Tom claims that two leaders have emerged, and I guess that would be Helio and Mel, but then Tom reminds us that this has been a season of surprises. Anything could happen! They might bring Sabrina back and eliminate her again! Okay, that probably won't happen. But whatever does happen, we know it will happen LIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Last night, the judges were tough. Len didn't like Jennie's jive, and Bruno didn't like her foxtrot. Marie came back from her father's death and made her brother cry during her first dance, and then Len proclaimed that her jive was a lot of fun. Cameron impressed with his waltz, but the judges thought his cha cha cha was too stiff. No pun intended, and you know what I'm talking about if you saw what was going on in Cameron's pants area during that routine. Mel came out strong with her tango, and then went over the top with her mambo. Helio performed a powerful paso doble and then wowed the audience and the judges with his quickstep, which got a perfect score.
Who gets the encore? Len thinks that Helio and Julianne's quickstep was the best one in five seasons, so he'd like to see it again. At the end of tonight's routine, Helio doesn't kiss Julianne, but he "drops" her anyway. One thing that impresses me about Helio is that he knows the routines cold. When you watch Marie, you can tell that there are moments in the routines when she's not sure what's and Jonathan pulls her into the move or guides her along. You don't see that with Helio. Or Mel. I guess that's why they're the frontrunners.
Gloria Estefan is there to perform this week. She sings a song in Spanish while some people I don't recognize dance.
Backstage, Samantha tries to stir up some drama, but Cameron will only say that Helio is not only a great dancer, but one of the nicest people you'll ever meet. Aw. They're in love.
Audience reaction segment. Useless. Except that Bruce Jenner and his wife are both looking SCARY. I hope that's not a sign that Bruce is going to be on the show season, because I don't think I want to look at that creepy face in HD.
Who's the first couple to be named safe? Marie and Jonathan. Marie is shocked. Mel looks particularly worried.
Samantha is backstage with Jennie and Mel. For some reason, Maks keeps trying to pull Mel back, and she keeps sneaking back into the shot.
Jimmy Kimmel and Guillermo are back. Jimmy reads a letter from a fan who wants to know how Tom Bergeron tells the difference between his job hosting this show and America's Funniest Home Videos. They head to Tom's dressing room to find out. It's weird to see Tom in jeans and a t-shirt. Tom shows them a tape of a guy getting hit in the nuts, which Guillermo finds hilarious. Tom puts in a tape of this show, which features a CG version of Helio getting hit in the nuts. Yikes. That was terrible.
Now for a performance by influential choreographer Fatima Robinson. You know, I can appreciate hip-hop dancing, but it's not why I watch this show. I would much rather see a performance by some of the world champions dancing together, so that we can see what some of the routines are supposed to look like. But I guess the show is trying to skew a bit younger.
Now we get a clip package to show us some background on the dance pros. First, Maksim. He learned ballroom at the age of four. Julianne explains that Maks is more passionate than cocky. Julianne has been dancing her whole life, and moved to London at ten to live with her coaches. Len saw her dance at age eight, and knew she was special; he thinks she forces the other dancers to up their game. Jonathan was an athlete growing up, and didn't take his first dance class until the age of twenty. Maks thinks students love Jonathan because he's gentle, and Len thinks he's one of the best instructors and the best at bringing out his partner's strengths. Edyta always knew she wanted to be a ballroom dancer. Derek was first impressed by Edyta's body. Len thinks Edyta pushes her celebrity, which he appreciates. Derek started dancing at ten, and hated it at first. Edyta thought, at first sight, that Derek was one of the most talented dancers she'd seen. Len likes that Derek is bringing a youthful challenge to the older pros. Len thinks the celebrities should be honored to be partnered with some of the best dancers in the world.
Gloria Estefan is back to sing "Conga." My dad loves this song. I have no idea why. He actually loves Miami Sound Machine in general, despite not enjoying any other music created after about 1970. Anyway, my favorite part of this performance is that you can see the three judges in the background, rocking out. I wish the judges would do a routine at some point, although apparently Len is going to give some sort of master class week. I would love to see Bruno, though.
Samantha is backstage with everyone but Marie, who is safe. Jennie says that elimination night is her favorite part of the show, because it's exciting. No one else can believe she feels that way, and they all laugh. Samantha tries to get one of them to admit that they want to win, but they all keep talking about how much they love each other.
Clip package on what it takes to be a winner, featuring various inspirational speakers and authors. I'm sure you could write this segment yourself. You know what this segment needs? No writers. Which is probably why it's on this week. They just had to give these blowhards the license to speak about the performers at length and promise to plug their books/CDs/DVDs, and then edit it all together.
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Finally, it's time to find out the fate of another couple. Tom cracks a joke about how terrible the little blurbs are where they say, "Couple X, are you staying or will you go home?," due to the WGA strike. They are really bad. Helio and Julianne are safe! Mel looks like she's about to throw up.
Tom asks Len about Jennie. He thinks she's the dark horse, because they quietly get on with it, and might sneak out with the trophy. Carrie Ann says that Cameron is most improved, and that she knows it's due to his enthusiasm. Bruno thinks that Mel and Maks have animal magnetism, and he thinks Mel is one of the best dancers ever on the show.
Time for scary music! First, they're going to announce another safe couple. And it is...Mel and Maks! Oh, thank God. If only because I thought Mel was going to have a heart attack.
Tom says that the two remaining couples are not necessarily in the bottom two, but that one is going home. And the couple going home is Cameron and Edyta. I hope Cameron gets to take a nap. In their exit interview, Tom says that Cameron was the busiest of anyone in five seasons, and that Cameron must be looking forward to having some free time. Cameron chuckles that he won't know what to do with himself, and really thanks Edyta for her hard work. Edyta says that it's been amazing, and that she never thought Cameron would make it so far. In a new twist (right? Did they do this in seasons?), they show a clip package of the couple's highlights from the season. Cameron cracks me up in his final dance by singing along really mock-sincerely to "All Out Of Love" by Air Supply. How can you not enjoy him? He cracks me up.
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