Cue that theme music
Posted: Wednesday, May 08, 2013 by Travis Cody inIt's encores and results.
My pal Cherie had some well reasoned thoughts about the judging from Monday's performance show. I'm going to quote her comment in full.
I knew that Len was going to be upset with that Paso. It was brilliantly executed, but to me it looked like a dance "inspired by" the Paso. When I watched it back, I thought it could just as easily been "inspired by" the Tango. Derek knows that Len wants content, but, as he repeatedly showed last season, he doesn't care. Len has made it perfectly clear that scores will be hurt when Derek choreographs that way, but Derek continues to do it. I don't think the tirade was called for, but I wasn't surprised about the low score. Well, I was surprised by the 7. I thought he'd give them an 8.
Contrast that with what Val's did with Zendaya's Salsa. Tons of content and an absolutely phenomenal dance, also brilliantly executed. I think that might be my favorite Salsa of all the ones I've seen on DWTS. (To be fair, I haven't seen them all. Several seasons, I only saw the ones you featured here.)
All my votes via phone and online went to Zendaya, but I reserved one online vote for Jacoby. I really enjoyed his Paso. :)
Calm. Rational. Not mean. And a reasonable proposed score that acknowledges the excellent performance of the celebrity who was merely dancing what she was given to dance, but makes it clear to the pro that waving the vermouth bottle over the martini glass isn't acceptable when it comes to style content.
Now that I have regained my perspective and my sense of humor, I say this to Len Goodman for his unprofessional behavior.
It's all subjective from a fan's point of view anyway. I like what I like and so do you.
Wait...I mean I like what I like and you like what you like. Yeah, that's what I meant to say.
OK. Let's have some encores. This is what we liked from Monday.
I'm still having a hard time figuring out why this Foxtrot from Val and Zendaya wasn't a perfect 30. Scroll forward to about 1:16 for the dance.
Maybe Kellie's emotional commitment to each dance has been inconsistent, but I sure felt it in her Viennese Waltz with Derek. Scroll forward to about 1:38 for the dance.
I had some minor issues with Aly's leg positions in her Argentine Tango with Mark, but overall I thought it was an outstanding performance and well deserving of the 29 it scored. Scroll forward to about 1:09 for the dance.
I shall give you a double dose dance of the night. First honor goes to the trio Salsa from Zendaya and Val with Gleb. The perfect 30 was well earned. Scroll forward to about 1:03 for the dance.
Now watching this back yet again, I have to say that even without knowing that it was a Paso Doble trio, I would have recognized it as Paso based on the attitude and atmosphere they created. Plus the first third of the dance sure looked like what I've seen in Paso choreography throughout the years on this show. So this piece from Kellie and Derek with Tristan also gets my dance of the night. Scroll forward to about 1:10 for the dance.
You can judge for yourself whether you agree that Len's score of 7 was appropriate or not for that performance. I'll go as low as the 8 proposed by Cherie if we must dock for not enough true and classic Paso content. But view after view after view of it shows me a Paso Doble from start to finish and as a fan, that's 10s across for me.
Here's what Louis van Amstel and Anna Trebunskaya had to say.
Louis: Fantastic idea to tie this beginning into their Paso Doble. I’m going to keep it short. Brilliant! Best of the night. Poor Kellie, she doesn’t know what to think of this whole charade.
Anna: That was very clever to tie the two dances together, an Angelic waltz and a Demonic Paso! The judges had a love fest but then Len spoils the party. The performance was amazing! Classical Paso- not so much… But who cares? With entertainment like that, we’ll buy it.
OK OK! I promise that's the last reference to Len's temper tantrum about the trio Paso from Kellie, Derek, and Tristan!
And here's a reminder of our leader board after two dances on Monday.
58 Zendaya and Val
56 Aly and Mark
55 Kellie and Derek
52 Jacoby and Karina
48 Ingo and Kym
42 Sean and Peta
Fabulous work from our Troupe with Lindsay and Gleb to lead off the show, choreographed by Jason Gilkinson.
First results...Ingo and Kym are safe.
The judges select the trio Salsa from Zendaya and Val with Gleb as the encore.
More results...Zendaya and Val are safe.
Jason DeRulo is in the ballroom. It's wonderful to see the young man bounce around and sing standing on his head like that only a year after suffering a nearly paralyzing injury. And I didn't hate the music either, so bonus!
Twitter peeps decided the dance styles that each remaining pair will dance next week. From the looks of it, the fans got it right. Or it was rigged. HA!
- Kellie and Derek get Flamenco
- Ingo and Kym get Charleston
- Zendaya and Val get Hip Hop
- Sean and Peta get Disco
- Aly and Mark get Afro Jazz
- Jacoby and Karina get Lindy Hop
Emeli Sande is in the ballroom. We all know how out of touch with popular music I am, so it should come as no surprise that I don't know who she is. She has been on the UK charts for more than 62 weeks, which is longer than The Beatles. Oh wait...I have heard this song. OK. I may not have heard her name, but I do know her music. And of course it's nice to see Dmitri Chaplin back in the ballroom, dancing with Cheryl.
Final results...Aly and Mark are safe. Kellie and Derek are safe. Jacoby and Karina are safe.
That means Sean and Peta are eliminated.
It was time. I think Sean did really well to get this far, considering he was never really able to overcome his awkwardness and lack of musicality.
So we've got 5 pairs competing next week in the semi-final, dancing for our Glittering Globe of Glory.
Later gang.
Love the "Stink Eye" at the top. I've also heard it called "skunk eye."