Don't Stop Me Now

S15E03

Joey Fatone is dressed up like Charlie Chaplin. Oh good, because what I've been missing from Joey is more mugging. In rehearsals, Joey notes that the quickstep requires you to cover all four corners of the floor, and that means a lot of moving, and he's got a lot of bulk to move. Okay. First off, they dance to a '20s version of "Creep" by Radiohead, which is so off-putting and bizarre that it completely takes me out of the dance. And then, Joey's upper body is awful. His shoulders are up around his ears and his arms are not graceful at all. He does fine with the footwork but after seeing the earlier quicksteps, his definitely suffers in comparison. He sells the "story" of the dance and the character, but he always does that.

Judges? Carrie Ann loved the character and performance, but he did make a few mistakes. Len thought there was poor posture and bad footwork, but he enjoyed the routine anyway. Len adds that if you can't dance, you should entertain. I think Len meant it as a compliment but it came off as him saying that Joey can't dance. Bruno says the same as the others: good performance, mediocre dancing. Scores: Carrie Ann: 7.5, Len 7.5, and Bruno 7.5. Overscored by about a point.

Shawn, like Apolo, is really competitive and wants to be in the top three, so she's going to add gymnastics to the routine, since she figures that's something she can do that no one else can. And sure enough, they open with cartwheels down the stairs. Their jive is really good. Clean, sharp, and fun to watch. And controlled, which I think is difficult for the jive sometimes. My only complaint is that sometimes Shawn doesn't put enough bounce in her kicks and flicks, but that could be a stylistic thing, not technique.

Judges? Len though there was just enough content and technique, and he expects more from Shawn. Bruno thinks Len is nutso, and it was perfect. Carrie Ann agrees with Bruno, because Shawn and Derek's synchronicity was amazing. Scores: Carrie Ann 8.5, Len 8, and Bruno 8.5. Derek admits backstage that he's barely keeping up with Shawn, so I'm not sure how much more content he could put in.

Kelly was really nervous about returning to the ballroom but she admits that she danced without counting the steps and it felt really good. While rehearsing their quickstep, Val keeps telling Kelly to stop bouncing her boobs, like she can control that. She makes him wear a bra with water balloons in it so he can see what it feels like, and then he understands. Those two are doing it, right? It seems like they're doing it. Anyway, their quickstep. I think the costuming did Kelly a disservice this week because her footwork was great but you couldn't see it at times due to her tea-length princess gown. Her neck and upper body looked fantastic. As with Helio, I don't remember her being this good of a dancer.

Judges? Bruno says that he knows it was all in fun, but she wasn't in hold enough, she screwed up the Charleston step, and when she was in hold, her posture was bad. Carrie Ann loves seeing Bristol's progress, but points out that there's a rule that once they go into hold on the quickstep, they have to stay in hold until the end, and they broke hold a number of times. Len liked the entertainment and enthusiasm of the dance, and adds that he liked "the hoedown but the technique was a bit lowdown." They are trying to be really nice with their criticisms, though. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 6, and Bruno 6. Ouch.

Helio is also feeling the pressure from the increased competition this season. And their dumb field trip this week involves Chelsie going for a ride in a car with Helio on a track. Anyway, they have the jive and Helio is a much better dancer than I remember. His movements are sharp and he's got great facial expressions. This routine has tons of kicks and flicks and he seems to hit all of them, even if he is still a little pigeon-toed.

Judges? Carrie Ann thought he improved this week and his kicks and flicks were right on it. Len loved that Helio let the joy in his face come through, and agrees with Carrie Ann on the kicks and flicks. Bruno calls it "a delicious treat of a jive," but there were tiny nitpicks to point out. Overall, Bruno thought the dance was fun. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 7.5, and Bruno 7.5.

Apolo wasn't super happy with his scores last week, even though he came in fourth place last week. He's in the Olympic mindset that he needs to come in the top three or it doesn't count. Karina is also encouraging him to lead in their quickstep, which is tough when he's not sure of the steps. So their quickstep? Is pretty incredible. At first I was worried that Apolo wasn't light enough on his feet but then they went into a prolonged piece of footwork that got the audience on their feet. It was complicated and Apolo pulled it off without a hitch. He looked like a pro out there.

Judges? Len tells Apolo that he earned the gold medal, because he combined speed and control. Bruno says that Apolo proved that determination and focus pay off, and his footwork was incredible. Carrie Ann felt like Apolo was truly driving the dance, which is key to winning. Scores: Carrie Ann 8.5, Len 8, and Bruno 8. Man, they are really holding back the 9s. I thought their scores would be higher.

Sabrina got criticized for overdancing last week, so Louis decides to give her more difficult choreography this week, including some sort of crazy flying up the stairs. In rehearsals, she nails it but then when Louis goes to dip her, she's not ready and falls on the stairs and hurts her arm, I guess? I rewatched it and I'm not sure how she hurt her arm. Anyway, she's not sure if she wants to keep it in the routine. So their quickstep is really great, although there's a weird opening where they pretend to be backstage and surprised that it's time to dance that didn't fit into the routine and just felt awkward. The actual dancing is great - I don't see a single misstep. The ending is the big flight up the stairs and...I don't see why they risked life and limb for that ending. It didn't have a huge impact. But the rest of the routine was great.

