We’re now at the point where the remaining competitors perform two dances a night - and "Dancing with the Stars" strains to fill two hours for ABC.
Sure, the pro ballroom and Latin dance demonstrations were fairly fantastic filler, but they were filler nonetheless. (Was it just me or did Lacey Schwimmer and Louis Van Amstel kinda steal the show?) On top of that, the segments with the judges giving each contestant a nickname ("King of the Cowboys" was my favorite) and explaining what they have to work on was straight out of a results show. By the way, I generally skip the result shows until the very end - when I check in to see who gets booted - because I believe they’re a huge waste of time.
Oh well, at least America was spared "Surviving Suburbia" for a week, right?
Let’s talk about The Four Remaining Contenders (featuring Ty Murray) - who performed a ballroom dance, a Latin dance, AND a 15-second solo during the latter - in order of appearance.
Shawn Johnson and Mark: Nice to see her snap out of her haze from last week. I actually would’ve given her quickstep performance to "Friend Like Me" a 10, if it hadn’t been for that pesky rule about her not being in hold long enough. However, I give the singer a 12 for doing all the Robin Williams voices, and an 11 to the fact that Shawn was the genie. Her paso doble, on the other hand, was a bit too robotic for my taste. Her stiff, gymnastics movement suited the solo, but the rest of the dance was good, but a bit lifeless. Oh well, at least she got the pissed off character down pat and she gets bonus points for keeping a straight face through two ridiculous musical performances. (A paso doble to Daniel Bedingfield’s "Gotta Get Through This"? Really?!)
Ty Murray and Chelsie: Everyone on the show (including Ty) seems to realize that his time is up, so it was great to see him still in good spirits throughout the night. It was even better to see him at home with Jewel in matching animal print robes as he "studied" for his tango. (Nobody dare tell Jewel she’s not part of this season of DWTS just because she got hurt!) His tango (which was supposed to be his better dance) underwhelmed the judges, but still managed to match his personal best score of 25. His rumba was kind of a hot mess, but it featured my favorite solo, basically consisting of him attempting to writhe sexily in front of his wife. I can’t say enough about how much this guy improved and how much fun he was. He’ll be missed. Finally, who knew Ty wasn’t Cuban?!
Lil’ Tramp/Kim and Derek: The knock against her last night was that she couldn’t do ballroom, but I seem to remember her turning in a pretty terrific tango and a very good quickstep in the past. However, she seemed disconnected during her waltz (which still featured good choreography by Derek). The performance definitely smelled of "when can I be done with this so I can finally shake my ass during the salsa?" and ended up being pretty feh. The salsa, on the other hand, was anything butt, I mean, but. Lil’ Kim gave us a predictably stripperiffic salsa solo (pictured, right), but the rest of the dance ended up being a bit more sloppy and not on-point enough to earn her a spot in the finals. Finally, let’s all take a shot every time someone says "bionic booty" from here on out.
Gilles Marini and Cheryl: What did Cheryl do to the editors that they make her look so mean during the rehearsal footage ("You look like a monster!")? I LOVE how much Gilles is into this, and I like that a couple actually took a RELEVANT field trip. (Watching Gilles mouth the word "wow" while watching the fox trot competition was endearing.) It helped because I think his fox trot was one of the best performances of the night (despite the fact that Len rightly pointed out that he was crouched low too much of the time). His rumba, on the other hand, was solid, but I was too distracted by how terrible his solo was (less sexy, more stupid) and the fact that he and Cheryl pretty much simulated having sex at the end of the routine (pictured, left). In a related story, that was a brilliant cut by the director to show his applauding wife right after.
Melissa Rycroft and Tony: It’s great to have her back and competing. She danced brilliantly last night in her waltz to "Angel" (which my girlfriend Erica thinks I hate because I change the station whenever it’s on - I just don’t like to think about dying dogs) and in her samba. I liked seeing that she was able to perform some of the more body-bending moves (samba rolls) in each dance. However, I feel that her rib injury is magnifying the main problem I have with her: when she dances, she just doesn’t seem to have that certain "oomph!" Lil’ Kim has it. Gilles has it. Shawn had it once (during her "PYT" cha cha). With her injury she seems noticeably more tentative than before. For example, there was nothing technically wrong with her samba last night, but, for me, it was missing the "it" factor for me to give it a 30. (Though that didn’t stop the judges - nice fakeout Carrie Ann.) Either way, it’s great to have her back - even if my pointing out her under-boob cleavage during her samba got me in trouble with Erica.
So what’d you think of this episode? We’d be fine if we never heard Len say "spotted dick" again, right? Is there anyone who’s a better sport than Gilles wife? Will you tune into the results show to watch the new pro competition? (I may tune in to watch the delightfully loony Lisa Rinna.) Finally, is there ANY way Ty doesn’t go home?
