There are only four couples left in season 10 of Dancing With the Stars: Erin and Maks, Cheryl and Chad, Evan and Anna and Nicole and Derek. I was very sad to see Niecy go, as she was definitely the highlight of this season and really fun to watch crack jokes. But onward!

Last night there were two rounds, the Ballroom Round and the Latin Round. In the Latin Round, each star will be doing their own solo! This is always fun to watch to see if they can really let go and get loose in the face of live TV and millions of viewers (I would certainly be hard-pressed to).

First up was Erin and Maks with their Viennese Waltz. Man, that girl can do amazing things with those legs, really pretty extension. And although I really didn’t care for her dress/pantsuit, it certainly made her legs look even longer. Unfortunately, I think she was super nervous (you see her say that at the end of the dance), she had a chronic issue with trembling ankles. Judges’ Scores 9-9-9 (well, if you don’t include Bruno Tonioli’s “premature” 10 paddle).

Next was Nicole and Derek’s Argentine Tango. Hot, sexy, sharp, passionate, amazing. Really fun to watch and well danced! And the walk down the stairs with her legs wrapped around his was really awesome. Oh yeah, and the move where he lifted her up on his FOOT. This was really a master-choreographed piece. I am going to call Derek out for using the same stag lift move that he used with Lil Kim, though. It’s the first time I have ever seen him re-use a really specific move. Good one, though! Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

Chad and Cheryl were next with a rather nice and different Waltz. This guy has improved a LOT, and is now able to use that fantastic body of his to the fullest and lengthen and show off those lines. Plus he has an amazing smile and beautiful skin, oh, and that light pink color looks great against it. Ooh, I kinda just fell in love with him there! The did really nicely. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

Evan and Anna are next with a Foxtrot. It’s time for Evan to open up a little bit and show some real personality and boy doe he come out of the gate with it with the beginning of this foxtrot. Lots of clicking the heels four feet off the floor! Their dance is peppy, cute and just fantastic and full of chemistry. It’s like this is a new version of Evan, very sparkly (which is a perfect description for a figure skater). Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

That’s it for the Ballroom round, next up is the Latin round with (dum dum dum) SOLOS. And along with these solos, the stars get to be even more vulnerable with a personal interview. Hmmmmm.

Erin and Maks are first. Erin talks about her childhood and being very tall and skinny, and her fast track onto national ESPN. Then she found out she had a stalker. I thought it was very interesting that she talked about this event (THE video), I actually thought it would have been better to not bring it up. But she was brave to talk about it, good for her.

Their latin dance is a creative Paso Doble. I liked her costume, how the skirt was wrapped up in a top at first and then revealed later on. Her solo was pretty good, she definitely committed to the movement. The Paso as a whole was really fresh, I thought, although non-traditional as Len pointed out. Who cares? Anything to inject new life into the Paso.
Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Nicole and Derek are next. Nicole talks about her origins in Hawaii, and being one of 14 in a small house, then moving to Kentucky when her mom met her new husband. She of course didn’t look like anyone in the town, and threw herself into the performing arts to stand out even more!

They do a super cha cha cha to “Kiss” by Prince. She’s even dressed up like him with a purple jacket and “puffy shirt”. Very cheeky, very cute and very well done. Another great piece of choreography by Derek. Her solo was great, but that is her forte, so I felt like it was second nature for her. Judges’ Scores: 10-9-10

Chad and Cheryl are up next. Chad says his first words were “child, please.” His father was in prison and his mother raised him alone. He grew up in a very urban, dangerous community. Football was his outlet, and served him very well. His friends and family talk about how hard DWTS has been for him, and he was surprised at how hard.

Their dance is a Samba. Chad doesn’t let anything hold him back and really enjoys himself out there, especially during his solo. and he has amazing skin. He had the hardest Latin dance and he did well. Big charisma from this guy. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-9

Evan is last. He talks about his Grandmother buying him skates because she wanted to be in the Ice Capades. Once he discovered he could go fast he fell in love. He discovered the lure of competition early on and that he had to work harder to be better. And he’s shy (that we knew). And he’s a great learner (definitely).

