Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Take Your Goofy Laughs and Just Go!

Well, this may be a pretty good show tonight! Samantha can’t talk, there will be an encore dance, and there’s no Dance-Off because two couples are going home. Don’t know about you, but I’m not impressed with the Dance-Off at all, I’d rather they brought the encore dance back full-time.

Monday’s recap includes some not-seen confessional footage. David Alan Grier is sitting with Kym and remarking that during the Lindy Hop, he was afraid of dropping Kym: "If I dropped her half the band would kill me." I also noticed that when Lil’ Kim & Derek got their scores and got the first 10 of the season, Kim was hugging Derek and Derek was more interested in looking at the camera and pumping his fist than celebrating with his partner. Maybe I’m being overly critical of Derek, but it seems since he won the Mirror Ball Trophy he’s been a bit more full of himself. He still has flashes of niceness, but he seems to be a little more conceited as the days go on. Maybe he’s been hanging around Karina and her scowls have affected him (and after thinking so far this year that Karina has reined in the scowling, she made up for it last night!)

The Encore Dance is, of course, Gillis and Cheryl’s hot, steamy Argentine Tango. I’m beginning to notice that Gillis kisses Cheryl - a lot. I’m watching camera shots of Gillis’ wife in the audience to see any flicker of jealousy, but I realize a) he’s an actor, and has kissed many women in his profession (probably much more passionately than the pecks on the cheek he’s giving Cheryl) and b) he’s European. They kiss everybody.

Another cute confessional was from Chuck and Julianne, sitting in their 1950's diner uniforms. Chuck is pleading with the fans that "this outfit could be reality! If you send me home I could be flipping burgers!" (Maybe for a music video on one of his country CDs).

So let’s find out who’s safe: Gillis & Cheryl (of course) and Lawrence and Edyta. Lawrence hasn’t been the best contestant this season if you ask me. His attitude isn’t one of excitement to learn but "okay, I’m learning it and doing the steps okay, why aren’t you giving me 9s?" He’s doing a disservice to his fellow football DWTS alumni like Jason Alexander and Jerry Rice, who learned with enthusiasm and were happy about it.

We are told that Holly and Dmitri are in the bottom two. A well-deserved spot. IF the evening goes as it should, the two Steves should join her in the bottom three and any two of those couples could go home.

Kevin Rudolph sings, and I have no idea who he is. I don’t think I’ve ever heard the song he’s singing, but I like it. My hunny remarked that it’s interesting that the music acts are getting younger, considering the demographics for this show are leaning toward the older folks. I think the Baby Boomers out there could appreciate Kevin Rudolph, though, it was a good rocking song and gave our pro dancers a chance to showcase one of next week’s dances, the Paso Doble. Lacey, Julianne and Chelsie joined Derek and an unknown stranger and looked great doing so. After some checking, I found out that the other male dancer was Artem Chigvintsev, a Season 1 participant of So You Think You Can Dance (and former canoodler with Carrie Ann).

Backstage, Samantha croaks through interviews with the couples whose fate has been announced. Holly tells Samantha that "at least if we get eliminated we’ll have a buddy" because of the double elimination. She hated the dance off from last week but realizes it may have saved her butt this week after screwing up on Monday night. Cheryl says that she has great chemistry with her partner and gets another kiss from Gillis. Lawrence hates the stress of every day except Tuesday when he finds out how much the fans love him. (Attitude, LT!)

Shawn & Mark are told they’re safe.

Next up is a demonstration of the Viennese Waltz (the other dance for next week), choreographed by Louis VanAmstel. Louis dances it with an unknown female, and an unknown couple and Jonathan & Anna, pros from seasons past. The women are wearing fluffy pink gowns and the dance is very pretty.

Chuck & Julianne are told they’re safe, and Lacey & Steve-O are in the bottom three.
Boyz II Men comes out and my memory is suspect, but I seem to remember them as a rap group, and I’m not looking forward to their number. Then they start a Motown medley and sound really good, and I love their dancing, which takes me back to the good old days of the 70's and the Four Tops and Temptations. (Yes, I am old). Tony, Cheryl, Dmitri and Kym have a great time dancing too.

Steve-O gets interviewed and gives us the quote of the season thus far: ''I'm not used to dealing with high-pressure situations without drugs and alcohol.'' Tom says that Steve-O's comment in week 4 that ''I've made it through all of this without getting loaded'' could be one of the finest tributes to the show ever.

The judges talk about this season’s stars. Bruno says Wozniak is very charming, but "he just can’t dance. Period." He tells us that "All the technique in the world doesn’t cut it - you have to sell it too."

We're given an explanation of the scoring system. (I’ve been trying in vain to get onto the DWTS website to get their explanation - so I can copy and paste it rather than use my notes, but it keeps crashing on me). The judges' scores count for half of the couple's total, and the audience vote counts for the other half. They total up the judge’s scores from the evening and turn the couple’s scores into a percentage of the total points allotted. So for example, if the total of all scores that night was a 300, and Gillis and Cheryl got a 30, they would be awarded 10% for the judges' half. The same is done for the audience vote, although the numbers are obviously much bigger. So it's not as much about how many votes someone gets as it is about how many MORE votes they get than anyone else. Which is why Wozniak made it through last week without being in the bottom two.

Lil’ Kim & Derek and Melissa & Tony are told they’re safe. Poor David looks like he’s suffering from horrible gas, that pained look on his face. He’s just so tortured, and he really should listen to the judges and just relax. Ty & Chelsie are told they are safe and they ease David’s angst and tell him he’s coming back next week also, leaving (surprise) Wozniak & Karina in the bottom three. (And giving us a Karina scowl as big as we’ve ever seen).

We then find out that Holly & Dmitri and Wozniak & Karina are leaving. In their departing interviews, I hear them both laughing and thank the Lord that I don’t have to be subjected to that any more (noting that Wozniak’s laughs sound like a child molester). Wozniak was very gracious, however, noting that he saw Holly & Dmitri’s dress rehearsal and that it was perfect, so he felt bad about their live performance coming out the way it did. Nice, but bye-bye.

So next week we get to see the Paso Doble (I will really miss Maks!) and the Viennese Waltz. Talk about contrasting styles of dance! I don't see Steve-O making it through either of those. Will he make it through or will his fans save him once again?

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