Fusion Frenzy

S15E13

It makes me uncomfortable when they shoot the packages on film instead of video, because I feel like I'm watching The Bachelor. Especially when I'm watching Val and Kelly, who may or may not be a couple and apparently even they don't know. Anyway, they have the foxtrot and the cha cha this week. They open with the foxtrot, which is just delightful. I wish their whole routine had been foxtrot. It's light and fun and frothy and romantic. Their cha cha is less successful but I think it's due more to the music than their technique. I can recognize that they're doing cha cha moves but it doesn't feel like a cha cha.

Judges? Len thought it was both smooth and crisp, and he loved Val's choreography. Bruno thought there was plenty of flash and dash in the cha cha and sophistication in the foxtrot. Carrie Ann loved how Kelly recovered from a loss of balance early on, and she managed the character of both dances really well. Carrie Ann is gushing. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. Based on the comments, I thought the scores would be higher.

Melissa was really affected by seeing Sabrina eliminated. Tony and Melissa have the tango and the cha cha, and Melissa really struggles with getting the moves, because they are completely different dances. Tony was also distracted because his family was back East during the storm. They open with the tango, and it feels a little perfunctory, like Melissa is just trying to get through the steps so she can get to the section. The cha cha is better; Melissa really sells it although her posture feels funky to me. I don't know if she's just having trouble integrating the two dances or what, but something is off.

Judges? Bruno loved the shapes in the tango and the transition into the cha cha. Carrie Ann loved how much Melissa put it all out there. Len thought the two dances were beautifully defined and he loved how they fused them together instead of just dividing the dance in half. They did, but not as strongly as Emmitt and Cheryl did. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9.5, and Bruno 9.5.

Derek hurt his neck last week so Mark is taking over and dancing with Shawn this week. They have a tango/paso fusion and Shawn is very confused trying to learn from both Mark and Derek, who aren't always in agreement on the choreography. That would be really frustrating. Anyway, Shawn's tango is great and she looks really sexy. That may be the first time I've thought that about Shawn. As the routine goes on, though, I'm not seeing a ton of paso. I think they are going back and forth between the two dances (as opposed to the 50/50 split some others did) so I may just be missing it, and there are definite paso movements in there, but it felt like a tango with paso elements instead of a fusion. Technically, Shawn was very good. I'll let the judges tell me I'm wrong.

Judges? Len thought there was nothing safe about it, and he attacked it. Bruno thought it was hot, and Carrie Ann thought it started off strong and ended stronger. Hmm. Am I the only one who saw that he struggled with some of the moves? Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. I guess they did see the roughness, but just didn't talk about it.

Emmitt and Cheryl are up . They have a samba/rumba and Emmitt has trouble switching from one to the other. Cheryl demonstrates the counts and it does sound really confusing. When they actually do the routine, I kind of can't believe they pulled it off. Unlike Apolo and Karina, who basically split their dance in half, Emmitt and Cheryl alternate between samba and rumba, and it's really obvious which is which. Emmitt is clearly more comfortable with the samba, but the rumba steps are there. His samba is great though; he had one pass that made me say, "Wow, that was nice" out loud. I think he missed one step at the end, but overall, very nice.

Judges? Bruno thought it was a smooth and balanced blend, and it was seamless and extremely difficult. Carrie Ann also applauds that they went back and forth between styles, but she thought Emmitt's upper body was lacking. Len and Bruno disagree with her. Len says he couldn't have done the dance as well as Emmitt did, which is a HUGE compliment. Scores: Carrie Ann 8.5, Len 9.5, and Bruno 9.5

Kirstie and Maks did well last week, and Kirstie gained new confidence as she realized that she doesn't have to be the best dancer to win the show. That's sort of a weird thing to realize, but she's not wrong. Also, Kirstie organized donations to those affected by Sandy on the East Coast. And don't forget that Maks grew up in New York, and his neighborhood was devastated, he says. Anyway, they're doing a quickstep/samba.

They are dancing to one of my all-time favorite songs, "Sir Duke" by Stevie Wonder. It is veeeeeeeeery slowed down, though. They begin with the quickstep and Kirstie has lots of opportunities to throw her horsehair around. Then they move into the samba, and Kirstie seems to think the samba means just shaking your butt. I see very little samba bounce. Seeing her after Emmitt is very illuminating; she's not half the dancer he is, and he's not even the best dancer left. Her quickstep was actually better, and that's the part she didn't want to do.

