It's Stevie Wonder night! So no matter how bad the dancing is, at least the music will be great. Stevie is on hand to sing and play piano and at first, I can't figure out why he looks so different. At first, I thought he had work done (and he might have) but it's because he's clean-shaven. He looks a lot younger. I always wondered how blind people make personal grooming decisions. I guess they have to have a trusted friend/partner to tell them, "No, seriously. Shave the goatee." I guess sighted people need that too, sometimes.
Anyway, we open with a medley of Stevie and some young boy playing guitar and singing with him. Is this boy from a Disney show? Okay, he's a country singer. Who was born a year after I graduated from high school. Sigh.
Zendaya has to try to top her amazing performance last week. Now she has the cha cha and she's dancing to "Do I Do." Val works with Zendaya on technique, since that's what it's going to take to get a 10 from Len. So their dance is... okay. I mean, it's technically very good, but it's not nearly as dramatic as last week. I think the choreography could be more challenging and dare I say flashier? I do dare. I can't point to anything specific that was wrong, but Zendaya just seemed loosey goosey instead of sharp.
Judges? Len says that the word to sum up great dancing is Zendaya. Len found it "sharp and clean." Really? Bruno says that it was hypnotic, and Carrie Ann says it was "perfection in motion." Maybe I'm just grouchy. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10. Overscored.
Andy has the samba this week to "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." Great song, but I don't know about Andy and the samba. It can't help that he's practicing in these huge sneakers instead of dancing shoes. They aren't helping his feet look better. When their routine starts, I just have this puzzled look on my face and it doesn't go away. It's like he's totally off the beat and then he does an eight count that is actually really great. And then he has no rhythm again. And then his technique is terrible. And then he does something really great. He has these flashes of brilliance surrounded by flashes of...not brilliance. I have no idea how to score that.
Bruno says it was "personality-driven" and very entertaining, but not much of a samba. Carrie Ann says she loves Andy so much, but she couldn't even tell what dance he was doing. Len thinks that Andy delivers fun, and that's what people want to see, even if it wasn't that good technically. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 6, and Bruno 6. Oh. I thought his scores might be a LITTLE higher. I mean, he didn't screw up.
Sean and Peta also have the samba and Peta tries to teach him to shimmy. It's not good. Also, Sean has to travel this week, so that cuts into their rehearsal time. Will it affect their routine? Well, something does because it's not good. I'm really distracted by Sean going shirtless. He's got a great body but he's not as cut as the guys you normally see shirtless on this show so I keep staring at his midsection trying to figure out what's missing. It's a six-pack. It's not there. Anyway, it's recognizable as a samba, so he's got that going for him, but other than that, it's pretty bad.
Judges? Carrie Ann loves Sean's determination but thinks he needs better musicality. Len thinks Sean should set his sights higher than just beating Andy (everyone boos), and he made a lot of mistakes. Len goes off on Sean and then says that it wasn't terrible. Bruno says that Sean needs to lighten up and listen to the music. Ouch. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7.
Aly and Mark have the foxtrot to "Isn't She Lovely." I can't believe that Mark has this Olympic-level athlete and he can't do better than this. That was a good foxtrot, maybe even very good, but it wasn't great, and it could have been. It was very by-the-book and rote. I don't know why Mark doesn't push Aly more.
Judges? Len loved some of the little things and thinks that Aly's performance level is high, but she has a few small things to work on. Bruno loved it, but only her frame lets her down a little. Carrie Ann thinks Aly is connected to her dances emotionally. I really hate Mark's stupid fedora, so much. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9.
When we return from break, Stevie Wonder is standing in the middle of the floor singing my favorite of his songs, "Sir Duke" as all of the female pros dance around him. He still sounds pretty good. Not great, but pretty good.
Ingo and Kym didn't do well last week, so he hopes to make it up with his tango this week. Unfortunately, he looks like he's fighting against Kym the whole way, and not in a sexy tango way. More like a "I don't quite know the steps so I'm going to go the wrong way and Kym is going to wrestle me into submission." It just looks under-rehearsed, especially compared to how Ingo has done in the past.
Judges? Bruno tells him that he had great attack even if there were a few foot faults. Carrie Ann thought it was great, and when Ingo likes a dance, it shows. Len thought it was sharp and crisp, but Ingo needs to calm down a little bit. I guess I'm having another one of those weeks where I'm way grouchier than the judges. It doesn't happen that often. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8. That's their highest score so far.
Derek and Kellie have the quickstep this week and they both get frustrated during rehearsals because they're trying so hard to be perfect. Kellie gets excited because Derek screws up a few times, so it's not her fault and she can hold it over his head. Anyway, they start and this is a FAST routine. Normally, the songs feel much slower than the recorded version - this feels sped up, big time. And there are a LOT of steps in this routine, and I don't think they miss one. That said, it's not my favorite routine of theirs because it almost feels like technique for the sake of technique without as much entertainment value as usual.
