Last week, Kristi got the first perfect score of the season, and Mario dropped into the bottom two. And there was a huge controversy over Derek and Shannon's comments in their post-dance confessional that I thought was such a non-event that I didn't even include it in the weecap, and then the people in the forums talked of nothing else but Derek and Shannon all week. I'm happy for a new episode just so we will have something new to analyze! And this week, the couples each have to perform two dances, and they'll do it LIIIIIIIIIIVE!
After the couples are introduced, Samantha reminds us that each couple will perform a Ballroom and Latin dance tonight, and each will be judged and scored. The first couple to perform is Tony and Marissa. Their clip package reminds us that Marissa got good scores for her waltz last week. This week, they are doing the tango and the rumba. Tony says that they are supposed to be sexy dances. Marissa says that she's done fun sexy, but she's never really done straight sexy.
So let's see their tango. There's something really wrong with Marissa's footwork, but I can't pinpoint it. She points her toes and everything, but it doesn't look right. It's too slow or there's not ENOUGH footwork. Her posture is decent and she doesn't break character, so that's something. But what did the judges think? Len points out that they don't get graded on a curve just because they had to learn two routines. He concludes with three words: "Your best dance." At least that was actually three words, instead of fab-u-lous. Bruno thought it was theatrical, in a good way. Carrie Ann thinks Marissa represents pushing your boundaries and loved that she showed a new side of herself. Really? I didn't think it was that great. I mean, it was good FOR MARISSA, but that's...not as good as Kristi, for example. Backstage, Marissa is thrilled with the positive comments from the judges. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9 for a total of 27 for the first dance.
Cristian and Cheryl are up . Their foxtrot earned good marks last week, and Cristian hopes to continue improving each week. They are doing the Viennese waltz and the samba this week. Cristian seems to enjoy the samba, although his posture still isn't great. Cheryl says that he needs to treat her like a princess during the waltz, and we get to see Cristian's adorable daughter as she tells him to dance like a prince. The waltz is up first. Cheryl's is wearing a dress with the sides cut out, and...she just doesn't have a defined-enough waist for that. She has an awesome body, but her waist is not her best feature, and this dress emphasizes that. They execute a death drop (I think that's what it's called?) which turns into a twirl and Cheryl is very careful to keep one foot on the floor at all times. Overall it was pretty, but it was a lot of Cristian walking around and Cheryl doing the dancing. So, like every routine with Julianne and Helio last season.
Bruno thought it was sexy and beautiful. Carrie Ann liked it but thought it lacked some energy, though she knows they'll come back with more in their Latin dance. Len liked it, but wanted more content. I agree with Len. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 9 for a total of 25. Cristian seems pleased with those scores, especially Bruno's. There's some nonsense about his daughter and how he's going to lie to her about his score or something.
Kristi and Mark earned perfect scores last week with their jive. Kristi knows that she can't let up, as this week they will be doing the Viennese waltz and the cha cha. Mark struggles because he's never made it far enough in the competition to have to do two routines with his partner. So to help his stress, Kristi takes Mark skating. You know, as you do. God,I hate these lame outings so much. Anyway, first Kristi and Mark are going to perform the Viennese waltz. Mark is wearing a military uniform and Kristi is holding an umbrella. I thought they were going for the An Officer and a Gentleman vibe, but I don't get the umbrella. Mark is singing along which I guess is better than the normal guppy faces, but it's still distracting. Kristi does a series of solo twirls across the floor and she looks like she's about to fall over, and then she does fall (on purpose) and Mark slides in and catches her. That timing must have been tough to work out. They're dancing to "I'm With You" by Avril Lavigne and the singer totally cannot hit the high notes. Blargh.
Carrie Ann loved the use of the umbrella prop, which she thinks was a risk, and says she felt the emotion of the routine. She does point out that Kristi's turns were off. Good to know I wasn't imagining that. Len liked the difficulty of the choreography, but he didn't like the long opening. Bruno interrupts and Len tells him that his hot air is causing global warning. Bruno thinks it worked because they played the drama well. I agree, since we all know that Kristi is good technically, so it's good to see her bringing some emotion to the routine. Bruno adds that the turns may have been off, but it was a technically difficult move, so he's not that concerned. I hope they don't get a perfect score though, since all of the judges pointed out ways in which the routine was not perfect. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8, and Bruno 9 for a total of 26. The audience boos at Len's score, and Samantha points out that this couple has never received lower than a 9. Wow, really? That's amazing. It might be good, because it might inspire people to vote for them when otherwise they might assume that they were safe.
Mario and Karina did a "raunchy rumba" last week, and scored a 10 from Bruno, but still ended up in the bottom two. Mario is dispirited, and vows to work hard. This week, Mario has to do the foxtrot and mambo, but then also has to learn choreography for his new music video, so he's switching between three very different styles of dances. So first up is the foxtrot. I really like Karina's dress. Don't get me wrong; she's half-naked as usual, but it's a very pretty, flowy sort of Indian pattern. This is a good dance for Mario as it requires him to be light on his feet and the posture is not as important as it would be in some other routines. He's got great footwork and his lines are good, but his posture is not great. And then the routine just kind of ends; I don't know.
What did the judges think? Len thinks Mario dances with great maturity, and liked the technical aspects and footwork, though he thought it could have been more elegant. Bruno thinks Mario is amazing to watch, due to his youthful vitality. However, he thinks Mario needs more control, though watching him is always a pleasure. Carrie Ann likes the difficulty of the routines, but says that Mario is a bit too "loose in the joints" and he needs to stiffen up. Which is funny, because allegedly at the end of his raunchy rumba last week, Mario has a stiffy. Allegedly. Backstage, Mario admits that he was surprised with the results last week, but he will continue to work hard. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total of 24. Mario is happy with those scores, since he wasn't totally comfortable with the routine.
up are Shannon and Derek, they of the controversial comments. Shannon admits that they made a mistake with those comments. In rehearsal, Derek encourages Shannon to focus on learning their routines instead of worrying about the judges. Derek takes a strict taskmaster role, and Shannon takes it personally. Derek thinks that will help with their tango, since they have to portray a love/hate relationship. They don't address their alleged relationship at all in the clip package, although I'm sure Samantha will ask them about it momentarily. Their tango begins and they have very sharp movements. Shannon is trying to portray hatred, I think, but her face looks more like she has a hemorrhoid to me. It's like a grimace of pain crossed with slight embarrassment. Derek does well to emphasize movements that show off Shannon's long legs. At one point, Shannon is supposed to grab Derek's hat, and I think she misses. Overall, it was pretty good, but Shannon's face doesn't look like she thinks it was great and she's worried what the judges will say.
Bruno says that it was a great emotional portrayal, and he has an argument with himself: "I love you! I hate you! I don't care!" Carrie Ann thinks it was their best dance yet, with good lines. Len is thrown off by Bruno's yelling, but says that they did a great job portraying the aggression, even though there were a few bobbles. Hey, tomorrow night will be the return of DanceCenter! And Tuesday is the anniversary show, with thirty returning contestants, and new routines by Apolo and Julianne as well as Maks and Mel! I could not be more excited. I wonder if Adam will come back; he was saying the other day on his radio show that Julianne hasn't returned his calls. Backstage, Samantha doesn't ask about Derek and Shannon's relationship, surprisingly. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9 for a total of 27. Shannon is bouncing, she's so happy. Shannon promises lots of hips in their Latin dance, and Derek promises fake bums. I don't know.
Jason and Edyta are the final couple for the first round. Last week, Jason plummeted down the leader board, but was declared safe. Jason says he doesn't ever want to be in that position again. This week, he has to learn the quickstep and the paso doble. Jason likes the paso, because he knows from being fearless and aggressive. He also needs to learn to be light on his feet for the quickstep, but he vows to do it, because he's not ready to go home yet. Their quickstep is up first. Jason leaps over Edyta's head to start out, which is even more impressive because of his size. He's really light on his feet for a big guy, which is nothing new, but it's still impressive to see. He's at least as light on his feet as Derek or Mark, if a little less sure of the choreography. He can also kick his feet up way higher than Marissa. And he doesn't look at his feet! Good job, Jason! I think I'm rooting for him all of a sudden. He ends by tossing the judges' papers into the air and then falling on top of Edyta. And because he's a nice guy, he actually goes and picks up all the papers.
