Episode Report Card Kim: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Swing a Ding Ding
By Kim | Season 10 | Episode 10 | Aired on 04.26.2010
Evan and Anna will also be doing the samba. In rehearsals, Anna pushes Evan to have more hip action, but he struggles. They also practice for the swing dance marathon, in which they can do lifts. At one point, Anna flips Evan over her back and he lands on his head and really hurts himself. Ooh. They show it twice, and it's pretty bad. But the doctor clears him to dance. Their samba is faster than Jake and Chelsie's, and man does Evan have great lines and grace. But lines and grace are more of a rumba thing, and his feet are still bad. He just doesn't point them enough and I think he's down on his heels instead of up on the balls of his feet. Something's weird, is all I'm saying.
Bruno says that Evan has good "lyrical lines" but they're not right for the samba. Hey, that's what I said! Sometimes I scare myself. Carrie Ann thought Evan lost the battle with the samba, and his body didn't suit this particular dance. Len says that it was Evan's worse dance because he's too balletic and this is a carnival dance. The audience boos and Tom tries to make them feel better. I don't really like Tom commenting. I mean, it's one thing if the judges are way off, but they weren't this time, and I don't like when Tom undermines them. Backstage, Evan says that they gave him great areas to work on. As an athlete, he's used to getting critiqued, so it's probably easier. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7 for a total of 21.
Niecy and Louis got low marks for technique last week, and this week they have the Argentine tango. Louis hammers Niecy to concentrate on her feet, and Niecy finally does get some of the steps down. But will it be enough to please the judges? They go for the comedy, where Louis starts out with a rose in his mouth and Niecy tries to eat it and spits it out. The rest of the routine is good. Niecy's footwork is the best it's been, but it's still not as sharp as it should be. They have one totally illegal lift in the middle, like it's not even a case of "Oh, her foot left the ground for a split second," but Louis just lifts her up and it looks weird. And then at the end, Louis takes out something -- a cookie? -- and Niecy makes a grab for it and fails, sliding down his leg. It was better than I thought, but it wasn't really funny ENOUGH, if you know what I mean. The audience love, love, loved it but Louis is nearly choking on his cookie.
Carrie Ann says it's nice to see Niecy really dancing, and apparently it was okay to do a lift, which they didn't say beforehand. She also didn't think they needed the comedy. Agreed. Len liked the comedy because it didn't interfere with the dance, but it lacked some intensity. Bruno tells Niecy to stay away from his lunchbox (she mimed kicking Louis in the nuts early on), and compliments her hard work. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7 for a total of 21.