Brooke has returned to her bandage dress thing from last season, although this one is strapless and makes her boobs look HUUUUUGE! It's sweeps! Got to get those ratings. The couples come down the stairs and Derek nearly wipes out. I have been waiting for YEARS for someone to tumble down those stairs and it hasn't happened yet.
Each couple has to do two dances tonight, and William and Cheryl are first. They got a perfect score last week (undeserved, in my opinion) and this week they have the samba and the tango. And that tango is first, to "Sweet Dreams" by the Eurhythmics. Well, it's intense. I still don't get William, though. He's a good dancer, but I don't see greatness. His frame is good. His facial expressions are fine, although in this routine, I felt like I could see him thinking about the steps instead of falling into the dance. I noticed that Cheryl did a lot of little flicks and kicks and William did none. I think Cheryl is just SO good at choreographing to her partner's strengths that you don't notice that all William is really doing is walking around. Walking in a complicated fashion, to be sure, but walking. I'm sure the judges will fall all over themselves, though.
Judges? Len says he's really excited about the semifinals, and he loved this dance. He mentions wanting a tighter hold and crisper movement, but he really liked it. Bruno goes on for a few minutes in his usual sexual metaphor. I like Bruno, but his shtick is getting a little old. Anyway, he liked it too. Carrie Ann thought his lines and angles were gorgeous, but she has some tiny nitpicks. The audience boos, but Carrie Ann says she's just giving constructive criticism to help them in the finals. I don't really see how giving criticism specific to this routine helps in the finals. Shouldn't she give more general dance criticism? Like telling him he over-rotated on a turn doesn't really help. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 10.
Last week, Katherine's tearaway pants got caught on her leg, but she managed to pull through. This week, she has the quickstep and the salsa, and reveals that she's thinking about revealing her belly, which she never would have done in the first week. But their quickstep is up first. It's all flapper style, although the music is very '40s, so that's a mismatch. Katherine does a great quickstep; she's light on her feet, enthusiastic, and graceful. I think this was the type of dance she was made for. I still hate Mark's overdancing and guppy faces, but Katherine looked great.
Judges? Bruno says it was "picture-perfect" and had "amazing technique." Carrie Ann does the fakeout where she says that Katherine needs to bring her A game for the finals, and she didn't - she brought her A+ game. Carrie Ann also calls it maybe the best dance ever on the show. Well, let's not get carried away. Len says it was great, but there was a foot fault early on. Mark takes responsibility, and Len says it was a fabulous number overall. I liked that, though. Len's not going to give them a 10, and he's explaining why not. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10.
Donald and Peta are up . They have the samba and the waltz this week. Donald has trouble with the hip action for the samba, and he's worried because he's never seen a semifinals with this much talent in all of his years watching the show. I would agree; usually there's a clear delineation between the top two or three and the rest of the field. This could really go any way. So their waltz is REALLY lovely. There's a little slipup near the end with some turns, but the first half is just beautiful. Donald is graceful and yet masculine.
Judges? Carrie Ann felt the emotion in that dance but she saw a few missteps. Len thought the dance was from a more elegant era, but he didn't keep his head to the left enough. Bruno knows that the waltz is a difficult dance to do impressively, and Donald did that. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 10. Hmm. I thought that was just as good as the two dances.
The final couple in the first round is Maria and Derek. This week, they have the jive and the Argentine tango. Derek struggles to get the choreography right, especially since he was criticized last week. Maria and Derek both have mini-breakdowns but are able to support one another through it. I guess that was to show us that their partnership is solid, after last week's fight. Their tango is amazing. There are a few tiny weirdnesses with Maria's legs, but the choreography is just great and it looks REALLY difficult. I saw on one of the entertainment shows this evening that Derek has a back injury so I do NOT know how he did all those lifts, or even danced at all.
Judges? Len says he was caught up in the dance. Bruno thought it was impeccably tailored and utterly fabulous. Plus he molests Len while talking. Carrie Ann says she remembered when Maria first started, and it's been quite a transformation. And Carrie Ann has many words of praise for the routine. Maria looks like she can't quite believe it. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. Derek and Maria can't believe it. Brooke tries to get them to list all their respective injuries, but Derek demurs, because he knows that no one wants to hear it. I admire that a lot. Maria FREAKS OUT at her scores.
