Trav's Thoughts

Why yikes? Because the evening got away from me and now it's time for the show to start and I don't have my dance research done and I haven't found the demo clips for tonight's dances and and and...

STOP!

Just cue the theme music already! Cause it's live from Hollywood!



Wow. I'm glad the anxiety attack is over.

But we're quite excited because the pairs will perform one of four dances that have never been on the show. We have Jitterbug, West Coast Swing, Hustle, and Salsa.

Here's a boogie woogie Jitterbug that should make you smile!


You know I had to go with the champs, Benji Schwimmer and Heidi Groskreutz with West Coast Swing.


This is Gary Ulaner & Diane Nardone doing the Hustle.


Let's see the pros from Strictly Come Dancing do some Salsa. Woooooo!!! Now that's some party Salsa gang!


The pros are really under pressure this week, because some will be teaching dances they aren't familiar with. Let's see how our couples do.

First up, back to back West Coast Swing.

Lance and Lacey dance first. Now this is what Lacey grew up dancing. Her brother Benji is a WCS champion and so is she. She brought her dad Buddy into rehearsals this week. Buddy Schwimmer is like the king of WCS. We were a bit disappointed in Lance's performance. He lost his balance on one of the moves, and he didn't seem to keep up with Lacey. It looked like she was trying to pull him through it. The judges really knocked Lacey, but we think she gave Lance great choreography and he just didn't dance up to it. We don't think she danced over him, although she did dance around him because he wasn't pulling his weight. We think the judges were a bit harsh with her this week, and we thought the criticism went just a little too far. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21. That's a good score, especially since Lance really wasn't there for Lacey.

Now it's Toni and Alec. We're not sure if they were supposed to do that lift, although we thought it was really well done. We're really impressed with Alec this week. He's head to head with a WCS family of champions, and he did a fantastic job with Toni in that dance. We would have liked a bit more swing content. There were a couple of spots where they had it, but then they gave in to the pop style of music and lost the WCS flavor. But we thought she danced well, even though it wasn't a completely true WCS routine. We'll give Alec a break on that. We enjoyed the performance. Judges say 7,7,8 for a total of 22. Well, I do have to say that Toni danced better than Lance although Lacey choreographed a complete WCS with complex content.

Next up, back to back Hustle.

Susan and Tony are up first. But poor Susan! She has fractured two bones in her foot. Apparently the only issue is whether she can dance through the pain. This has been a brutal season for injuries. She danced a bit timidly, and that's not surprising. But fortunately the beat was a bit slower and Tony choreographed the dance very well, although the judges criticize him for treating her so delicately. And I guess the prohibition against lifts has been suspended for this week. Overall we think Susan danced well, despite some stiffness in her posture. Yet again, we think she was a bit dainty in her performance although there were proper hustle patterns and rhythms. Judges say 7,7,8 for a total of 22. We think to get to the finals she's going to have to bust out with some real frivolous energy in one of these upcoming dances.

Warren and Kym go next. We're expecting a lot from this dance. That was like a tribute to Disco rather than just a hustle, although it did follow hustle patters on the floor. And it was extremely entertaining. I say it every week, but he is so damn light on his feet! He brought the crowd to theirs for a standing ovation. That was definitely a fun dance. It was funky, and although there was a lot of standard disco thrown in, it was still done on the hustle beat. The one thing we would like to see is less stop-and-go from move to move. It's like they finish one pattern, pause for a beat, and then go to the next move. But the big man got it done! And the lifts...wow! He's so strong and he made the lifts look effortless. He was a real leading man in the dance. Judges say 8,8,9 for a total of 25.

Let's have back to back Salsa next.

Cloris and Corky go first. Let me say again that Corky has been such a wonderful partner for Cloris. He has taught her the dances, let her go silly and wild when it made sense, and pulled her back into the character of each dance when he knew she could do it. And he made a credible salsa for her this week too. It was a combination of silly and fun. So let's get a YAY for Corky! And YAY for Cloris! She danced and had fun. But we suspect that this could be her final week. Although, we wouldn't put it past the fans to vote her through one more week. Judges say 7's across for a total of 21. Well, we don't know about that score. It was a fun and entertaining performance, but she didn't really dance as well as she did last week. But what the hell! Blucher!!!

Now Maurice and Cheryl are up. The started very well on the stage platform. It was a bit awkward coming down the stairs, but then it picked right back up. He looked much more focused and controlled this week. His partnering skills were much improved. We think this was a breakthrough week for him. That was an outstanding performance. It was a fun and sexy salsa. Cheryl really cracked the whip this week. That pressure of not being familiar with how to teach salsa really drove her, and it looks like it had the right effect on Maurice. Great job! Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. That's well deserved!

And our last dance is back to back Jitterbug! My gram taught me this when I was a kid!

Brooke and Derek go first. Derek says the Jitterbug should look like a cartoon and the best cartoon wins. That's actually a pretty good description. And he's trying to make us believe he's never done this before. Perhaps he's fibbing just a little bit. If he didn't know anything about Jitterbug, he sure proved his skill and talent as a teacher and choreographer. This dance had a lot of Lindyhop and Jive elements in it, and that's ok because Jitterbug is closely related to those dances. They all come from the Swing family. That was very well done. Brooke is such a natural. The choreography was outstanding. And the performance was brilliant. Judges say 10,9,10 for a total of 29. Yup yup yup!

Cody and Julianne have their work cut out for them now. And they get it done! Terrific! That was outstanding! The best thing we can say about that dance was that it was frenetic without seeming out of control. And that's how my gram always said the Jitterbug should be danced. You have to throw yourself and your partner around the floor, but not be wild. You have to dance on the edge, and these two did exactly that. This dance was every bit as good as the dance from Brooke and Derek. These two Jitterbugs were the dances of the night. Judges say 10,9,9 for a total of 28. Awwwwww! It's a great score but that dance should have tied with B&D.

Here's our leader board:

29 Brooke and Derek
28 Cody and Julianne
27 Maurice and Cheryl
25 Warren and Kym
22 Toni and Alec
22 Susan and Tony
21 Lance and Lacey
21 Cloris and Corky

That was some good stuff tonight. We expected to enjoy this show with the new dance styles, and we did. Pam was torn. She loves Brooke and Derek, but she also enjoyed Cody and Julianne. In the end, she threw all 8 votes to B&D.

Now you know that I've split votes between Lance & Lacey and Warren & Kym. But this week I figured Warren and Kym would be just fine. I had to throw all 8 votes to Lance and Lacey because I think they just might be in trouble this week based on the judges' comments. I think they were wrong to criticize Lacey so harshly, and I think Lance needs to step up.

So there you go.

Wooooooooooooooooooo!!! The Brian Setzer Orchestra is in the ballroom for results!!! Something tells me we could see a pro Jitterbug or Jive.

Tune in tonight!