Trav's Thoughts

Well, I haven't finished my Manic Monday rounds yet. If I haven't been by yet, I'll get to you soon.

This is becoming a real event for us on Monday nights. I'm even choosing Dancing over the NCAA championship game. Well, not completely. I'm taping the end of the game. Looks like Florida might be just a little too good for Ohio State. It's a 12 point game with under 10 minutes to play. Maybe Florida's foul trouble will be a factor.

But enough of such things. It's time to Dance!

Tonight, it's all about Jive...


...and Tango.


And away we go...

Shandi and Brian dance Jive. She does the steps but she doesn't match his enthusiasm. Wait...about half way through she started getting into it. That was a lot better than last week. That actually turned out pretty good. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.

John and Edyta dance Tango. Not only does he dance well, he plays the character throughout. He's acting as much as he's dancing, and it works. I'm impressed by that Tango. Wow. The jugdes picked on his technique but gave him praise for his interpretation. Judges say 7,6,7 for a total of 20. I disagree because I thought that this Tango was at least as good as the Jive from Shandi and Brian.

Clyde and Elena dance Jive. An unfortunate music choice - Bad Moon Rising for Jive? He looked very unsure of his steps. That wasn't good. He looked embarrassed by what he was doing and there was very little dancing. Judges say 6,5,5 for a total of 16.

Laila and Maks dance Tango. Oh they scored on the music - Goldfinger. Oh man - the outfit. Yikes. But dangit! They broke the hold in the middle and that's a no no. Once you take the hold, you're not supposed to break it during the dance. The judges should mark down for it and they did take them to task. The dance really wasn't that good. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21. That's consistent with the broken hold.

Apolo and Julianne dance Jive. I didn't like the opening. They had lots of energy, but the dance was really rough, like they didn't have enough time to rehearse it. The technique was disjointed and there were spots where they slowed down and kind of lost the dance a little. They performed it well, but I don't think they danced it well. Judges say 7,8,8 for a total of 23. I think that might be a little high because the dance really was a little sloppy.

Joey and Kym dance Tango. And more unfortunate music choices - Star Wars theme?? The music was ridiculous but they danced a first class Tango. This was a fantastic dance. They should get bonus points for not cracking up laughing during the thing because of the music. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. That's too low - they had the difficulty and they danced all the steps. That should have been 8,9,9 for 26 at least.

Ian and Cheryl dance Jive. Now that was a Jive!! Best dance of the night. I'll say it again - when your partner is Cheryl, you are going to learn and you're going to dance well. Ahhhh no! They had a little problem with steps at the end, which kept that from being 9's across. Otherwise that was a fantastic Jive. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24.

Pam has chosen Joey and Ian as her two favorites. I believe I've made it clear that Laila is my favorite, although she didn't do well tonight. She was still smokin' hawt.

Florida defeats Ohio State to repeat as NCAA champions in basketball. They also won the NCAA championship in football this year by defeating OSU in January.

Leeza and Tony dance Tango. He keeps the choreography very simple and classic for her, and that gives her a chance to be comfortable. That was a very safe and basic Tango and they danced it well. Judges say 8's across. Now I have a little problem with that, because Ian's Jive and Joey's Tango were so much more difficult. Leeza danced well, but her choreography was too simple to be tied with the two guys.

Heather and Jonathan dance Jive. Well, I guess if you've got the cash you just go get another bouncier foot so you can dance Jive. She did the steps. It had energy. Gotta give the woman props. She's doing the dancing. And Jonathan isn't cutting any corners on choreography - he's making her do the required elements. Judges say 8's across. You know what, she deserved that score.

Billy Ray and Karina dance Tango. Yet another unfortunate music choice - Tango to Rock the Casbah?? He's very clunky and his frame is awful. Oh geeez! He's bouncing his head while he counts out the steps!! That was horrible. Part of it was the music, but most of it was bad dancing. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21. There's no way that was a point better than John and Edyta. This is a true WTF moment.

There was some odd scoring tonight. Some of the scores were spot on, but some didn't make any sense at all.

And there was a lot of wacky music choices this week.

In the main, the stronger couples continued to be strong while the weaker couples didn't improve much - at least in my opinion. Four pairs were tied at 24, although I don't agree with some of that scoring.

Results tomorrow night and another celebrity goes home.