Time for sob stories! William grew up really poor and they never had enough food. He was always driven to be better. He left Cuba because his stepfather was a political prisoner and his family was granted asylum. He started out in this country as a model before transitioning to acting, and now he's a huge star in Latin America. And ladies really, really like him. Anyway, they're dancing the samba. Cheryl's no dummy; she put William in white pants so you can see every bounce to the ounce. And he's naturally good at the samba. My only issue with it is there isn't a ton of the samba bounce, and when he does it, it's all in the shoulders instead of at the knees. But he sure looked good doing it.
Judges? Bruno rolls his r's a lot and talks about the flavor of sexy Brazil. Carrie Ann is too overcome to even talk but she says his bounce was more like a thrust. That's what I noticed. Len thought the junk in his trunk was great, and he did a ton of basic samba steps while also having great rhythm. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. As long as the thrusting was an acceptable replacement for the bouncing, I guess that makes sense. It just didn't look much like a samba to me.
What's Katherine's story? She grew up in small-town Wales. She studied at a prestigious music university, and then got a recording deal, becoming a sensation in Britain. She was engaged to a real hottie, but they broke up at the end of last year, right before she started rehearsals for this show. She and Mark are doing the salsa, with a Far East flair. Um, didn't Derek try this last week and failed miserably? Also, this style of dance is not Katherine's forte. She looks awkward most of the time. And then they screw up the final move and Katherine nearly falls down. She's really, really upset and I can't tell if she's injured or just sad that she messed up. Neither can Tom, and he tries to make sure Katherine is okay.
Carrie Ann loved to see her let loose and is sorry about the ending. Len also loved that she went full on. Bruno tells her not to worry about the ending, because it was wonderful. Are they just being nice? Because I thought that was pretty awful. I think Katherine took a knee to the gut, because she keeps holding her stomach, but when she gets to Brooke, she says that it was her back. Ouch. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. If that routine had happened in the first few weeks, the scores would have been 7s and 8s.
Donald grew up poor, and his father was in prison when he was born. They were homeless for a while, and lived in a U-Haul under a bridge for a while. Eventually, his mother sent Donald and his brother to live with their grandparents, even though it was a bad neighborhood and they started selling drugs and stealing cars. He was a great athlete, but a troubled kid, even in college, until he met his wife. She told him to choose between her and selling drugs, and he chose her. Aw, that is sweet. This is making me like him even more. He was drafted in the seventh round, which didn't guarantee him a spot on any NFL roster, but he worked hard and he's a record-holder and a champ. I had him on my fantasy football roster one season, and he was GREAT. So I've liked him since then. Also, his kids are SO cute. Okay, I'm one hundred percent on team Driver.
I love their samba. I might be influenced by how much I liked his backstory, but I really liked the story of a rich dude and the lady who bilked him out of his money set to "Mr. Big Stuff." I saw a lot of great footwork and some fantastic bouncing. I'm still mad they didn't get a perfect score for their waltz, so the judges had better reward this one. It wasn't perfect, but I feel like the storytelling made up for a few small lapses in technique.
Judges? Len says it was a little careful here and there but he liked it. Bruno took a big risk in not doing a Brazilian song but it worked out beautifully. Carrie Ann just grins and says it was "A+ game." I think she already used that line. Can I give his kids a 10 each? Because they are adorable. And then in the interview, Donald talks about his mom and gets too emotional to talk. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10. Is Len ever going to give him that 10? Come on, old man.
Maria's story: lived in Massachusetts, where her parents worked as janitors. Haven't we already seen this? Wasn't this part of her package in the week where they told a story through dance or whatever? Anyway, I really love their jive, but it's a lot of Derek dancing and not as much Maria dancing. I mean, what she does, she does well, and it fits the song ("Tightrope" by Janelle Monae) really well, but I can see the judges saying it didn't have enough jive content. I cannot believe some of the moves that Derek pulled off with a bad back, though. I know his score shouldn't be based on that (or really, any of the moves that Derek pulled off), but it was a sight to see. I wish he had given Maria more to do; that's been an issue with them all season.
Judges? Bruno calls it the jive reinvented with quirky and unexpected details. All those weird moves shouldn't have worked, but they did. Carrie Ann tells Maria it was another stunner and she's a winner tonight. Len liked the footwork and the inventiveness and felt good with the music. The judges are surprising me! I agree with them, though. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10. I agree with those scores. I'm glad they didn't get another 30, but that was a routine I plan to watch again.
Man, anyone could go home tomorrow night. It really is going to come down to viewer votes. When they show Katherine during the closing, she looks miserable and in a great deal of pain. Yikes. Here are the final scores:
Maria and Derek: 30 + 29 = 59
William and Cheryl: 28 + 30 = 58