Their dance is the Paso Doble to that great Evanescence song. With all the leaps and posing, it’s a cinch that this would be a great dance for Evan. He comes out the box kicking like a wild horse and we really see the skating training come out. But it doesn’t overshadow the dance. Great blend of the Paso and his native abilities. Dramatic kiss at the end! Very well done and big commitment from him. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10

The Results are TONIGHT!! Who will make it to the Finals? Tune in with me and find out. Try not to bite your nails too much..

Five couples are left on Season 10 of Dancing With the Stars:

Niecy and Louis
Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks
Chad and Cheryl

Three couples stand out (ability-wise) as shoo-ins for the semis:

Nicole and Derek
Evan and Anna
Erin and Maks

It is really up in the air for the last spot. Who will survive the cut tomorrow night? As much as I love Niecy, she may just not make it based on her performances. Chad as well. BUT–who knows?? Last season I wished and hoped (and voted) and got my “dream finals”. Anything can happen with a big enough fan base holding their phones in their hands.

This week the stars learned two whole routines with their pros. Tonight was split up into the Ballroom round and the Latin round. The Latin round was to have it’s own slant: the couples drew decades out of the hat to see how they had to theme their Latin dance: 50s, 60s, 80s, 90s and Future (why no 70s?).

Each of the pros sized up each of the stars in segments before the rounds. This was great, I thought, and seemed candid and sometimes a bit harsh with the truth. What was great to hear from the pros mouths was not only notes on technique and precision, but heart, enjoyment, emotion and connection. I like hearing the pros opinions, and this is a segment that you would probably have not seen the first few seasons. The pros are now stars in their own right, and their opinion matters.

Tonight the dancing for most of the couples seemed to be a “two steps forward, one step back” kind of round. Last week was really fabulous all around, but this week seemed to lack a bit.There were three absolute standout dances this evening, and two of them were from the same couple. While everyone worked very hard, I’m going to focus on these three.

Even though they were in the bottom two last week, Erin and Maks’ Argentine Tango really sizzled. And yet Another dress that I’m totally stealing for my tango. The leap and catch off the stage into the upside-down extention was truly dazzling. Beautiful lines and very passionate hold. She just needs to stop making that funny pursing-thing with her lips to approximate anger. I know she’s capable of real emotion, huh? One thing for sure, those two are really good at the double-entendre (“Just jump on me woman!”).

I’m pretty sure we’re in for three more weeks of Nicole completely freaking out about every dance during rehearsals. If I were Derek, I would be pulling out my hair. Nicole, Nicole, Nicole. Let yourself off the hook puh-leeze. We get it that this is not easy for you. And we totally get that you want it to be good–perfect. And you care–LOTS. Bonus points, baby. Just check out this light, funny, charming and cute Foxtrot, full of chemistry and excellent precision dancing.

So that’s the first two stand out dances for me tonight. The second round, the Latin “decades” round is something that I can’t quite fathom and I’m wondering if the execs should just chuck it. I can’t remember it working that well last year, either. I just don’t think that trying to “force” a specific dance into a specific time period just doesn’t actually work. Well, Chad’s seemed to work. But then–a stroke of genius.

When Nicole drew 50s from the hat, Derek stood there, dumbfounded. How in the hell were they supposed to meld the 50s with the Paso Doble? It wouldn’t work. I had an idea that they could do it like the “cool beatniks” in all black and shades, that might work. But what they came up with was just pure brilliance, and at the same time revived the usual tired and overwrought dance that is the Paso.

So it was an interesting night to say the least. And the couple that originally I did not embrace for being a ringer are now fully in my heart. Will my underdog favorite make it into the semi-finals and beyond? We’ll find out tomorrow on the Results show (cross your fingers)!

