Dancing with the Stars – Season Seven Semi-Finals

We are down to four stars, which means tonight is all about 8 dances.  The stars will perform the one of the familiar dances they haven’t done, then another dance from the selection of new dances that were introduced a few weeks back.  Plus, there’s the coaching session from Len.  All told, this should be another jam packed semi-final.

 

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough – Jive – Okay, so this wasn’t quite the routine that Derek and Julianne did last week, but it was pretty darn close.  That was high energy from the get go, and they never slowed down.  You know what that means.  I loved it!  I did notice one under arm turn that looked a tad awkward, and they definitely did some lifts, so unless the rules have changed, watch for Carrie Ann to dock them for that.  Len, however, said they messed up three or four times.  Bruno was surprised about how bad the technique was.  And Carrie Ann did come down hard on them for the illegal lifts.  Yet I could tell from their faces they agreed with the judges, so at least they weren’t too upset.  And Brooke confirmed that she agreed with the judges backstage.  Can I just say that impressed me even more?

Scores: Carrie Ann – 7 Len – 7 Bruno – 7 Total – 21  Her worst score of the entire season.  Wow.  Could she fall just short of the finals?

 

Cody Linley & Julianne Hough – Paso Doble – Julianne’s back!  When I first saw their costumes, I thought with the military look they would be doing a Jive.  This could be an interesting routine.  You know, I’d never noticed how much this dance has military precision until watching this.  And I do think I prefer Julianne’s choreography to Edyta’s.  But I still wasn’t too impressed.  Bruno said the timing was poor and the lines were non existent, but he did find the dance interesting.  Carrie Ann saw too much tension.  And Len wasn’t impressed with it, saying it was stiff and not dance quality.  Wow, I think the judges are being harder than I am tonight.  That’s a nice change from the last couple of weeks, right?

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 7 Bruno – 7 Total – 22  I wasn’t sure what to expect for sure, but this is a combined score one better that Brooke’s.  This is getting very interesting.

 

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson – Mambo – That was interesting, stating off in the audience.  And wow, Kym has great abs the way she could hold that back bend while Warren took off his jacket.  But again, I find Warren’s dances fun but not nearly as good as the others.  Obviously, I miss the technical stuff, so we’ll see what the judges say.  Carrie Ann started and said he could include more difficult moves.  Len praised him for showing great personality even if he doesn’t have much content.  And Bruno said it was engaging but very flat footed.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 8 Bruno – 8 Total – 24  So he’s got the highest score in the first round so far.  And with Lance being hit or miss with the judges, this just might be the high score of round one.

 

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer – Mambo – And Lacey got to show off her abs, too.  While this had the fun of Warren’s dance, it also seemed like a better dance to me, which the various tempo changing moves.  Plus they really seemed to be traveling all around the floor.  But I’ve been shocked by the judges comments before, so let’s see what they say.  Len called it the best dance so far.  Bruno called it semi-final material.  Carrie Ann said it was a show stopper.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 10 Len – 9 Bruno – 9 Total – 28  They were so happy with their first 10 of the season.  And this makes it the best dance of the first round.

 

Now I’m really curious to see how things play out with round two.

 

Brooke Burke & Derek Hough – Salsa – Again with the lifts.  And right out of the gate.  Carrie Ann won’t be happy about that.  I think they were up to three by the time the dance was over since her feet stayed on the ground in that spin.  But I really did enjoy the dance over all.  I’m hesitant to get too enthused, however, after the way the judges have reacted to things tonight.  Brooke and Derek seem happier.  And so did Bruno who welcomed her back to the competition.  Carrie Ann did mention the lifts, but said they were appropriate to the number.  She even praised her for the way she came back.  Len told her to work toward her strengths, which is crisp technique like we saw here.  Naturally, they were much happier back stage.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 9 Len – 10 Bruno – 9 Total – 28  They have started the second round with an impressive score.  While Lance has some wiggle room, they’ve put the pressure on Cody and Warren.  Let’s see if they can keep up.

 

Cody Linley & Julianne Hough – Salsa – During the master class, Len tried to work on Cody’s hips.  I am seeing an improvement most of the time.  Of course, anyone standing next to Julianne is going to have a hard time standing out.  And we’ve got two lifts here as well.  I’d say their second round was stronger as well.  Way to answer back, guys.  Carrie Ann said it was fun, but he was slightly off from the music at times.  But Len thought the musicality was fine.  He even praised the lifts.  Bruno said it was a bit loose technically, but otherwise good.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 8 Len – 8 Bruno – 8 Total – 24  Funny, based on the comments, I expected a couple 9’s in there.  So they are now below Brooke.  But I think that Lance is really the one to beat tonight.

 

Warren Sapp & Kym Johnson – Jitterbug – I’m wondering about this one.  In my mind, Warren has been slow all season.  Why would they choose to pick the fastest dance they could have done?  Okay, the contestants must have decided to band together and do lifts tonight.  That’s all I can come up with.  When I think Jitterbug, I think a fast paced dance.  This one just seemed too slow to me.  It was fun at times, but it seemed very weak to me.  Len praised him for selling it.  Bruno came down hard on him, however, because his feet were all over the place.  Carrie Ann became the tie breaker and said she liked it, although she was afraid that the dangerous lifts wouldn’t work and Kym would get hurt.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 9 Len – 8 Bruno – 8 Total – 25  So, Len loved it and Bruno saw flaws, yet they came away with the same score.  Yep, I’m confused yet again.

 

Lance Bass & Lacey Schwimmer – Jitterbug – So that’s four for four in the final round.  I sure thought from what Carrie Ann said they weren’t supposed to be doing lifts, but everyone did so maybe I misunderstood.  And then Lance lost his shoe.  He missed a couple steps trying to kick it out of the way, but they soldiered on.  After how hard I was on Warren, I’ve got to say I thought this one was only slightly better at the start, but they seemed to pick up speed as the dance progressed.  And some of their moves were lots of fun.  As Tom pointed out, it was pretty amazing that he only missed a couple steps considering he was dancing with one shoe and one sock.  Len even got into the fun pretending to be upset about him dancing barefoot again.  But the real comments started with Bruno who said it was brilliant and a joy.  Carrie Ann agreed, saying they didn’t miss a step.  Len said this was his second fabulous dance of the night.  These should be good scores.

Scores: Carrie Ann – 10 Len – 9 Bruno – 10 Total – 29  The high score of the night, and they can’t completely believe it.

 

And that brings the semi-final round to an end.  Here’s tonight’s rankings:

1. Lance – 57

2. Brooke – 49

2. Warren – 49

4. Cody – 46

 

Encore: Well, Brooke has one more week to get an encore.  This week’s is going to Lance’s Jitterbug.  And I have no complaints because once it got going, it was really good.

 

Going Home: I feel pretty confident in saying Lance won’t be going home.  I think Brooke, being the only female, is most likely safe as well.  I bet it comes down to Warren and Cody.  There is a slight chance that Cody makes the finals, but my guess is that this is the week we say goodbye to the Boy Wonder.

 

Is there something I am missing, or will this be Cody’s week to leave the competition?

 

Mark