The show opens with the usual flashy pro number and then the couples are introduced. Tom shushes everyone and announces that week's guest judge will be Cher. Look, I love Cher but how is she in any way qualified to serve as a judge on this show? Maybe she has some big dance background that I don't know about. She'll have a lot to say, that's for sure.
Val and Elizabeth are first up with the quickstep. Val really works Elizabeth during rehearsals but she says that she's fine with it because she knows he is pushing her to be the best that she can. They are doing a fifties-themed quickstep, which is… different. Elizabeth's frame is awkward and her elbows are kind of all over the place. And she looks like she's in pain. I don't know where her usual grace is. I mean, it's fine and she doesn't miss a step, but her upper body is kind of a mess.
Judges? Len loved it, especially the flowing movement, but thought they lost a little body contact at times. Bruno thinks they lost body contact a bit because the dance was so fast, but he loved that routine. Carrie Ann sees that Elizabeth is learning to dance as a partner instead of always wanting to dance alone, since that's her dance background. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9.
Brant and Peta have the jive this week, and Brant struggles with all of the moves, so he goes home and rehearses in his backyard (which is like a concrete cube, which makes me kind of sad) and Peta notices his improvement. The dance itself is pretty good, if a little slow for a jive. There's a ton of footwork, though it does get a bit repetitive after a while. The kicks are not as flick-y as they should be either. At one point, Brant rips off Peta's skirt (as part of the routine) and drops it, and later he slips on it but recovers well. Then at the end, they smash ice cream in each other's faces (as part of the routine again) and then do a big smackeroo for the finish. That seemed like a pretty long kiss for two people who are just pretending. Interesting.
Judges? Bruno calls Brant "a frisky schoolboy on a sugar high," and liked that the dance had a ton of content even though he lost timing a few times. Carrie Ann thinks the routine may have been a bit too challenging for him but he didn't miss a step. Len thinks Brant is dancing full out and right on the edge, just at the right time. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9.
Now that Leah got some 9s, Tony wants to up the difficulty for her salsa. She says that if he believes she can do it, she will give it her best. And she really does give it her all. The first half of the dance is great. These Latin dances are Leah's strong suit because she's all attitude and shimmy, and that goes a long way. Tony put a bunch of lifts in there, and while they are better than their attempts at lifts, they're still a leeeetle bit awkward, especially on the dismount. Their ending lift is great though. I wish Tony had just let Leah dance more because she looked the best when she was doing the steps.
Judges? Carrie Ann tells Leah that she's in the zone. Len loved the mix of steps, even if the lifts weren't quite clean enough. Bruno does his usual talk and Leah just looks confused, hilariously, and tells Tom that she can't understand a word Bruno says. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8, and Bruno 9. Fair. Once the scores are in, Tom reveals that Leah has a rib injury, and yet she persevered.
Jack thinks he has the midseason blues because he's struggling to remember the steps. He's fatigued, and he doesn't know if it's due to his MS or just plain old exhaustion. I don't know why Cheryl thought it would be a good idea to give Jack suspenders in this dance because he looks really dumb and more importantly, he looks like he feels really dumb. The jive is fine but then they run all the way up the stairs at the end and Jack is kind of waddling? It's not good. He looks tired and injured and like he wants to go home.
I just realized how awkward it must be because Sharon Osbourne is on The Talk and her co-hosts are there, and wasn't Leah Remini on that show and then she got fired? So that might be weird.
Judges? Len says that he loves Jack's musicality and he's always light on his feet. Bruno thinks that Jack makes it look easy and charming even if he's exhausted. Carrie Ann thinks that Jack's dance was more fun to watch than Brant's. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 8, and Bruno 9. What? A 10 from Carrie Ann? Is she high? Or angling for a job on The Talk?
Amber and Derek struggle in rehearsals. Amber is having problems with her shoulders and Derek is once again having problems with his back. I heard that Amber was rehearsing with a substitute all week in case Derek couldn't dance, but they don't show any of that footage. I appreciate it; I kind of hate when they do that, "Will this pro be able to dance tonight?" and then they totally do. Anyway, this paso is my favorite of Amber's dances so far. She just interprets the music so incredibly well and is right on the beat every time. Her shapes, which is where she struggled in rehearsal, look great to me. Beautiful.
Judges? Bruno thought it was full of depth and flavor, but Amber needs to watch her shoulders. Carrie Ann is going crazy tonight. She screams about how she loved all of the colors that Amber shows through her dance. Len loved that they picked out every nuance in the music and the routine. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, Bruno 9. Amber and Derek are thrilled with those numbers, probably because they struggled so hard with this routine.
Remember last week when Bill and Emma thought they were going home and then they totally didn't? Well, they're back, and now they are doing the quickstep to an Elvis song. A really slowed-down version of "Viva Las Vegas." Wow, this is a really slow quickstep. It almost looks more like a foxtrot. Bill's posture is great and he doesn't miss a step with his footwork, but it's just soooo sloooow. They speed it up a little at the end, but Bill loses his frame when he's trying to go too fast. Which is probably why they did it so slow in the first place.