I have to say, this was a pretty darn exciting night on Dancing With the Stars–and the Finals are only three weeks away! This week along with their individual dances the stars and their partners had to team up for the “Cha Cha Challenge” and put together group dances to wow the audiences and get an extra possible 30 points to add to their score.

Erin and Maks are up first with a pretty fancy and cute quickstep–in hot pink, no less. Her dress looked pretty dazzling. Oh, and Maks always looks fiiiiine. Their quickstep was fun and engaging, this is never an easy dance to make look great. I just wish in rehearsals they would stop nagging each other, it’s getting old. Len Goodman declares it’s Erin’s best dance to date. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

Chad and Cheryl pull out a pretty interesting Waltz this week. Chad gets an extra bonus with Tony Develani coming in to coach him, lucky him! However, they both look like they’re dressed for a Rumba as the music starts. But Chad comes out leading with grace and finesse. This is I think technically his best dance so far, aside from the Tango last week. But the Waltz is a whole other ball game and he really did well. Judges’ Scores: 8-9-8

Nicole and Derek also do a Waltz this week, to the sappiest song in creation, “You Light Up My Life”. But what a Waltz it is, very standard and traditional, with difficult choreography. Derek always knows how to wow. This was so pretty and graceful. The judges were very picky with her, even after Carrie Ann declares that she’s the best dancer they’ve ever had on the show. I guess the better you are the pickier they can be (that’s usually the way it is). Judges’ Scores:9-9-9

Pam and Damien are up next with their Waltz. And I’m super disappointed in this, it’s just unfortunately…boring. I feel like shaking my finger at Damian for not challenging her more, she’s so up to it. Too bad. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8

Niecy and Louis are next and I have to say that if Niecy doesn’t make it to the finals I am SO going to miss her comic relief and light-heartedness. The show really needs it when the stars tend to take things too seriously (when you’re invested in something that makes you vulnerable it tends to make you serious, folks). This week they do a Quickstep. Mid-rehearsal Louis gets caught texting Kelly Osbourne and Niecy lays claim to her partner, telling him to put down the phone. Niecy is light, quick-footed, smooth and full of mirth in this fantastic dance. Plus she looks absolutely gorgeous (as she always does). Well done to the both of them on her best dance so far. Folks, let’s keep her out of the bottom two! Niecy is so excited about continuing to dance. Judges’ Scores: 9-8-8

Evan and Anna do the only Argentine Tango of the evening, and they are working super hard with him to not “submit” to the woman in this dance. He has to be sharp and not lyrical. Anna is demanding perfection from him and as an Olympic gold medalist, he can deliver. They do their Tango to “Bust Your Windows”, which is a fabulous choice with the tango thump behind it. Anna wears the most awesome dress ever that I am stealing when I do my Tango with my hubby. Love the black/gold sparkles in the stripes on the top into the velvet short, angled skirt and the big flowers at the hip and the side bun. Really stunning! Evan pulls out all the stops and turns in an amazing performance, full of force, passion, power, aggression and sex. Great chemistry between these two and a hot Argentine Tango. Judges’ Scores: 10-10-10!

Next up are the team cha cha cha dances. I have to hand it to the teams, these were really fantastic this year, and measurably conducted more professionally than last year. Plus, they waited to do this until there were 6 couples instead of 7 and have lop-sided teams. Dancing in teams like this is so hard, especially dancing in synch, much like singing in unison is so hard. If you’re off a little bit everyone can see it. You could really tell that the teams enjoyed working together and it also showed in their performances.

First was team GaGa: Nicole and Derek, Pam and Damian and Chad and Cheryl. This is great and for Nicole’s first cha cha, she hits it out of the park. Chad is super good as well. Pam unfortunately looks a tad lost, like she couldn’t remember her steps. Overall, this is a sex-y dance with 6 really sexy people. Judges’ Scores: 9-9-9

Last was team Madonna: Niecy and Louis, Evan and Anna and Erin and Maks. They get to do their cha cha to “Holiday”, which is a party song if there ever was one. And the costumes! I had to laugh out loud at the Madonna circa 1984 look with lace, bustier and bows. Really super fab, and so different on each girl. My pick for the winner is absolutely team Madonna for sheer fun, great moves and even better concept. Well done to them. Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8 (boo)

What an exciting night! Who has to go home tomorrow? I don’t want to see anyone go home… Tune in tomorrow!