Judges? Carrie Ann thought the samba was a mess, but the quickstep was nice. Len thought it was a nice mix, although there were a few "incidents." That's a nice way of putting it. Bruno loves that Kirstie is always entertaining and hilarious, and that quickstep was good, but she lost timing on the samba. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8. Kirstie thought that was generous. I'm glad she realizes that.

Judges? Carrie Ann thought it was the dictionary definition of dance fusion and it was fantastic. Len thought it was a firecracker and he would vote for them. Bruno thought it was flawless, with two dances performed to the maximum purity of each dance. They should give Derek some props for choreography, no? Shawn looks terrified for some reason. She and Mark did not smile at all while the judges were heaping them with praise. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. Derek promises to be back week, and let's face it: he choreographed that whole thing. Every suggestion that Mark made got shot down that we saw.

Gilles is frustrated with his scores, because he knows that they need to be higher if he wants to stay. And he feels like he's working as hard as he can, and doesn't know how to work harder or better. To top it off, he's having a hard time getting the moves, but after a pep talk from his best friend (an MMC fighter), he's ready to attack the dance. They have an Argentine tango/samba fusion. This should be interesting. That's a tough combo. Their Argentine tango is INCREDIBLE. So sexy and technically amazing. That is Gilles's dance. The samba is less so - not enough bounce and a little too serious.

Judges? Len thought both parts of the dance were amazing. Bruno found it sultry and intense in the tango and exciting and sensual in the samba. Carrie Ann still sees some arm problems, but she thought it was a fantastic fusion. Scores: Carrie Ann 9.5, Len 9.5, and Bruno 9.5.

Now they have the swing dance marathon. Ugh, I hate these dance marathons. It's so ridiculous to try to watch what each couple is doing and judge them accordingly. Anyway, while we wait for the couples to get changed and catch their breath, Mark and Chelsie are going to dance with a troupe made up of people from Utah, which is Dance Central. I don't really get this one: there's a glacier and they're all dressed like crows or possibly vampires?

Time for the swing dance marathon! It's four minutes long and lifts are allowed. The judges will knock out couples one-by-one - lasting longer means more points. The dancing begins and Kirstie and Maks are the first couple out, mostly because they really weren't doing anything other than the basic swing dance step. No lifts, not even anything beyond basic. Gilles and Peta are out and I don't know why, but I didn't see them do anything very exciting, so maybe that's why. Although Kelly and Val were really marking time and not doing much so I'm not sure why they didn't get tapped first. Emmitt and Cheryl seem to have one move, and it involves Emmitt doing a handstand; I've seen it twice so far and we're not even halfway done. Apolo and Karina are out.

Now that we're down to four couples, the dancers can go anywhere on the floor so this is usually when they bust out the big moves. Emmitt does a big slide through Cheryl's legs but it's not enough to keep him in since people like Shawn are doing flips, so Emmitt and Cheryl are out . Melissa and Tony seem to be doing the most actual dancing; I don't know that I've seen a stunt from them while it's all Shawn and Mark seem to be doing - and that pays out, as Shawn and Mark are gone . I think they were juuuuuust setting up for a big stunt when they got the tap. Oops.

So we're down to two couples: Kelly and Val, and Melissa and Tony. Melissa and Tony look surprised and Melissa has to vamp for a while but finally she and Tony pull off a stunt. In bad timing, during and after that stunt, Kelly and Val are doing nothing and they get eliminated . So Melissa and Tony are the winners. I like that they won. They were actually dancing instead of just doing crazy stunt after crazy stunt.

Len says that it was a jungle out there, but Melissa and Tony kept the energy steady from beginning to end. There was a balloon drop when the winner was announced and everyone is giddily kicking the balloons around, including Tom.

Wow, that was one of the rare extra bits that actually had an impact on the leaderboard. Melissa and Tony took over the top slot, and Kelly and Val rocketed up to third, while Gilles slid down a few slots. Kirstie and Maks are still dead last, which is as it should be. See you week! Here is the leaderboard:

Melissa and Tony: 29 + 10 = 39

Shawn and Mark (Derek): 30 + 8 = 38

Kelly and Val: 27 + 9 = 36

Emmitt and Cheryl: 27.5 + 7 = 34.5

Gilles and Peta: 28.5 + 5 = 33.5

Apolo and Karina: 27 + 6 = 33

Kirstie and Maks: 24 + 4 = 28