Judges? Carrie Ann says that his frame wasn't strong enough, but his footwork was great. Len says that his heart loved it but his head will have to give it the score it deserved. Bruno tells him that he's had a good run, but he had a few missteps. Man, they're talking like him leaving is a foregone conclusion. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 7, and Bruno 8.
Snooki has the samba and she loves the beginning, because she gets to channel Beyonce. But she's having trouble learning the rest of the routine. She talks about being up with her son, who had a fever, and getting very little sleep. Wow, can I relate to that one. There are days where I feel like I should be wearing a sign that says, "My kid spiked a fever overnight" and people will just give me a wide berth, pat me on the head and give me some soup. Anyway, Snooki's routine looks great when she's in hold but not so great when she's dancing alone. It doesn't look bad; it just doesn't look like a samba. I don't think she ever really got the character of this dance.
Judges? Len thought it was focused and well done with a few mixups. Bruno thought it took her a little while to get into it, but once she did, it was great. Carrie Ann advises Snooki to finish her movements and extend them a bit more because some times she's getting ahead of the music. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. Snooki did not think she was getting those scores. I don't know that she earned them – I thought maybe an 8.
Karina was clearly not happy with their scores last week, and Karina wants to do more of a cleancut cha cha. So then suddenly, they're dancing with brooms? Karina keeps changing the choreography, and man is she lucky she's with Corbin. Their actual routine is pretty ambitious and they pull it off without a hitch. I don't know how much cha cha it is – there are parts, to be sure – but it is fun to watch.
Judges? Bruno thinks Corbin is "back in sparkling form" and calls it immaculate and brilliant. Carrie Ann thought it was the tightest cha cha she's ever seen. Len loved the crisp footwork, but he didn't love "the gyratering" in the middle. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 9, and Bruno 10.
Now we're going into the team dance, which doesn't have to be any particular style this year. The teams are: Team Spooky Bom Bom consisting of Elizabeth, Bill, Snooki, and Leah (and their pro partners) VERSUS Team Foxing Awesome, consisting of Amber, Corbin, Brant, and Jack (and their pro partners). Seems fair. Except not really fair at all. Well, Val and Elizabeth picked Bill second for some unknown reason – they could have had Brant.
Before they show the rehearsals, Tom announces that as the scores are now, someone from Team Spooky Bom Bom would go home. No pressure, guys.
Team Spooky Bom Bom has a hard time coming up with a theme until Bill reminds them that it's going to be Halloween, and that sparks a zombie idea. So their routine is Bill is the graveyard caretaker who comes into the graveyard and finds a bunch of undead dancing around. He joins them until the bell tolls and then runs out screaming. And you know what? It's pretty awesome. Snooki is the best at getting into character, but Elizabeth is seriously fierce in her solo. Leah is the only one who doesn't seem so committed but I think it's because she's unsure of the steps at times. Bill surprises me at the end when he's up front with the male pros and he doesn't stand out in a bad way at all. They do a basket toss with Snooki at the end. I really loved it. Maybe I had low expectations.
Judges? Len thought the concept was great, the group parts looked good and the solos were all well done. Bruno loved how they worked with each couple's strength and calls it "a ghoulish extravaganza." Carrie Ann loved it, and tells Bill that he was the glue that held that performance together. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 9, and Bruno 9. Eh, I thought they deserved at least one 10, if only for their commitment.
Team Foxing Awesome got the YouTube song "The Fox" and I have to admit that while I have heard OF the song, I've never actually heard this song. On purpose. I guess my streak ends here. Okay, their dancing was way better. Like, on actual dancing technique both as an ensemble and as individual couples, there was better dancing. But it felt like watching the troupe, you know? It doesn't seem fair. It was really amazing to watch. I will say that.
Judges? Bruno thought it was inventive and points out that Corbin killed it on his solo, which he totally did. It was amazing. Carrie Ann thought it was totally in sync, which was incredible. Len thought it was irresistible, and he points out that both teams did an amazing job learning two dances. Scores: Carrie Ann 10, Len 10, and Bruno 10. So someone on the other team is going home. Those were really unbalanced teams. I don't know how you could have made it better, but you could have started by not having Amber and Corbin on the same team. Just a thought. Tom makes it official and says that all of the members of Team Foxing Awesome are safe.
So here is the leaderboard with last week's total, this week's solo score, and this week's team score all added together:
Amber and Derek: 32 + 29 + 30 = 91
Brant and Peta: 31 + 27 + 30 = 88
Elizabeth and Val: 32 + 27 + 27 = 86
Corbin and Karina: 27 + 29 + 30 = 86
Snooki and Sasha: 30 + 27 = 57 + 27 = 84
Jack and Cheryl: 27 + 27 + 30 = 84
Leah and Tony: 28 + 26 + 27 = 81
Bill and Emma: 24 + 23 + 27 = 73
Tom and Brooke waste no time telling Elizabeth and Val and Leah and Tony that they are safe. So it's either Snooki and Sasha or Bill and Emma going home. Bill is totally sure it's him. He's wrong. It's Snooki and Sasha. Wow, I am surprised. Brooke had to work really hard to get Snooki to even come and talk to her. Snooki can't even talk, she's so upset. Tom tells her that she's really loved. Snooki looks like she might punch someone. Maybe Brooke. That would actually be really awesome.