Marlee and Fabian traveled to Mexico this week to help some deaf children get fitted for hearing aids care of the Starkey Hearing Foundation. It’s very emotional, and there’s not much more I can take after Idol Give Back week. Returning from their trip to rehearsals, we see that an incredibly rhythmic dance like the samba, the inability to hear is even more of a challenge than it usually is for Marlee. She and Fabian are very frustrated, with themselves and each other. These are two perfectionists, and they are having a serious communication issue.
Marlee’s crazy fringy costume and Fabian’s forceful lead help her stay on the beat as much as possible, but this one is pretty chaotic and she falls behind slightly and has some obvious missteps although, again, way better than I could probably ever do. Especially when she flips forward over Fabian while he’s on his knees. The judges go on and on about Marlee being inspirational and a fighter, while also being fair in pointing out the mistakes. Backstage, she tells Samantha about the issue being that she talks with her hands and Fabian talks with his mouth. See, in Judaism, we just do it all at the same time!
SCORES: Carrie Ann – 7, Len – 7, Bruno – 8 TOTAL: 22
Now poor, repressed Kristi Yamaguchi will have to contend with the rumba, or as Mark explains, while backed by some wocka-wocka guitar music, “the vertical expression of a horizontal desire”. Kristi is incredibly embarrassed and wants to dim the lights. She suggests alter egos, as she does not want to be herself in this situation. I feel like I’m getting a glimpse in Kristi’s private life that I was not expecting or necessarily looking for tonight. I guess as long as she doesn’t tell Mark what her safe word is, we’re OK. Suddenly, Kristi’s husband, NHL player Bret Hedican, shows up with their two insanely adorable little girls who shout, “Surprise!” She explains the role playing thing to Bret and you can see the wheels turning…he wants to see it! Afterward, Bret says Mark is bringing out something in Kristi he hasn’t seen yet. Something tells me those girls went to bed very early that night!
They are dressed in the same color as my bridesmaids wore, so I’m already partial. At the start, her hair is pulled back, but seconds in, Mark releases a barrette or something and her hair falls down in a nice touch (I’m guessing the fetishists were big fans, too). Throughout, Kristi’s extension is excellent and her movements the most natural of the women so far tonight by leaps and bounds. She does well with the emotional elements of the dance as well, and I finally believe her in that respect. Mark is making his much talked-about guppy faces the whole time, and now, that’s just gonna make me nuts. I really like him otherwise.
Carrie Anne nit picks some of the moves, which she says were sacrificed in place of her heightened emotional response, while Len and Bruno, who calls her a “South Pacific Pearl”, loved it. When Samantha asks Kristi about “getting into the persona” of the dance in, like, a Borat voice, Kristi says her husband’s approval of the routine, which he felt she could “touch people with” (I’ll bet) really helped.
SCORES: Carrie Anne-9; Len-10; Bruno-10 TOTAL: 29
Shannon and Derek have yet another medical emergency to contend with this week, as Derek was rushed to the hospital with food poisoning earlier today. Good Lord! Haven’t they had enough problems? As he introduces them, Tom produces a large, metal bucket from behind his back to remind us that Derek might hurl on live TV. I blame Survivor for this being even remotely acceptable.
Their rehearsal footage has two themes, Shannon’s annoying lack of hips, which might make it hard to “bounce” in the samba, and their growing friendship, which the producers (not so) secretly wish will become something more. On the floor, Derek puts on an incredibly brave face and dances his butt off, as per usual. Shannon is working hard, but her hiplessness (it is too a word!) is a big liability. She can’t swivel worth a darn. They both look ready to collapse as the judges give their critiques. I was actually quite scared that she was going to pull a Marie Osmond, as she leans on Tom for support and breathes like she’s having an asthma attack. I felt better when she smiled as Bruno told her to “shake her maracas”. Bruno, they’re fake, they don’t move like that! Derek looks like he wishes they would just shut up so he can go backstage and vomit some more.
Once there, Shannon reveals that she practiced with Jonathan today, who learned the dance in ten minutes, evidently, just in case Derek couldn’t make it. Back to you for the big finish, EJ!
SCORES: Carrie Anne-8; Len-8; Bruno-7 TOTAL: 23
My DVR comes back just in time to see Jason Taylor announce that he’s aiming for a 35 this week. So, you know, he’s planning on two 12’s and an 11. Or two 1’s and a 33, I guess. Edyta tells Jason that he has a “tiny dancer” inside him. I’m going to consider that an Elton John reference and move on. Jason says that he’s not comfortable doing this, but Edyta believes in him. I would think the fact that he consistently gets high scores and praise from the judges would help, too.
They’re dressed fairly conservatively for their rumba. I mean, this is Edyta so we are talking about a sliding scale. She wears pasties to the supermarket. It doesn’t seem particularly Latin to me, but it’s really quite good. They both move with this elegance, but then they contort their bodies into insane shapes. Jason’s really using his height to his advantage, as they’re doing some really impressive extensions, and there’s a move where Edyta shinnies down his leg. Once again, you look at the dance floor, and it’s all limbs everywhere, but it ends up really looking good. For some reason, there’s a freaky shot of Len, all shrouded in darkness, during the dance. He sort of looks like the devil. I’m not sure what happened there, but it put me off my feed.
Bruno is impressed at how lightly he moves and how good his lines are. Carrie Ann thinks they have insane chemistry and then makes an owl sound. She says he has to watch his arms when they’re down, though. No kidding. They’re eleven feet long. Len likes that he’s natural and “seems like a bloke”. Sometimes Len just likes to remind us that he’s British. Len doesn’t like the poses, though.
As the couple exits, Tom tells us that next week features the first group dance. Awesome! Group dance night is the best night! Really cool choreography and hilarious rehearsal footage. How can you go wrong?
Samantha asks Jason if he feels like he did well. Samantha has run out of questions. She’s really much better when you get down to four people.
SCORES: Carrie Ann – 9, Len – 9, Bruno – 9 TOTAL: 27
There’s the customary short recap of performances, and I am suddenly very sad that I missed Shannon’s dance, because she has Peg Bundy tonight. And let’s see how those scores shake out. To nobody’s surprise, Kristi Yamaguchi is in first place.
Kristi Yamaguchi – 29
Jason Taylor – 27
Mario – 27
Marissa Jaret Winokur – 24
Cristian de la Fuente – 23
Shannon Elizabeth – 23
Marlee Matlin – 22
Priscilla Presley – 21
I’m predicting Priscilla Presley will go home – her Bottom Two standing last week indicates she’s not bringing in the votes. Still, I’m actively worried about Marlee. Marissa is also a possibility, despite her middle-of-the-pack finish. You get fewer votes when people don’t know who you are. And the fact that she wasn’t in the bottom two last week may have created the illusion of safety among her voters. Or maybe they’ll vote Penn Jillette out again. Sometimes it takes a couple of eliminations before it sticks.
Come back tomorrow, when Myndi will have dancing kids, James Blunt, and a dramatic elimination. Can’t you taste the tension?
