(S9E08) This week on Dancing with the Stars we welcome four new dances: Two-Step, Bolero, Charleston, and Lambada. Lifts are allowed, so Carrie Ann really has no reason to be here this week. Also, most of the professionals have no clue what they are doing this week.With the opening credits being shown, I know it's going to be one of those nights where it's dance, commercial, dance, commercial, with a lot of Tom hyping up the results show. Unfortunately, I don't have the luxury of fast forwarding past Samantha Harris. I really dislike the use of the 60-second commercials; let me get the scores right after the judging.
Chuck & Anna - Two-Step - Chuck likes the idea of wearing jeans, and his former job at a country bar should be his advantage. Chuck's strength finally comes to play being able to lift Anna with ease. The actual dancing takes a little long to get to; the whole rope thing was annoying. Chuck is still walking into place, but the lifts were really nice to watch.
Len thought the lifts were good and liked the entertainment value, but the quality of dance needs improvement. Bruno thought it mysteriously worked. Carrie Ann thought that he fit the character of the two-step and she loves his resilience. Score: 17 (6,5,6)
Melissa & Mark - Charleston - This is Mark's first Charleston that he ever had to choreograph, so the two are on level ground. Melissa decides to spend more time practicing this week and looks totally different without makeup. The two go to a "20's club" which looked like a generic hotel's bar; luckily DWTS is Art Deco. I hated the greyscale old film beginning. I thought the dance was very Roxie Hart. I dunno if it's the dance or the character, but Melissa improved leaps and bounds this week.
Bruno was up and passionate about the whole performance. Carrie Ann thought everything was fantastic. Len points out the three E's of the Charleston: Energy, Entertainment and Excitement; she accomplished all three. Score: 28 (9,9,10).
Natalie & Alec - Bolero - Alec wants to make sure that Natalie is keeping the scores high and makes the choreography hard. This stresses out Natalie. I feel like Natalie is at an advantage following the Rumba last week. I'm amazed how easily she got in to all the turns and splits. The ending was a little bumpy, but the pose was amazing.
Carrie Ann was on the fence; the difficulty was nice, but there was a little bit of struggle. Len thought that there was beautiful lyrical movement; he loved the choreography, but wanted more romance between the two. Bruno compared it to the movie Basic Instinct, but she still has swimmer's arms. Score: 24 (8,8,8).
Aaron & Karina - Lambada - I think I like Michael Irving more how he supported Aaron. Aaron is rusty with his gymnastics, so UCLA's Chris Waller teaches him proper posture. The flip went well, but the rest of the dance kind of looked really easy for the male. His hips worked well. The end lift sequence didn't seem right, possibly because of the camera's angle (turns out that it was wrong).
Len liked the enthusiasm, but he should have spent time on the rhythm and raunchy. Bruno agrees, he needs to get into character (Gilles Marini) and he needs to grow. Carrie Ann thinks that he's trying too hard. It's over the top and it turned her off. Score: 18 (6,6,6).
Mark & Lacey - Two-Step - The two decide to work on having fun and character. Mark is the furthest from country and stresses out. Mark's family showed up and they are so cute. Lacey continues to show off her amazing leg work. There was something odd about Mark's rhythm, but he kept up with Lacey. He seemed to mess up his end step, as well.
Bruno thought his confidence has improved, but he lost his footing. Carrie Ann liked how he was grounded and connected; she liked the choreography. Len liked the choreography and how Mark helped Lacey with the spins. His footwork was a little heavy. Score: 22 (8,7,7).
Kelly & Louis - Charleston - Louis decided to choreograph the song "Cabaret" with Broadway flair, Kelly's secret love. Kelly is annoyed by dancers making noises instead of counting or saying steps. Kelly seems a little nervous at the beginning of the cane sequence. Some of the steps in the middle were too repetitive. The end spin sequence was probably the best part of the dance.
Carrie Ann loved the joy of how she lights up and lived up to the character. Len liked the confidence and how she performed. Bruno loved the Fosse touches and loved the performances. Score: 23 (8,7,8).
Joanna & Derek - Lambada - Derek loves his job, the two have to grind a lot. They know that they are dancing against Mya and Aaron, so they make their choreography intense. The two went to help the Animal Advocates Alliance to wash a cute dog; I'm not sure how that connects, but it's a nice thing to see. We get to see a shirtless Derek dance with Joanna. Bruno's face defines the whole experience. The raunchiness was there in full force. I realized the times I like Joanna are when her hair is curly.