A lot of the ladies on my forum that I chat with said last Tuesday night: “Ding dong, the witch is dead”. And with that, my least favorite contestant of all time left Dancing With the Stars. She goes on to her new TLC show where she gives people relationship advice. Hmm.

OK–ONWARD. And all of those stars that are left are real contenders for the semis and finals on season 10. Tonight are two dances, one tough and the other even tougher. The Samba and the Argentine Tango, which is my all-time favorite ballroom dance. So I will be tough tonight.

Jake and Chelsie seem to have stumbles frequently, and this week was no exception. I have to give it to him, he sure knows how to recover and there is nothing like a big stumble in your dance to bring you completely out of it, and it’s a challenge to finish (another Tom Bergeron moment: “I hope you enjoyed our salt in the wound slow motion replay”). Pretty good on the Samba, which I think is one of the toughest dances to look good in. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7

Next are Evan and Anna, who also have the Samba. More Hips, More Hips! More hips because Anna will smash your head to the ground if you don’t! Ouch, man. He was so lucky he’s okay, I would not have wanted my neck torqued that way. Their Samba is super good, and Evan even does the Samba rolls well, which are super hard. These two have great chemistry together as well. Bruno gets on him for his lines being too lyrical for the Samba. Carrie echoed him, and Len said it was his worst dance. Bah Humbug, geez!! Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7

Niecy and Louis are the first Argentine Tango of the night. And she asks “Has anyone ever done a funny Argentine Tango?” I want Louis to bust her butt on technique so she gets better scores. He does not disappoint, and I hope it can translate to the dance floor. Good girl on the develope! Keep the cookie away from her, Louis! I thought she worked hard and they did a great job, big improvement. Carrie thinks she’s in the zone, Len thought it was great and Bruno wanted her to stay away from his lunchbox. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-7

Erin and Maks bicker like a married couple (oh, right), and he begs her to stay out of her head and just dance. Please do! I’m trying to figure out what the heck she is wearing and my husband says as he walks across the room: “when are you getting pasties like hers?” My friend who was visiting swore they were going to rip off that feather tutu and it just never happened. Maks’ sleeves and shirt came off, though. Thank you Maks. I thought their Samba was decent, but a little forced. And oh boy, Len did NOT like the non-proper Samba and Maks talked BACK! I have never seen that from a pro before. Whew! Judges’ Scores: 9-7-9

Chad drags Cheryl back to Cincinnati for the Bengals draft party in order to get energized. After they get back for rehearsals, Cheryl tells Chad to manhandle her in the Argentine Tango. She really wants him to lead. He’s strong and forceful and his steps are more precise this week. He’s worked hard and it shows. But IMO Cheryl is still leading. The only partner I think she didn’t lead with was Gilles Marini (ooh, Gilles). Judges’ Scores: 8-8-8

I’m not sure what Nicole’s deal is, but she is over over over analyzing everything and driving Derek crazy. Just dance girl, because you can. Their Samba is the partiest, sexiest, gyratingest samba I’ve ever seen. They do a fantastic job of really engaging the audience and it seems like Carnivale is happening in the soundstage. No more insecurities for Nicole, baby. Len grinds them for not having any voltas or botafogos, two essential moves in the Samba. Judges’ Scores: 9-7-10

