LAST EDITED ON 09-17-09 AT 10:54 AM (EST)Dan Karaty and Karen Kain guest judging. Another strong show top to bottom. Everyone was falling over themselves because they were so thrilled to be there with Karen Kain. I think Leah Miller had a collagen injection because her lips looked really weird last night.
Gotta give props to the Canadian show for making this just a 90 minute show. No filler! Next week it's just an hour - 6 dances!
I think they're coddling Mel & Cody and Amy & Vincent, once again giving them stuff in their genre.
Mel & Cody - Hip Hop (Luther Brown). A hard hitting hip-hop where both did well. Melanie is quite good at hip hop. Luther reversed the direction of the gratuitous near sex this week.
Amy & Vincent - Cha Cha (Gustavo Vargas). An enjoyable routine but given the strength of the evening, will it stand out enough. Had a very nice lift in the middle part though. Also, this couple seems to have trouble connecting with the audience given that they've been in the bottom twice already.
Kim & Emmanuel - Contemporary (Stacey Tookey). This one was very well choreographed and danced technically. I had trouble believing the romance/chemistry between them though but that might just be me.
Jayme Rae & Daniel - Disco (Melissa Williams). I'm going to have to agree with Dan Karaty here (who gave the only negative critique of the night) in that this dance didn't quite do it for me. All the elements were there but it seemed to me that they were thinking about their steps too much to really convey the enjoyment of dancing it.
Tara-Jean & Everett - Dance Hall (Sho-Tyme). Along with the quickstep and the west coast swing - apparently all of them lay claim to the fastest dance. There was some great, great footwork here. Maybe they give Everett this because of his tap background? Another solid dance.
Natalie & Danny - West Coast Swing (Benji Schwimmer). I missed the judges comments here but apparently they all agreed with my initial reaction which was: "That was WCS?" However, it did have a variation of Benji's signature move. I think it was danced well but it was lacking a bit for me.
Corynne & Austin - Jazz (John Byrne? - the name eludes me). This was a pleasant surprise. It was a good routine, though I could have done without the gun - or at least bring it in much later; it's hard to dance carrying a gun. There were some stunning tricks in here, huge trust required. The first lift was cool but then there was a leap where Corynne did a kind of arrow with her legs and threaded the needle of Austin's arms who caught her. She seemed to go completely horizontal, neither rising or falling for far longer than possible. You just have to see it.
Bottom 3:
For me it would be:
Jamie Rae and Daniel - though it'd be a shame to lose either since their body of work so far has been great.
Natalie & Danny - but the east coast vote may play a factor - trust me, you cannot underestimate this voting block.
then it's really tough, I'll say
Amy & Vincent
I think Danny and Natalie/Amy should go but they love Amy so she won't. Still, if they are there again, they'll have to recognize that this partnership isn't getting the audience to vote.
ETF: typo