Len loved how Derek choreographed the performance. There was a little bit of repetition in the dance. Bruno thought it was When Animals Get Physical. Carrie Ann hoped that the children were in bed; Tom quickly makes a quip about parents being in bed. Carrie Ann thought it was well fueled by the "crotch area." Score: 26 (9,8,9).
Donny & Kym - Charleston - Kym had to explain the "airy fairy" critique that his arms weren't sharp. The Charleston is high energy which is in Donny's field, but he gets too frustrated when he doesn't get the steps. As they dance I gotta say, I'm liking the choreography for the Charleston the most out of all four. I thought that the dance was strong, but Donny was looking down at several points.
Bruno loved that he was theatrics and his showmanship. The kicks need to be sharper. Carrie Ann liked how they played to their strengths, but he stumbled at a point. Len liked the performance as well. Score: 24 (8,8,8).
Michael & Anna - Bolero - Anna brought Tony Dovolani to help with the Bolero because he was the world champion. He wants to make sure that Michael is in character. Anna is still doing all the work and Michael awkwardly uses a little bit of hip and walks into place. Most of his movements involved his arms extending.
Carrie Ann saw the romance, but there wasn't enough dancing. Len thought that he had the most control in the dance. Bruno compares his dancing to the US economy: it hasn't gotten better. Score: 16 (5,6,5).
Louie & Chelsie - Two-Step - Chelsie has never actually done the two-step and Louie has never been in the country before. Chelsie brings Louie to Ty Murray and comedic country antics ensue. Chelsie pulls out the tricks early, but the two actually two-step around the dance floor. Unfortunately, it doesn't look as compelling as a bolero.
Len thought that he walked and Chelsie did something and they repeated; there wasn't enough content. Bruno thought the timing was off and he only survived by his charm. Carrie Ann didn't feel the music connect with Louie and Chelsie could only do so much to help him. Score: 16 (5,5,6).
Mya & Dmitry - Lambada - Mya thinks that Dmitry's choreography may be too complicated, Dmitry strikes her down. The two compromise and work together. The two get heavily oiled up and start to dance. I don't think the choreography was too simplistic, but it got the sexiness of the Lambada. The two end with a very sexy death spiral.
Bruno thought it was an erotic, exotic roller coaster. Carrie Ann thought that the performance was amazing. There was raunchiness and class. Len thought the two set their standards high and he was expecting more. Score: 28 (10,8,10).
Final Scores:
High
Mya & Dmitry - 28
Melissa & Mark - 28
Joanna & Derek - 26
Middle
Natalie & Alec - 24
Donny & Kym - 24
Kelly & Louis - 23
Mark & Lacey - 22
Low
Aaron & Karina - 18
Chuck & Anna - 17
Louie & Chelsie - 16
Michael & Anna - 16
How far can entertainment value go without a lot of content? I see Chuck & Anna going home soon, but I'd love to see Aaron go now. Like Carrie Ann, he rubs me the wrong way. It's a great opportunity to knock him out. Nonetheless, Michael & Anna will probably go next; I have a feeling that Chelsie by herself has more voting support than Michael. Who do you think will go home? Leave comments below.
Tomorrow, Shakira and another elimination. Remember you can always catch full episodes of DWTS on SlashControl.















Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
10-13-2009 @ 11:07AM
Pat said...
DWTS should NEVER introduce a new dance that none of them know how it should be danced. The judges are always harping about what should be included in a dance but there was no two stepping in the two step. Doing the "Hee-Haw" dance doesn't cut it....
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10-13-2009 @ 11:07AM
susanmterry said...
i agree why did they do that especially if the pros didn't have any idea how to teach the dance. i feel sorry for all of them who did the two step. i just hope louie is saved. i think it will be coming down to chuck and mike. maybe arron he was getting an atitude. i never liked him anyway. also i didn't think it was fair to do the charleston dance either. they were a lot of low scores anyone could be going home.
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10-13-2009 @ 11:08AM
Craig said...
