So…it’s the semi-finals, folks. Three dancers left…who will the final two be?

LIVE! It’s Dancing with the Stars. (Channeling my inner Bergeron.)

Okay, be honest with me, it’s almost impossible to look at Samantha’s face with her Lei-scalloped boobs popping you in the face, isn’t it? Put those things away, Samantha!

So, I could have done without the Hot Legs reprise (sorry, Rod, you know I love ya) but had NO problem watching Maks Jr and Crew with a Billie Jean encore. AND Maks himself with Lionel Richie….yeah, now you’re getting the right drift. All Maks, All the Time Encores. Best Of Maks. The energy of that Richie tune always makes me want to get up and dance. Love that song. Forgot how hot Karina and Maks were. Good pairing.

Commercial Break: Knights of Prosperity has gotten all kinds of rave advance press. The premise - a gang of “badnews bears” thieves plot to rob Mick Jagger - sounded interesting and fresh and I heard the writing was All That. So I was excited to finally see a commercial. I hope they just showed the wrong clip because..not all that impressive, really. Or funny. Which is kinda crucial in a comedy.

And we’re back. Really Sam, very distracting. So I guess we’re filling the hour and a half of air time with a clip package of a whole lot of past results show encores. Sigh. A little is good, but a lot is…well, a lot.

Except we start with Maks leaping off the stage. All is forgiven, pass the ice cream. Oh yeah, Maks is a match for Karina and vice versa. Billy Idol is right….I want More, More, More. Any dance that ends with straddling a prone Maks is worthy of as many encores as they deem necessary.

Now we get Tom Jones, which, you know, not at his best, but I heart Tom, so it’s okay. And we get Louis! and Karina. Love watching him dance spotlighted like this and she can keep up with his whipcord moves.

Swop Encore, so I can work off this ice cream just watching them fling each other across the stage.

Commercial Break: Yeah, I’m totally watching the Shat-tastic Shatner game show. At least once.

And…finally, it’s show time!

Down the Staircase of Stars they come. Edyta is actually draped in some fabric, but Joey….Joey, Joey, Joey. Who dresses you, man? Monique’s guy? Because, the little sailor boy thing? Just say no. Of course Emmitt does his own couture and it shows. Man’s got serious style, all in nehru gray. And Miss Cheryl is looking pretty hot in her spangly silver. Mario is wearing his Hugh Hef black blazer on red satin look, and Karina looks relatively subdued in black with bicep high black gloves.

The crowd is non-stop cheering and you almost can’t hear Our Tom. He explains the voting window extends to 11pm Pacific time and everyone has 5 votes per phone line. Hmmm…..wonder who wil get mine as I’m actually watching while I can still vote for once!

Each couple will perform two of their previously performed dances - one latin, one ballroom. Only it has to be completely new choreo, new music, new costumes. I hope this means they had some control over music selection this time around. I hope so! I hope ABC has some decent, approved music they can use.

Mario & Karina will be dancing tango and cha cha. Mario chose the former because they got spanked for messing with the rules on the tango, so I guess he wants the chance to do it the right way. They open the night, dancing the tango. And here we go….

They’re all over each other and the floor before it even starts. Getting the rule breaking out of their system early, I guess, before it technically matters? I don’t know, but it was kinda awkward. Nice opening once the music started. Oh - Whatever Lola Wants is the tune….appropriate for Karina, eh? They follow the rules, and it’s another sharp number, but it wasn’t WOW or anything. Just regular good from them. I think this dance is good for Mario as he tends to “hit” his motions and isn’t really all that fluid at times, but even with his tango face on, and holding his upper body pretty smooth and some sharp footwork…it was still just okay for me. Techincally lovely, but didn’t get me going like some of those encore moments did. Crowd disagrees as they are immediately on their feet, but they’re collectively pretty much wound tight tonight anyway.

Judges? Len says he expect huge things tonight and that he thought it took real guts to come out and dance the style Len gave him a 6 for last time. Then tells him it was his best dance ever. (I disagree….but what do I know. It was technically challenging, Ill give them that.) Bruno said it was gutsy and intense. Carrie Ann says that might be the best dance she’s seen all season. I guess I need to rewatch that. I’m not seeing that level of wow. Scores - and they get a standing O from the judges with a perfect 30. The first one of the season. And, for the first time, we get a very excited Mario, almost Joey babbling. It was worth it just to finally see that. So I apparently am WAY off base with this one. Ooookay.

Next, we get…the founding president of Zambia? Okay. Proving dance is universal, I guess.

Second up, are Emmitt & Cheryl. They choose waltz and cha cha. He is really putting his all into this trying to continually improve. They look great. Opening with the waltz, and Emmitt in those tails and some wild shoes, here we go. Dancing to a song whose name I cannot remember but we’ve heard a million times (they need to caption these things!) they start off ever so smoothly and the audience rewards them with a cheer. It’s very lovely and gets better as it goes on, but though the audience is with them the whole way, I’m not as sold. I wanted to feel more Wow, and….well… It’s funny, but I think Emmitt is more suited to this smooth style than Cheryl, who is a bit too funky in this waltz with her motions for me. Not as elegant as he is. But then, we all know I’m not getting it tonight, already, so what do I know? The ending is gorgeous. I rewatched, and I was more impressed the second time, mostly noticing the speed in which they danced the complex choreo and how on target Emmitt was throughout. So I hope the judges concur. I know the crowd does!

Judges? Carrie Ann says there is an authenticity in his dance and they were wonderful. Len says it was a fairy tale and that he loved it. Bruno says he’s turning into an American Wonder, where no matter how much you look at it, you’re always amazed. Scores? 9, 10, 10 for a 29.

