Please Pass the Fiber!
The tango and the jive are two of the liveliest dances in the ballroom repertoire, so I knew we were in for an interesting night. The tango is by far my favorite (the pasa doble is a close second) because of the fire and emotion and the jive is entertaining because there is a lot of movement. But they are not just entertaining, they are challenging. The tango must be tight yet look effortless and the jive is crazy yet the movements must be controlled. There were some hits and misses tonight, so let's get to it!
Marlee - I was anti-Fabian because he took over for my beloved Maksim, but he really won me when he screamed in her ear "Can you hear this?" That was hilarious. My only concern is that they were a bit out of sync tonight. It seemed he was a step ahead of her. They have to rely on other senses to work together, so I think in the coming weeks they will be able to get it together.
Jive 21
Mahoney (aka Steve for those of you under a rock) - This was by far an improvement from last week. He carried a lot of emotion in his face (though he usually does) and he may need to tone that back just a bit, but this was his best performance in terms of technique. Hopefully this is the start of a roll for him because I can't get enough of him and want to see him around.
Tango 21
Cristián - When in doubt, show some body! Those were some killer arms and since he was in the bottom two last week, he needed to pull those babies out to get some votes. Sadly, he needs votes and that surprises me because he's very good. I thought this was a solid performance and given the chance he could do a lot more. So throw a vote or two his way if you can spare it!
Jive 25
Mario - I love the
Moulin Rouge version of "Roxanne" they danced to because it has such intensity. I didn't think Len was right when he said it was a mess, but I'd be lying if I didn't say I was expecting a lot more from them. Regardless, he's still fantastic and he's in this competition for the long haul.
Tango 21
Shannon - The flapper dress worked, but this was not as good a performance as last week. The jive is a tough dance and it's early in the competition so it could have been a lot worse for her. Bruno was right about working on her finish and precision. But Len, he thought that was good and Mario's tango wasn't? That's a big stretch.
Jive 24
Adam - Was it me or did this go pretty well? It was a decent tango. I was very shocked. Is he starting to care about this competition? Doubful, but at least he's not tanking it on purpose. He's putting effort into it and I respect that. I think he'll make it past this week.
Tango 21
Marissa - This was her third week with a fast-paced dance so I'm ready to see her do a traditional ballroom dance. These fast ones aren't working for me and although they don't stink, she's not distinguishing herself in this great pack of dancers. At this rate, I'm not sure she'll see next week.
Jive 19
Shameless plug time! Tonight it was
Eli Stone. They both looked peeved to be there. Do you think ABC forces them? They must.
Cilla - This dance worked for her because she's a dignified woman with a lot of pride. However, I wasn't very inspired by it and didn't think it was very entertaining. Has she hit a plateau? I'm wondering what else she has to show us since it seems like she does the same dance every week. It's good, not great.
Tango 26 I thought this was high.
Jason - He gets good feedback, but I see an awkwardness in all of his dances. I actually agreed with Len on this one, a bit sloppy and not so much action. He continues to score well so unless he's not getting enough of the fan vote he'll be back for more.
Jive 23
Jeff Probst? Where did he come from? Isn't he on CBS? I guess since
Survivor doesn't compete with
DWTS in the ratings, it is ok to pop in and lead us into a commercial. It was a bit odd though.
Kristi - The dancing was great but I thought her face lacked expression and Mark's face had too much. I dig Mark a lot but it was pretty distracting. The only thing missing from the dance was intensity on her part. Other than that, it was fantastic.
Tango 27
I'm not one to say this often, but that was a fast show! Next to Marissa, there really wasn't a bad performance tonight so it's anyone's guess as to who is going home tomorrow. Who will you be voting for? Who is going home? And what was Len on tonight? Please share your thoughts and chat with us as we await the next eviction.
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