Three 10s showed up for Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke when they did the passionate Argentine tango in 'Dancing with the Stars' performance night.
- Mar 31, 2009
AceShowbiz - Two down, eleven to go. "Dancing with the Stars" presented two dances on Monday, March 30 that have never been performed in the show so far, Lindy hop that is all about rock and roll and requires high technique of lifting; as well as Argentine tango which is all about sensuality and passion.
Opening the night were David Alan Grier and Kym Johnson with lindy. So serious these two in winning the competition that during the rehearsal they came to visit the real routine performed at Lindy Groove in Pasadena. Len thought it was neither the best and the worst out of David but this was tackled by Carrie who thought it was a good one. Bruno gave advice for David to keep his rhythm while dancing fast. The score was 8-7-7, giving it 22 out of 30.
Second couple to perform and the first to dance the tango were Lil' Kim and Derek Hough. Derek admitted that he also knew little of this type of dance so they were learning together. Both Bruno and Carrie thought it was a marvelous performance with the former getting up his seat. Len however, thought there was something missing that didn't quite ooze the passion. The score was 9-8-10, giving it 27 out of 30.
Chuck Wicks and Julianne Hough were up next, doing lindy and dressing in old school fast food employees uniform. Carrie, Bruno and Len all agreed that there was some room left for improvement and they wanted the couple to go further than that in order to be in the game. The score was 8-7-7, giving it 22 out of 30.
Next were Lawrence Taylor and Edyta Sliwinska with the tango. To show Lawrence how things should be done, Edyta brought in her husband Alec Mazo into the rehearsal. The actual performance however, was deemed too "heavy" and lacking the essential passion by the judges. Bruno pointed out that Lawrence's footwork was not correct. The score was 7-5-7, giving it 19 out of 30.
Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower gave the lindy a shot. Chelsie said in the rehearsal that she wanted to make use of Ty's strength to do the lifts. There was a lot of falling down in the rehearsals but the performance was missing that. Carrie raved on and on about it and promised to give a good score. Bruno complimented Ty's strength although mentioning that there was still rough patches. Len summarized it, "Hot dog and darn my britches!" The score was 9-8-8, giving it 25 out of 30.
Steve Wozniak and Karina Smirnoff took the stage next with the tango. So far they were the couple with the danger of leaving, but Steve arranged a self-campaign, going for a bike trip with his wiz friends to garner votes. The performance however, was not one that got votes from the judges. Carrie had nothing positive to say, Len said there was indeed improvement although not much and Bruno thought there was nothing Argentine tango about it except its stench. The score was 4-4-4, giving it 12 out of 30.
Melissa Rycroft and Tony Dovolani tackled the lindy hop. In teaching Melissa how to "kick", Tony put a piece of tissue on the bottom of her foot. The judges were impressed by the difficulty and the effortless lifts. Len confided in them moving all the way to the final while Bruno said they had explored all the steps in lindy hop. The score was 10-9-10, giving it 29 out of 30.
Holly Madison and Dmitry Chaplin went for tango. It was revealed that Holly's back had been suffering from pain and this was shown in the rehearsals footage. Bruno was still itching on her detached movements that he advised her to loose the "Barbie and bring out the vixen". Both Carrie and Len wanted Holly to have more strength. The score was 5-6-5, giving it 16 out of 30.
Steve-O and Lacey Schwimmer gave the lindy hop a shot. Lacey gave the jackass a clown costume since he looked stressed out of the complications during the rehearsals. The judges had a problem with Steve's timing. Carrie said that he was always one beat away from Lacey while Len wanted him to listen to the music and stay with it. The score was 5-5-5, giving it 15 out of 30.
Gilles Marini and Cheryl Burke, the highest scorer so far, did the tango. Cheryl wanted Gilles to use his acting skill to ignite the passion between them which is pretending to be in love with each other. The performance received a standing ovation from the audience. Len went on and on about how much chemistry and heat there were while Bruno called Gilles a "quintessential Latin love with animal magnetism". Carrie meanwhile, thought Gilles was like a professional dancer himself. The score was 10-10-10, a perfect 30 out of 30.
The last to dance were Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas with lindy hop. They took the rehearsals to a gym where Shawn usually does her routines as a gymnast. There was so much lifting and tricks that there was actually little dance, according to Bruno. Carrie pointed that there was no signature lindy hop footwork that are light and fast. Len sounded similar comment. The score was 8-8-9, giving it 25 out of 30.
