Cue that theme music!

Posted: Wednesday, October 03, 2012 by Travis Cody in
5

It's encores and results!


I have a feeling I'm going to be leading off my encores and results posts with this phrase quite often...what a great show Monday night.  It's true, though.  Let me show you some of the things we liked from the performances.

We loved the Jive from Melissa and Tony.  Click here if the video doesn't play.


We also loved the Jive from Shawn and Derek.  Click here if the video doesn't play.


We loved the jaw dropping precision of Apolo's footwork in his Quickstep with Karina.  Click here if the video doesn't play.


At first we weren't sure about the Quickstep from Sabrina and Louis.  Then we watched it back and it was worth every point of that top score of 26.  Click here if the video doesn't play.


Although Sabrina and Louis scored a point higher, we're giving dance of the night to the outstanding Jive from Gilles and Peta.  Click here if the video doesn't play.


Yeah.  That's some real good stuff.  Did you notice how much fun the pros were having in those dances?  I wonder how much they are digging having such talented celebrities. 

Are you ready for a little more of that good stuff?  The first hour of the results show features some pivotal dances from the All Stars' first seasons.

Len selects the Samba from Kelly and partner Alec Mazo from Season 1, week 4, as her defining dance, in which she had to hold up her dress because the straps broke.  The first strap broke before the dance began.  Then the second strap broke half way through the routine.  She held the bodice of the dress in place through several moves and kept right on dancing.

Len selects the Tango from Drew and partner Cheryl Burke from Season 2, week 6, as his defining dance.  I remember this one.  It's the first time I actually enjoyed one of his performances.  He always seemed stiff and jerky.  But with this Tango, that particular style made sense.  It seemed like he relaxed after this performance.

Carrie Ann selects the Cha Cha Cha from Emmitt with partner Cheryl Burke from Season 3, week 1, as his defining dance.  I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen with Emmitt.  He was so smooth and confident.  He danced like a man should dance.  He made it look easy and he made it look cool.

Len selects the Paso Doble from Sabrina with partner Mark Ballas from Season 5, week 4, as her defining dance.  It was only a surprise when she was eliminated if you forget that DWTS is first and foremost about popularity and fan base.  She didn't have either one, so the elimination wasn't all that shocking really.  If you can't get the fans to vote for you, you're not going to stick around.  Mark's attitude also didn't help.  I remember how arrogant he was.  He has matured since.  I'm glad Sabrina got a chance to dance again.

Bruno selects the Tango from Joey with partner Kym Johnson from Season 4, week 3, as his defining dance.  This dance kind of helped Joey turn the corner and realize that focusing on technique and learning how to get it right actually enhanced the entertainment value in a performance.  You can entertain more effectively if you're doing the dance correctly, and then adding that layer of personality to it.

Len selects the Samba from Apolo with partner Julianne Hough from Season 4 as his defining dance.  They were so young.  This dance showed how they could change their image from the cute kids dancing together to a fiercely competitive pair able to hit every movement and generate real heat.  It also earned the first perfect 30 of that season.

Len selects the Quickstep from Helio and Julianne Hough from Season 5, week 8 as his defining dance.  This dance was just full of joy and excitement.  It was fast and so much fun.  Helio was never the best technical dancer, but he got the fans on his side with his infectious personality and charm.

Bruno selects the Lindy Hop from Melissa with partner Tony Dovolani from Season 8, week 4, as her defining dance.  Now if you've been around here for awhile, you know how much I love Lindy Hop.  My grandma taught me how to do this when I was a little guy.  I love how wide open and on edge this style of dance is. 

Carrie Ann selects the Argentine Tango from Gilles with partner Cheryl Burke from Season 8, week 4, as his defining dance.  This dance was simply stunning.  Gilles looked like a pro.  It got a perfect score.

Carrie Ann selects the Cha Cha Cha from Shawn with partner Mark Ballas, from Season 8, week 7, as her defining dance.  She had a cheeky mature sass about her in this dance.  She put everything together and drove straight to the final and the championship after this performance.  She was only 17.

Carrie Ann selects the Tango from Bristol with partner Mark Ballas from Season 11, week 6, as her defining dance.  I have to agree that this was an outstanding performance for her.  She didn't put a foot wrong and she danced with confidence.  It earned her and Mark the encore performance on the results show.

Bruno selects the Waltz from Kirstie with partner Maks Chmerkovskiy from Season 12, as her defining dance.  She lost her shoe in this dance, but she kept going like a true performer.  After the shoe moment, she danced with this WTF attitude...like it can't possibly get any worse, so I'm just going for it.  And the rest of the dance was beautiful.

There you go.  Defining dances.  Now let's get on with the results. 

Here's a reminder of our leader board after Monday's performances:

26.0 Sabrina and Louis
25.5 Gilles and Peta
25.0 Shawn and Derek
24.5 Apolo and Karina
23.5 Melissa and Tony
23.0 Helio and Chelsie
22.5 Emmitt and Cheryl
22.5 Joey and Kym
22.5 Drew and Anna
22.0 Kelly and Val
21.0 Kirstie and Maks
18.0 Bristol and Mark

The encore selection from the judges is the Quickstep from Sabrina and Louis.  OK.  Now we see that the rush onto the stage was actually planned.  I think they might have danced it even better this second time.

First results...Sabrina and Louis are safe.  Emmitt and Cheryl are safe.  Drew and Anna are safe. 

Someone called Cher Lloyd visits the ballroom.  Oh definitely not, thanks.

Macy's Stars of Dance returns with a futuristic battle dance choreographed by Shannon Mather.  I liked it, but there was so much going on that it was hard to see all of it.

It's Lacey and Benji!  I love Lacey and Benji.  And I love the Dance Troupe.  Imagine how much I love Lacey and Benji with the Dance Troupe.  And there was Anya Garnis too.  Lots to love about that.  Choreography by Jason Gilkison.


More results...Shawn and Derek are safe.  Kirstie and Maks are safe.  Bristol and Mark are safe.

Katherine Jenkins is in the ballroom singing with Placido Domingo.  That was just wow.  Anna and Val weren't bad either with a dance assist.

Final results...Gilles and Peta are safe.  Melissa and Tony are safe.  Apolo and Karina are safe.  Kelly and Val are safe.  Helio and Chelsie are safe.

That means Joey and Kym are eliminated.


It doesn't get any easier as the weeks go by.  And next week is a double elimination with even more pressure as the All Stars take creative control over the routines.

Later gang!

5 comments:

  1. Barb says:

    Oh, I wish I'd seen it if for no other reason than to hear Placido sing! Love me a good tenor!

  1. Cherie says:

    For some reason I thought that they announced three couples for the final reveal, but I can't, for the life of me, remember who it was. Maybe, it's because there wasn't anyone from the first set, and I thought there was. I may have to watch it back to so that my subconscious will stop trying to figure it out. lol

    But I'm glad that Helio made it through. It would have really been a shame after that jive.

  1. Trying to resist the charms of Apollo until a little farther into the contest, but he isn't making it easy to be stand offish.

  1. Linda says:

    I saw Joey and Kym on "Good Morning America" this morning talking about their elimination and though I'm sure they're sorry to be off the show, they were having a great time laughing and joking about the good times they had this season. That's probably what it's all about even more so than winning the mirror ball trophy - having fun! - and giving the folks who tune in to watch some fun of their own.

    Especially for those of us who can't dance at all!

  1. Anonymous says:

    Trav: Liked the dancing, but I loved hearing Placedo and Katherine sing together. Must remember the date for her Christmas album release! Imlike classical voices too. GGG