Monday, October 26, 2009

The Couples Try a "Marathon Mambo" - for Four Minutes

LIVE!!! From Hollywood! This is Dancing With the Stars!

We find out that there will be a dance marathon tonight - did they get extra air time or what? For the individual routines, they will dance either the Jitterbug (with legal lifts) or the Waltz. The marathon involves all the couples dancing the Mambo at once, and getting “tapped out” one by one until one couple is left.

Mya & Dmitry begin the evening dancing the Jitterbug. After last week’s intense Argentine Tango, Mya is happy to let loose and hopefully get the “connection” that she was allegedly lacking. She loves the fun of the dance, but all the tricks are making her body and especially her right hip hurt. She gets a massage after practice (tough life, huh?) Mya is going to “float like a Jitterbug and sting like a bee.” They begin the dance with Mya dusting the judges’ table and Dmitry sweeping the floor - the “messing about” that Len despises. Will he let it go? Len begins by saying “the last refuge of the untalented is props,” and he didn’t like that they “wasted 20 bars polishing my desk.” Bruno called it spot on stylistically, and loved it. Carrie Ann disagrees with Bruno, saying that the Jitterbug lets one go wild and crazy but this was “soft and muted.” Their scores are all over the place: 8-7-9=24.

Melissa & Mark dance the Waltz next. Melissa is having problems with the positions and posture, so Mark brings in his mother, Shirley, who is a champion ballroom dancer. Shirley is just as tough, if not more, than Mark, and Mark comments that “it’s nice to see someone else kicking Melissa’s ass.” Shirley tells Melissa to watch her posture and “keep those puppies up.” Their dance is pretty, but Melissa just doesn’t have it, she looks clunky rather than smooth. You can see the missteps here and there. Bruno starts off and blasts Melissa saying it wasn’t good, that she looked as if she was trying to remember what she was told ... among other things. Carrie Ann tells her that “at least you kept your puppies up” but it looked as if the floor was sticky, and it was rigid. Len says that they had great musicality, Melissa looked very elegant, and even though there were problems with the technique, he thinks Bruno and Carrie Ann were a “bit harsh.” Tom quips that “that was the pot calling the kettles black.” Their scores: 7-7-6=20.

Mark & Lacey are up next with a Jitterbug. In the “confessional” last week after their Paso Doble, Mark says that “dancing with you (Lacey) makes me so horny.” He puts his fingers by his head to show bull horns, while Lacey cracks up. After seeing Mark in nothing but Iron Chef America, this is a different side of him that I really like! Lacey is going to make Mark do all the tricks in this week’s dance and keeps reminding him to smile. She takes Mark to a Jitterbug Club to help him get the energy, and he’s told there that it’s an attitude, not just a dance. Good grief! Lacey carries Mark across the floor a bit! Len may not go for this either, a bit “too much messing about” and could use more Jitterbug. It is very energetic, though! Tom says “best of the night so far” and Carrie Ann whoops it up. She loved it. Len says “sometimes less is more” and the audience groans - but then Len says “but not in the Jitterbug - more is more.” He calls it great (of course, I’m wrong again). Bruno said it was truly spectacular, but notes as Carrie Ann did that Mark stumbled a bit at the end. (I didn’t see it, gotta go back through that one). Their scores: 9-9-8=26.

Aaron & Karina will dance the Waltz. Aaron hated being in the bottom two, two weeks in a row. Karina tells him that they can only control their performances. Aaron comes into practice wearing a suit and bringing Karina red roses (I’ve read some scuttlebut on the internet that they’ve been kanoodling after practice ... I wonder? What, Maks is too old for her?) Aaron looks pissed to start the dance - if that’s his romantic face, I feel bad for his girlfriend! Their dance is cute, seems to have the choreography necessary - but what will the judges say? Len tells Aaron he danced with maturity, his frame and posture were good and there was a connection between the two of them. He says it’s Aaron’s best dance. Bruno says “the boy has become a gentleman.” Carrie Ann says it was beautiful but he did lose his footing a bit. She loves the dignified Aaron Carter on the dance floor. Their scores: 8-9-8=25.

