It’s Thursday, so it must be Mondo MAC day…

First up, some Dance MAC and aton of it. Ten dancers, ten paired routines and ten solos. Whew! ::doing finger limbering exercises: :and we’re off….

Our Girl Cat comes out with bed hair and a slinky blue dress (that actually shows off her figure, thank you stylist! Did they get a new one?) An improvement over her Garanimal look, fo sho, and I imagine an even bigger hit with the men in the viewing audience.

Tonight we get two hours, three dances for each dancer - two paired routines with new partners and one solo each. That’s a lotta dancin’ for these tired peeps.

10 dancers say hello…so, I’m not feeling Martha or Ryan already. Sorry to say.

Our judges tonight…hmmm…no CrackMary, Dan Says, BoyfriendBrian, or MissingInAction-Mia. Instead, we still get Uncle Nigel and with him tonight are Jean Marc (who so cracked me up last week, so I’m board with this substitution already) and the hip hop choreography duo, Cicely and Alisa. Whatever. I already miss BFB. No one else pulls the crazy leprechaun accessories like he does.

The judges don’t send anyone home this week. America votes for each individual dancer and the male and female dancer with the lowest votes will be packed off tomorrow night.

First up…Ivan. Buh bye Alison. Who does he draw for his partner this week? He gets Martha (sorry, Ivan) and they select Hip Hop as their first paired routine. They get Shane Sparks (say a prayer Martha, because that might just save you) and here we go. Clearly they are already feeling the pressure of more work and greater expectations, and as Martha says, finding out which dancers have been using their partners as a crutch. (Um, that might be you just a little bit, Marf. Certainly in terms of popularity if nothing else.)

Here we go with routine one: hip hop to Me and You by Cassie - wearing jeans, white tees, black trench coats, and black fedoras, we’re off to a good start… I liked the routine, thought I thought the coats to some degree hid their movements from the viewer. They did a nice job, but for all the routine was fun, there wasn’t a lot of energy in it for me, from either. I thought Ivan would totally rock this, and he’s good, but it’s low key. Zero chemistry between them. The ending was the best part - wish we’d seen more of that.

Judges? Nigel agrees with me on Marf and their lack of chemistry. C/A say Marf isn’t stepping it up and I agree. Jean Marc’s accent is cute. He coasts, not harsh, not gushy.

So we’re apparently not going to follow any kind of pattern tonight. Next up, we’re having our first solo performance of the night with Donyelle. (Woot! Hope her foot is doing okay!)

No behind the scenes, she’s just right out there doing hip hop to Git It… Satin jacket, cammie pants, black leather military boots and she bri-ings it, y’all. Now that’s the kind of energy we didn’t see with the previous pair. The solo’s are really short - I’m guessing that was 30 seconds, tops. I think she did very well. (Limping over to Cat…sniff! sob!) But she looks really beautiful tonight - great makeup, gorgeous smile.

Judges? Nigel gives her kudos. C/A says she’s their numero uno. JM says she’s a money player. At least I think that’s what he said.

So…what’s next? Woot - I get My Dmitry right off the bat with his solo. Yay, me! Doing a solo of his own choice, he comes out wearing black ballroom pants, a silky untucked shirt and hits it hard to Pump It by the Black Eyed Peas. Keeping the energy flowing….whoo! He totally ignores Nigel’s warning that he’s getting too Chippendales dancer on us, clearly knowing where his voting bloc lies, and gives us all the hip thrusting, hip twitching, hip…everything, we could want. And ends by ripping his shirt off. Take that, Uncle Nige. Cat is clearly in lust and is barely paying attention to the judges comments because she gets to drape herself all over him for a few minutes. (Can ya blame ha?)

Judges? Nigel, who, to his credit, did laugh at the shirt rippage, has to wait for the crowd to stop cheering before he can go on. He does get that this will get the phone calls. C/A are right on board the Ab Train, and JM is like Paula with an indecipherable accent. Yeah, don’t try to actually imagine that.

Next? The next couple. Travis loses Marf and gets Heidi! This is a Good Thing I think, as her tiny body will match his far better than muscular Martha’s did. They draw paso doble. Two weeks ago, even a week ago, this would have brought fear to Travis’s heart. But he’s done well with ballroom challenges..and he’s got a latin dancer for a partner now. I think they’ll do very well with this. And they get CrackMary! The blonde on blonde looks good on the two of them and I think they’re getting the matador/cape thing. They seem to have some chemistry, which is nice to see from Heidi.