My underdog favorite is next, Pam and Damian, doing the Argentine Tango. Pam is such a trooper and a pro, she’s been in the bottom two the last two weeks after great dances, and she just presses on. She looks great in a brunette wig and really looks like Raquel Welch, although Bruno calls her Angelina. They dance really great and do some awesome lifts. Every once in a while she looks slightly awkward on her feet, but it doesn’t affect her character. This chick really knows how to act the dance and carries it over to the interviews (“I like being on top”). Some may say that the sexy is just second nature to her and big deal. But I say that it takes skill and style to use it in the dance and make it work. And while she borders on overly bawdy sometimes, she always manages to keep it clean and put a really great humor spin to it. Judges’ Scores: 7-7-8

The Swing Dance Marathon is new, and I love that they have integrated these more realistic style heats into the show. This is what dance competitions look like. Many couples out on the floor, where anything can happen and elbows and ankles do fly. The spectacular thing about Swing is the lifts (“ooh mother of sweet baby air!” exclaims Nicole), they are always fun to watch. Chad seems to think he can strategize his way through this with x’s and o’s and while that’s cute, I don’t think so.

All the couples look so adorable in their bright colors. The guys wear suspenders and the girls halter dresses and spectator pumps. Much fun ensues, and it’s super cute. But the couples are eliminated one by one until they are down to the winners Nicole and Derek (didn’t he win last year in the Mambo Marathon?). They get to add a whole 10 points to their Judges’ Scores for the evening.

Who will be eliminated tonight? I’m biting my nails in anticipation…

Gilles Marini was my personal favorite to win Dancing With the Stars season 8 last spring.  It was unfortunate that Gilles did not have the fanbase that little gymnast Shawn Johnson had. While she certainly wowed the crowds and did excellently, Gilles just had that…certain…something extra. Was it sex appeal? Maybe. He simply showed more depth and dimension in his dancing (acting comes in handy, huh?). Take his Argentine Tango, for instance, with his partner Cheryl Burke. Probably the sexiest dance ever on Dancing With the Stars. Don’t think so? Let me know!

*SPOILER ALERT!*

The three finalists: Kelly Osbourne and Louis Van Amstel, Donny Osmond and Kym Johnson and Mya and Dmitry Chaplin performed their last dances on the season 9 results show for Dancing With the Stars on Tuesday night. They chose their favorite dances from their 10 week run on the show.

Kelly and Louis chose their Viennese Waltz from the very first show. This dance always stuck with me because not only was it her first dance, she really declared herself in it.  Not only as a dancer, but as a  new person that people had not seen before. Their rehearsal/talk footage of their journey together was very touching; especially moments between the two of them where Louis expresses how proud he has been of her and the progress she’s made through the weeks (I even teared up).

Their waltz was even better than I remembered it, with more romance, love and grace. Bravo! The crowd chanted her name while the judges spoke to her.  She was definitely a crowd favorite. Even Carrie Ann Inaba cried a bit when she said Kelly was her favorite dancer to watch as she went on her journey.

Mya and Dmitry chose their Jive from week 2, and this was always one of my favorites from her (along with her Salsa from last week). Their dance was very cheeky and funny with cute characters.  This was a great one for them to pick.

Donny and Kym did their Argentine Tango, which continues to be one of my favorite dances of the entire season (along with Kym’s amazing dress). The two of them had real passion, connection and lust (and this from a happily married man from Utah??). Fantastic dance to end with as the evening progressed.

Unfortunately, the Judges did their ridiculous ranking again, like for the Megamix.  This just perplexes me, as it doesn’t give the stars any chance of getting the score that they really deserve. Maybe I was just pissed off that Kelly was ranked 3rd when she deserved more than 26.  In that moment, you could tell that Kelly thought she was not going to win. In an interesting turn, Donny and Kelly were ranked 1st with 30 points. Shades of things to come?

As the reveal of 3rd place happened, I was wiggling my toes and hoping against all hope that it was not Kelly and Louis. But unfortunately, it was, and although overall she was happy you could tell she was disappointed.  Who wouldn’t after giving it their all and doing so well?

