'Dancing With the Stars' recap: waltzes and jitterbugs
Tonight on Dancing With the Stars, it's all about waltzes, jitterbugs and a dance marathon. (By the way, still on the mini keyboard, so this won't be quite as detailed as usual.)
The first jitterbug of the night is from Mya and Dmitry Chaplin. They have a lot of fun and bring more character than usual, which was their goal. Head judge Len Goodman feels like they spent too much time with props and intro. Bruno Tonioli says her style was spot on and her timing was incredible. Carrie Ann Inaba says she was expecting a little more character still. Scores: 8-7-9, for a 24/30.
Melissa Joan Hart and Mark Ballas are doing the waltz. They prepare with Mark's mom, who is a hard core expert. She is working very hard in the dance, but there is still a bit of awkwardness to her performance, and her acting of the character isn't quite believable. Bruno: "That wasn't good for Week 6. ... You looked like you were trying to remember what you were told." Ouch. But true. Carrie Ann says it wasn't gliding and fluid. Len says she was elegant and had musicality, but she had some technique problems. Scores: 7-7-6, for a 20/30.
Mark Dacascos and Lacey Schwimmer are next on the jitterbug train. They do a trick-filled performance but there is a fair amount of dancing, too, so it's not only gimmicks. In short: way fun. Carrie Ann shouts woo and does a bunch of fist pumps. She does point out one stumble, though. Len: "Sometimes, less is more, but not in the jitterbug!" Bruno calls it truly spectacular except for one timing loss at the end. Scores: 9-9-8, for a 26/30
Aaron Carter and Karina Smirnoff are hoping the waltz suits them well enough to stay out of the bottom two. I get kind of distracted by Aaron's ginormous collar, but the performance is quite sweet, actually. Len says he danced with maturity, had a good frame and overall calls it his best dance so far. Bruno says the boy has become a gentleman, but points out a couple of times where he lost his footing. Carrie Ann loves the new, dignified Aaron. Scores: 8-9-8, for a 25/30
Michael Irvin and Anna Demidova are worried about this week's double elimination while they prepare for the waltz. In the performance, he looks more joyful than you usually see in the waltz, and he seems much more comfortable on the floor than usual. Bruno says this was not a premium waltz even though he was enjoying himself. Carrie Ann questions them about a possible lift but says the performance was charming. Len says he had the best footwork of any of the waltzes tonight -- "it was really, really good!" Scores: 6-8-6, for a 20/30
Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel work on Kelly's confidence at trapeze school. Their jitterbug is very energetic and tons of fun. Carrie Ann says she brought fun back, but she stumbled a bit and showed when she made mistakes. Len says it was a little flat-footed and was a little disappointing. Bruno says it was cute and nice, but she needs to ignite the performance and sell it. Scores: 7-6-7, for a 20/30.
Louie Vito and Chelsie Hightower try to make up forst last week's lackluster performance by adding lots of tricks and more content. It ... kind of works, at times. Len says parts of it were fantastic, but other bits are ... "grundy(?)." Bruno says he loses his precision. Carrie Ann says she loved it, but he dropped his partner twice, which was not OK. Scores: 7-7-7, 21/30
Joanna Krupa and Derek Hough are back together now that Derek's over the flu. Tom says after it's over that it's the "get a room dance of the season." Bruno: "what a performance!" Carrie Ann says the outside of her lines was good, but she still had hesitation at times. Len says her footwork wasn't too brilliant, but it was still the best waltz of the night. Scores: 8-9-9, for a 26/30.
Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson ramp up their performance with a bunch of tricks for this jitterbug, which seems to play to Donny's strengths (especially goofy fun). Carrie Ann says they know how to work a room, but they had some stumbles and some out of sync moments. Len says it was overall very entertaining. Bruno says at times it was like watching a steam engine trying to keep up with a bullet train. Scores: 8-8-8, for a 24/30.
Last performance of the night is the group mambo, aka the "first ever dance marathon for judges' ranking points." They will get tapped out if they aren't doing well enough. Michael and Anna are out first (2 points), then Louie and Chelsie (3), then Melissa and Mark (4), then Kelly and Louis (5), then Mark and Lacey (6), then Donny and Kym (7), then Aaron and Karina (8), then Mya and Dmitry (9), with the final standing being Joanna and Derek (10).
In danger: Pretty much everyone who got a 20, don't you think?
What did you think about the episode?







Comments
Marathon-Joanna over Mya, come on!! Why are the judges hatein" on Mya? Anyone else notice that? Mya had all the right moves in that dance. Yet Inaba liked Joanna because she smiled more! All she did was swish her skirt!
Posted by: PDR | October 27, 2009 9:03 AM
I had the show on but was sewing so I only watching some of it. DWTS is becoming really boring. They need to cut out the filler and cut it down to 1 hour.
Posted by: Kitkat | October 27, 2009 9:40 AM
Last night wasn't my favorite episode - I think now that it is week 6 I have less patience for excuses even when with my favorities. I love Kelly but I feel less sympathy for the lack of confidence now that they've been doing this for awhile. The dance marathon was kind of weird to me - it was hard for viewers to really see what was going on. I liked Derek and Joanna's dance though.
Posted by: Rina | October 27, 2009 9:45 AM
I think my favorite celebrities are Donny Osmond and Mya. I think they are great dancers and both entertaining.
Aaron and Joanna are good dancers but there is something about them that turns me off.
The rest seem like nice people and are okay dancers , but they will not make it to the finals.
Posted by: Melanie | October 27, 2009 11:23 AM
This season seems fixed to me ... and a little boring and predictable. The judges aren't judging fairly at all - Mya was much better at the group dance that Joanna.
Posted by: Melinda | October 27, 2009 3:30 PM
Mya is a better dancer than Joanna. I just paid more attention to Joanna and Derek b/c they were more entertaining during the danceoff. I don't know if it was b/c of how hard Joanna was trying with her hair all messed up, I just found them more amusing. I loved that they won, but then again, I am looking for entertainment. The judges on the other hand are supposed to be judging talent.
Posted by: JoAnn | October 27, 2009 5:39 PM
The judges are being too easy on Donnie Osmond - he does very few lifts and his footwork has not improved one bit. All he soes is kick.
Posted by: S Fennell | October 29, 2009 9:40 PM