Didn't you love the way Samantha kept referring to the "Final Four," and then correcting herself to add "in the semifinals"? Sigh.
Kim: waltz and salsa. Neither performance was perfect, but she should definitely be in next week's semifinal. Her understanding of movement is what brings her through. Her ability to surrender to Derek is also pretty exceptional - we tend to forget that, even if a given DWTS celebrity is a "has been" (which Kim certainly is not) they have been successful in a cutthroat business. It is not easy for people to give up control, and she's had to do that as a student and even more as the follower in dancing. Finally, "When I Need You," probably the worst performance by the band and singers all season.
Ty was given Argentine Tango for his "ballroom round" dance. (This makes no sense to me. American tango, yes, certainly. But I guess the producers are going to continue blending the dances.) In week three or four, that would have been a very solid performance, but his leg mechanics are a real liability at this point. To not be able to close the knees and turn out the feet is pretty much a fatal flaw. This showed up just as badly in the rumba. Being able to move the hips is great, but the goal is to do it without making the feet move.
Shawn did well with both her quickstep and her paso. The paso doble really suits her, it lets her show her strength and her fearlessness. The quickstep totally lived up to its name ... and if I were Shawn, and found out that Mark's choreography cost me three tens, I would have kicked him. Hard.
Gilles, kind of surprisingly, did better with his foxtrot than with the rumba. The rumba is a deceptively difficult dance. The tendency is to send the hips too far away from the upper body, and then you end up with this kind of strange "keep on truckin" posture (anybody remember those cartoons? No? I am old), which I did see from Gilles last night. There were also a couple of errors in both dances, mostly having to do with connection, which is not characteristic and I'm attributing them to the stress of doing two full performances. I also didn't love the strange swivels in the solo part of the rumba. (And please - I'm not saying the rumba wasn't smokin' hot, because it was.)
Finally, Melissa, back and sufficiently medicated to dance at almost full strength. The whole business about the "treatment" is so silly. There is no treatment for a cracked rib. So, pain meds, okay. The Viennese waltz was really lovely, but yes, the footwork was still a little too tippy-toe. The samba was excellent ... though I wouldn't call it flawless; there could have been a little more to the bounce. The point of the bounce is to get down into the floor. This samba was pretty elevated.
Supposedly we have an action-packed results show to see tonight. Will it be a "shocking elimination," or will Ty be watching from the sidelines next week?