They brought the two finalists upstage with the Mirror Ball in between them and the anticipation was so thick you had to swim through it. We waited with the heartbeat thumping…to hear Donny Osmond’s name called as the winner of the 9th season of Dancing With the Stars! This was truly a surprise upset, as Mya has consistently been the front runner to win the entire season.  What a great event, as not only Donny wins, but pro Kym Johnson gets her first and much-deserved win. I was so happy for her, she really deserved it! Mya was super gracious as she expressed how glad she was for Donny and how her experience on the show was amazing.

Donny was so happy and brought his entire beautiful (and huge) family on stage to share his victory. YEA DONNY!

I’ll be back with Dancing With the Stars coverage when they announce the new cast for the spring. But of course I will continue to with my normal dance posts. Ta!

(Images courtesy of ABC Television)

I always have mixed feelings about the finals.  I think I expect too much out of everyone, and maybe get disappointed. But I forget that these are the same people as before, just one more week along.  So logically, they are not going to turn into full-fledged pro dancers in 7 days (or really 5 days because that’s all the time they get). Tonight I watched with that in mind so I could really enjoy myself.  These three stars (and their pros) have really busted ass to get in the Finals and they deserved it!  Now I wanted them to show me the stuff!

First the stars did one last regular-style dance by themselves.  Kelly Osbourne was first with her Argentine Tango.  Now this is my favorite Ballrooom/Latin dance, and I was crossing my fingers that she would do well, and better than her last effort.  Fortunately, Carrie Ann Inaba made a visit to their rehearsal to give her some coaching specifically on her emotional connection with her partner.  This is something she has always needed to work on, even though Kelly is really “The Transformer” of the show.  She’s the one that’s come the farthest and really discovered dance.  But she has never quite had that connect with Louis Van Amstel that would allow them to play lovers.

Let me tell you she did NOT disappoint. Her footwork was excellent, lines were beautiful and they really smoldered when looking into each other’s eyes. It was the real connection this time, yea!  Strangely, this was the lowest scoring first dance of the night, with a 9-9-8, and I sincerely believe it was the best first dance of all three.  Maybe the judges were warming up or something.  The only big criticism that I heard was from Bruno Tonioli who said that Kelly’s “free hand” was doing odd things while she danced.  Ugh, whatever.

Next up was Mya. Len Goodman paid her and Dmitry Chaplin a visit as they rehearsed. Len’s intention as they practiced was to really push Mya to her limits in the Paso Doble. He even yelled at her about her kicks, that she could kick his upper hand out of the way. This is a great thing, because I have thought through pretty much the whole season that Mya was too cool of a cucumber, and never really revealing much or reaching her limits.

Technically, the dance looked good and had that measure of anger and sharpness that the Paso calls for.  But I really didn’t feel the passion that it needs.  The Paso is such a difficult dance to pull off and make look super spectacular in my opinion, you really need a variety of great moves coupled with a really great passionate anger with your partner. Nothing can hold a candle to Mel B. and Maks Chmerkovskiy’s Paso in season 7. Incidentally, Len mentions Mel’s dance in his critique of Mya, saying hers was up there. As you can guess, I do not agree. Judges scores: 10-10-10.

Donny Osmond was next with his Cha Cha Cha. Bruno made a visit to him and partner Kym Johnson to help sharpen up his technique enough to match his showmanship. This is great because Donny can always pull out a crowd-pleasing performance, but not be technically perfect. Bruno took him to task and really put him through his paces. Oddly enough, I didn’t see much evidence of this in his Cha Cha, where he did what seemed as little actual dancing as possible.  I thought I might be wrong, but my friend sitting next to me echoed my thoughts exactly. The judges seemed quite happy with it, so it’s possible I don’t understand the man’s role in the Cha Cha. Judges scores: 9-9-9.

A new element this season was the Megamix, where all three couples danced a “superdance” at the same time.  Three dances, same choreography (by Nick Kosovich from seasons 2 and 3). This, in theory, is a great idea, I always love the pro dances where up to 5 couples dance at the same time–but those are not PRO dancers.  Do you know how hard it is to have six people dancing in complete synchronization and stay in a specific formation?  HARD. I personally thought that the Megamix was a mess, and the girls outfits were rather unflattering and distracting. They combined Viennese Waltz, Samba and Jive which to me was rather jarring.

