It started off a bit strange because there were just a few too many couples for the cameras to follow, but I ended up really enjoying the dance-off at the end. Good stuff. I hope they throw that in there a couple times each season because the rest of the program does get a bit tedious at times.

I have to say this every time it comes up, but... for the love of God, rope off the frickin judges' table already! Dmitry and Mya lost a few points with me on that jitterbug based on that alone. And they stayed there for so long, too! Booooo! I actually agreed with Len on their routine for once.

Louie and Chelsie pandered to the judges, too.... argh.

Joanna's pouty faces are getting on my nerves. And finally someone called her out on having subpar footwork. Too bad Len had to immediately temper that criticism by saying it was the best waltz of the night. No, it wasn't. Aaron's was better. Joanna and Derek were way overscored. I am sick of the hard-on the show has for these two.

I really liked that Mambo format, and go Joanna and Derek for pulling the upset! They did look like they were having a little more fun than Mya and Dmitry.

Melissa has become a little too whiny for me. I had high hopes for her prior to starting the show, but she seems a little too focused on the other competitors. Her comment about the judges not being in her corner, complete with pouty lips, sealed it for me. Sweetie, if you danced better, then the judges would be in your corner.

I liked the mambo thing but I didn't agree with the order. I thought that Joanna and Derek should have been gone sooner for that disgusting head in the crotch thing that they did for a good 10 seconds. Ah well overall it was a good night.

I really loved Mark/Lacey again this week. It looks like Mark has finally turned a corner and is able to lose himself in the dance. Hope he doesn't go backwards.

I don't care how good a dancer Joanna Krupa is, I find her completely unlikable. I would not be surprised to see her go sooner rather than later because I don't think her personality comes across well.

Still loving Donny despite the cheese factor, MJH makes me uncomfortable when she's dancing and Louie just sucks. I hope that those two go tomorrow.

I liked the Mambo dance too. I'd like to see it again this season.

Yeah, the props were totally uncecessary for Mya' dance.


I thought Mark D. had the best dance of the night. His suit was awful, but Lacey was really in her element for this dance, and that carried over to Mark. I hope they keep coming on strong.

I thought a 6 for Kelly was harsh. There wasn't much bounce in that Jitterbug, but I felt it was a straight 7 dance.

I'm so sick of all the propping for Joanna. That waltz didn't deserve more than 8s, IMO. I guess Derek must think pretty highly of himself to predict 9s.



I agree. I dislike the guy, but credit where credit is due, his waltz was the best, and I think he was better than Joanna in the mambo competition as well.

Honestly when they showed the dances at the end I barely remembered most of them. That could be because I have taken enough cold medicine to knock out an elephant though...

I felt like Joanna won that mainly because Derek was working it like the rent was due. Every time I saw Mya though she was barley dancing; I thought both Donny and Aaron looked better. I did like the format though especially once they got rid of a few couples.

I enjoyed most of the jitterbugs except for maybe Kelly's. The waltzes on the other hand were boring. It could be that I don't appreciate the waltz in general all that much, so my view is colored.

The mambo format was fun, I too would not mind if the show utilized that competition format in future seasons.

I just had this impression from the top of the show like the producers had pondered the ratings drop and right away threw the scoring storyboard out the window and offloaded the low vote getters right away - Mya - you're up - and your scores aren't good. Okay, no time to chat - Melissa - get out there - yeah, we didn't think that was too hot.

Show moves along a little bit more.

Okay, Joanna, turns out that of the better, or currently higher scoring dancers who are not HUGE favorites, you are the least disliked, so we're going to save you for later and keep your scores decent.

Now the rest of you - yes, you guys with fans. Start a growth arc already!

Really? Derek and Joanna won the mambo competition? Her legs are so wobbly. They have no strength. There's no intention behind her steps; her feet just land where ever Derek shoves her. Mya, Donny, Mark D., Aaron - possibly even Michael Irvin - should've outlasted them.

That, or he knows he's the show's golden boy, lol.

Ooh, I forgot about that. Yeah, the 6 was way harsh. Her dance did underwhelm me -- although I can give her a slight pass for this week because I assume she was still feeling the ankle injury -- but a 6? Come on, show.

