Top 9 Couples

Tonight’s Judges: Nigel Lithgoe, Mary Murphy, Mia Michaels

The episode starts off with Cat Deeley (wearing something that looks like it’s part dress, part poodle) telling us that the dancers have been together long enough now to have annoyed each other, and introduces a montage of Chelsea and Thayne talking about how they feel about each other. It’s boring. Chelsea says Thayne is too superstitious. This week they are doing jazz, and their choreographer is Mandy Moore who has done a piece about “a king and his forbidden love.”

Chelsea and Thayne – Music: “Untouched,” The Veronicas. The costumes remind me of playing cards crossed with jesters. It looks like Chelsea has a patch of grass growing out of her armpit—oh, it turns out it’s a feather that she pulls out and tickles Thayne with. The dance looks stiff and too much like they’re counting and trying to remember the choreography. For a jazz routine it seems to have a lot of “popping” in it. The choreography is not doing it for me; it’s disjointed. Performance-wise I’m not drawn in. I see some sloppy footwork a couple of times. I don’t “get” the characters—I don’t feel like they’ve brought them across. Mia likes the concept but thought it wasn’t well executed. She agrees with me that the characters didn’t work, and says they may be kicked off the Tamale Train. Mary says it didn’t have enough impact and didn’t believe the chemistry. She puts them “in the caboose” of the Tamale Train. Nigel said it wasn’t real, he didn’t believe it. He didn’t like the costumes (though he says it isn’t their fault) and goes into how bad they are at great length. He says the train jumped the tracks tonight.

Mark and Chelsie – Mark says he likes the way Chelsea’s hair smells, she says he is quirky and can be difficult to partner with. They’ve drawn Argentine Tango, and choreographer Alex Da Silva. Music: “Mi Confesión,” Gotan Project. They look like they’re trying to keep as far apart as they can while still dancing very close to each other. It’s an awkward vibe through the whole thing—there is no chemistry for me. Many of the moves look under-rehearsed and unnatural. As they walk to the judges, Cat addresses the “shoe emergency”—apparently Chelsie’s pinkie toe was out of her shoe the whole time. Cat fixes her shoe. Mia is “in love with” them and says they are the most “perfect and odd” couple ever. She says it was “fantastical.” Mary says she loved everything and says Mark looked like a movie star. Nigel wanted to see more fire in Chelsie, and says they didn’t do it sleazy enough for an Argentine tango.