Tom, because he's quick on his feet too, encourages applause for the band so the judges have time to gather their notes. Carrie Ann thinks everything was fantastic. Len thinks that football players have done well on the show in the past, and he's sure that Jason will follow suit with routines like that. Bruno thinks that it was the lightning step, as opposed to the quickstep. Well, he says it was "quick lightning" but I think my substitution works better. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10 for a score of 29. Samantha wonders if Jason will consider doing more risk-taking moves, since he got such good scores this time. Jason says he will, if that's what it takes.
Marissa and Tony are out for the second dance, the rumba. Marissa's dress is TERRIBLE. First of all, it's mauve. And second of all, it's got a faux cutout at her waist, which is a terrible idea for someone with her shape. Why do the wardrobe people hate her? And Tony's outfit is maroon and doesn't match hers at all. I think I just don't like the rumba; it always seems too slow for me. They do execute a nice final dip and Marissa shows good arm extensions and nice lines. But what do the judges think? Bruno thinks that Marissa was "a woman in full bloom", and he thought it was warm and sweet, although he would have liked it to be sexier. Carrie Ann thought it was beautiful. Really? She loved the arm movements. Len liked how Marissa acted the part well, but he would have liked more hip action and thought it was too careful. He wanted "a bit more welly," and no one knows what that means because this is AMERICA. Backstage, Marissa says that she liked the rumba better. Tony is so proud of Marissa, because of the improvement they have shown. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total in this round of 25, and a total with both dances of 52. Marissa screeches, but I will say that she has toned the screeching down from episodes.
Cristian and Cheryl are up with their samba. They start with some pelvic rolls. Cristian doesn't seem to be doing much other than standing there and shaking his hips while Cheryl dances her little butt off. They do a samba roll, though, which I'm sure Len will enjoy. During one part, while they are standing side-by-side and doing some footwork, Cristian kind of stops and grabs his forearm. He grimaces and tries to finish the routine but unfortunately, the final moment of their routine is a dip of Cheryl, using Cristian's bad arm, and he nearly drops her on the floor. Tom walks over and asks what's going on and Cristian says that he pulled a muscle in his arm. Tom gives him the option of throwing to commercial, but Cristian is determined to soldier on. Tom realizes that isn't going to work, and throws to commercial anyway. After a break, the show returns, and Tom explains that the EMT diagnosed Cristian with a severe muscle cramp. Tom asks the judges how they will score the routine, given the interruption and lack of ending. Carrie Ann says that they'll score it up through the injury, and that she's sorry she didn't get to see the whole thing, because she was looking forward to it. She compliments Cristian for not just giving up when he got hurt. Len also compliments Cristian's bravery. Bruno says to a clearly in pain Cristian that they can only judge what they saw, and he hopes Cristian comes back. Tom riffs for a while waiting for Cristian to get backstage, and then they go right to the scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7 for a total of 21 for this dance and an overall score of 46. Cristian says his arm hurts, and it also hurts that he couldn't finish the dance with Cheryl. I bet he'll get a lot of sympathy votes. Cristian starts heading off camera before Samantha has even thrown it to Tom, and Jason hustles right after him.
Now Mark and Kristi have to somehow perform their cha cha cha. Then again, Kristi is probably better than anyone at putting distractions out of her mind in the heat of competition. Kristi starts out with a hippy strut across the whole floor. She really is getting a lot better at just letting go of her inhibitions and performing. Her footwork, and it's very complex, is flawless. Holy crap! That was incredible. It was fast, and sharp, and totally deserving of a perfect score, even setting aside the weirdness of performing after an injury. Len liked the middle section, but he didn't like how they did more dancing solo than dancing together. This leads to a long nonsense argument between Bruno and Len, where finally Len says that he doesn't like "that boogaloo hip hop" stuff. Bruno pounds the desk and says that it was inventive and the kids will love it. Carrie Ann is laughing too hard at first, but she gives Kristi three snaps up for her hip-hop. And then Carrie Ann is dancing and Bruno is shimmying and Len looks like he just wants to DIE and I love it. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 8, and Bruno 10. WTF, Len? Get the stick out. Anyway, their total is 28 and their overall scores is 54. That totally deserved a 30. And I usually think Kristi is kind of overrated.