At this point unless your names are Kelly or Donny I don't care. Poor Kelly still is having issues with confidence and the ankle problem isn't helping matters. She definetly gave it her all but it wasn't great. Donnys dance was fun and his dancing was pretty good. Right now he's my favorite. On the topic of everyone else I actually liked Michaels waltz. The group mambo turned out to be a lot of fun. I'm not surprised Joanna and Derek took it becuase they showed the personality that Mya lacked. My one wish though is that the camera work had been better. We saw hardly any of Donny, Kelly or Aaron. Also at one point when Donny and Kym were leaving I noticed that him and Derek were dancing. It was quite funny. Tom B once again manages to keep me from turning the channel.

I hated that mambo marathon. I couldn't see what most of them were doing most of the time.

Completely agree. I thought the final three should have been Mya, Mark and Aaron because Donny was hamming it up a bit rather than dancing. Mark and Aaron and Mya actually danced for the majority of the time rather than pandering to the audience with tricks etc. Too bad they were not rewarded for it.

Dmitry, Lacey and Karina are way better mambo choreographers than Derek anyway, I think it's one of his weakest dances. There's no way all of that crotch movement would have won him high scores in a normal Mambo so how did it win in a competition format, seems odd to me. They should have actually looked at the dancing itself rather than the theatrics and flashy moments

I loved Joanna in the dance marathon. I thought she was working it for all she was worth. I did agree with Carrie Anne that in Joanna's waltz, I felt like she was too hesitant.

I love Kelly but she needs to step up her game and PERFORM the dance. She has great technique but lacks Donny's performance vibe.

I really enjoyed Michael's waltz. He seemed to really be into the dance. And Mark seems to have finally come out of his shell. Mya is great but lacks a connection with the audience, IMHO.

My bottom three are Melissa (just not graceful), Louie (a dropped Chelsie) and Aaron (he’s okay but too desperate at times for my taste).

Thank you for putting into words the problem I've been having with Joanna, which was most apparent tonight. Derek does all the work, and if the show is gonna keep sporting it's hard on for her, she better step it up.


I did crack up at how all the guys were dutifully sporting sparkly shirts...except for Louie in his cotton tank.

The mambo actually wasn't the clusterfuck I expected. I'm glad the judges held up paddles...I thought they were literally going to walk up and tap the couples, lol.

Can you imagine how nerve-wracking that'd be, seeing a judge heading out on the floor towards you? Kelly and Melissa probably would have peed their pants, they're such nervous personalities to begin with.

Ain't that the truth. I saw major mistakes from her in the Mambo. Thought Aaron, Mark and Mya, at the least, were better than her. They're propping her for sure because she's not getting the votes. Love the idea of the group dance. Too bad we can't see everyone all the time.

That, too. I'm so tired of her.

My favorite tonight was Mark, Aaron, and maybe Kelly. Kelly isn't relaxed enough to look into her dances, but she has personality plus. Donny wasn't bad. I even liked Louie tonight for the first time.

The order of the lower scoring celeb's eliminated was almost exactly the same as the order of the bottom board. I kept calling out who'd be eliminated next, which impressed my son. It seemed to me that they had the paddles ready and in order for the bottom couples before they even danced. The judges only really seemed engaged in what was going on toward the end. I call total grassy knoll scoring.

I really liked the energy and tricks with Louie and Chelsie, but there were definitely flaws. Len was spot on for once when he called Mya and Dimitry out for their trick filled Jive. Mya put more energy and personality in pushing the feather duster around than she has in most of her dances. She actually looked happy during the dance and was leaning into Dimitry while waiting for the scores. If she keeps warming up, I may cheer on this ringer. That's a big maybe though.

Michael, bless his heart is trying so hard. Any other pro besides Anna D. could turn all his effort into something tangible.

I do not mind Joanna at all. Her dancing with Derek is very easy to watch and enjoy. What some see as pouting, I figure may be the effect of putting her collagened lips together. Well, perhaps.

Disagree pretty much with the judges final in the mambo. I thought Donny and Kym were looking great. They never showed them up close so I kept saying, "who is that in the pink," because they looked pretty good from afar. I thought that Aaron and Mark were rockin it too. Whenever they showed Mya, she didn't look like she was doing much and the crotch thing with Derek squicked me out. My final might actually have been Aaron even though I don't usually pick him as a fav.

