Last night, the judges made some inappropriate comments and Donny and Kym messed up their tango, but someone has to go home tonight and the other three couples will go on to the finals. But Tom doesn't yell LIIIIIIIIIIIIVE which always throws me off.
Wow, you can tell that everyone is nervous and no one wants to go home tonight. All of the stars look like they are about the throw up, except Joanna, who looks like she wants to cut a bitch, but maybe that's her nervous face. Len announces that they want to see Mya and Dmitry's salsa again. Rewatching it tonight, I am really struck by the intricacy of some of the moves and how quickly they are happening, and Mya and Dmitry pull them off without a hitch. It's like he's throwing her under his leg and then grabbing her head and she's moving her legs around and it all happens in under two seconds and it flows smoothly. It's really impressive.
Let's quickly review what happened last night. Kelly reveals that she totally improvised the solo section in her rumba because she forgot the steps. She can't stop laughing about it. Joanna got the best judges' comments, in her opinion, in the whole season. Donny couldn't stop lamenting his screw-up in the tango, but he was pleased he made a comeback in his second and third dances. Mya couldn't believe her high scores, and she has a good point; her technique was as good as it's always been, but the judges loved it last night.
I think we're going to find out one safe couple right now. I'm assuming they aren't going to do a bottom two? Anyway, after saying a little something about each couple, they promise to reveal one of the finalists after the break.
As Julie Chen would say, BUT FIRST! We get to see a clip package where they all talk about how awesome the others are. Mya is a true dancer. Joanna has great posture and lines. Donny is determined and a consummate performer. Kelly has made a transformation but needs confidence in herself.
They're going to make them wait even longer, as Samantha is backstage with the four stars to ask them some useless questions. The first is, "How do you feel tonight?" They all appreciate being there and Donny makes some bad jokes about estrogen.
It's a musical performance from the upcoming movie Nine. I have to be honest -- this performance is not making me want to see the movie at all. It's not even the best group musical performance we've seen this season. And since it's totally out of context, it doesn't tell me anything about the movie. Boring. Filler. And then during the break, there's a commercial for the movie and I'm still confused, and also annoyed by Kate Hudson and the fact that I can't believe they expect me to believe that's really her singing in the ad.
Hey, remember when they promised to tell us who was safe? Not so much. Now it's time for a performance by Alicia Keys, complete with dancing but not by the regular pros. I like a lot of Alicia Keys songs, but not this one so much. It doesn't showcase her vocals, and she's got a great voice. It's too generic, or the sound mix is all off or something.
Time for more filler. A clip package set to "Pressure" by David Bowie and Queen. Oh, dear. The finalists are lip-synching to the song. I might buy Mya and Kelly singing this song, but Donny Osmond? And Joanna? No. And what is the point of this? It's not weird enough to be funny -- they're totally playing it straight. Okay, there are some goofy parts where Mya is burning her dance shoes and Kelly throws a mirror ball. But overall, it's not funny and it's just a waste of time. Bring Alicia Keys back to sing another song or something.
Okay, they claim they're really going to tell us some results. They've brought out Joanna and Derek along with Mya and Dmitry as the top two scoring-wise. First, Tom reveals that Mya and Dmitry are, in fact, in the finals. Mya leaps into Dmitry's arms. Joanna and Derek don't get to find out just yet.
After the break, instead of more results, it's Leona Lewis performing. Once again, there is a distinct lack of the regular pros doing the dancing. Weird. I spent the whole song trying to figure out if Leona was singing or lip-synching and I never did quite figure it out. It sounded too perfect to be live, but if she was faking it, she's really good at it.
Samantha's backstage with Mya and Dmitry, and she asks them how it feels to be the ones to beat. Mya says they've had ups and downs, but she can't complain. Joanna talks about how emotional it was for her watching the clip package about her family last night.
Tom is about to reveal the facts of Donny and Kym and Kelly and Louis OR SO HE CLAIMS. I've heard that one before. So guess who's in the finals? Donny and Kym. Wow. Donny looks crazy relieved. So that means either Kelly or Joanna is going home.
Hey, it's the Bee Gees! Wow, and it's their 50th anniversary. That makes me feel super old. Melissa and Tony are back to dance to "You Should Be Dancing," which always makes me think of the movie Short Circuit. The best part is when they cut to an angle where you can see the judges' table and Bruno and Carrie Ann have gone full-on Saturday Night Live in their dancing with the pointing fingers and all. Love it. And then Tony and Cheryl, along with Chelsie and some dude come out and dance. That's not Melissa. I thought Melissa was going to come out? I'm very confused. So then after an instrumental breakdown, Melissa comes out and she's not wearing shoes. My husband is very disturbed by that. I wonder if she continued to have foot or ankle problems like she did during her season. Anyway, her routine is really fun, and while she wasn't my favorite during her season, she looks like she's having a ton of fun.
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Clip package of how the pros put together routines on top of their competition routines. As you can imagine, they all want to have input into the choreography, and they have a hard time finding a day and time when they can all rehearse together. And sometimes people screw around during rehearsal. They also work hard to find the right costumes. But they all agree that dancing for the love of dancing, instead of for scores, is exhilarating and there's nothing like it. This was one of my favorite clip packages so far -- I love the behind-the-scenes stuff. I wish they would take one pro dance and go through and show us how it came together from conception through rehearsal and choreography to the final performance.
They pretend like they're going to tell us who's going home , but come on. There's way too much time left in the show for that. So it's to the commercial break first. Okay, now that the commercials are done, NOW they will tell us if Joanna is going home or if Kelly is going home. Samantha reminds us that these are not necessarily the bottom two. Len says that Kelly has entered all of their hearts, and Joanna has been the most consistent (really?), and he thinks whoever goes will be missed. Joanna blows another kiss, which she really needs to stop doing. So who's going home? Joanna and Derek. NO shocker. Kelly has a way bigger fanbase. I think Derek's fans have carried Joanna a few weeks further than she would have gotten otherwise.
Joanna says all the right things in her final interview -- that she's grown as a person, that she appreciates the opportunity, and that she had a great partner. Instead of the lame final dance they usually do, Joanna and Derek are going to do their Viennese waltz from last night once again. It really is a beautiful dance, even if they kind of massacre "Hallelujah" and I think screwed up the lyrics (isn't it "major lift" not "major fifth"?). Anyway, I kind of dig the final performance to say goodbye but they usually don't leave enough time. So on to the finals week!
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