Trav's Thoughts

Cue that theme music 'cause it's Latin night bay-bee! Live from Hollywood!



One of tonight's dances is Samba, which actually encompasses several different styles and is characterized by lively and rhythmic movements in a dance that is fun and sexy. Samba is the carnival dance. This is Bryan Watson and Carmen Vincelj, former World Latin American champions.


The other dance is Rumba, a slow tempo dance that features erotic and sensual hip movements. This dance is called the vertical expression of a horizontal desire. This isn't one of my favorite styles, as too many dancers substitute a lot of posing in place of actual dance movements. This is Bryan and Carmen again, and although much of the dance is the posing that I dislike, they do it beautifully.


Last week, I posted a bit of Maks for my dear friend Julie. She has missed watching him dance this season. Well, this week I found a little more Maks for Julie...and some Cheryl Burke for my pal Matt. This is Maksim Chmerkovskiy and Cheryl Burke with a Rumba from the week two results show in season three, accompanying Julio Iglesias.


So, let's see what our remaining couples can do with these dances.

I just realized that there are only three male celebrities left against five female celebrities. It truly could be a Lady's year.

Mario and Karina dance Samba. He's much more controlled and confident this week, instead of wild and manic. He's really got the flavor of Samba. That was smooth and really good. Very well performed. That made us smile. That's the best he's danced on the show so far. He still has some technique trouble with his feet, but it wasn't very evident because of the freedom of this dance. We enjoyed it! Terrific! Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. Yup. He deserved that.

Priscilla and Louis dance Rumba. That's a 62 year old grandmother doing a full split. The dance was very sensual, but her extensions weren't as complete as they should have been. The dance didn't seem smooth. She missed a step and a hold. There was classic Rumba choreography and she acted it well, but this wasn't my favorite dance from her. Although she gets major props for that split. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21. Ouch. But we can't really disagree with the score.

Marissa and Tony dance Samba. This could be a difficult dance for her. There is a fine line between the carnival fun character of the dance and a caricature. But she's on the right side of that line. She made that look like a lot of fun. Great job! That was terrific! As well as she danced last week...this week it was twice as good! She put everything together for that dance. Tony is finally giving her the right choreography and she is running with it. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. That's a solid score for that dance.

Cristian and Cheryl dance Rumba. That was really sexy. It's amazing how much he's improved. He led her so well through that choreography. It was more of a romantic Rumba than an erotic one though. There were a few technical problems. He had some trouble with his feet...there were a couple of steps that looked much too strong, almost pounded into the floor instead of sliding across. But it was very enjoyable and according to Pam, there was no diminishing of Cristian's HAWTness factor. Judges say 7,8,8 for a total of 23. We think the 7 is too low.

Marlee and Fabian dance Samba. She really struggled through parts of that dance. Samba is all about rhythms and her musicality just wasn't there this week. This is the first time she hasn't been able to completely overcome her deafness. You can see how frustrated she was too. She kept trying to pull it back, and she did through some of the spots where Fabian could help her with touch cues. But when she moved away from him, that's where she struggled. Judges say 7,7,8 for a total of 22. Unfortunate, but that's the right score just based on the dancing.

Kristi and Mark dance Rumba. Whoa. That was brilliant. Sexy, romantic, erotic, fantastic. That dance had everything. The chemistry between them was so good. That was one of the best Rumbas that I've seen on the show. And she has conquered whatever inhibitions she had with putting the emotions into the dancing. Judges say 9,10,10 for a total of 29. Come on Carrie Ann! Sheesh!

Shannon and Derek dance Samba. Last week Derek hurt his neck, and this week he has food poisoning. What a run of suckiness. She's back to looking a little awkward. She didn't have the hip action. The dance was very fast, but we thought Derek's energy overpowered her just a little bit. This is a bit of a step back for her. The choreography might have been just a little too difficult. The best we can say about it is that she got through it. Judges say 8,8,7 for a total of 23. That's probably about right.

Jason and Edyta dance Rumba. I really admire him because of how quickly he learns how to do stuff that is totally contrary to a football player. His posture and frame were so good. Pam said his strength and masculinity made the dance erotic and sexy. The chemistry between the two of them is amazing. The performance was excellent. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. Hmmmm. We thought there could have been a 10 in there.

29 Kristi & Mark
27 Jason & Edyta
27 Mario & Karina
24 Marissa & Tony
23 Cristian & Cheryl
23 Shannon & Derek
22 Marlee & Fabian
21 Priscilla & Louis

We had a tough time deciding how to vote. It's early to throw all our votes to one pair. I knew I wanted to vote for Marlee because she was really at a disadvantage this week with Samba. Kristi was so good, I wanted to vote for her because of it.

Pam felt that Mario deserved some votes because of how much he had improved, but she's so dedicated to Jason and Kristi. And it's pretty clear that Priscilla is in trouble this week.

What to do?

We really enjoyed the show. This was one of the best so far this season. Lots of choices for encores.

Later babies!