Last night was the halfway point of the season, which really makes me hope that the producers start with fewer couples season. The judges were mostly nice, even to those that didn't get high scores, and the scores were higher for many couples than they've ever been. Tonight, there's going to be a tribute to Michael Jackson and then someone will be sent home LIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIVE!
Samantha's hair is back to normal tonight, so I guess she is doing crazy hair on Performance Night and regular hair on Results Night. Tom reviews last night's routines and scores, reminding us that Mya and Aaron had breakthroughs, impressing the judges (Len and Carrie Ann respectively) that had criticized them heavily on occasions. Kelly hurt her foot during her routine and her dad took her to the hospital to get it checked, but Kelly vowed that her foot would have to fall off for her to leave the competition at this point. Mark D. was pleased with his high scores and was psyched that they were so close to Mya that they could sniff her. Lacey is very bitchy when she says, "You sniff her." Like I get that was kind of a gross thing to say, but she could have laughed about it or something; instead, she kind of made Mark look like a fool. And Donny took over the leaderboard for the first time.
Tom announces that Kelly sprained her foot and got a contusion. From what I read elsewhere, the buckle on her shoe got slammed into her foot, so ouch. But Tom says that if she makes it through tonight, she should no doubt be back week, which is good news. Perhaps as a result (?), we don't get to see the group dance as the encore, which is the usual MO. Instead, we're going to see Donny and Kym's tango again. Look, the Hustle was no masterpiece, but everyone seemed to have fun. Then again, there was a lot of costuming and wigs, so maybe it was too technically difficult to do that and then also have the pros do their MJ tribute.
Before that tribute happens, the show has a bumper featuring pros who have danced to Michael Jackson songs in the past. First up are Louis and Monique, who danced to "ABC." Louis interviews that Michael opened doors for people who wanted to try new things.
Norah Jones is on hand to perform, and they've put a new stage in for musical performers. Some bizarrely dressed pro dancers go out on the floor; the women are in these Goth-type short poofy white dresses with tall black boots with fishnet stockings. And the dudes are in jodhpurs? And they're kind of just dragging the ladies around the floor. Obviously the producers haven't quite worked out the logistics of the new stage and whatnot since some cameraman run in front of the camera halfway through. Oops. That whole thing was weird. I like Norah Jones though.
Clip package where pretty much all of the couples agree that they did the best they could, and they practiced a lot, and yet they still know that they could go home. So it's time to find out if the top three couples based on judges' scores are safe or not. Mark and Lacey are safe, but Tom taunts Lacey first for pulling a face. Heh. Donny and Kym are safe too. How about Mya and Dmitry? They are safe too. I was a little worried about Mya; I feel like she gets taken for granted because she doesn't really have an improvement arc. She's been good all along.
The bumper to commercial features Mark reminiscing about his performance last season with Shawn to "P.Y.T." Mark is obviously a big MJ fan since he always wears the socks and the short pants, and he says that it felt great to dance to Michael's music.
Clip package about what goes on throughout the week behind the scenes. On Monday, everyone has to be there early for hair and makeup. Aaron hangs out at Craft Services. Mark D. and Natalie both want to check out the dance floor to get acquainted. Natalie tries to relax in her trailer. Kelly checks in with the other dancers and pros to see how they are doing and to keep her mind off her performance later. Mya likes going to wardrobe for her fittings because she gets a custom outfit every week. Donny likes to hang out backstage because there's so much energy. Finally, it's showtime and all that's left to do is dance. That was actually a well-produced segment; they had a lot of the celebrities running into each other and then they would follow the new celebrity. It wasn't like we learned a whole lot of new information, but for filler, it was watchable.
Time to learn who else is safe and who's not. Joanna and Derek are in jeopardy. Uh oh. I assumed she would be fine because people would feel sorry for her. Kelly and Louis are safe, yay! And Aaron and Karina are in jeopardy! I realize it doesn't mean they are in the bottom three or four or whatever, but I really want Aaron to go home.
The Michael Jackson bumper this time is Warren Sapp and Kym dancing to "Blame It On the Boogie," as Kym says that she's honored to be able to do a tribute to Michael Jackson.
