It's the finale! And the final four are actually all deserving, which is exciting. Usually there is at least one dud still in the mix. The show starts with a routine by Kym, Chelsie, and some troupe members. I think I'm starting to recognize Sasha. He's short. He's kind of like the bargain bin Tristan.
After they introduce the finalists, they show us some footage from rehearsal where Val got clocked in the face and blood spattered all over his face. But he's still going to dance! Compared to a broken spine and internal organ failure or whatever others have gone through this season, that seems mild.
Jacoby and Karina are up first. Jacoby is amazed that they were at the top of the leaderboard for the first time in the last week. Len comes to visit Jacoby and Karina in the studio. They have the jive this week, and Len wants to work on his footwork. Len encourages Jacoby to act like he's kicking a peanut on the floor to get his kicks and flicks right, and somehow it works. Karina is like, "I've been trying to get him to do that all season! Len, time can you come in week two?" Then Jacoby shows Len some of his football celebration moves and Len imitates him and it's pretty awesome. Len is having a good time.
So they start their jive and by start, I mean the music starts. They don't actually start jiving until about a quarter of the way into the song. I will say that Len's instruction worked; Jacoby's feet are SO much better for the first two-thirds of the routine. He loses it a little in the last section. And I think he's concentrating on his technique so much that he loses a little bit of the fun that usually goes into his dance. He has great musicality, but it was missing a little bit of swag.
Judges? Len says that there was definite improvement, although he did lose it at times. Bruno wonders where Jacoby gets his energy and charisma. Bruno calls Len "Gandalf the Great" (not the right name) and Len calls Bruno "Frodo." Heh. But Bruno notes that Jacoby lost the beat a few times. Carrie Ann also loved the excitement, but notes that his feet weren't always on point. Jacoby jokes that Carrie Ann can't wear cleats, and he can't wear heels. Bruno doesn't know what cleats are. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. That was maybe slightly overscored, but it's the finals, so the scores are always high.
Aly and Mark were also tops in the leaderboard last week, and Bruno is coming into their rehearsals to help with their samba. Bruno gets them to put in a samba roll, which is the hardest step in the samba. Aly is game to try it, and Bruno gives her tips to take her from a 9.5 to a 10.
Wow. That samba was a huge improvement over her one. She's much sexier, for sure. And she's got her hip action down. The choreography seemed harder, and she didn't miss a step. Mark cheated the samba roll a little bit; he put in a stationary one instead of a moving one, and just one. I was only mildly distracted by the raccoon tail that Mark had clipped to his pants. Mark was overdancing like crazy and Aly is good enough now that he doesn't pull focus.
Judges? Bruno says that there's no stopping Aly now, and she was cleaner and slicker than ever. Carrie Ann says that Aly has the momentum because she combines the best of all the other contestants. Len saw huge improvement, and he agrees with Carrie Ann that she's peaking at the right time. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 10.
Derek and Kellie are redoing their quickstep. They got a 29 the first time, so not much room for improvement. Len comes to help them and Kellie jokes that he feels like the principal and he makes her feel like she's in trouble. Kellie and Derek demonstrate their first pass and Len notices that there's still too much space in their hold. He shows them how to jam their crotches together, basically. I'm surprised that Derek didn't correct that himself. I mean, it must be weird to say, "We have to be connected at the crotch" but that's what you do.
It starts out a little soggy (the opposite of crisp) because I think Kellie threw in a little gallop that didn't belong. And it still seems like there's too much space in their hold. Their footwork is great though, and there's one big pause and then an explosion of kicking feet that totally works. After that, Kellie seems to remember to arch her back more so that she can push her pelvis forward, finally.
Judges? Len says he was super excited, and he loved the changes of rhythm. He thought their spacing was perfect. Really? Bruno thinks she is better than ever, and the technique was great, as it was packed with content. Carrie Ann says that she was looking for improvement in body contact and she saw it. Man, I must have been looking for the wrong thing. I saw it at the end, but not in the beginning. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. It's no secret that I have a soft spot for Derek, but I did not think that was a perfect routine.
Zendaya and Val had a rare misstep last week. This week, they have the samba and Carrie Ann joins them in rehearsals to offer advice. Her biggest tip is for Zendaya is to rehearse in heels and make sure she doesn't let her weight fall back on her heels.
Here's what I don't get about their samba: it doesn't really look much like a samba. Mark and Aly's dance was a SAMBA. There was a bounce to it, they did samba rolls, they did shoulder shimmies. I don't know if it's because Val is still trying not to make the choreography too sexy or what, but it didn't feel like a samba. It was very well executed and full of content, but...didn't feel like a samba.
Judges? Carrie Ann thought it was a combination of authentic salsa and...something else? She doesn't really finish the thought. Len thought it was show stopping. I guess I know nothing about sambas. Apparently, they even did a step that Len hasn't seen since the '80s. Bruno calls her "naturally fierce." This one's is proof that I don't go back after hearing the judges' thoughts and edit my own thoughts, because I was obviously wrong on this one. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10.
Now that the first round is over, it's time for the cha cha relay. Each couple has to dance for forty seconds each. The judges will rank them, with higher ranking equaling more points added to their score.