For the rest of the dances, I liked Marks. Liked Louie even though he dropped Chelsie on her ass. Myas was good but I don't know what it is about her that I can't get behind. I liked Kelly's - for her, not for a Donny or Mya though, but good for Kelly. Donny's - I don't know, I like him but didn't really like the dance. I just fast forward through Melissa and the model chick. For the first time in a long time I liked Karina and I liked her and Aaron's dance.

Oh, man, that cracked me up. Even Tom B. didn't know quite what to think of it. "Not sure what Derek's doing there . . ." then he half snickered through his next comment.

I'm sitting on the Grassy Knoll for Joanna and Derek winning that competition.

Wow, Melissa really did a bad job tonight. She looked as wooden as Billy Ray Cyrus at times.

Michael did a really nice job and I think it was his best dance so far.

Now that Natalie is gone, I'm rooting for Donny. I'd love to see Dimitry win, but I just can't warm up to Mya.

Liked the group mambo because it gave us a taste of what judges would see in a real ballroom competition where couples have to make themselves noticed. Maybe if Mya hands out candy to the audience tomorrow it will make her more popular.

I liked the idea of the mambo marathon, but there was no way for the home viewer to get a good look at all the couples. When Len held up the Louie/Chelsie paddle I was all sorts of confused because I couldn't even find them on the dance floor.

I don't think Joanna was great, but I was fine with Mya not winning the mambo marathon. She may be the best dancer, but she looked like she wasn't having any fun which sort of defeats the point.

I'm still surprised and how much I'm liking Donny. It wasn't his best dance and I did see his few hesitations, but not his best is still better than the majority of the celebs. I also like that I feel Kym is challenging him and not just resting on his laurels.

Beyond that nothing really blew me away tonight. I'd probably give best dance of the night to Mark D. even though he had a few hesitations too.

This is one of the first times I really have no idea who is going home tomorrow night. Michael seems to be a fan favorite, as does Louie. MJH has a fanbase. Joanna is at the top of the leaderboard. I doubt Kelly has anything to worry about since the crowd roars everytime she steps on the dance floor. No way the Osmond is in trouble.

I also knew Len would ding Mya for her nondancing for the first 20 or so counts of her routine. I know that's not her fault, but c'mon, Mya stood there dusting the judges table for way too long.

Well, I thought Donny & Kym were actually one of the best (if not the best) in the mambo, and she didn't even have to mime sucking dick to get it done, Joanna. I'm no prude, but I could NOT believe I saw that on DWTS.

To be honest, I like Derek. I know people are sick of him, but I'm not. BUT. I can't stand Joanna. She's really not that good of a dancer, if you watch her feet, and it's unfair the way she keeps getting propped up!

I found myself disagreeing with the judges a lot tonight, which is weird..usually Len & I are totally on the same page!

See, I was expecting them to come up to the dancers and tap them on their shoulders. I thought that's how they did it in the olden days. And I wanted to see someone just go nuts on the person who tapped them out, á la Carla in that dance competition in that episode of Cheers.

Otherwise, I'm not sure about the compo mambo. I couldn't get a good taste of all the dancers were doing compared to each other. What's worse, I have a bad feeling the judges had a predetermined order. I'm impressed by how it was all staged, though. Tom Bergeron doing play-by-play in a hushed voice while still being able to be heard over the music and applause is a masterstroke.

DonnyKym has the best combination of talent, effort, charm and chemistry. Michael Irvin is using humor to win votes -- and it might be working, because I laughed a lot with him tonight. But I have to say, most of the dances here don't shake my belief that Natalie got robbed last week.

I thought I saw Julianne in the audience at one point but there's a lot of similarity in the starlet blonde category so I'm not sure.

I thought it was cruel to make the oldest guy do his main dance last and have the least time to recover for the marathon mambo. And his last dance was the extremely taxing Jitterbug. His red face and sweating really got to me. WTF? Can't they storyboard in some humanity? I'm torn as to whether they want to create more votes for him out of sympathy for his exhaustion - or they're storyboarding him as the winner of the whole shebang - but they can't be too obvious yet because there are weeks yet to go before we rest.

