Trav's Thoughts

It's live from Hollywood!



It's a big night as our remaining five pairs dance for scores and votes to make it to the Final Four. Yes friends and neighbors, we are just two weeks away from learning who will dance away with the fabulous mirror ball trophy!



Our pairs have two individual dances this week in a ballroom round and a Latin round.

First up, ballroom.

Mya and Dmitry dance Quickstep. If they want a big score, then Dmitry's choreography has to be danced from start to finish with minimal gimmicks. Otherwise Mr Cranky Pants will mark them down. I like the artistry, but the reality is that points matter at this stage. Mya always has an elegant look to her lines, which I really appreciate. This was a pretty classic Quickstep. It was well controlled and covered the entire ballroom floor. I didn't see her put a foot wrong, and they did minimize the intro and exit foolishness. And they did finally get Len on their side. This should be a big score because the dance included class, elegance, sophistication, and nearly flawless footwork. They made it look smooth and easy. Judges say 9,10,10 for a total of 29. Well done!

Aaron and Karina dance Foxtrot. Karina got hit with the flu this week, but she hung in and refused to let Aaron's fate rest with a substitute partner. He had problems with his posture this week. He was very stiff in hold, and that made him look awkward. Foxtrot should be smooth, and this was a bit to jerky. The choreography was very good, but as with some other weeks it seemed like Aaron was acting too much and not just dancing naturally. This was a step back from the wonderful Jive from last week. They had trouble connecting one move to another. I think the main problem with this dance was that we could see the effort. It should have looked easy. Judges say 7,8,8 for a total of 23. I think that's about right. The dance just wasn't good enough at this stage.

Joanna and Derek dance Quickstep. This dance worries me a bit for her, basically because she can sometimes be clumsy. In the quicker dances, she has trouble maintaining her footwork. I think she looked awkward from the beginning and she had the rubber legsses back. The quicker dances just seem to be out of her comfort zone and she doesn't look good dancing them. She communicates the tension and she just doesn't look feminine. GAH! Some of her lines were just awful. Derek did the right thing by making a very difficult dance, but she just wasn't up to it. It just didn't measure up. Judges say 8,7,8 for a total of 23. That's about right.

Kelly and Louis dance Foxtrot. I hope Kelly doesn't put too much pressure on herself. She is at her best when she let's go and just takes a chance. I love this choreography. They had some very nice rise and fall, and everything was smooth. Kelly mixed a bit of sass with her class. I think that was her best dance. There were no fear moments. She danced confidently through the entire routine, and she attacked it exactly like she should at this stage. She was elegant and sophisticated, and amazingly light on her feet. The performance was outstanding. She's not perfect and she still has things to work on...like her lines...but she's come so far and I would love to see her make the finale. Judges say 8,8,9 for a total of 25. Well deserved.

Donny and Kym dance Viennese Waltz. Donny's posture will be the key to this dance. He has the grace to make this special, and the performance ability to make it the fairy tale I always want from any kind of Waltz. Debonaire and elegant. That was really wonderful. I didn't see any of those posture issues he's had in the past. He and Kym danced very much as one. That was really outstanding. He could easily rely solely on his ability to entertain, but he makes the entire performance special because he really works on the technique. It was a grown up dance. I couldn't find anything to dislike about it, and of course you know Pam found it squee-worthy. Judges say 9,8,9 for a total of 26. Ppppppppfffffffftttttttt...that was worth at least one 10.

Here's the leader board after the ballroom round:

29 Mya and Dmitry
26 Donny and Kym
25 Kelly and Louis
23 Aaron and Karina
23 Joanna and Derek

Next up, Latin round.

Mya and Dmitry dance a 70s style Samba. They did a great Samba roll. Dmitry also managed to interject just the right amount of disco into the choreography. There wasn't so much that it looked like a only disco routine. It maintained the Samba flavor and the two styles merged quite well. And naturally her performance was terrific. Judges say 10's across for a total of 30. Mya had a fantastic night. She really went for it.

Aaron and Karina dance a 90s style Samba. No hip action at all. He had plenty of energy. I just don't think he danced very well. The Samba choreography had most of the classic elements, but the 90s stuff wasn't incorporated into it. They danced Samba, and then they did some stuff at the end that might have been dance steps from the 90s. I don't think he had a good night. Judges say 9's across for a total of 27. I think that's way too high.

Joanna and Derek dance a futuristic Paso Doble. This could be weird. It was an interesting concept. Her legs let me down again. I couldn't really follow the Paso. I think the robotic concept over-powered the routine for me. Derek's choreography was really very good, but it just wasn't appealing to me. Judges say 9,10,10 for a total of 29. Too high for me, but I think that's more because I didn't like the concept.

Kelly and Louis dance a 60s style Jive. Now this was interesting because they maintained a very 60s style of movement throughout the dance. The Jive elements were seamless with the 60s dance elements. She was a little tentative and her technique fell apart in a few spots, but the performance was fun. I don't know that it was strong enough, although it was delightful. Judges say 8,9,9 for a total of 26.

Donny and Kym dance an 80s style Paso Doble. Donny is dressed like Adam Ant. Now that's funny!!! I don't think we were supposed to laugh, but there sure were some 80s cheesy moments in that Paso. It was way over the top with the glam, and the Paso elements did get a little lost. It was insane, but definitely entertaining. Judges say 8's across for a total of 24. Pam said, please don't ever make him do that again!

Here's our combined leader board:

59 Mya and Dmitry
52 Joanna and Derek
51 Kelly and Louis
50 Donny and Kym
50 Aaron and Karina

No fooling around this week. Pam was on the phone right after Donny's first dance. And I'm supporting my girl, so my votes went to Donny too. It's about fanbase now.

Michael Buble and Susan Boyle are in the ballroom tonight. Plus we find out which pro will be dancing the Paso Doble with Sabrina Bryan in the Macy's Design a Dance.