Down to Four
Only four celebrities remain, and things are getting tough. It seemed like most of the celebrities were fighting some serious performance jitters as many of the first dances were pretty weak. This week, they would all dance two dances, with one of those dances being either a Jitterbug or Salsa. They’d also get a “special dance tutorial” from head judge, Len Goodman.Bad Start, Good Finish
First up was Brooke Burke, who has consistently received the highest judges’ scores. Everybody agreed that Brooke’s got the technique down, but was having some trouble connecting with the audience. Is that the show’s way of telling us she’s not getting strong fan votes? Hmm. To rectify this, Brooke and her partner, Derek Hough, were focusing on her performing ability. As Brooke noted, she wanted to be a good performer, as well as a dancer.For her first dance, Brooke did a Jive and it was a mess. Her footwork was surprisingly sloppy, and her legs were bent, as if she were dancing while slightly squatting. She was also out of sync with Derek at times. Carrie Ann was dismayed by the “blatantly illegal lifts,” saying that she thought at this stage of the competition, it was “a little bit disrespectful.” Len called it a “disaster” that had “so many mistakes.” Bruno said that Brooke’s “technique went down the toilet” and that he was “totally shocked” because she is “usually so precise.” The judges all gave Brooke 7’s for a total of 21.
Len’s advice to Brooke about her dancing was to straighten out her legs, since she tended to bend her knees, which messed up her lines. For her second dance, she did the Salsa and she came back strong. The dance was full of tricks, and Brooke looked much more relaxed dancing the salsa than she did the jive. Carrie Ann said that she’s the “lifts police” and that the dance had “a lot of lifts.” However, she thought Brooke performed like a real champion because she “[rose] above [a bad performance] and [came] right back.” Len told Brooke that if she makes it to the finals to focus on her strengths, which was her “crisp, clean, great technique.” Bruno declared that “Brooke is back!” and that she “[shook] it to fever pitch.” Carrie Ann and Bruno gave Brooke 9’s, while Len gave her a 10 for a total of 28. Her total for the night was 49.
Reunited, and It Feels the Same
Cody Linley reunited with his partner, Julianne Hough this week. Julianne had missed 2 weeks of the competition recovering from an appendectomy. Cody has been in the bottom for a while now and he declared that it was “nerve-wracking.” Julianne noted that Cody’s improved a lot during her absence, although we’re not really seeing it.Cody’s first dance was the Paso Doble. He and Julianne did a rather unconventional routine, dressed in military-themed costumes and it didn’t seem like a paso. Cody was also still having problems with his exaggerated arms and hands, making the dance look strange at times. Carrie Ann said that “for [Cody’s] determination, definitely a 10” but his performance didn’t quite hit that mark. She advised him to “watch your hands [and to] smooth it out.” Len said “it wasn’t good.” He saw “a few elements” of the paso, but overall, it wasn’t what he expected. He also noted that Cody was “stiff and wooden” and it “lacked a dancing quality.” Bruno said “that was different” and while he “likes innovation” there has to be “some sense of style” which was lacking here. He noted that the “Spanish lines [of the dance] were nonexistent.” Carrie Ann gave Cody an 8, while Len and Bruno gave him 7’s, for a total of 22.
Len’s advice to Cody was to loosen up his hips while dancing so that he doesn’t appear so stiff. After Len’s tutorial, Cody and Julianne joked that Len wasn’t “so scary in person.” Cody also did a Salsa for his second routine and it was awkward. There were moments where he looked all gangly limbs. Carrie Ann said “it was a lot of fun” but “just a hair lacking in musicality.” Oddly, she didn’t say anything about the many lifts Cody and Julianne did in their routine. Is she only the lifts police with certain contestants? Len said that Cody’s “hips were working nicely” and that overall, it was “well done.” Bruno applauded Cody for “going for it [and] having fun with it” but that it was “little bit loose technically.” The judges all gave Cody 8’s for a total of 24, which brought his combined total to 46.