In any case, the stars seemed to enjoy themselves, which makes it all ok in the end. Mya came in first, Donny second and Kelly third for 30, 28 and 26 points respectively.

Lastly was the most anticipated dance: the Freestyle. They kept on saying that the Freestyle can make or break a dancer and they could win or lose the trophy with it.  I have to say, I completely disagree, and the Freestyle is always interesting to me, but NOT my favorite. I feel that the Freestyle is some odd excuse to trot out every single trick, lift and leap you’ve ever wanted to do.  It’s never simply been about dancing. Freestyles usually do not live up to expectations and don’t always get the best scores.

Kelly and Louis were up first with a disco Freestyle to Gloria Gaynor’s “I Will Survive”,which she had adopted as her theme song, just because her DWTS trip has definitely been an up and down one for her. Yet she still came out shining. Her dance was fun and free, with lots of smiling and singing along from her (which I love). Also thrown in were lots of tricks, not all of which were completely pulled off. But she smiled and laughed the whole way along and never gave up. This got her kudos from the judges if not high paddles. Judges scores: 8-8-8.

Mya and Dmitry did a puzzling Freestyle to “Can’t Stop the Beat” from Hairspray. I liked it a lot, mostly for the reason that they didn’t pull out every trick in the book.  It was good dancing, but not show-stopping.  And her outfit was super cute.  I think they should have gone with Mya’s out-of-the-box idea. Judges scores: 9-9-9.

Donny and Kym were last with what was the most entertaining Freestyle of the evening. Donny did what Donny does the best: entertain us with energy, enthusiasm and style (why didn’t everyone do that?). “Hollywood at it’s best, ” yelled Bruno.  Agreed. Carrie said his Broadway number went down into history with the best, including Drew Lachey’s “Save a Horse Ride a Cowboy” and Shawn Johnson’s Jabbawokeez-inspired Freestyle. Two really great ones in a sea of not really memorable Freestyles. Judges scores: 10-10-10. Well deserved.

The voting has been unpredictable this season. Almost as unpredictable as this season’s predictable winner. But the probability of Mya winning the mirror-ball trophy does not take away from the suspense.  Will the obviously enormous fan bases of Kelly’s and Donny’s come out screaming overnight to deliver an upset?  Even though all three stars have delivered a fantastic season (Mya included), I am keeping my fingers crossed for Miss Osbourne.  Nobody deserves the win more.

Agree? Disagree?  Lemme have it!!

The dancers (well, at least those that are in for the long run) are beginning to “settle in” as the top 18 performed last night on So You Think You Can Dance. More talent is coming through, and nerves as well, and its easy to see at this stage who is going to be eliminated at the end of the night.

I am always thankful that the dancers have Cat Deely as an anchor on stage when they’re coming down off their performance and have to face the harsh reality of the judges. Besides being amazingly tall and devastatingly beautiful (not to mention a fashion maven), she really takes care of the kids and makes sure there’s positive spins on everything, as was the case last night when Channing was called a “sack of potatoes” by Nygel Lithgoe.

Some pieces on Tuesday night fell a little flat, such as Bianca and Victor’s Tyce DiOrio Broadway routine, and Channing and Phillip’s Samba, but there were some jewels as well.

Wade Robson has a fierce, fantastic imagination and was able to look at Vincent Van Gogh’s “Starry Night” and play with the idea that there were once people in the painting and Vincent got rid of them (which makes them come back for mischevious revenge). He comes up with an amazingly quirky and mesmerizing jazz routine for Peter and Pauline that cranked with immense enjoyment. The dancers really committed to the movement and their characters and it really worked for me.

The only not-so-great thing about this piece was the darn screen in the background, making me so dizzy with a spinning “Starry Night” that it was hard to concentrate on the dancers!

