Episode Report Card Kim: A- | Grade It Now! YOU GRADE IT Mambo Italiano
By Kim | Season 9 | Episode 12 | Aired on 10.26.2009
So anyway, that's not what this is at all. In this competition, all of the dancers will be doing the mambo at the same time, and the judges will tap them on the shoulder to tell them that they're out one at a time. The longer you stay, the more points you get. Some of the couples are worried about technique, and some are worried about stamina. They can also try to dominate the dance floor through movement, too. Some of the couples, like Donny and Kym, are planning a routine, while others, like Kelly and Louis, are planning on doing freestyle. This should be interesting.
After Tom and Samantha explain the scoring again, the couples take the floor. It looks like the couples are required to stay in one spot at first, as no one is moving all that much. Michael and Anna are the first couple to be told to leave the floor. Louie and Chelsie are next. There are so many couples that the cameras keep switching views. They should just do a wide shot so we can compare the couples. Melissa and Mark are told to leave next, followed by Kelly and Louis. Aaron's desperation has returned, big time. It would have been nice to get a sense, before this started, of what the judges would be looking at to determine the order, because right now it just seems arbitrary. Mark and Lacey leave next. Now that there are only four couples left, the couples are allowed to move around on the floor. Derek and Joanna are doing some crazy tricks, and Donny and Kym have to leave. Donny doesn't seem to want to go, but finally does, and then Aaron and Karina are eliminated.
So it's down to Joanna and Derek and Mya and Dmitry. Derek is really hotdogging it, taking up a lot of space on the floor. The judges confer for quite a while before finally eliminating Mya and Dmitry. Derek and Joanna get a victory lap of a few extra bars for dancing before leaving the floor.
When the dance ends, Len says that he loved it, and the judges argued every time. Carrie Ann says it was close between Joanna and Mya at the end, but Joanna seemed really determined to win and it put her over the top.
Here are the final scores and the mambo competition helped Joanna and Derek and Kelly and Louis the most -- they moved up the most spots. So I'm going to say that Melissa and Mark will be eliminated tomorrow straight off, and then Michael and Anna and Aaron and Karina will have to do the dance-off, with the judges finally getting rid of Michael as they have wanted to do for so long. See you tomorrow!: