Last week was the double elimination, and we finally got rid of Woz. Tonight, the couples will be performing either the paso doble or the Viennese waltz, and it will all be happening LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
The show must be running short tonight, because the introduction of the couples seems to take forever. Do you think Chuck is mad that Julianne just started being a country singer, like, last week, and she won an ACM award last night, but he's never won one? It just seems like it would be hard to be in a relationship where you're both in the same industry, unless you're both already established so there's less competition. Maybe I'm overthinking it.
Chuck and Julianne are up first. Last week, with the Lindy Hop, the judges thought he wasn't pushing it quite enough. This week, they are doing the Viennese waltz, and Julianne explains that they need to bring out the emotion. Chuck wants to be on the top instead of always being in the middle of the pack. As they rehearse, Chuck starts making fun of the exaggerated movements and Julianne tells him that in that moment, he actually did the best he's done. As their routine begins, Chuck seems like he's either slightly ahead or slightly behind the beat, and Julianne is trying like hell to keep him on track, so it ends up looking like they are fighting each other in hold, when it should be more smooth and polished. Chuck's arm movements are much sharper and bigger, which is good, but the whole thing feels kind of awkward, and I think it's because he's rushing the steps and she's trying to hold him back. Also, it ends with him kneeling in front of her like he's about to propose, which is kind of weird, because at first I thought he was actually going to propose, and then I realized it was part of the choreography. But she did the choreography, so she choreographed that awkward moment. The whole thing can be summed up in one word: awkward. I'm really disappointed in Julianne this season. She was formerly one of my favorites, and she just doesn't seem to have her heart in it anymore.
But what did the judges think? Len thinks that Chuck has come out of hibernation, which leads Chuck to do an ass-slapping dance move. Gah. He's falling down in my estimation every week. Bruno tells him he's become more assertive as a performer, but needs to keep his confidence up throughout. Carrie Ann disagrees with the two male judges, because she didn't think it was that great. [Carrie Ann's hair is enormous! -- Angel] Yeah, I feel like I watched a totally different routine than Len and Bruno. Backstage, Samantha brings up the bended-knee issue and Chuck totally blows her off. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 8 and Bruno 8.
Last week, LT and Edyta did the Argentine tango, and the judges thought he looked uncomfortable. LT admits that he couldn't get into their music. Edyta tries to teach LT that paso doble, but he has a hard time getting into a dance when he can't kind of boogie to it. Edyta tells him to bring the same intensity that he brought to the football field, and LT is able to get into it a little more. Their routine begins, and for such a powerful guy, LT is not looking all that powerful or confident. It's weird, because usually the big, strong guys like Jason Taylor do really well with this routine; it's often the favorite of the athletes. But LT doesn't seem to be really getting the flavor. At least he's not riding a unicycle. I agree with him that he's better in routines where he can shake his groove thang. He looks disappointed when the song ends.
Bruno thought LT started off very stiff ("like a block of granite") but then got his feet moving and improved. Carrie Ann thinks LT displays a limited range of motion, but he does well, and he worked well with a difficult piece of music. Len thought LT brought the intensity, but he needs to work on his dance quality. Len thinks it was the best dance so far. Seriously? Are we watching the same show? I'm very confused. Backstage, LT says something about lap dances. I don't know. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 7 and Bruno 7. Apparently Carrie Ann is the hardass this week.
Last week, Mark may or may not have popped a boner while doing the Lindy Hop with Shawn. Hey, you don't believe me? Do a Google image search and see the evidence for yourself. Anyway, the judges wanted Shawn to do more dancing and less gymnastics. Mark works with her in rehearsals and compares her to Kristi, which seems unfair. I think you use a lot more grace in ice-skating than gymnastics. Shawn vows to move back up to the top of the heap instead of being in the middle of the pack. They begin their Viennese waltz. Their routine is very fluid and pretty and age-appropriate for Shawn. It sort of looks like senior prom, if the people at your senior prom were REALLY good dancers with choreography. The weird thing is, it looks to me like MARK screws up in the beginning, but maybe he was covering for her. Nothing big -- the footwork just seemed a little weird at first.
You know what I kind of don't dig? That fact that it seems like lately we can hear Tom giving his opinion on the routine before the judges start talking. Tom's not a judge and if he wants to give them props, he should do it privately. Carrie Ann thought it was a great routine, and even offers to pretend like it wasn't a lift when Mark carried Shawn off the floor at the end. Len thought the tone was great but some of the technique was missing. Bruno loved it, but he advises Shawn to keep her shoulders down. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8 and Bruno 9. Samantha asks Shawn why she was frustrated in rehearsals this week. Shawn babbles some nonsense that shows she might have been home schooled a little too long, because grammar is not her friend.
Melissa and Tony are up . Man, they aren't saving the big ones for the end like usual, are they? This week, they have the paso doble. Melissa and Tony have a hard time in rehearsals keeping straight faces. Melissa can't get into the character until she gets mad at herself for screwing up, and Tony asks her to keep that tension. So on to their routine. I'm shocked that Tony is wearing a shirt under his vest. This doesn't look much like a paso to me. There's a ton of stuff in hold, which seems unusual. It's making me miss Maks and Mel's paso to "Free Your Mind." Melissa looks more like a belly dancer than a Spanish dancer. I don't know. There's something off about the whole thing. Maybe I'm the one that's off, since I've felt that way with every routine so far. I just don't buy Melissa as a serious intense person.
Len thought she did a good job keeping up the intensity, but she made a few mistakes and wasn't quite aggressive enough. Bruno thought she went for it in a difficult routine, even though she made mistakes. Carrie Ann thought she was in a higher level, but she just couldn't get her feet under her. The audience boos really loudly, and Carrie Ann points out that Melissa is agreeing with her, so they should shut it. Seriously. This isn't American Idol, people. Backstage, Samantha asks Melissa how it felt to screw up. What a dumb question. Uh, it felt great! Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8 and Bruno 9. That's a weirdly high score given the amount of criticism, and Melissa and Tony are surprised.
DAG and Kim got middling remarks and scores for their Lindy Hop last week. DAG jokes that they need to bribe the judges in order to move out of the middle of the pack. DAG wants to be flawless and works hard to get there. He and Kim seem to be getting along really well, and I'm not sure that was true in the beginning of the season. He's taking it seriously. Anyway, how is their Viennese waltz? Kim has these big feathery fans in her hands that are really distracting to me at the beginning, but thankfully she drops them pretty quickly. They dance to "I Put a Spell on You" which doesn't seem like it's in waltz time to me, and Kim and DAG seem to be rushing to keep up. They do a good job of keeping the sultry mood up throughout, but... it just doesn't seem like a waltz. I like DAG, though, so I hope that means the judges think it was awesome.
Bruno thought the spell worked at times, but some moves weren't great. When they kept it classic, it worked for Bruno, but otherwise not. Carrie Ann thinks DAG must be frustrated, because he moves well but doesn't get the high scores. She thinks DAG and Kym aren't working well together, and that's the disconnect. Len liked the story of the whole thing, and recognizes that it was difficult. Backstage, DAG admits that he has really gotten sucked into the competition more than he thought he would. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 8 and Bruno 7.
Tom reminds us that Gilles and Cheryl got a perfect score last week; the last person to get a perfect score so early was Sabrina, and she was eliminated the week. Anyway, I would argue that Gilles and Cheryl's routine last week was in the top five routines I've EVER seen on this show, and I've watched every episode. This week, they have to take on the paso doble. And Gilles is shirtless at the beginning until Cheryl comes up behind him and puts a toreador jacket on him. It's interesting because it's supposed to be a fighting dance, but I don't know if Gilles can do anything BUT seduction. There's a ton of fancy footwork, and the ending is quite amazing, with Gilles rolling Cheryl down his body and then delivering the death blow. I don't think it was quite as mesmerizing as last week, but it was still the best we've seen so far tonight. The audience goes nuts.