Joey & Edyta end the first round. They’ve chosen rumba to try to improve over their initial scores on that dance, and quick step which surprises me as it’s one of the toughest dances, but they did well with it last time, so thought it would be a good one to revisit. Joey cracks me up as he characterizes the final three as “two bald heads and a pair of dimples.” Love it! I love how he approaches this whole thing. You know he’s dying to win, but he’s having such fun with it, too.

Okay, so Joey explains the sailor outfit as being a tribute to his navy officer grandfather, so I totally forgive him. Very sweet! Love the Joey Grandparents Moment. How cute where they? (And how cute is it that Joey met his wife at Disney World and got married there, too.)

Here we go with the quick step, to 42nd Street. Apparently Joey is the only one going Naval for this dance as Edyta is more Greek goddess with her outfit. Their first pass was a bit tentative, as if they started off a bit, but with the second pass and onward, things pick up. It was fun and lighthearted - and almost took them off the floor at one point. I think Joey succeeds almost despite Edyta rather than because of her, but the choreo was complex and very fast paced and I think they did a good job. The crowd, not surprisingly for this group, goes wild.

Judges? Bruno says full steam ahead. Carrie Ann says it was fun but does mention they broke the hold. She almost seemed to hate to mention it, but it was a break inthe rules. Uncle Lenny shocks me by agreeing with CA, but essentially forgiving them and saying it was in keeping with the dance flow and that he deserves a finals placement with that dance. Wow, someone gave Lenny his happy juice. Either that or he’s just an old sentimental softie and he liked that Joey was dancing for his Pop Pop. Scores? 9, 10, 10 for 29.

That concludes the Ballroom Round….now on to my favorite…Latin!

Mario & Karina dance the cha cha cha - and I do have to admit that I like Karina’s wig changes. She wears them really well, for the most part, and I like the characters she adopts with them. Mario’s top hat? Not so much. And here we go, dancing to Micheal Jackson’s Bad. Karina is in what has to be an Edyta-inspired pair of latex pants loaded with zippers. Mario is all in black, as well, muscle tank and, the hat. He spends some time doing his MJ impression, then tries to flow into the cha cha cha from the pose, hit, pose hit, format. Not, perhaps a good idea there as it reminds people he’s not all that fluid, but at this point, I doubt his fans are going to care. Still, I’d like to see him stop the pose, hit, pose, hit thing and just dance with more flow. Yeah, yeah, I know. They do a nice job. Karina’s pants are kind of distracting. I like dresses better, but I’m sure every guy in America would stone me for that suggestion right about now. I’m not sure the music is really cha cha, but they’re giving it all they’ve got. It looked more Fosse than Latin to me, but again, I’m me. Which is to say, biased. So is the crowd, however, who loved it.

Judges? Carrie Ann added and subtracted points and it was hard to tell where she ended up with it, but she liked. Len agreed with me. Finally! (Although it scares me to be in agreement with Uncle Lenny.) Still, vindicated. Too much pop, not enough cha. Bruno says it was hot and saucy. Scores? 10, 9, 10 for 29.

Second up is Cheryl & Emmitt with their cha cha cha (and I hope dancing cha cha cha back to back won’t hurt them!) here we go, dancing to Dance to the Music. Oh yeah, everyone is UP right off the first beat. PERFECT tune. I love this song. Love it. Energy times 10. Brilliant music choice and the right thing after Mario’s performance. Forgotten inside the first three beats. Cheryl? You’re da bomb, baby. Excellent choreo. Emmitt is getting his funk on in his muscle gold shirt and bicep bands and grinning and working it like a man looking to win this thing. Dayum. Loving every second of this one. Fave of the night. The crowd goes nuts the whole time. Don’t blame them. A ton of fun.

Judges? They have a hard time calming the audience down enough to be heard. Bruno says he’s a great entertainer and earned his license to thrill. Carrie Ann just does the lasso and says Ride Emmitt, Ride. Nuff said, there. Lenny says he loved their first cha cha, the first week, loved this one ten times more. It would be fun to see them back to back, see how they improved over the time. Scores? Standing O from the judges for a perfect and very well deserved 30! Woo hoo! (And how cute was Tom woo-ing? Smooches!) They are SO excited to get the 30, it’s great to see. Then ol Buzz Kill Samantha comes along. Will someone please find her another job?

Closing the show…Joey & Edytadancing their rumba. Here we go, dancing to Eternal Flame. All in all, better music tonight, for sure. These two look lovely. A more elegant than perhaps hot/sexy rumba, but a nice showing from them. I think everyone brought their A Game tonight. It’s nice to see. No one faltered. Very enjoyable night, worth rewatching just for pleasure.

Judges? Len says tonight Joey channeled his inner Latin dancer. Bruno says the shackles are gone. (Whatever.) Carrie Ann says he loosened up and looked wonderful. Scores - 10, 10, 10 for their 30.

So, the judges have taken themselves out of the equation and left all three couples tied for first place with 59 out of 60. So it’s all fans, all the time now.

For me…as much as I’d be thrilled with an Emmitt and Joey finale, I’m guessing Joey goes home tonight. My phone votes (since I could make them this week) all went to Emmitt. Online, I threw my votes Joey’s way. What the heck!

Who do you think will go? Who do you think will/want to win??

Don’t forget to vote for the SHaQ Attack this week. See Tuesday’s post for all the details.

Tomorrow we have the results show AND I have an advance peek I can hopefully share as well. Can’t wait!

Tags: Writing //