Festival of Tiny Costumes!

Posted: Tuesday, April 15, 2008 by Travis Cody in
14

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!

14 comments:

  1. Liz Hill says:

    This is the first time I have really liked Kristi---she emoted well.

    Jason and Edyta----PURRRRRRR


    Priscilla never got the 'dance walk' that is so vital to the rhumba---I've got a post in queue about my experience learning it.

    Excellent re-cap and I LOVE the 'tiny costumes'

  1. Marsha says:

    Man, what is with the music - I haven't heard 'A Tisket a Tasket' since I was a kid!! Give me a break people - FIND better music.

    Yippee for Mario and Marissa for being much better this week. And Christian just gets HAWTerrr by the week!!

    Marlee and 'Cilla are in trouble this week....thinking 'Cilla is gone myself.

    BTW....RUMOR has it in town that Rose has declared for the draft and hired an agent. Smart move,if true, he's likely to go in the first round....quickly!

  1. I still have a real problem with the musical choices this season, but thoroughly enjoyed the show.

    My one 'complaint' with Marissa, Carrie Ann told her it was even better than last week, yet she got the same score of 8 as last week. If it was better, the score should have been better me thinks...

    Nice wrap... I think Priscilla is in trouble... Marlee's situation is also finally being exposed.

  1. Kimmie says:

    I just loved last nights show also. Mario really showed up for this one! Priscilla has tried so hard but she is slowing down a bit. Jason and Edyta...I agree with turnbaby....PURRRRRRRR. He is just one big handsome guy with such a soft deameaner. Eye Candy to Boot!!! ;-) Right Pam??? Yowwie! I imagine her little white dress made the men drool also! I love Marissa, she is a real doll. I loved the cute judges remarks. She was tickled! I felt bad for Marlee...but she took this on knowing there would be great challenges. I still admire the h*ll out of her courage. I like Kristi alot, she is almost flawless, but I think she had to much advantage over the rest of the group to compete in this show. Sorry...just my opinion. I think I may have missed one, but I am at a loss right now to who it is. :-(
    Thank You Travis for the great recap! Tonight we Sing AND Dance...I will be flipping back and forth again! ;-)
    Smiles,
    Kimmie

  1. Schmoop says:

    Oh dear God. Even Cheryl's back is sexy. Cheers Travis!!

  1. j says:

    "What a run of suckiness." :^D

    Glad to hear Kristi is doing so well. That validates my intuition!!

    Jennifer

  1. Anndi says:

    Only caught the end.. bathing a Chicklet is a time consumming thing. Thank Goodness for videos (which I can't watch now... *sigh*)! I did get a glimpse of Shannon and felt she hadn't captured it as well as I would have hoped after her performance last week.

  1. Akelamalu says:

    Crikey that Bryan Watson can sure swivel his hips! I've just shown MWM and told him I expect him to be able to move just like that at our first Salsa class on Thursday! Anyone want to take bets? :)

  1. Anonymous says:

    filipinos say that Kristi was great last night and everytime she peforms, and should be in this competition if ABC asked her to be. Have to disagree with you that delaburke should have rec'd all 8's more like all 7's...not a good performance, they don't seem to dance together...that's our opinion

  1. Turn: We loved the contrast between K&M's romantic and J&E's seductive Rumba. Good stuff.

    Marsha: The music didn't bother me as much this time...maybe because the dancing was mostly so good. And I saw the confirmation of that rumor today...I think it's a great move for the kid.

    V: I noticed that about Marissa's score too. I had issues with several of Carrie Ann's opinions.

    Kimmie: Mario was a pleasant surprise. It's going to be an interesting elimination.

    Matt: No kidding!

    Jennifer: Hehehee! It was quite the run though.

    Ann: I was disappointed with Shannon and now I'm wondering if last week was a one shot deal because of the style of dance rather than her ability.

    Akelamalu: Don't intimidate him now!

    Anon: Thanks for the feedback.

  1. I really enjoyed watching Jason. He is so not the musclebound jock! We won't speak of the music.

  1. RW says:

    Damn I am going to have to start watching sounds like it getting intense.

  1. Julie says:

    See the interest you create? You should get a cut of the profits!

    This show is one of the few that I can just sit, smile and enjoy....and then come to you for repeats of Edyta and Jason!

  1. Anonymous says:

    I saw Shannon last night when I watched the show, and keep trying to figure out where I know her from. Likely a TV show, but can't think which one or who she played on it. Is she an actress??