Dancing to a song from Mask of Zorro, they enter with him holding Heidi upside down, down his back. Whoa. They dance with a lot of intensity. It’s not perhaps the most riveting thing ever, but the choreography is what it is. I think they do a very nice job with what they had.

Judges? Nigel says it was the best dramatic opening. Agreed. He loved it and saw their chemistry. C/A enjoyed it, all props. JM says….something. He liked them.

Yay, MIAMia is finally back - she’s choreographing tonight!

Youch, Ryan gets Alison. (I am SO sorry, Alison. SO sorry.) They get Mia for contemporary, which is both their specialities, so if he can bring it with this, and with Al as his partner, well then, we know don’t we. But I want him to go home anyway. I just don’t want him to bring her down. I imagine she’ll shine through just fine. Mia works them hard, y’all. HARD. Wow. I’m exhausted just watching the clips.

Here we go to Ethna…and wha? They come out in short black catsuits and….eye patches? Hunh? The routine is slinky and aggressive, but it would have been nice of they’d clued us in to what the hey the patch thing was all about in the clip piece. Oh well, I’ll just ignore that and watch the dance. Damn distracting though. The dance is incredibly sinuous and extreme and very engrossing to watch. They do a really nice job with it. I don’t get the “story” but clearly they rock this. Athletes, both of them in this. I think I lost five pounds just watching that. They end with this wild leap off the back of the stage into the crowd that I had to watch twice. Whoa. I liked that. Damn you Mia! You’ll keep Ryan in this thing.

Judges…Nigel, C/A, and JM are all duly impressed, even if they don’t “get” the story either.

Now it’s Marf’s turn for her solo. Wow, this show is just gonna keep coming at you tonight. She comes out in a skin tight Audrey Hepburn number to Gwen Stefani’s What You Waiting For. Loved the hat, but I thought she’d take it off. It was distracting after a while. The routine had a lot of energy, but was just okay for me.

Judges? Nigel thinks she’s in the danger zone, and I agree totally. C/A says she’s holding back and JM coaxes a smile.

Ivan comes out to do his hip hop solo and….are you kidding me? He’s wearing skate shoes? Rilly? Wow, that’s just so…mall boy. His music is slow and dreamy hip hop as with his last solo, and it’s smooth but not as innovative and sharp, and the skate shoes kinda killed the wow factor for me. He lost his edge with that trick. Very gimmicky, Ivan.

Judges? Nigel says he’d pick the phone up for his contemp from last week (agreed) but not tonight. Also agreed. C/A said it was too gimmick, not enough heart. JM…I have no idea.

Now we get Dmitry picking a new partner. (Will he continue to be the Partner of Death?) He draws..wow..Donyelle. Nooooooo! Except, yowza, this could be hawt! (I was kinda hoping Natalie, but this could be interesting!) They get lindy hop. Hum. Dmitry has the partner element down, which Donyelle is well aware of. I hope they nail this! (Wish her foot was 100%!)

Here we go…to Sing Sing Sing, It’s high energy, and Dmitry is looking okay, but Donyelle looks like she’s dancing on her heels, like her shoes are weird or something. Hmm. It looks like he’s just winging her around - not much style going on here. Like they are so far behind the music and just rushing to keep up. A shame. And her shoes are odd, they make it look like her toes are curled up or something. The tricks at the end are impressive but still realllly sloppy. Given how complex the contemp routine was for Alison and Ryan and how well they did, it’s hard to say they should be given a bye here since they had to learn so much this week. I’m not feeling this at all. A real shame. Way too jumbled.

Judges? Nigel says he liked the energy. Oookay. They did have that. C/A enjoyed Donyelle more than Dmitry and I just didn’t see that. JM scares me by totally seeing what I saw. He says he liked their passion. I’ll go for that.

Now we find out who Benji gets partnered up with…Natalie! And they get Jazz. And YAY they get Tyce. He’s thrilled and I’m thrilled they’re thrilled. He’s got a modern African routine for them. Oookay. I trust him. Natalie was a little overwhelmed with the work load and Tyce helped her simplify. No cut up and kidding around this week. All work.

So the results of their labor? Here we go to Wonderful by India.Arie. I can’t say I was feeling the whole African vibe from these two very not African dancers, but they worked very well together and I liked their vibe a lot. A whole lot. It was more contemporary feeling to me than jazzy, and the music was a little inaccessible, but the did a great job with what they were given. (Sorry, Tyce, you let me down a little this week, baby.)

Judges? Nigel thought they were great, agrees with me on the chemistry. He likes the routine more than I did, but it was joyful, I’ll go with that. C/A liked it. JM loved it. They do fit very well together. This could be the best thing that happened to Natalie.

