Film night in the ballroom - extra orchestra everywhere.
Chynna talked about how important it was to not mess up this week, because of Kristin all that, and then proceeds to mess up horrifically. Disaster. Still got 7-7-7, though, and it's too bad she messed up, because it looked like Tony was finally pulling out all the stops in his choreography - the dance was to the theme from Mission Impossible, and he came into the ballroom on a suspension wire!
David, if I have not mentioned before, looks good for his age and circumstances. He danced to the theme from Raiders of the Lost Ark, and also had a bold entrance. He embodies his dances well (remember, actor) but the physical details are sometimes missed, like hand position and extension. He inspired a really solid judges fight: 8-7-8.
Carson and Anna probably went too cheesy in their rendition of the theme Curse of the Black Pearl. What Viennese waltz there was seemed pretty good, except he's still a bit on banana peel shoes, somehow. You gotta love how he's the star who's in this most for the outfits. 7-6-7
Nancy Grace had the song from Flash Gordon, which is plain out not good. Even though I thought she put a lot of prosecutor-brand aggression into her Paso and played her part well, the judges disagreed, thinking she needs to connect more with the audience to make it more 'exciting'. Hey dudes, she's not an actress, she's a lawyer. It's kind of cool to see her so cheery, though. Whenever you see her on her own show, she's invariably angry at something. 7-7-7.
Hope and Maks fight all the way through the video segment. Hope wants to drill until each step is muscle memory, and Maks thinks she's overthinking everything to the point of frustrating and messing herself up. They eventually make up and Hope decides to put her faith in Maks' crazy teaching style. The song was "You Got a Friend in Me" from Toy Story, which is ridiculously relaxing and slow. It makes for a kind of foxtrot that we've never seen before, but as long as the judges thought technique was sound, that's what counts. Len seemed... angry about something though. Maybe Maks' teaching style, or the perception that the video gave of their teamwork. 8-8-8
Rob has the Paso, to the theme from Superman. Haven't we done this song before? Cheryl and Rob's approach is more 'Clark' than Jason Taylor's 'Superman'. While I'm comparing the two, Jason Taylor's Paso jump was way awesomer. Was it Jason Taylor? Or the other guy? Anyway, no real disrespect, Rob, it was good otherwise. Also, Len, so angry tonight. 8-8-8
Ricki Lake somehow got the theme from the movie Psycho? Derek opened and closed with a really clever and visually appealing silhouette sequence, but the timing of the weird song was tough, even for him. Her technique seemed fine, but she panicked all week with the moves, and you could see some of that in the performance. The first thing all night that Len even remotely liked, I think. 10-9-10, first tens of the season!
After a really short cameo by a really, really old Richard Simmons, Chaz debuts a Paso to the Rocky theme song. He does more actual dancing movements, which is what the judges asked for, and he runs up the stairs at the end - no mean feat for a large man with bad knees, people. Also, Cher is there, how cool is that. Carrie Ann cried, which makes Cher cry, so they cut her off before she could do any more damage. 7-7-7, dude that's more than Carson and Anna. Big surge from last week.
So Lacey brings in Richard Simmons (poor Lacey needs a winning-caliber partner one of these seasons...) but Karina brings in a foxtrot champion to crack the whip on J.R., this is the difference between contender and 'just celebrity,' unfortunately. The theme from the Pink Panther suits the foxtrot way better than "You've Got a Friend in Me," and the subtle humor (I thought) was great. For some reason, Carrie Ann did not like it, and Len called her crazy for once. I was shouting "FIGHT! FIGHT!" the whole time - alas, they were just catty. 8-9-9.
Results show was no good, you can skip it. I don't even know who Raphael Saadiq is, and his rendition of "Soul Man," can't stand up to the original (could anything?) And then there's Susan Boyle, and I'm not a Susan Boyle fan, already! I really think she's not very good at singing. Honestly. And Blake Shelton is good, but "Footloose" is also just fine as is. So that's three songs that were much better in their original versions.
Chynna and Tony get eliminated. Too bad, she was pretty good.