Mario and Karina come out with their mambo and Mario is totally feeling it. He's got hip action to spare. He should loan some to Shannon. His posture is not great, and he looks kind of weird because he has such long leg in relations to his torso. He also sticks his butt out a lot. It's like he gets all the moves right, but somehow it doesn't quite come together for me. But what about the judges? Bruno thought it was "slick, fast, furious, and dangerous" and that the devil was in Mario's hips. Carrie Ann thinks they set the place on fire, even though there was a small part where they were out of sync. Len is still talking about Kristi's dance, but he manages to say that Mario's routine was "wild, wacky, wonderful." Scores are Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9 for a total of 27 for this routine and an overall score of 51.
Tom updates us that Cristian went to the hospital and they'll let us know how he's doing tomorrow night. But now, Shannon and Derek get to do their mambo. Let's see that hip action Shannon promised! Shannon starts up on the judges' platform and shakes her hips around, but there's just something wrong with her hip joints, like they don't move right or something. And then later, she doesn't bend her knees and so she looks like she's doing the quickstep instead of the mambo. And then! Derek tears his shirt off, or at least tears the front open, so he's really pulling out all the stops! Shannon is all baby giraffey all over the place and Derek dances around her and then they finish with Shannon on her back on the judges' table and Derek standing on it. Eh. It's like they tried to disguise the fact that Shannon couldn't do a real mambo by putting in a bunch of jokey tricks, and that didn't work for Adam, so it shouldn't work for Shannon. But let's see what the judges think. Carrie Ann is completely speechless for a few moments. She thinks that Shannon needs to work on her lines, and admits that Shannon needs to work harder since her legs are longer. Len thought the hip action was much better, but agrees that she looks gawky sometimes. Bruno agrees with the first two, and thinks that it was an improvement overall. Shannon manages to take the criticism with a smile, and even agrees, probably because it wasn't so harsh. Backstage, Shannon reveals that she put some butt boosters in her backside to give herself more to shake around. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total of 24 for this routine and an overall score of 51.
Jason and Edyta are here to wrap up the Latin round with their paso doble, set to the Monday Night Football theme, which I had as my ringtone for a while, so I love it. Jason's posture is outstanding and his movements are very strong and yet still graceful somehow. Except they also have a lift, which I'm sure the judges will note, since Edtya's foot comes off the ground. I don't know how they could possibly do a spin like that (it was the same move Priscilla got dinged for) without Edyta's foot coming off the ground since Jason is so tall. Len thought the music was great, and that Jason was scary, but had a bit too much posing. Len jokes that when you have bodies like he and Jason do, you have to pose. Bruno thought that Jason had an incredible presence and then mumbles something and I have no clue what he was talking about. Carrie Ann liked how it was unconventional, and brings up the lift, but in a way where she's sad that she has to ding her for it. I liked the routine, but it didn't deserve a perfect score anyway. Maybe this is karmic payback for when Jason got 10s when he stumbled in the routine. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8, and Bruno 9 for a total of 26 for this routine and a total of 55 overall. Samantha suggests that Jason can teach his teammates how to do the paso doble to the MNF theme, and Jason says that won't be happening.
My prediction for going home this week is Mario. I think Cristian will get the sympathy vote, and I don't think people want to send Shannon and Derek home just yet, because they're interested in the offstage story. The other option is Marissa, since she did well, but wasn't all that memorable. But I'm sticking with Mario as my pick to go. Come back tomorrow night to see if I'm right.
Final overall scores:
Jason and Edyta: 29 + 26 = 55
Kristi and Mark: 26 + 28 = 54
Marissa and Tony: 27 + 25 = 52
Mario and Karina: 24 + 27 = 51
Shannon and Derek: 27 + 24 = 51
Cristian and Cheryl: 25 + 21 = 46