weird and I can't put my finger on it. It's like she didn't have any hip action or her butt was tucked under? It just didn't look right. But the lifts were incredible. After the dance, they are overcome with emotion.
Judges? Len says he would be disappointed if they don't make it to the finals next week. Bruno thought the sequence of lifts was extraordinary, and they exceeded all expectations. Carrie Ann thought it was beyond anything she could have imagined, and the lifts were out of this world. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. Another perfect score.
Shawn and Derek have the Argentine tango as well, and Derek is feeling the pressure to put together a great dance to get Shawn through to the finals. Shawn's roll-in package talks about how, the first time she competed, she was coming off an Olympic gold. But this time, she's coming off a failed comeback attempt, and has learned that she can't be the best at the thing she was always the best at. That's a harsh lesson to learn before you're twenty years old. Anyway, their Argentine tango has a ton of really difficult choreography. It doesn't have the spectacular lifts that Melissa and Tony did, but it is smooth and sharp. And the lifts they do fit in well with the routine and don't feel tacked on for the wow factor. I think I actually liked this routine as a whole better. The only piece that was slightly lacking for me was the emotion; I didn't get that push/pull hate fuck vibe.