Judges? Bruno compares Sabrina to Ginger Rogers and says it was a sparkler and a dazzler. Carrie Ann thought it was ridiculous and her lines were better than Carrie Ann has ever seen. Len loved his Sabrina kept her upper body clam and her legs worked overtime. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8.5, and Bruno 8.5. Well, Carrie Ann broke the nine barrier for the first time this season.

Kirstie and Maks have the jive this week, but Kirstie has trouble kicking with her knees together, and instead looks like she's doing a country hoedown. She's very good-humored when Maks points it out, and admits that she's mentally into the dance but she realizes her feet are too slow. Maks points out that she's competing with twenty-year-old athletes, and she doesn't want to be told she's good "for her age." I remember Kirstie's jive last time around and it was slooooow. Hope she does better this time. Maks has choreographed a routine where Kirstie basically stands there and rubs herself while Maks dances around her. She barely does any kicks and flicks and when she does, her feet aren't really moving.

Judges? Carrie Ann thinks Kirstie is working it, and age doesn't matter. Carrie Ann advices them to match their movement style as partners; in other words, don't have Maks flying all over the place while Kirstie stands still. Len thought it was neat and precise while there was "recognizable jive." That doesn't sound like a compliment. Bruno thought Kirstie played the character beautifully, but he doesn't say anything about the dancing. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7. Overscored.

Emmitt and Cheryl were on top of the leaderboard last week. Emmitt interviews that he's not intimidated by his competition and denigrates their livelihoods, which I don't think will go over well and came off as kind of nasty. In rehearsals, Cheryl and Emmitt have a lot of fun with the fact that Emmitt's head is crooked. Ha? Anyway, they have the quickstep. I don't know, it doesn't impress me. It feels like Cheryl is leading, and Emmitt doesn't have the energy and charisma that are his trademark.

Judges? Len loved his cool attitude, but Emmitt was lacking the proper upper body lines. Bruno thinks the energy is great even if the frame wasn't perfect, and he lost timing at the end. Carrie Ann says that Emmitt might want to watch out for his non-intimidating competition because Helio and Apolo did better than him this week. Agreed. Scores: Carrie Ann 7.5, Len 7.5, and Bruno 7.5. I think that's about right.

Drew was in the bottom two last week. Drew vows to loosen up this week. Anna choreographs a slap into the routine, and she makes sure to practice it was much as possible. They do their jive, and I think it's really good! It's got kind of a punk vibe but the integrity of the jive is still there and I'm more impressed with Drew's dancing than I've been in a long time. His footwork is great, his lines are great. Good job, Drew!

Judges? Bruno loved the energy and attack, but thought Drew went flat-footed at times. Carrie Ann says, "Welcome home, Drew." She loved that Drew surprised them, and agrees that he needs to watch his feet. Len agrees also but doesn't think Drew will be in the bottom two this week. Scores: Carrie Ann 7.5, Len 7.5, and Bruno 7.5. I thought that was fair; I didn't see the flat feet, so I guess that counts for a half point off per judge.

Judges? Bruno thought it was elegant, although she lost frame a little bit in hold. Carrie Ann thinks Kelly is confident in hold, but she needs to extend her lines and dance bigger. Len liked the parts that were out of hold. So the judges are sending mixed messages. Scores: Carrie Ann 7.5, Len 7, and Bruno 7.5. Hmm. I thought it was a little better than that.

Gilles pulled his hamstring before last week's routine and the doctor told him that he should rest it for a week or two. Ha ha, not. You don't see any sign of his injury during his routine. His kicks are so high that they're practically Rockette style. They're almost too high, and he's kind of hunched over. I don't know, there's something weird about his jive. But he performs the hell out of it. He seems too slinky or something? Maybe I'm just too used to seeing everyone's '50s jives, so a different style throws me off.

Judges? Carrie Ann thought his kicks and flicks were the best of the night. Len thought it was fast and dynamic, and Gilles is consistently good. Bruno yells something about cleavage. Who knows what he's talking about? No one. Scores: Carrie Ann 8.5, Len 8.5 and Bruno 8.5. Gilles looks like he's in a lot of pain.

I hope Bristol goes home, but I could see it being Kristie too. I'm surprised to see Kelly down there at the bottom of the leaderboard but I guess that shows you how stiff the competition is this season. Here are your scores:

Sabrina and Louis: 26

Gilles and Peta: 25.5

Shawn and Derek: 25

Apolo and Karina: 24.5

Melissa and Tony: 23.5

Helio and Chelsie: 23

Emmitt and Cheryl: 22.5

Drew and Anna: 22.5

Joey and Kym: 22.5

Kelly and Val: 22

Kirstie and Maks: 21

Bristol and Mark: 18