Heidi is up next with her solo, to Dum Diddly by the Black Eyed Peas - she starts on her back at the top of the stage stairs, head down on the riser below…and we’re off. Wearing a flesh toned slinky, sparkly short clingy dress, she goes barefoot with her swishy-hipped ballroom solo and is as good as she always is, not quite as manic. The beige look might have served to tone her down a notch, not a bad move I think.

Judges? Nigel gave her well deserved props. C/A loved her energy. JM says it’s a smart solo. Agreed again.

Next up, we begin Round Two of partner dancing.

Ivan and Marf pick smooth waltz. You know…they might both be in trouble this week. Ivan was so powerful and moving last week, but it’s like he’s reverted a great deal. Of course, he doesn’t have much to bounce off of with Martha. And she’s not bringing her game up, it’s just staying on a level field. I think Ivan has the fan base to maybe carry him another week…but after seeing Natalie and Benji, I think Martha’s days are done.

To Sandy’s Song by Dolly Parton (I know,but it’s nice) Ican is in tails and Martha’s dress is stunning. They actually float across the floor quite well. A shame they dont’ have more chemistry, because I think they are doing a lovely job. (Except Marf has a tendency to lead a little bit.) We know he can be a leading man, but she clearly doesn’t trust him that way. Ivan is enjoying himself, she’s just getting through it, wishing she had Dmitry or Travis. Lovely spin move at the end. I wish she’d give herself over to dance more.

Judges? Nigel felt they didn’t bring it as a couple. C/A say they didn’t bring it, either. JM nails the coffin lid shut, but hopes he’s wrong.

Now we get Travis’s solo, which after that lackluster judging review, will likely bring the house down. He does a great Travis athletic routine. Lots of spins and leaps. It seemed really short to me, even though its’ short already.

Judges? Nigel totally gives him his due. C/A says he brought it. JM says he can go all the way. I’m glad to see him get some props this week. Deserved.

Next Alison and Ryan with routine 2 - they get Broadway. I love how Alison just never says die. Always upbeat, always giving her all to the dance and her partner. Her unrelenting enthusiasm, especially now, is really commendable. And they get Tyce - woot! Don’t let me down, buddy! He’s promising quirky and fun. Good! For all they down on Ryan every week (and duh) he is working hard with her, which is nice to see. He still whines a bit, but he is smiling more. If anyone can bring infectious fun, it’s Alison. Maybe if she’d had him sooner, he’d have come out of his shell more. But he might pull this out and put Ivan at risk this week. Hmmm…..

Here we go…to Bye Bye Blackbird from Liza with a Z Minelli, they come out popping. Alison is in a Natalie stockings and heels number and they’re both in red with white fedoras. You know, it’s a shame Ryan doesn’t smile more. When he does, you do feel him more. It’s just not natural for him I guess.

Judges? Nigel is hard on him (I almost feel sorry for him - I mean, I want him to go, but it’s just a bit relentless with the critique.) I just think he brought it more than he’s being given credit for. It might not be enough to keep him on the show, but my god, these guys are killing themselves. Lighten up already. C/A were a little kinder to him. JM makes some good remarks. I just feel like they’re almost being too hard, and that might backfire. He has my sympathy. I’d have long since been in tears.

Natalie’s turn for her solo…and she drops the sex kitten and goes back to her core, which is pure contemporary/lyrical and it’s very emotionally executed. She’s really shined this week for me. And I’m not a real fan of hers.

All the judges give her props and her parents are in the audience (nice looking parental units she has there.)

Oooh, now we get Benji’s solo to Land of a 1000 Dances by Wilson Wicked Pickett (LOVE this song) and he rips it from the start. He uses the stairs like nobody’s business, then spins all the way across the floor so smoothly. The audience is going wild, I’m totally digging it, this is what a solo should be, people. Fantastic. He works the audience and the camera in the end (bad pun there as he moons the camera, clothed.) The crowd starts chanting his name….crazy.

Judges? Nigel applauds. C/A dug it. JM was totally there for it. Then Nigel makes a point that no gimmicks are needed when you can dance. And though I love my Ab Man, he totally has a point. Way to go, Benj!!