Michael & Anna D.
are up next. He knows that the fans got him this far, and thanks the fans on his radio show. But he’s having trouble with the Waltz and he wants to do well, talking to himself about “that’s what champions do.” He worked hard this week, he looks pretty elegant! Good posture, extension ... (sounds like I know what I’m talking about, huh? I’m learning ballroom speak!) Bruno said that it looked like he was enjoying himself, but Michael’s posture wasn’t good enough. Carrie Ann asks Anna if her feet came off the ground, but that the Waltz was very charming. Len says that “it’s amazing that three people can watch a dance, and two of them get it totally wrong.” He liked the charm, saying it was the best footwork of any Waltz tonight. He went on and on about all the good things about it. (Len must have gotten laid two weeks in a row, he’s in a good mood again!) Their scores: 6-8-6=20.

We see clips before the commercial of some of the stars practicing for the group/marathon Mambo, and Michael has blow-up Weebils (wobble but they don’t fall down) with the other stars’ faces taped to them. He kicks Mya’s as he gets next to it, and Mya says “if Michael thinks he’s gonna accidentally bump into me during the Mambo then he’d better accidentally wear a cup.” Kick ass, girl!

Kelly & Louis dance the Jitterbug. We see that last week she hurt her ankle, and backstage her dad Ozzy asks if she can keep going - and Kelly says “my foot would have to be cut off for me to drop out of the competition.” During practice, Louis is getting frustrated because the first thought Kelly has when he corrects her is that she’s going to “look like an idiot.” He wants her to believe in herself and not be afraid, so he takes her to a trapeze school and tells her “one step at a time, just think of it as a chorus line” as she starts climbing. She yells back “Chorus line! What bloody chorus line have you been in where you’ve got to walk up a ladder?” She’s petrified but does it, and hopes it helps her in her “bouncing” during the Jitterbug. She looks like she’s having fun, but her faces remind me a little of Lucille Ball’s pout. Carrie Ann tells Kelly that she’s brought some fun back into her dancing, but she stumbled a bit after the flip, and needs to “stay in your happy place.” Len thought it was a little flat-footed and lacked freedom. “It was like a blueberry muffin with no blueberries.” Bruno called it cute and nice, but tells her to ignite the performance. “It’s not Kelly any more, it’s the performer.” He told her to get over her fear and called it “beige.” Their scores: 7-6-7=20. I really like Kelly, I hope she stays a little longer!

A clip comes up about the double eliminations. The stars hate the idea and find out that the two lowest couples will do a dance-off and get to decide what dance they will do - meaning this week there are three dances to learn, just in case they need the dance-off. The judges’ scores will be the only ones that count in the dance-off.

Louie & Chelsie get to do a Jitterbug. He wants to keep the great comments from last week going and work really hard, but he’s not comfortable with the tricks and flips. Chelsie makes him review his snowboarding and tries to get him to get the same feeling during dancing as he does snowboarding. I like Louie, but he just doesn’t hav ethe feet for dancing. He jumps up on the judges’ table and rips off his geek glasses and sleeves, and does a cool back flip off the desk, but he’s still standing and walking in spots. Len begins by saying “parts of that were fantastic” (uh oh, what’s he gonna say next?) He calls parts of it “grundy.” (Gonna have to look that one up!) Bruno says he comes out “all wacko” which suits the dance, but that he loses the precision. Carrie Ann loved the dance and the energy, but he dropped Chelsie a couple of times. Backstage Samantha asks if he’s surprised if he’s stayed out of the bottom two even with low judge scores, and he thanks the fans for their support. Their scores: 7-7-7=21.

