Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT It's Like a Kind of Torture
By Kim | Season 9 | Episode 4 | Aired on 09.28.2009
Natalie Coughlin and Alex are the second couple to dance. I felt Natalie was underscored last week, so I'm interested to see how she does this week. In rehearsal for their quickstep, Alec discovers that Natalie holds her breath while she's dancing, and it makes her stiffen up. He works with her on where to breathe in the choreography.
Their quickstep is to "I Want You Back" by the Jackson Five, which seems like a really slow song for a quickstep. In fact, the beginning looks more like a waltz than anything. Her footwork is really good, and she does try to take the judges' advice and sex it up a bit. I really just like her and wish the judges would score her higher. It might be a chemistry thing.
Judges? Bruno counsels Natalie to relax and smile a little more, because she holds her tension in her shoulders, but she could be amazing. Baz thinks in the first half, she was in her head, but in the second half, she just listened to the music and it was much better. Carrie Ann loves Natalie, but she needs to flow with her partner more. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Baz 7 and Bruno 7 for a total of 21. Natalie looks relieved.
Chuck Liddell and Anna are the next couple to dance. In rehearsal for their tango, Anna and Chuck decide to ignore Len's advice for Chuck to bring out his feminine side, since the tango is so masculine. Also, Anna wants to make it like a fight, which Chuck is familiar with, as a former UFC fighter. It's all very Mr. and Mrs. Smith.
Well, the band is massacring (in a bad way) "Seven Nation Army," so there's that. Chuck is decent. He doesn't miss any moves. He's got the aggressiveness of the tango down, but he doesn't really have the requisite grace. It's like he's walking through the dance and making the right facial expressions, but in the arms and legs, things aren't working out.
Judges? Baz isn't sure what to say at first, but compliments Chuck on his ability to face his fear. Carrie Ann admits she was scared, and adds that the dance had impact. Bruno liked that it was savage, but it was always a tango, and Chuck clearly worked hard on it, even if his technique wasn't always perfect. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Baz 7 and Bruno 6 for a total of 19.
Melissa did an elegant waltz last week, but the judges felt her nerves showed. This week, she has to do the jive with Mark, who says that Melissa has a lot of enthusiasm but she's not super-coordinated. So how is their jive? Well, I'll say this for Melissa -- she sells it. She's got the body language and facial expressions down, and she does them just big enough to translate but not so big it's obnoxious. Her tricks seem to go pretty well, but her footwork is not great. Her flicks and kicks are really weak, especially compared to Mark (who might consider toning down a step so as not to show up his partner). They end with a trick where Melissa slides backwards, in a seated position, in between Mark's legs and I don't know how she didn't end up nutting him. Good planning, there.