The most improved award goes to Erin Andrews, who really stepped it up tonight! She danced with personality and skill tonight. Really dug her freestyle contemporary. For a minute I thought I was watching So You Think You Can Dance. Erin is tied for 1st place with Nicole Scherzinger at 55 points.
Evan Lysacek had an uneven night, dancing a beautiful Viennese Waltz, but sliding backwards with his corny, frenetic freestyle.
Nicole is still the dancer to beat. And I’d like to see either Evan or Erin–both underdogs–beat her. They sit at the bottom of the leaderboard at 52.
Tomorrow night, there will be two more competitive dances for judges scores, so it’s not over til it’s over…
Who will take home the mirrored trophy ball this week? Erin Andrews, Evan Lysacek or Nicole Scherzinger? The trio and their professional partners perform tonight!
Live blog and videos after the JUMP…
Redemption Dance is first – the dances the judges thought they should have excelled in.
Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy – Samba – Bruno is helping Erin tackle the Samba. Erin is still a little stiff, but she’s showing more personality on the dance floor than she usually does. Ha ha. They’re dancing around Len, then kiss him on the cheek. Cute! Len thanks Maks for not taking his clothes off and says, “The improvement from the last time is fantastic.” Bruno says, “I could not believe the results. We wanted fun, we wanted butt, we got it.” Carrie Ann says, “You moved yourself up 3 notches. Fun, fantastic.” – Carrie Ann – 10, Len – 10, Bruno 9, – 29 Almost a perfect score! Total – 55 – 1-800-868-3403 – VIDEO
Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya – Viennese Waltz – Len helps Evan connect to his partner. This is great! So far, peeps stepping up there games. Evan has a geeky charm that’s irresistible.Bruno says, Bruno says, “Very good on hold, I like to see the connection between you two” Carrie Ann says, “Last time you had a lot of problems…all of that is gone, Beautiful.” Len says, grace, elegance, a lot of movement, you collapsed a little on your standing leg. Overall, I thought you did a good job.” Carrie Ann – 10, Len – 9. Bruno – 9 – 28 – Total – 52 – 1-800-868-3406 – VIDEO
Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough – Rumba – Nicole was really nervous the last time she did the Rumba. Carrie Ann is assisting. OMG she’s performing moves that are super-professional. She’s such a ringer. That can’t be said enough. She’ll probably get a 30. That last move? OMG. Derek had her wrapped around his body, suspended. PLEASE. Carrie Ann says, “All those edges softened, I could not take my eyes off of it but…I could see the lift at the end.” Len says, “I love the subtlety of the choreography, I felt there was a little lack of confidence here and there. But it was great.” Bruno says, “Eroticism, romanticism…extreme beauty..” That lift ruined their perfect score. Bummer! – Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 10, – 28 – Total – 55 – 1-800-868-3408 – VIDEO
Freestyle Round
Erin Andrews and Maksim Chmerkovskiy – MANDY MOORE IN THE HOUSE! She’s helping them with their contemporary-styled freestyle. This is like something we’d see on SYTYCD. There’s a bed, as a prop. They are lovers having an argument. WOW! A spectacular flip! GO ERIN! That was awesome. Len says, “You took a risk, in parts you pulled it off. equal parts emotion and commotion.” He didn’t really like it. Len says, “That was a psychodrama unfolding. Some of the steps you pulled off.” Carrie Ann says, “I loved the choice, so risky.” Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 8, Bruno – 9 – 26 – VIDEO
Evan Lysacek and Anna Trebunskaya – Major disagreement between Evan and Anna! Ann cries after Evan leaves to go to the rink. Anna brings in Bobby Newberry. He helped them resolve their differences. This is a jive-like thing, a take-off on “Footloose”. It’s fun, but a little cheesy. Bruno says, “You are demented. You were jumping about. You have to be careful, what you lose is the precision.” Carrie Ann says, “That was odd. You were dancing two separate dances.” Len says, “It certainly wasn’t what I wanted to see.” Ouch! They just got creamed! Carrie Ann – 8, Len – 8, Bruno 8 – 24 – VIDEO
Nicole Scherzinger and Derek Hough – They needed no help from outside choreographers. Ahem. Fast and furious. Lots of crazy lifts. Wow. Carrie Ann says, “That was fantastic! You slipped on that last lift.” Len says, “I saw fun, I saw entertainment.” Bruno says, “Dazzling, dazzling creativity. Superb. It’s because what you tried to do has never been done. A-ma-zing.” Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno 9 – 27 – VIDEO