Finally, we return to Week 1 standards. Very interesting, varied evening of dancing. Seven pairs danced, and while I liked some more than others, there were no real mishits.

Except for the very clumsy insertion of the Dizzy Feet Foundation infomercial. Don’t get me wrong, I think it’s a wonderful thing they are doing (although did you hear the distinct underwhelming reaction to the news that ::gasp:: Mrs. Tom Cruise would be dancing in a future show? Yeah. Yawn.) I think that whole thing was far better served up on a platter during a results show night. Not sandwiched in between team 6 out of 7…and team last out of 7. Talk about killing momentum…

Otherwise, a very enjoyable, entertaining night where my fast forward finger only got twitchy once. (Sorry, Vitolio, it wasn’t you…it was your dead-eyed partner.)

Okay, 7 dances. My top three:

Easily Branden and Jeanette’s Cha Cha. Holy Smokes, Batman. That? Was all kinds of awesome. When they showed the clips at the end of the show, it made me rewind and watch it all over again. Dance of the night for me.

P.S.: And yes, thank you Miz Mia for saying nice things to Branden. You can tell it meant a lot to him. Clearly. However, that said, abusive, Pygmalion-eque relationships don’t really get a lot of respect from this corner. You don’t get to literally beat someone up then say, oh, I only abuse because I love. What the hell is that teaching folks? There are far better, more constructive ways to both teach and lead. Be an example.

Melissa and Ade’s pas de deux. Now, aside from the fact that no one on earth believes she randomly pulled that from a hat (seriously, Uncle Nigel?) it was absolutely lovely and enchanting to watch. Very well done.

And, Kayla and Kupono’s contemporary routine. I know, and it was a Sonia routine, too, so go figure! It was definitely different, but the sheer athleticism of the dance, and they way they completely went for it, along with perfect costuming and music…it was an event to watch and absolutely memorable. I really wish these three dances had been in the latter half of the program and not the first. They all deserved that kind of attention.

What didn’t?

Well….Karla and Vitolio’s quick step. Not that it wasn’t done well. I think they did quite well considering neither of them are trained ballroom dancers and they’ve only been paired for a week. But wow, mismatch much? I think Vitolio gives his all to whichever partner he gets, but was it me or did Karla seem to want to be, oh, about a thousand miles from anywhere Vitolio happened to be? She just had dead-eyed stare going on the whole night. It says a lot about the caliber of the show when their very serviceable performance felt like a big letdown at the end. So, not bad at all, but comparitively, bottom three for me.

Who else landed there? Well, as much as I love Randi and Evan, and even really enjoyed their non-Tasty Oreo Broadway routine (but yikes on the diva they did get, huh? Wow.) I can’t say this was my fave of the evening. Not the worst by any stretch and fun to watch. But again, if I had to rank the dances 1 through 7. These two are in the lower half for me. Cute as buttons, though!

I’m torn beyond that, really. I thought Phillip and Jeanine did a really great hip hop routine, but agree that the chain was more distracting than it was a highlight. I kept waiting for them to crash - but it was really well done. So not really bottom three, but not tops either. I’d rank them 4th of 7.

And Brian Freedman has become a total head case of a choreographer and needs to stop saddling these poor dancers with routines that they cannot rise above, despite their amazing talent. That said, for the routine they were given, I thought Jason and Katlyn did everything they possibly could with it. You totally believed the story they were telling. Not their fault it was that whack job of a story they were forced to tell. (Serously, shouldn’t there be some kind of vetting process for these dances?) So, they land in 5th, and therefore bottom three, but I hate it that it’s not their fault.

Not sure who will go home, but if I had a vote, Karla would be first on that train out after last night. As for the guys…it will be between Jason and Vitolio, I’m afraid. It would be fair either way. Although if I had to mix up new couples, putting Vitolio with Katlyn might be interesting…

Still, a fantastic night of dances. Great range, wonderfully entertaining. Looking forward to where we go next!

Don’t forget to enter this week’s Free Stuff Friday contest. See Tuesday’s post for all the details! Winner announced right here tomorrow.

Tags: Writing //