Episode Report Card Kim: B | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Get Down On It
By Kim | Season 8 | Episode 14 | Aired on 04.27.2009
Am I supposed to close my eyes when Tony and Lacey do their solo because I'm not supposed to be watching them? Anyway, the group is dancing to "Single Ladies" by Beyonce. Since Tony and Lacey do their solo first, I'll just say it's really good and Beyonce-inspired. Shawn and Mark have their solo next. Mark is really bugging me. He's hamming it up and over-exaggerating his movements in a way that I feel takes away from the overall routine. As always, Shawn's technique is flawless and the choreography is really complicated. Chuck and Julianne are next, and his technique pales in comparison to Shawn's, but he does seem to be having fun. At the end, the ladies lose their skirts and end up looking like Beyonce in her video. And then the guys rip off their pants, and they're wearing leotards too. If you've never seen the video, you probably are very confused by the reference, but it's an homage to the video as well as all of the imitators, including the Justin Timberlake parody on SNL. I like that they used humor.
Judges? Len thought it was fun and entertaining, and he gives Lacey props for stepping in with very little notice, even though he's ignoring her for scoring purposes. Bruno makes a reference to men that shop in the women's department, so he obviously watches Idol. Carrie Ann says that the ending was fun but distracting, and she thought the music was more fun than the dancers. That's a great song. I sort of see what she means. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 9.
So Team Tango consists of Kim and Derek, Gilles and Cheryl, and Ty and Chelsie. In rehearsals, they point out that they are the underdogs, and they have a lot of personality. Kim enjoys working with the female pros, and Ty enjoys working with the male pros. Cheryl is mean as always in rehearsal; obviously that works for Gilles, but she would drive me nuts. They all want to make the solo sections good because they know one weak link will make things bad for all of them. Gilles the cheerleader gives everyone a pep talk. He's so positive! I could work with him before I would work with Cheryl.
So how is their tango to "Womanizer." Well, Gilles and Ty are shirtless and Kim is in between them. Interesting that they started out with all three amateurs on the floor. Will their risk pay off? Kim and Derek have the first solo slot. Kim seems to screw up her footwork at one point, and she even smiles a little bit like she knows it, but she covers well. Ty and Chelsie have the next solo. This dance works well for Ty because it requires good posture although he does kind of look more like a zombie than a dancer. Gilles and Cheryl have the last solo and the crowd goes wild for them. I'm glad smoldering Gilles is back. I have to say their section is a little more boring than I've come to expect from them. Maybe I'm just not used to the regular tango instead of the Argentine tango. All three teams rejoin and have really great synchronicity. Their last segment almost looks like six pros, which is impressive.