Sure, the pro ballroom and Latin dance demonstrations were fairly fantastic filler, but they were filler nonetheless. (Was it just me or did Lacey Schwimmer and Louis Van Amstel kinda steal the show?) On top of that, the segments with the judges giving each contestant a nickname ("King of the Cowboys" was my favorite) and explaining what they have to work on was straight out of a results show. By the way, I generally skip the result shows until the very end - when I check in to see who gets booted - because I believe they’re a huge waste of time.
Oh well, at least America was spared "Surviving Suburbia" for a week, right?
Let’s talk about The Four Remaining Contenders (featuring Ty Murray) - who performed a ballroom dance, a Latin dance, AND a 15-second solo during the latter - in order of appearance.
Shawn Johnson and Mark: Nice to see her snap out of her haze from last week. I actually would’ve given her quickstep performance to "Friend Like Me" a 10, if it hadn’t been for that pesky rule about her not being in hold long enough. However, I give the singer a 12 for doing all the Robin Williams voices, and an 11 to the fact that Shawn was the genie. Her paso doble, on the other hand, was a bit too robotic for my taste. Her stiff, gymnastics movement suited the solo, but the rest of the dance was good, but a bit lifeless. Oh well, at least she got the pissed off character down pat and she gets bonus points for keeping a straight face through two ridiculous musical performances. (A paso doble to Daniel Bedingfield’s "Gotta Get Through This"? Really?!)
Ty Murray and Chelsie: Everyone on the show (including Ty) seems to realize that his time is up, so it was great to see him still in good spirits throughout the night. It was even better to see him at home with Jewel in matching animal print robes as he "studied" for his tango. (Nobody dare tell Jewel she’s not part of this season of DWTS just because she got hurt!) His tango (which was supposed to be his better dance) underwhelmed the judges, but still managed to match his personal best score of 25. His rumba was kind of a hot mess, but it featured my favorite solo, basically consisting of him attempting to writhe sexily in front of his wife. I can’t say enough about how much this guy improved and how much fun he was. He’ll be missed. Finally, who knew Ty wasn’t Cuban?!
Lil’ Tramp/Kim and Derek: The knock against her last night was that she couldn’t do ballroom, but I seem to remember her turning in a pretty terrific tango and a very good quickstep in the past. However, she seemed disconnected during her waltz (which still featured good choreography by Derek). The performance definitely smelled of "when can I be done with this so I can finally shake my ass during the salsa?" and ended up being pretty feh. The salsa, on the other hand, was anything butt, I mean, but. Lil’ Kim gave us a predictably stripperiffic salsa solo (pictured, right), but the rest of the dance ended up being a bit more sloppy and not on-point enough to earn her a spot in the finals. Finally, let’s all take a shot every time someone says "bionic booty" from here on out.
Gilles Marini and Cheryl: What did Cheryl do to the editors that they make her look so mean during the rehearsal footage ("You look like a monster!")? I LOVE how much Gilles is into this, and I like that a couple actually took a RELEVANT field trip. (Watching Gilles mouth the word "wow" while watching the fox trot competition was endearing.) It helped because I think his fox trot was one of the best performances of the night (despite the fact that Len rightly pointed out that he was crouched low too much of the time). His rumba, on the other hand, was solid, but I was too distracted by how terrible his solo was (less sexy, more stupid) and the fact that he and Cheryl pretty much simulated having sex at the end of the routine (pictured, left). In a related story, that was a brilliant cut by the director to show his applauding wife right after.
Melissa Rycroft and Tony: It’s great to have her back and competing. She danced brilliantly last night in her waltz to "Angel" (which my girlfriend Erica thinks I hate because I change the station whenever it’s on - I just don’t like to think about dying dogs) and in her samba. I liked seeing that she was able to perform some of the more body-bending moves (samba rolls) in each dance. However, I feel that her rib injury is magnifying the main problem I have with her: when she dances, she just doesn’t seem to have that certain "oomph!" Lil’ Kim has it. Gilles has it. Shawn had it once (during her "PYT" cha cha). With her injury she seems noticeably more tentative than before. For example, there was nothing technically wrong with her samba last night, but, for me, it was missing the "it" factor for me to give it a 30. (Though that didn’t stop the judges - nice fakeout Carrie Ann.) Either way, it’s great to have her back - even if my pointing out her under-boob cleavage during her samba got me in trouble with Erica.
So what’d you think of this episode? We’d be fine if we never heard Len say "spotted dick" again, right? Is there anyone who’s a better sport than Gilles wife? Will you tune into the results show to watch the new pro competition? (I may tune in to watch the delightfully loony Lisa Rinna.) Finally, is there ANY way Ty doesn’t go home?
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