Episode Report Card Kim: A | 35 USERS: B YOU GRADE IT Paso Doble from THE FUTURE
By Kim | Season 9 | Episode 16 | Aired on 2009.11.09
So what will the judges be looking for? Donny has an '80s paso doble, and Len wants to see an action hero, and for Donny to avoid making mistakes. Mya has a '70s samba, and Carrie Ann and Bruno both want her to go wild and avoid playing it safe. Joanna has a paso doble from THE FUTURE! Bruno wonders if she has the aggression for this routine, but Carrie Ann knows that Joanna has it in her. Kelly has the jive (from the '60s?) and Bruno wants her to dance well when she's out of hold. Aaron has a '90s samba, and they need Aaron to use his youthful energy to shake it up.
Dmitry and Mya are up first with their '70s samba. Mya is happy, and they plan to incorporate some disco moves. They work on samba rolls, but Mya has a lot of trouble with them, and Dmitry feels like he's having a choreography block. So how did it all work out? Well, Dmitry has an awesome fake '70s mustache, and they look like they just walked off the set of Swingtown, which is awesome. Mya is SUPER into it -- she's showing more enthusiasm than I think we've ever seen from her, EVER. It's great. She's having fun out there and her technique is fantastic as always. See -- this is why the judges have been so hard on her; they know she's capable of a routine like this, which was excellent. She just never showed the joy of dancing before.
Carrie Ann has to yell over the audience cheering, and she says that the samba was perfect and beyond belief. Len thinks Mya is on fire, and her hips were hypnotic. Len also appreciates that she did two great dances tonight with no gimmicks. Bruno loved how Mya channeled Diana Ross and he starts singing "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" while Len and Carrie Ann just die laughing. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10! So deserved, and the first perfect score of the season.
Aaron is happy that they got the '90s since it's the only era that he remembers. Karina decides to incorporate some of Aaron's moves from performing as a kid. He tries to get her to do "the Rodeo" and gets way too excited about it, for such a dorky looking dance move. Boy, this could get ugly if Karina was too sick to stand up to Aaron's ridiculous ideas. And they're dancing to "Two Princes," which is not really what I think of when I think of the samba. Aaron is back to being a try-hard during this routine; it makes me uncomfortable to watch him because he's over-dancing the entire time. He also seems like he's marching in place instead of doing the samba, although the samba does poke through at times, and it's not bad. You certainly can't fault him for lack of energy, I'll give him that. There's not much about it that's '90s until the last eight bars or so, when they do a boy-band like segment that has nothing to do with the samba. The audience loved it even if I didn't, and it probably wasn't fair to make them do their routine right after Mya and Dmitry.