Judges? Carrie Ann says it had perfect posture, lines, and everything else except that she saw a little space in their hold that was causing them to feel out of sync. Bruno and Len disagree and they show this by holding hands? I don't know. Len thought it was the best dance of the season, but he loves technique, so of course he thinks so. He thinks Carrie Ann is wrong because it's impossible to dance that quickly and stay close. Bruno thought it was sumptuous and superb, and agrees with Len about the spacing. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 10, and Bruno 10.
Victor has the rumba this week, and Lindsay has a hard time teaching him to move his hips and even get into the feeling of the dance, since he just had his heart broken. Ugh, my heart is broken by how terrible his hip action is. It's really, really bad and I'm questioning how he even made it this far in the competition. Lindsay looks very pretty dancing around him.
Judges? Len says that Victor has made it further than any other boxers, and Len admires his willingness to do routines that make him uncomfortable. Bruno compares it to a flight attendant's instructions and says there was no hip action. Carrie Ann loved the sparkle in his eye when they dance together, even if she agrees with Bruno on the technique. Scores: Carrie Ann 6, Len 6, and Bruno 6. I thought it was worse than Andy's dance.
Jacoby and Karina have the quickstep and Karina drills and drills him on his feet, trying to get him to abandon his pigeon-toed gait. Jacoby basically says it's not happening. The first quarter or so of the routine is good but totally ahead of the beat. Finally, Jacoby gets his shit together and the rest of the routine is good. It's not as electrifying as some of his past routines, but it's good and should be enough to get him through to the round.
Judges? Bruno loves Jacoby's energy, even though his frame and footwork could be better. Carrie Ann thinks that Jacoby makes up for his technical glitches with his personality. Len didn't like it at all, and he thinks part of the problem is that the dance didn't suit him. Jacoby's mom starts yelling at Len and it's great. Len concludes that Jacoby did a good job with a hard dance and while it wasn't his best, it also wasn't his worst. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 7, and Bruno 8.
While everyone gets ready for the team dances, Stevie Wonder sings "My Cherie Amour" and Tony and Anna dance together.
And now it's time for the team dances. My local affiliate screws up coming back from break so I miss the beginning of the clip package. Apparently, Team Samba had a hard time getting started and wasted a lot of time on day one while Team Paso got right into it. But that all got reversed on day two, because Team Paso has some really great dancers (Zendaya) and some really awful ones (Victor) so they're having a hard time matching the chorography to the different levels.
Team Paso is up first. They are: Zendaya and Val, Victor and Lindsay, Jacoby and Karina, and Ingo and Kym. Their opening is fine - whoever choreographed this (Val?) did a great job of disguising the weaker dancers and featuring the better ones. The solos go from worst to best (Victor, Ingo, Jacoby, and Zendaya). Jacoby's is great, but they all have great attack and intensity even if the technical stuff isn't quite there.
Judges? Len thought it was a spirited dance, and he liked the group sections better than the individual sections. Bruno loved the "writhing bodies," but sometimes they lost sync. Carrie Ann thought it was a little bit broken, sloppy, and a mess, mostly because of the guys. Once the team is up in the skybox, the guys head to the window and start flexing for Carrie Ann, to show their strength. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 8, and Bruno 7.
Team Samba has gone for a '70s theme. I don't know who was in charge of costuming for this routine but they have some problems. The ladies are all dressed in very mod dresses with headbands and go go boots, which is super late '60s, not disco at all. The guys are mostly better, with Fu Manchu moustaches and polyester pants. Andy weirdly looks the most accurate, since he looks like a guy named Ratso who deals shitty coke at the local disco. Anyway, the dancing is pretty good although most of them seem to be trying a little TOO hard. There's enthusiasm and then there's overdancing, and I think the balance is tilted towards the latter.
Judges? Bruno says that the girls killed it. Carrie Ann loved how they worked as a group despite the different levels. Len thought they had fun and it was a pleasure to watch. Derek's team always wins these team challenges. He knows how to please the crowd and the judges. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 9, and Bruno 8.
Here are your scores. Man, being on that team killed Zendaya and Val's scores. They dropped from first to third. I think Victor is finally going home, and that's about right.
Kellie and Derek: 29 + 25 = 54
Aly and Mark: 27 + 25 = 52
Zendaya and Val: 29 + 22 = 51
Ingo and Kym: 24 + 22 = 46
Sean and Peta: 21 + 25 = 46
Jacoby and Karina: 23 + 22 = 45
Andy and Sharna: 18 + 25 = 43
Victor and Lindsay: 18 + 22 = 40