I love Chelsie but she showed weakness by not being able to pickup a new dance as Mark did. Louie should be very happy with the scores; they should been 3's. Judges want Michael to go home so I think they evened out the scores to let the Chelsie following finish the job for them.
I agree about Aaron. He was a punk on that Carter family reality show and we’re seeing the punk side of him again each time he's judged. If they keep him around, it’s only going to get worse. I vote for him to leave instead of Michael.
Len appeared to be a bit more medicated this week. But, I still vote that he go away too!
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10-13-2009 @ 11:16AM
Michael Pascua said...
I believe the biggest problem is sources. I recall back in season seven where Derek was doing Google searches for the Jitterbug. But even Jitterbug had elements of Jive/Swing in it.
In the case of Chelsie learning Two-Step and Mark learning Charleston, Mark clearly has the advantage. Charleston has elements of Jive/Swing, but one can easily incorporate Bob Fosse or Broadway elements (as Louis did) and make it "look" Charleston.
I've been to Country Clubs (don't ask) and I've seen the amateur version of two-step. Louie and Chuck looked like they would fit in perfectly on a Friday dancing the social dance with their partners. Unfortunately, it didn't make for good television.
On the other hand, I've seen people pull off pastiches of the Charleston and with the combination of a little bit of Costume, Music, and Attitude the people BS-ed their way through and it looked amazing.
10-13-2009 @ 11:08AM
Jan said...
I was incredibly disappointed with the introduction of country two-step. All the pro's failed in bringing out the true character of the dance. I held out some hope that Lacey would show the dance properly since she has been around the country dance world. I can see she tried. I can also see the theatrics for television. However, what we got was some cliche' version of how ballroom views country two-step, with no actual dance content. Maybe if they made the stars do more dance footwork and less tricks, it might look better.
I also didn't feel that the judges knew what they were looking at with the two-step. Lenn praising Mark for actually leading the turns was suspect. Considering Lacey back led the entire routine.
I think they could do a better job at introducing new dances. I would like to see the world champions of these "new" dances perform them the way they should look. Maybe on a results show the week before introduction. I felt the same way about the introduction of West Coast Swing a few seasons back These dances are much better and more entertaining than what we saw last night. I'm just sayin....
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10-13-2009 @ 11:46AM
Eric said...
I wonder who the producers want to win? Maybe Mya? Of the four dances, which one is the most Latin, the Lambada, give that one to Mya. Lets also give her the prime position of getting to go last. Also lets have two of the lesser skilled dancers go right in front of her so she looks even better. If you have enough experience with dance that you help the professional choreograph the dance, this show shouldn't be for you. I thought that Mya = Ringer.
I enjoyed Joanna & Derek's Lambada a lot more.
Also what is up with the 28 for Melissa & Mark, I liked their dance but I think the score was way to high compared to the scores some of the other dancers got.
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10-13-2009 @ 11:57AM
Michael Pascua said...
I think it was the producers order that really dictated the scores. They put Mya last after two meh performances to help offset Len's lower score that he was going to give them. Melissa on the other hand had no one to compare to going first and I will admit it was a very strong opener. She did break from her less than stellar performance last week and that could have helped the score.
I agree that Joanna had the best Lambada, Mark had the best Two-Step, Natalie with the Bolero, and I think that Melissa had the best Charleston; possibly because she got so into character. I wouldn't mind seeing any of those four as the encore I'd prefer Joanna's because it had the sexiness, but it may get curtailed for being too "adult" and the encore is usually shown as the first dance. We'll probably see Melissa or Mark because of that.
If anyone had the Charleston (28,24,23) they got it easy for the night. Followed by the Lambada (28,26,18), Bolero (24,16), and Two-Step bringing up the rear (22,17,16). Based off of the numbers, I'd send Michael home because the Two-Step on average sucked, but since Natalie did well on the Bolero, Michael had no excuse for sucking.
10-13-2009 @ 3:33PM
Mitch said...
I agree that positioning of where you appear in the show affects the scores. I am still a believer that Kelly would and should be gone by now but they have given her a prime spot every week so far. They also like to show an Osbourne in the audience for ratings etc. As with all Reality shows there is nothing real at all with this show and we are being force fed who they want us to push. It is obvious that Mya is head and shoulders better than anyone else on the show but the scoring by Len is done to bring some doubt into the viewers.
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