Carrie Ann can barely be heard over the catcalls in the audience. She thought it was breathtaking, and admires how they take it to the core and essence of the dance. Len liked the passion and fire, but he thought it was a bit hectic in places. Tom teases him for not liking Gilles' opening with his top off, and says that Len has pec envy. Bruno yells about the sexual tension and how great it was. Gilles' wife must be very secure. Backstage, Gilles says how much he loves feeding off the audience's energy. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9 and Bruno 10.
Last week, Steve-O ended up in the bottom three, and could only laugh at getting the same score that he did the week before when he was injured. During rehearsal, some of Steve-O's Jackass buddies show up to buck him up, including Johnny Knoxville and Wee Man. They have the Viennese waltz this week, and Steve-O is dressed like a mime. He even incorporates some mime into the beginning of his routine. He gets the footwork down, but there's really no musicality in his moves, and his back is still strangely stiff. And there's no expression in his face. I'm not sure if that's part of the mime thing or what, but he looks dead. I think he's to go.
Len thought it was Steve-O's best routine so far. Bruno thought Steve-O's timing was much better tonight, even if he still has a lot of work to do on the technique. Carrie Ann liked the sweet innocence and the schtick worked for her, but he needs to work on his posture for week. Backstage, Samantha can't really get out a question about setbacks, unsurprisingly. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 6, and Bruno 6. That's their best score yet, even if it's the lowest score so far tonight.
Ty and Chelsie have the slot. Let me tell you, people on the forums are going NUTS for Ty, but I just don't get it. I do like that he's humble, and he seems to have a dry sense of humor, but he's just not a great dancer. Ty likes that the paso doble revolves around bulls, since that's his purview, and he also likes that it's a manly dance. Ty and Chelsie go to visit an actual bull, so Chelsie can see what Ty does in his day job. Their routine starts to a massively slowed-down "Barracuda" and now I have unfortunate Sarah Palin associations with that song. Boo. Ty seems to be just doing the movements, and I don't get any of the attitude required of this routine. He does seem to get the movements down, but it really suffers for coming after Gilles, I think.
Bruno thought it was robotic. I agree. Carrie Ann agrees, and wonders where her little dancer went, and she thinks Ty is thinking too much. Len thought it was not quite up to the last few weeks, but he has shown improvement since the first week. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7. Wow. I thought that was a little higher than he deserved.
The last couple to dance tonight is Lil' Kim and Derek. Her tango got high marks last week, and I thought it was one of the best routines of the season, and was actually underscored. Kim is busy this week with shooting a music video and doing a photo shoot, so she and Derek are taking advantage of any opportunity to rehearse. Derek tries to figure out a way to master the routine given those challenges. Did he succeed? Their Viennese waltz is to "I'll Be" by Edwin McCain. I'm having Dawson's flashbacks. I actually had alternate lyrics to this song about Joey and Pacey at one point, but damned if I can remember any of them. I'm not a fan of their costumes; Kim is wearing a peach dress with lavender accents, and Derek is wearing what I thought was black but now appears to be navy blue. They don't look like partners. Luckily, their dancing is amazing. Kim has a big smile on her face and it all seems very innocent. It's nice to see that she can do different characters for her routines.
Carrie Ann felt like Kim's mom because she was so proud, and she thinks Derek and Kim compliment each other beautifully. Len thought it was lyrical and floaty, and the only thing they need to work on is their foot technique. Bruno loved that Kim made the dance look sassy and sexy. He imitates how she looked and it's pretty awesome. Animated gif anyone? Kim keeps babbling about her Buddha board. I don't know what that is, and I don't think Tom does either. [I looked it up. It sort of sounds like an Aquadoodle for grown ups. You draw on it with liquid and then it evaporates and disappears. -- AC] Backstage, Kim says this competition is bringing out her sensitive side. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8 and Bruno 9. Derek and Kim are thrilled; I think with their lack of rehearsal time this week, they were anticipating lower scores.
So here's the leaderboard. My guess as to who's going home? I'm going to say Steve-O, since he was in the bottom last week. It's time.
Gilles and Cheryl: 29
Shawn and Mark: 26
Kim and Derek: 26
Melissa and Tony: 25
Chuck and Julianne: 23
DAG and Kym: 22
Ty and Chelsie: 21
LT and Edyta: 20
Steve-O and Lacey: 18