TVSquad

(S08E18) Tonight's episode didn't have to be two hours. I already suffered from watching a three-hour finale of The Celebrity Apprentice, and when I saw the show start with a professional group dance, I knew this episode was going to be padded. That three-minute buffer of dancing could be worse; Samantha Harris could have tried to interview the celebrities for three minutes.

I caught Samantha Harris this afternoon on the syndicated version of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, covering for Meredith Vieira, and she was a little better on that show. I have to think that she just can't roll with the punches as well as Tom Bergeron. Her flaws really kicked in tonight as she fumbled through the whole show. Can't we have a contest to find a new co-host?

Tonight has one Ballroom and Latin dance. I have to admit that Chelsie looks more like Julianne with her hair as they walked down the stairs. Just in case Julianne jumps ship, I think we have a solid, likable professional dancer in Chelsie Hightower.

Commentary - It's weird seeing the DVD style commentaries, especially seeing that no one really brought much to the table. The celebrities mentioned several of the same dances (Foxtrot, Quickstep, Paso Doble, Samba, and Lindy Hop), most of them being in Week 9. They mention the strengths of each competitor, but the judges told us their strengths for the past nine weeks. If I just knew that the first 20 minutes were padded, I would have made a sandwich.

Ballroom Round

Melissa & Tony – Quickstep – I hate the term "hot mess" because it doesn't tell us anything, I appreciate that later on Shawn uses the word "crap." Melissa starts tonight's trend of mentioning the Lil Kim fear. Tony makes sure that the heels are over-emphasized. I do fear that overdoing the heel movements will break the shoe. As the dance begins, Melissa's musicality is great, and her lightness works well for dances like Quickstep and Foxtrot. I didn't like the piano toe spin, but it did show that they're trying to integrate the music with the dance. The end spin sequence was flawless and showed how to do spins without accidental lifts.

Len thought the musicality was great and her feet were improved. He thought it was gorgeous. Bruno thought it was good, but he wanted to be exhilarated; it didn't drive him wild. Carrie Ann agrees with Bruno; she thought the dance didn't have soul. She also points out a little bit of space in the hold. Len groans beside her. Score: 28 (9, 10, 9)

Gilles & Cheryl – Waltz – Gilles has the Waltz and Salsa this week. To teach about posture, Cheryl brought Jonathan in. He parallels Gilles as the frame and Cheryl the picture. I feel bad that Jonathan has never really gotten a good partner (I dare anyone to tell me that Marie Osborne was more than an actor). I need to go find my Norah Jones album. It sets the scene to be elegant. The dance somehow keeps Cheryl's traditional frantic movements. She still makes body whips out of nowhere.

Bruno gets up and screams out random positive words. Carrie Ann thought it was a breathtaking fantasy. Len gives them a sitting down standing ovation; he must be too old to get up. Score: 30 (10, 10, 10)

Shawn & Mark - Argentine Tango - Shawn wants to make sure there are no points lost this week. The Argentine Tango is causing trouble in practices because Shawn is worried about the lifts. It turns out that in the end, the one lift wasn't used. As the dance started, I was confused by the song and sound effects. The dancing is beautiful. I actually see some passion and seriousness. None of the lifts seemed troublesome, and a lot were quite innovative.

Carrie Ann knows that she's the youngest contestant, but she delivered with the passion and precision. Len loves this semi-final. He loved the maturity and seriousness; it was her best performance. Bruno compared the dance to the tango in the film Chicago. Somewhere in his jumble of words there were positive remarks. Score: 30 (10, 10, 10).

Ty & Chelsie – Viennese Waltz – Ty brings Chelsie to the mechanical bull. She does it with no hands; Ty makes a witty remark paralleling Chelsie's week one remarks. The Viennese Waltz is all about building on the ballroom basics. Ty has the ballroom hold, but I was actually kind of impressed by his hands. The last spin sequence was broken, but it ended strong.

Len knows how hard Ty has worked. There were a few little things wrong, but it was fabulous. Bruno understands why America loves him, but the dance was not fluid. Len disagrees. Carrie Ann loves that he gets a lot of support; she knows there was some wobbles and struggle. It turns out that Carrie Ann was that shush girl in elementary school. Score: 25 (8, 9, 8)

Latin Round

Melissa & Tony – Cha-Cha – Melissa was born in Dallas and her family has been quite supportive. Melissa works hard because of what she calls "Texas Toughness." She also gained some confidence when she was a Dallas Cowboy cheerleader. I wonder what is underneath her tramp stamp. As she swirls around, she starts to lose little platelets. The dance is great. It's hard to flaw Melissa's dancing, though. She also does a lot of original spins and dips.

Bruno thought the cha-cha was on and off; she lacked the energy throughout the whole dance. Carrie Ann appreciated the emotional attachment, but she thought her steps where everywhere. The dance wasn't up to the standard of her samba, according to Len. Score: 27 (9, 9, 9)

Gilles & Cheryl - Salsa - Gilles is from Cannes. He lives with the French mentality of living life. Another French aspect is that men can be romantic and emotional without embarrassing their machismo. His friend embarrasses Gilles by mentioning that he did Michael Jackson moonwalks. While the dance was strong, it started off with the unnecessary maracas. I love his passion, but the song sounded really off to me. It was nice seeing Gille's strong shakes and knee work.

Carrie Ann gets up and yells in excitement. She wants to see Gilles next week. Len is speechless and wishes that there was an 11 paddle. Bruno thinks that Gilles has Lil Kim in his booty. Bruno agrees that he deserves to be in the final. Score: 30 (10, 10, 10)

Shawn & Mark – Jive – Shawn is from Des Moines, Iowa. We get the cutest video of Shawn doing gymnastics. Shawn can apparently pick up moves pretty fast and has a strong drive. Her jive outfit makes her look like she's seven. There's something about this jive choreography that I really didn't like. There just wasn't enough hold for me until it got to the holds. The end was cute, though, and we saw the once used gold/silver scoring paddles.

Len first thanks the band. He thought it was fast and fun, but there wasn't enough quality in the dance. Bruno loves her wild nature, but knew that it had Lindy Hop elements. Carrie Ann thought she got heavier as she danced by the end of the performance. Scores: 26 (9, 8, 9)

Ty & Chelsie - Samba - Ty was part of a cowboy family and he's been going since he was a kid. Jewel loves his determination. He sets his goals one day at a time. Jewel is still jealous that she's not on, but she loves that her husband stayed there. The samba is better than his rumba, but that's not saying much in comparison to Gilles or Melissa. I do appreciate Chelsie's patience and choreography that attempts to cover Ty's weaknesses. Ty's strength is his holds so Chelsie keeps in hold most of the time. He still kind of stands there when he's doing side-by-side dancing.

Bruno loves the resilience and determination. He thought that Ty was dancing on a tightrope. He lost his footing but it was great footwork. Carrie Ann thinks he's the MVP of the season. Len knows that his Latin section is bad, but Chelise has worked a lot of magic. Score: 23 (8, 7, 8)

Combined Scores:

1. Gilles & Cheryl - 60/60
2. Shawn & Mark – 56/60
3. Melissa & Tony – 55/60
4. Ty & Chelsie – 48/60

Tomorrow we'll find out whether or not Ty's fans could save him for another week. I really do think it's time for Ty to go to make the finale the most dramatic. Also Maks and Kym get paired up with the two remaining professional dancers. I'm assuming since there is a female; Mayo survived another week.