Dancing with the Stars: Episode 716

A mere week shy of the semi-finals, our five remaning couples had to undertake two dances this week, one of which featured a requisite 50-second celebrity solo.  Time to see if our guys (and girl!) could walk without their crutches.

Tough week last time around for Cody Linley and Edyta, but they redeemed themselves with an elegant waltz tonight.  The judges all happily agreed it was a vast improvement, but Carrie Ann spied a lift and that meant a point deduction.  Poor Edyta!  Trying the lend a hand, and she gets it slapped for five little toes off the ground.  A score of 24 led them into their second dance of the night, the mambo, which included Cody's solo.  Their start was a touch shaky and Cody's shining moment a little erratic, but the judges were careful not to crush Cody's energetic spirit with too many criticisms.  Another 24 left Cody and Edyta with a 48 total score for the night.

Brooke Burke and Derek followed up last Monday's perfect-30 foxtrot with a less-than-perfect tango.  Carrie Ann and Bruno may have been fans, but I have to side with scrappy Len on this one: There were quite a few flubs in that performance.  Brooke got slightly tripped up on footwork, couldn't seem to master the head movements and fell out of sync with Derek at one point.  Len said her dancing so far has been so good, he has to measure her against pro standards, hence the 8.  Nevertheless, a score of 28 shuffled them into their second dance.

Sporting a shaggy black wig, Brooke didn't live up to expectations with her solo.  Saddled up against the judges' table, she planted her hands and got busy with a footwork-laden routine.  Very silly considering the judges weren't able to see anything below her waist!  A score of 27 gave Brooke and Derek a total of 55 for the night, narrowly sinched them the first place title.

Maurice Greene enjoyed his reprieve from the bottom of the leader board last week after a peppy cha cha.  His quickstep last night kept the momentum going with great footwork and a consistently improved dance-floor rapport with partner Cheryl.  I loved that she teased him when things got rough in rehearsals, "Run!  It's what you do for a living!"  With a 24 under their belt, the happy duo headed into the solo round.

Aside from Maurice's obvious foot up on the competition (he danced the paso doble in last week's group number), I think he had another unfair advantage--a prop!  His cape twirling solo was the easiest of the bunch, and while I'm sure it wasn't a walk in the park to learn, having a comfort blanket to hide behind surely gave him a confidence boost that the other dancers didn't have.  Another 24 tied Maurice and Cheryl with Cody and Edyta.

Lance Bass and Lacey--with shoes on this week--delivered a lovely, fun foxtrot.  Not expecting to have made it this far in the competition, Lance is very serious about winning.  For her part, Lacey has finally come to the realization that if they want to take the title, they need to stick to the traditional steps.  Len appreciated that they cleaned up their act (on a subtler note, I noticed Lacey's ratty, colored hair extensions also got the boot--hurrah!).  And while Lance's footwork was still a bit dodgy, the overall effect was great in the judges' eyes.

Going into the solo round with a score of 26, Lance and Lacey's samba was a little less crowd pleasing.  Lance's moment of glory was very boy band-ish and lacked samba flavor.  He didn't seem fully confident, and Carrie Ann was especially thrown by how he kept his gaze directed above the crowd instead of engaging them.  Combined with pigeoned feet and poor footwork, Lance ended the night with a total score of 50.

Warren Sapp's faulty foxtrot was saved by his group paso doble performance last Monday.  This week, he kept up the pace with a James Bond-themed tango that the judges declared fantastic.  From Warren's sparkly tuxedo to his smooth footwork, this routine put them back on top of their game.  After Lance's wandering eyes, Carrie Ann loved they way Warren connected with the audience.  So much so, that she gave him a 10.  Scooping up near-perfect scores from the other judges, Warren and Kym trotted their way into the solo round with a score of 28.

Despite Warren's contagious sense of fun, his footwork on dance number two of the night fell surprisingly flat.  Sportin' his comfy shoes wasn't much help; if anything, Carrie Ann thought it drew more attention to his heavy piggies.  The judge's did enjoy, however, that Warren started off his solo with traditional moves but integrated some signature personality into the choreography as well.  A score of 26 gave Warren and Kym a total of 54 at night's end--one point shy of tying with the queen bee Brooke.

Tomorrow's "Results" show  is jam-packed: Lacey's brother will be on to perform for her, Dr. Drew is coming in to do some couples' therapy and Julianne Hough will be back in the ballroom to sing instead of dance.