By Jeff Long | Season 1 | Episode 7 | Aired on 05.15.2008
In a hurry? Read the recaplet for a nutshell description! Finished? Click here to close.This week, they are dancing spicy. It's Latin dance and the guest choreographer and judge is Jordi Caballero. Mochi has trained in Latin dancing so it seems a foregone conclusion that she will be the winner, except that her brain goes totally blank on the choreography during the audition. She looks like a loser. Afterwards, Jordi ranks the dancers starting at the bottom (Mochi, who volunteers herself) and goes upwards through Nick, Janelle, Miguel and Cody (always perfect).
It's couples dancing and there aren't enough people to go around, so they bring back all of the eliminated dancers (Nicole not included). One of them will get to re-enter the competition. Each of the remaining dancers gets to pick a partner. Cody chooses Tovah (even though he offers her to Miguel -- not sure what happened there), Miguel chooses Jessica, Janelle chooses James, Nick chooses Adriana, and Mochi chooses Oscar. Not even a chance for Michael, who says that he has experience with Latin dancing. Sure.
Janelle has a lot of problems with lifts. Nick worries a ton about being expressive enough. You see, he was always taught to dance like a man. It's not my fault that that sentence doesn't make sense. Jessica gets an inner ear infection and has to drop out of the competition. Miguel rehearses with Mochi, but they don't get along (who doesn't get along with Mochi?) and he decides to perform by himself.
Mochi pulls out all the stops and is amazing. Miguel does a really fine job by himself. Janelle is dead weight again. Nick pulls some faces but, in my opinion, is still pretty boring. Oscar is chosen to come back to the competition! The judges love Mochi and Miguel and choose Mochi as the winner. Janelle and Cody(!) are in the bottom two -- they don't think Cody is alive enough. Nomi informs the two that no one is going to be eliminated in this challenge. Everyone's safe!
Want more? The full recap starts right below!Previously: Michael was released back into the wild world of soft-core gay porn. Nomi gave us a breakdown of what has happened so far this season, and they neglected to mention Nicole. Technically, Nomi was only mentioning the dancers who were "eliminated," but still. She did exist.
It's morning in the lofts and Mochi and Miguel are having breakfast together. Mochi alerts us to the fact that this will be their seventh challenge. She interviews that she is proud to be involved in the show. She's doing "this" for her family, because of everything they have done for her. I can relate. I recap for my family. It's the least I can do. She tells us that she has two older brothers. Miguel interviews that his family was not very supportive of his choice to be a dancer, because men don't dance in Mexican culture. Tell that to Ricky Martin and his bon-bon. Also, I'd like to remind Miguel that there are a LOT of things about him that probably aren't done by men in Mexican culture (I'm looking at you, Miguel's haircut and silver tights).
A shirtless Nick (hello there!) is getting ready for the day as we hear an interview in which he talks about how much he loved dancing as a child and how he has lost that love. He has participated in this show to try to regain it, but criticism from the judges has made him second-guess himself.
Cody, meanwhile, interviews that he has hit his stride. He reminds us that he has won back-to-back challenges. Wow. They really want us to think that Nick and Cody hate each other, don't they? What a nasty way to edit! I'm sensing that everyone is getting a little tense about Cody and his all-around awesomeness, but you can't just pin it on old dance-hating Nick. Cody says he is looking forward to winning another challenge.
At the studio, Nomi and Jerry greet the dancers. Nomi tells them that they will be Latin dancing. I guess just women dance that in Mexico, since allegedly men don't dance there. D'oh! Miguel, you've just been faced. This dude standing beside Nomi grabs her and does a bit of salsa. She's wearing a fringe-y dress JUST for the occasion. Then, she introduces the guy. It's Jordi Caballero, choreographer. That name is so made-up. I love it. His assistant is Vai Au-Hareho. Also not her birth name. Jordi has worked with everyone from Madonna to J. Lo. Is that supposed to illustrate her range? Because there's not actually that much distance between those two performers. Jordi says they are going to be learning Latin couple dancing. Suddenly, Miguel is a dancing Mexican man again and reminds us that he's Latino, so he's going to be great at this. Mochi points out that she has training in Latin dance, so this should be right up her alley.