Dmitry and Donyelle get Samba for dance #2 - Mary is their choreographer and (squee!) she has Artem as her partner. And we get Dmitry/Artem talking Russian to me…and, anytime boys, anytime. ::fanning self:: They had fun and they danced, it was really nice to see. I hope it translates to the dance floor tonight…

Continuing with the Black Eyed Peas lovefest, dancing to Hey Mama….here we go… Okay, Dmitry is seriously hot in all black, but Donyelle looks the best, the hottest, we’ve seen her look in weeks. Shew, mama! The go for it, totally. I loved the hip hop feel to this and she brought the hip hop, he brought the samba and they both just really looked like they were having a blast out there. I really enjoyed it. WAY better than dance number one, thank goodness!

Judges? Nigel is kind to Donyelle, talking about her facial technique, which is great and well deserved compliment, and mercifully didn’t pick on her footwork, which was definitely shaky at times, but she was in heels for the first time in a while, and it had to hurt like hell with that broken toe. So I’m glad he lightened up a little there. JM said it was a great performance and he critiqued it well. C/A says he finally found a partner and that Donyelle held up her end.

Travis and Heidi get contemporary for dance #2, which is good news for Travis, but not so sure for Heidi. I personally think she can pull anything off, she has great range of emotion. And I was spoiled to the fact that this is the dance of the night. So I can’t wait to see it! They get Mia, so this should be wild, people. I think Heidi is so used to her “performance face” emotion that what Mia is trying to pull out of her, on top of everything else they are doing this week, pushes Heidi to the verge. But I’m kind of glad she is, only because I’d really like to see her dig past manic pageant girl performance face to whatever else she has, which I suspect is a whole lot. We know Travis will bring this. And she’s determined.

Here we go, to a Celine song… They begin on a metal mesh park bench in the center of the stage. She does a nice job with what is a very demanding piece, although it looks subtle. I think they really are doing well together. It’s an emotional piece, and I like how well she brought herself up to speed for this. She’s nowhere near in his stratosphere, and this definitely showcases how hard this genre is, because he makes it look so effortless and we see her struggle, yet do pretty damn well…but he’s phenomenal with it. All in all, a real growth piece. I’m not moved to the level I was with Ivan and Alison,their connection was way stronger. But for a new pairing, this was impressive for me.

Judges? Nigel was truly moved, nice to know he has a heart. C/A were also moved. JM gave a really nice critique, all positive. Well done, JM, very well done.

Alison is next with her solo. I’m expecting a lot here. Especially after that. She comes out to Pat Benatar, We Belong, wearing a stunning Survivor like garment. She did really well. Very joyful. Enough to make sure that, despite her critiques with partner Ryan, she’s not going anywhere. Not her best week, but certainly good enough.

Judges…Nigel goes give her a bit of critique, nice to hear. She can grow, too. C/A follow suit. JM says she has depth. He’s been a good judge, as it turns out.

Natalie and Benji get hip hop and Shane. Who cracks me up talking about his none-ghetto pair. Whatever the case, this is gonna be fun!

Here we go to She’s Freaky - They’re in black grease monkey overalls with red caps. And they go for it. It’s not going to be ghetto, forget that happenin. But it’s certainly energetic and entertaining as all hell. As much as I loved him and Donyelle, dare I say these two physically match up perfectly. Both so high energy and athletic. They do bring out the best in one another. I loved it. Ooooh, at the end they strip down, y’all. Dang. Most fun routine of the night for me, easy. Natalie rocked that one, and Benji held his own pretty well.

Judges - Nigel is totally bringing the wanker. No chemistry? Is he on crack? It’s hip hop, not the most chemistry of dances, but I thought they complimented each other beautifully. So much fun. C/A agree their timing wasn’t on as a pair, but that they were good individually. JM thought they brought it totally.

Solo from Ryan…(god, poor guy, on top of everything else, he has to not only close the show, but close it after fan favorite Benji. Sigh. But if he really wants a chance to prove he belongs here, here is his big chance.) He wisely chooses an upbeat song from Jamiroquai. He does a nice job with it, and I think he puts as much into it as he can, but I don’t think it will save him this week. I think the judges sealed his fate earlier, but it would be nice, with this their last chance, to give the boy at least a few damn props. He can dance.

Nigel? Does give him props as a soloist, which is absolutely dead on. He’s not made for partnering, we’ve all said it all along. I’m just glad he’s being given props for what he does excel at. C/A follow suit. JM does a nice job propping him, too. Nice for him to get at least that and end with a smile.

My prediction is that Martha and Ryan will be leaving this week. But we could be surprised.

And that’s all she wrote, folks! I’ve hit my MACLoad for today. Tune in tomorrow for some dishy PR3 MAC and the result of tonight’s DanceFest!

Enjoy your Thursday and don’t forget to enter the Book Giveaway, cher! I’ll announce the winner tomorrow, too.

Tags: Writing //