At this point, they're just making up reasons to pair couples up for results, like I think these two couples are the highest-scoring female celebrities who danced the Paso or something. I don't know. Anyway, Michael and Anna are safe, but Natalie and Alec are in jeopardy. Backstage, Samantha talks to Louis and Kelly. She says her foot is still sore and she can't wear shoes, but she's happy it's not more serious and she doesn't have to leave the competition. Louis jokes that he thinks Kelly might use her injury to get out of rehearsal time week. Michael and Anna show up backstage, and Samantha asks them nonsense questions. Michael knows that he needs his fans to stay alive, and Anna says that she admires his "winning attitude." I kind of can't believe he's still on the show. I feel like he's kind of skated by for a while now.
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Norah Jones is back to sing her hit "Come Away With Me." I dig that she's playing guitar and she has another chick playing guitar to her. It's kind of hot. And then Jonathan and Anna come out to dance, and they always look so lovely together. I'm sad that Anna's not in the competition anymore, but if it means that they might do more pro dances, I'm all for it. Aw, and then Tom says afterwards that this was Jonathan and Anna's wedding song. So sweet.
The bumper this time is various pro dancers talking about how much influence Michael Jackson had on their careers and movements and choreography, as well as some words from Latoya and Jermaine Jackson.
So let's find out who else is in jeopardy, shall we? Louie and Chelsie are safe. Melissa and Mark are in jeopardy. Tom points out that the four couples in jeopardy have all been at or near the top of the leaderboard in the past.
It's finally time for the Michael Jackson tribute they've been teasing all night. But first, another clip package! He was a great dancer! He had huge influence on all types of entertainers. Some of the pros reflect on how he changed the face of dancing, and then those that knew him personally talk about what a gentle soul he was. Okay, we get it... how about some dancing now?
Latoya comes out (and she just grosses me out because I feel like she couldn't be happier for the attention she's been getting because of her brother's untimely death) and poorly reads from a teleprompter until finally the dance starts. The first segment is Mark, Derek, and Karina dancing to "I Want You Back." They even incorporate a little bit of "The Wiz," in there. This leaders to Tony, Chelsie, Dmitri, Maks, Edyta, and Lacey doing a segment to "Man in the Mirror," in which they try to incorporate some of Michael's signature moves like the leg kick. The third segment is "Thriller" with Cheryl and Louis. As they dance, the rest of the pros (including Jonathan, Alec, and both Annas) come out of the audience like zombies and join in. They end up doing the famous "Thriller" dance in a pyramid formation and the audience goes nuts. It's probably not right that I got a big kick out of the fact that Derek is up front in the formation instead of Mark Ballas. But I did. The only thing I didn't like about that routine was that it was so short. I wish they had cut out some of the bullshit filler clip packages to make it longer. I realize that the pros have a ton of choreography to learn every week, but I would have loved to have seen even more of that, if possible. There's something really fun about seeing all of the pros perform together for once, in their element, without having to carry the celebrities. And I have to mention, and I don't mean to take anything away from Michael's considerable talent, but Michael Peters actually choreographed "Thriller," and I feel like he never gets the recognition he deserves for that.
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The four couples in jeopardy are Derek and Joanna, Mark and Melissa, Natalie and Alec, and Aaron and Karina. Somewhere in that group is the bottom two, and one of them will be eliminated. It's time to start narrowing down the field even more. Tom announces that Melissa and Mark are safe. Mark looks really surprised. Also safe are Joanna and Derek. I'm glad; I don't love Joanna but I would have hated to see them go out on a week when Derek didn't even get to dance.
So the bottom two are Natalie and Alec and Aaron and Karina. Tom asks Bruno what he thinks about this. Bruno is dumbfounded, because both of these couples have been on the top of the leaderboard. Carrie Ann is disappointed to see Natalie up there, because she has such potential. Len says he's heartbroken for those two couples who don't deserve to be in the bottom two. He yells out "Justice must prevail!" Which is why I hope Aaron goes home. He makes me uncomfortable. So who is going home? Tick tock tick tock tick tock. Natalie and Alec. BOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO! Natalie can barely speak, but she says that she loved being on the show a lot and she wishes that she could have shown it more. Tom points out that the audience is giving her a standing ovation. Alec tries to comfort her a bit, but he's a bit of a cold fish, isn't he? I don't get him and Edyta together. Tom says that week they are doing a dance marathon, a dance-off, and a double elimination. That's a lot of business to handle in one week. See you then!
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