Trav's Thoughts

Oh boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!! Dancing on the 42" Plasma!!

We do not have our fu-fu finery tonight but we do have CAKE!! Boston Cream Cake from Safeway.



So this evening we have the couples performing two individual dances - a traditional ballroom and a Latin.

Elegance, sophistication, charm...Fred & Ginger anyone?


Laila and Maks dance Quickstep. That's an unfortunate music choice, although the slower tempo allows them to control the steps very well. Maks has choreographed to Laila's strengths. She looks much less awkward than she has in ballroom style. They danced very well, but I wasn't really wowed by it. Judges say 10,9,10 for a total of 29. I'm not feeling that score.

John and Edyta dance Foxtrot. This is an excellent dance for John because of the elegance. Yup. This is the dance for John and you can see him enjoy it. He's dancing very well. It's basic and simple, but he has the elegance and he's doing all the steps correctly. That was very nice. Judges say 8,7,8 for a total of 23. That's a good score for a basic Foxtrot.

Apolo and Julianne dance Foxtrot. You can see the difference between this and what John & Edyta did. This had strong choreography and it was performed exceptionally well. It had charm and elegance, and the story was well interpreted. Len was grumpy and picked on it, calling it unsophisticated. I disagree - it was youthful. Judges say 9,8,9 for a total of 26.

Ian and Cheryl dance Tango. Oh more unfortunate music. Yeesh. This is not what he needed to loosen up. I didn't like that at all. It had the intensity of a Tango and good choreography, but there was just something about the dance I didn't like. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. That's generous. I didn't think it was that good.

I'm not agreeing much with the judges tonight. Laila & Maks were good, but not one point off perfect. I'm with them on John & Edyta, but I thought Apolo and Julianne were much better than the judges gave credit. And I don't really know what they liked about Ian & Cheryl.

Billy Ray and Karina dance Waltz. This is a very fortunate first dance for Billy Ray and they had the perfect music. Too bad they didn't bother to do a proper Waltz. He didn't dance at all. This needs to be marked way down. Len needs to stop fawning over Billy Ray and score the dang dance the way it deserves. Judges say 5,6,6 for a total of 17. A proper score for a Waltz that wasn't.

Joey and Kym dance Foxtrot. That was great! Standing O from the sofa in my house!! It was charming and elegant, sophisticated and smart. Kym choreographed a great routine to play to his strengths and he delivered the performance. Judges say 10,9,10 for a total of 29. That's great - but a shame in my opinion because I thought this was a better dance than Laila & Maks.

Next up, the Latin round.

Hot, sizzling, smoking...can you say Rita Morena & George Chakiris?


Laila and Maks dance Samba. She's hawt and sexy and stunning and gorgeous. But there's something off tonight. I don't believe her performance tonight, in either dance. Something was just missing for me. Judges say 10's across for a perfect 30. Dang - I'm happy for her, but I just didn't feel it this week.

John and Edyta dance Rumba. He caught lucky to get the slower dance. But Samba to Queen's Pressure?? He did that about as well as he could, given his physcial limitations. That was a nice, safe Samba. It was graceful and he was able to dance the steps, leaving out the hip action. It really should be enough to earn him one more week. Judges say 7,8,7 for a total of 22.

Apolo and Julianne dance Mambo. Some of his movements were a little choppy. They had some difficult choreography that they performed very well. It was rough in spots. They threw themselves into it with a lot of energy. Overall it was a solid dance. Judges say 9,9,10 for a total of 28. The 10 is too high from Bruno.

Ian and Cheryl dance Mambo. They have great Mambo music. Cheryl has choreographed to his strengths and he had a great time with it. That was his best dance yet. Outstanding. He was loose and relaxed and really sold the dance. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. Well deserved.

Billy Ray and Karina dance Samba. I'm really annoyed by the fact that they praise this every week. There are excellent dancers in this competition and it's now time for Billy Ray to go home. He's gone as far as he can on effort and charm, but enough is really enough. Judges say 7's across for 21.

Joey and Kym dance Jive. I need to look this up because it doesn't seem right that Jive is part of the Latin round, as I said last week. This is a great showcase for Joey's talent. And he delivered another fantastic performance. We're standing again for that! It had energy, excitement, sharpness - a perfect Jive. Judges say 10's across for a perfect 30.

Here's the scoop direct from Wikipedia about Jive:

"Jive is a dance style in 4/4 rhythm that originated among African-Americans in the early 1940s. It is a lively and uninhibited variation of the Jitterbug, i.e., belongs to Swing dances.

In Ballroom dancing, Jive is one of the five International Latin dances. In competition it is danced at a speed of 44 bars per minute, otherwise at between 32 and 40 bpm."

So I guess that explains that!

And the standings:

59 = Joey & Kym tied with Laila & Maks
54 = Ian & Cheryl tied with Apolo & Julianne
45 = John & Edyta
38 = Billy Ray & Karina

For those of you taking this seriously (yes, I'm aware of how silly that sounds), the gap between John and Billy Ray is probably enough that the fan vote won't change the order and Billy Ray will most likely be going home.

How about one more dance video, just 'cause I can?


Check out results tomorrow night!