Trav's Thoughts

And cue theme music!

It's Mambo and Quickstep for the dancers tonight as we need 2 hours and 2 minutes to see all 11 dances.

I'm trying something a little new. Usually Pam and I pick an encore performance for the results post. But I got to thinking that it makes us kind of autocratic. So if you have a favorite performance, shoot me an email. I'll tally any and all votes and post your choice, plus our choice if we differ. Sound like a plan?


Melanie and Maks are up first, dancing Quickstep. Odd music choice, but here's the even odder thing...it worked because of the tempo changes. The choreography was difficult and she really held her posture. Carrie Ann picked on her shoulders and a bit of wonky balance on a turn. Yeah yeah yeah. We enjoyed the dance and we like Mel B. Judges say 7,8,8 for a total of 23.


Mark and Kym are next, dancing Mambo. He's really changing my opinion of him, which I will admit was based on the jerk stuff I see in the news. He loves the practice and he's having a good time. He's not an entertainer, but he is kicking it on this Mambo. Pam just gave it a woooooooo. His technique is awful, but he's got the hip action, he's having fun, and Mambo is the party dance. We enjoyed that. Now the judges should put their scores on this, because last season they kept rewarding Billy Ray Cyrus for his hard work and exhuberance. Judges say 6's across for a total of 18. OK, there are a lot of good dancers this season so I get that score.


Now it's Wayne and Cheryl, dancing Quickstep. There was a little too much silly intro there. And Viva Las Vegas for a Quickstep? I get the Mr Las Vegas nickname, but that makes the dance even more silly. We were actually embarrassed by that. It was clunky and inelegant. It just wasn't good. He'll definitely need the Wayne Nation to get behind him if he's going to stick around. Judges say 5's across for a total of 15. Unfortunately, that's about the right score.


Marie and Jonathan dance Mambo. Check out that gal shaking a lovely bunch of coconuts! And she gets the death drop too! We loved that!! And so do brothers Donny and Jimmy in the house! Woooooooooooooooooooooooooooo!!! She had performance and sass and she did all the Mambo stuff she needed to do. She was fearless. She's got the perfect partner in Jonathan too. Great stuff. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. Yeah baby!


Albert and Anna dance Quickstep. 99 Red Balloons for a Quickstep? That dance was kind of frenetic. The technique was haphazard. There was a lot of running and bouncing around the floor. The judges are calling him a dark horse, but we're seeing a Clydesdale - heavy footed. Maybe we're missing something, but we're not seeing what the judges like. OK OK, Pam says he is handsome and charming. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.


Helio and Julianne dance Mambo. Excuse me, Pam said Albert was charming. But she's drooling now and Helio hasn't even started dancing. Hang on...let me give her the keyboard on this one. Whoa baby! Oh my goodness!!! Wow!! That was amazing. He is fantastic. **Travis wrestles his blog back from his out of control Lady** Sheesh! We agree with the judges on that - he danced like a professional. He led Julianne through each move, and that choreography was extremely fast and difficult. And he seems so genuine. I would throw a 10 on that. Pam's HAWT-meter has over-heated. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27.


Jennie and Derek dance Quickstep. We're really curious about the music for Quickstep tonight. It's making it very difficult to interpret the dances. They were doing pretty well until the end when they missed a couple steps, and then slipped on the end move. Those little mistakes were unfortunate and you can tell how disappointed she was because she looked like she was feeling that dance. Judges say 7's across for a score of 21.


Cameron and Edyta dance Mambo. The Mambo music is much better tonight. His posture and extension is excellent. If you want to talk about a dark horse, we think this is your man. He controlled the dance. He's not quite ready to let loose with it yet, but it's all there. We thought this was much better than last week, much more smooth. Oh...Pam says he is yummy, so there you go. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.


Floyd and Karina dance Quickstep. Well, at least all of the Quickstep dancers have had odd music. She simplified the choreography for him. It was still very rough, but we think it was better than last week. His footwork was solid in the steps, and we're not surprised by that because he's a boxer. His frame and posture was too rounded. But the improvement was there. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.


Ms Jane and Tony dance Mambo. Sophisticated and elegant Mambo with a little bit of spice. How do you not love Ms Jane? It had controlled sass. It wasn't dangerous and reckless. She did the steps and she did them well. We think Tony had the right choreography and slowed that down to play to Ms Jane's strengths. We think it was great. And in Ms Jane's words, you can have a sexy classy Mambo. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21.


Sabrina and Mark dance Quickstep. Ringer gal got the great Quickstep music. We don't know anything about Cheetah girls. All we know about Sabrina is what we've seen on this show. And we like her!! She's just so cute and charming. And she was able to hold her frame and dance with technique. She brings a sparkling energy to the dancing. Len got a little grumpy about balance, but he does have a point. The speed can be balanced with a pause here and there - but we thought the dance had all of that. We'd throw a 10 at that. Judges say 9,8,9 for a total of 26. Grumpy Len threw the 8.

Here's the leader board for tonight:

27 Helio
26 Sabrina
24 Marie
23 Melanie
21 Ms Jane
21 Cameron
21 Albert
21 Jennie
21 Floyd
18 Mark
15 Wayne

I have watched every season of this show, and the lines have never been busy when I went to vote. Tonight, they were. Pam is splitting her 11 votes between Helio and Sabrina. I'm splitting between Marie and Ms Jane.

Email me your choice for encore, or post in comments. This was a terrific show tonight.

Queen Latifa is on the results show Tuesday night at 9pm.

Do yourself a favor...go dancing!