Next up are Joanna & Derek. Derek “survived the flu.” Tom quips that “a lot of women fall for Maksim” and rubs it in about Joanna’s stumble with Maks last week as he replaced Derek. They will dance the romantic Waltz. She thought the Waltz would be easier, but realizes that it’s slow and controlled and every little mistake will show. Derek says that he’s hard on Joanna because she is good, but he has to remember that she’s not a professional. (Duh). She’s got her posture right, making me realize that it’s gotta be hard to dance bending backwards the whole time. Derek is a good teacher, she looks pretty good! They do a really pretty spin at the end that looks impressive to me! Tom calls it “our get a room dance of the season.” Bruno says it looked like “a butterfly gently gliding over a meadow.” Tom tells Carrie Ann that “the poetry bar has been set” and Carrie Ann doesn’t bite - she says her lines were beautiful but Joanna had hesitation in some parts. Len says her footwork wasn’t too brilliant, but he liked that they went straight into the dance with “no messing about” and it was the best Waltz he’s seen tonight. After a quick commercial we see the scores: 8-9-9=26. Joanna & Derek are happy!

Donny & Kym finish the individual couple dances with a Jitterbug. Donny wants to forget about last week and begin with a fresh slate. Kym tells him to say “woo woo” (like a train whistle) and “look at my butt.” This cracks Donny up. He is having trouble with all the tricks and flips. They take time to volunteer with mentally-challenged people teaching them to dance. He does the “woo woo” part with Kym’s butt pretty good during the dance! Carrie Ann gets to begin and she tells Donny that he knows how to work a room, but noticed the stumble. Len says whatever dance Donny gets, he comes out and performs it. Bruno concurs that Donny can work a room, but says it looked at times like a steam engine trying to keep up with a bullet train. Their scores: 8-8-8=24.

We see that the Mambo will be like the classic ballroom competition. They will be tapped out as the judges see fit. They will have a maximum of four minutes to dance ... and Joanna is huffing and puffing after a minute and a half in practice, saying she will need the ambulance after the Mambo. The last couple standing - er, dancing - will get 10 points, the second-to-last 9, and so on. Michael & Anna are the first couple out. Watching Louie, I don’t know how they weren’t first, but they are the second couple out. Melissa & Mark are gone next, getting 4 points. Kelly & Louis get five points and Mark & Lacey leave next with 6 points. Donny & Kym are ousted next (and one of them left a pink thing on the floor). Aaron & Karina go next, leaving Mya & Dmitry and Joanna & Derek on the floor. Mya & Dmitry are the 9-point winners, and Joanna & Derek are the winners, getting 10 points and the praise from the judges. Carrie Ann said that Joanna had the spirit that “I’m gonna win this” and it put her over the top.

So, with the judges’ scores from the individual dances and the “Marathon Mambo,” the leader board looks like this:

36 (26 + 10) - Joanna & Derek
35 (26 + 7) - Mark & Lacey
33 (25 + 8) - Aaron & Karina
33 (24 + 9) - Mya & Dmitry
31 (24 + 7) - Donny & Kym
26 (20 + 6) - Kelly & Louis
25 (21 + 4) - Louie & Chelsie
25 (20 + 5) - Melissa & Mark
23 (20 + 3) - Michael & Anna

(I will admit I deleted my TiVo recording before I realized that I may have messed up the Mambo scores. I thought that the first couple out got 2 points, but that didn’t gel with the last couple in getting 10 points. So I just did it this way and we’ll see how it works out.....)

So will Michael’s Dallas fans keep him in the competition or is it time for him to go? The leader board keeps shifting, with Joanna, Mark, Mya and Donny all taking turns - who do you think has the best shot at the beautiful (?) Mirrorball Trophy? Make sure you vote!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Mya and dmitry was robbed. They s should have won the mumbo.

Anonymous said...

Hello from Russia!
Can I quote a post "No teme" in your blog with the link to you?

G.C. said...

Anonymous from Russia,

Yes, you can quote anything from the blog as long as you link to it and do not copy posts.

Thanks,
G.C. ( blog owner)

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