Since Mia Michaels is not on this season (sniff), Wade is now my favorite choreographer. I must have watched his group piece to “Comanche” ten times on my DVR, I loved it so much. His choreography just has a hungry, on-fire attack to it that lends itself so well to the dancers this season. They seem to love performing his stuff (almost as much as I love to watch it)!

Karen and Kevin got a Tabitha/Napoleon hip-hop number where they got to be a manly mechanic and a sexy racing groupie. I realize that NappyTabs is not always a total crowd favorite, but the combination of Karen/Kevin, racing and sex really percolated into something fabulous, clever and fun. Much gyrating! It’s safe to say that Karen is the SYTYCD resident hottie this season (Mary Murphy already put her on the Hot Tamale Train last week). It’s well deserved on her part, as she really made the hip-hop moves work for her, even though she was out of her element. And she plays the sexy card uber well (did we mention she’s sexy?).  Judge Adam Shankman fell out of his chair describing her and the rest constantly say they can’t keep their eyes off her because she’s a magnet on stage.  Kevin has his work cut out for him.

Argentine Tango is by far my favorite ballroom style dance, and last night’s Ryan and Ellenore Tango really delivered. Choreographers Miriam Larici and Leonardo Barrionuevo created a slow and sultry dance with a ton of precision work with the feet. Ryan and Ellenore smoked on the stage, with a quiet fierceness and “laser-like connection” (Adam Shankman’s words).

Image courtesy of FOX

They committed completely in both technique and the emotion the Argentine Tango demands. In fact, they were so focused that even Ellenore’s dress being caught in the heel of her shoe for about 40% of the dance didn’t faze either of them one bit. Amazing.

So it was with sadness, but no surprise that the two sent home by the judges at the end of the show were Phillip and Bianca, both of them tappers. Well, at least there is one tapper left–good luck Peter, I’m rooting for you from my living room. Hopefully, there are more out there who are rooting as well.

Last night was a very interesting night on ABC’s Dancing with the Stars.  I have been looking forward to tango/paso doble night for a little while, it never disappoints.

Argentine Tango is my favorite ballroom dance. Heat, passion, lust, anger and awesome legwork are always in order. The one contestant who really pulled it out of the bag and delivered wholeheartedly was “little” Aaron Carter. Damn if he didn’t pull it together, focus and connect with excellent precision and a LOT of lust for Karina (he’s a young man, who can blame him?). After his last two low-score weeks (and I don’t completely agree with the judges on that) this was new life in his dancing. Unfortunately, his scores were not as good as some of the other contestants, but I really think he gave it all and did excellently (and the judges did like it a lot).

The one dance that I was really looking forward to was Kelly Osbourne’s paso doble.  She was doing it to her father Ozzy’s song “Crazy Train” and I thought “oh yeah, this will be great.” It was good, she looked great in her grey skirt and spiky hair, and Louis looked great in his Ozzy Ozbourne makeup.

Kelly and her Daddy 'do

But I think her nerves got the better of her again, I feel like she’s holding on too hard to NOT mess up.  I think she held on less in the very first week of competition maybe because it was her first time doing this and she thought “what do I have to lose?”  And now, she got such high praise (well deserved) that now she’s afraid to not live up to those standards.  Just let go Kelly, and HAVE FUN–you’re great as-is.

On a different note, the hair was completely out of control last night.  In fact, Tom Bergeron called it when he said “hairstyles by Fellini.” The ‘do I really liked was Kelly’s ,she looked like a blonde version of her father from the early 80′s.  But Lacey’s ratty looking faux-hawk just didn’t read well on TV.  As well, Samantha Harris’ terrible, frizzy curly ‘do made her look like she had it done in 1983 with bad hot rollers (and she’s the worlds most glamorous paper doll on TV, they really know how to dress her up).  Ugh.  THEN to top it off, all the guys wore the silliest, poufy wigs for the Hustle group dance–but that was pure fun! ;o)