Derek and Kellie are first. Their segment looks pretty flawless. Kellie has the quickest feet, which are needed in this dance. Jacoby pulls focus a little when he comes out on stage while Kellie and Derek are still dancing, but I don't think he meant to; he and Karina are second. Their segment has like zero content. Jacoby is really disappointing me tonight. All he does is touch his feet side-to-side and then slide under Aly and Mark's legs. Aly's routine is good but Mark is overdancing so much that it overshadows Aly a bit. And then Zendaya comes out and is a superstar. I mean, she is head and shoulders above the others, and I'm not just talking about her height. So my rankings top to bottom would be Zendaya, Kellie, Aly, and Jacoby, although you could flip the middle two pretty easily.
Judges? Len thinks that these final four deserve to be there, and they're all winners. That was useless information. Bruno say that Kellie was tight and precise, Zendaya worked every angle, Aly was cheeky, and Jacoby is fighting for his life. Carrie Ann tells Kellie that she has precision, Zendaya is a cha cha (that's what she says), Aly is strong and earthy, and Jacoby provides a wild ride. Turns out I got the ranking exactly right: from top to bottom, it goes Zendaya, Kellie, Aly and then Jacoby.
And now the freestyles! Jacoby and Karina are up . They are planning on a tribute to New Orleans with a ton of extra dancers, including step dancing, tap dancing, and a whole lot of lifts. I am so looking forward to this. Wow, this is a hot mess, but in a good way. It starts with a second line step dance routine, and then there are a couple of huge lifts, and then some tap dancing, and I don't even know if it's good, but it's certainly unpredictable. My one issue with it would be that they tried to put too much into it and we didn't get to see enough of Jacoby being Jacoby, which is his strength.
Judges? Len says loves his full on attack with great energy. Bruno loved the sense of celebration, but thought the energy made him lose timing a bit. Carrie Ann agrees with Jacoby's mom that it was unique, and he chose the right freestyle strategy, but he didn't let himself shine. I totally agree. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9.
Tom is given the awful task of acknowledging the horrible tornado disasters in Oklahoma. I don't know whether it's worse to acknowledge it or not, but Tom does a great job with a tough task.
Mark's idea is to dance with a vertical bar. Like a stripper pole? Yeah, it's totally a stripper pole. I don't know why no one mentions it. Plus, it's up on a platform, so when Aly crawls all the way to the top, she's many, many feet up in the air. Also, Mark is scared of heights, so maybe he should have thought of that ahead of time? Also, those poles do not look that sturdy.
Okay, that was actually pretty cool. Aly had a big stumble coming out of one of the early lifts, but their pole work was in sync, which seems really difficult to master. I would have liked a little more dancing and a little less gymnastics, but I kind of always feel that way about freestyles. And it really did showcase what Aly can do, although I would have liked to see a little more of her personality in there.
Judges? Bruno says that it was a huge risk, and he's never seen anything like it. He couldn't believe they were in sync on the poles. Carrie Ann reminds us that she worked a pole on Madonna's tour (I saw that tour! She was topless!) and it's not easy, and she loves how Aly pushes her boundaries. Len loved it as well but he kind of runs out of time to talk about it. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. Eh, there was a big stumble in there. I would have liked at least one 9.
Derek considers a lot of gimmicks but then he decides to just strip it down and make the dancing more difficult. I love that idea.
Holy shit, did they make the right call. I mean, that was amazing. Kellie's lines are always out of this world, and she really performed the hell out of this routine, which was sort of a contemporary rumba. Some of the moves they pulled off - holy hell, I don't even know how that worked without wires. Fantastic.
Judges? Carrie Ann is just sobbing and can't even talk. She and Kellie hug and then Carrie Ann chokes out that it was beautiful. Len gives her a standing ovation. Bruno tells her that it was a work of art. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10.
I don't really understand Zendaya's routine. She is such an amazing dancer, and this is just a hodge podge and there's no real character to her routine. And then a bunch of kids come in and dance with them? Her hip hop routine last week was so much better than this freestyle. As with Jacoby, it was an entertaining routine but it didn't showcase what she can do.
Judges? Len thought all of the parts worked well together. Bruno thinks Zendaya is there for the teens to admire and inspire, and she brings her own personality to every dance. See, I didn't get that in her routine. Carrie Ann thought she showcased why she's a great role model. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. Val gives a weird speech about how we should be good parents. Do you have kids, Val? You don't know my life. Shut your piehole. Maybe he has a concussion.
You know, after last week I thought Zendaya had it wrapped up, but Kellie's freestyle was really over-the-top amazing and Zendaya didn't show me anything new this week. I think she, as a celebrity, has a huge future ahead of her, but I think Kellie did a better job this week, and if that's what I'm supposed to judge on, I would go with Kellie. Tomorrow night there will be one more dance (that likely won't change the standings) and then the winner will be crowned! See you then. Your scores:
Zendaya and Val: 30 + 5 + 30 = 65
Kellie and Derek: 30 + 4 + 30 = 64
Aly and Mark: 28 + 3 + 29 = 60
Jacoby and Karina: 27 + 2 + 27 = 56