Joanna's down expression made me think she'd screwed up her waltz. (You'd never know from the scoring - I've never seen such fakery - well, since last DwtS - I wish I could get one of the judges under truth serum and find out how they really arrive at their "scores" and mambo placement, ahem. Anyway, I like Joanna, and during her VT I really liked her shrugging and the way she took Derek's critical comments.

I'm liking Aaron and Karina more and more, and even gave him half my votes. The other half to Mya but my devotion is ebbing. She seemed dialed down but more than that, fake. Oh dear. I don't blame Dmitry though - still love him - but, well, I think Waltz might be right. Going first reminds me of Natalie going first - I hate those Minnie Mouse outfits - and it wasn't her best. She almost seems bored.

I haven't voted for him yet but I'm coming around to wanting Kym to win with Donny. She's put in her time with the iffy celebs and this may be her last chance. I think they may have wanted an AA female winner to make up for Mel B and Toni B, but after tonight, it sure doesn't look like it.

I know they're sweet but I can't stand Melissa's or Kelly's dancing. Matronly before their years. And I skipped Mark's but sounds like it was great. He's a sweetheart so I hope so. Louie? What the hell is wrong with you? Can't dance for shit is all I can guess. With those guns how the hell did he drop Chelsie twice? Oh and I think Michael got hosed, at least in the Mambo. Bye bye and not even in the KO, I'd guess -- and for that, Melissa & Aaron with maybe Melissa out? If not, she should be out, though I'm not sure Kelly's much better -- but Aaron beats the hell out of both of them.

It is disheartening to see. I like Anna well enough, but I think even Edyta would have been able to whip Michael into Ty Murray shape at least.

I forgot that we didn't get any closeups for Donny and Kym (none that I remember, anyway). It took me a long time to figure out who they were. I noticed Kym doing quite a few cartwheels, though. I don't think Donny has much endurance.

Speaking of...Kym is usually so on point that it's always a bit off-putting when she drops the ball on choreography. I agree that Donny's dance was just...there. I liked his jive much more, though I appreciate that he really seems to value Kym.



I'm hesitant to ask...but what happened?

Derek is so obviously their golden boy. They want to keep him on the show so that means keeping Joanna too. But she is not coming across that great to the fans. Not sure why they won the mambo. At on point Derek was lying on his back on the floor and Joanna was walking around swinging her skirt. Was that dancing?

I do think the judges had their first eliminations planned before the dance started. It was easy to guess the first 4 or 5 to be kicked out. Those couples can look around and figure what will happen if they are in a dance off tomorrow with anyone marked above them. I worry the judges are going to save Aaron tomorrow night in the dance off.

I think Donny had endurance, but he probably started the most winded since he had the least time between his dance and the mambo marathon. Not to mention throwing a quick change in there. He probably never quite caught his breath after the jitterbug.

I have to say Marks comment(in the confessional) about being horny was really odd and kind of off putting. I personally didn't care for his dance tonight. I thought last weeks was better. Also I still don't care for his and Lacey's partnership.

ETA: Seeing them make Donny dance again right after his Jitterbug I started to wonder if they wanted another Marie moment.

He had her head on his foot in that move where the girl is bent backwards and the guy is lifting with his foot. Only instead of bouncing her back up he bounced her head repeatedly into his crotch. For 10 seconds. It looked for all the world as if she was giving him a BJ in the middle of the dance floor. Anyone other than Derek would have been sent off the floor for that. Sometimes the bias shown on this show is ridiculous.

Wow, yes. If anyone was overscored, it was that waltz. I know it is weird since she sucks. I liked Michael Irvin's so much more than her waltz. He also has a better attitude. I figure Mark B. must be the pro who thinks highly of himself because he thought Kim K. deserved better her season and felt MJH has been underscored this season. Then again he did sulk his way to getting her tens for that lame charleston. Really, Mark? Oh wait, forgot about that mind blowing choreography you do. Pros aside, I actually enjoy watching Michael Irvin while MJH seems to suck any fun out the room. Never thought I would say that about Clarissa but her fan base will yet again keep her around. She is the Susan Lucci of season 9.

I actually did think Joanna had the best waltz. As Len puts it, there was quality and their hold was terrific throughout the dance. But no way did she deserve to win the mambo competition. Something about Joanna while pleasant is not likeable. It maybe all that collagen in her lips. Thankfully Joanna is not long for this competition. She will probably leave during the double eliminations. But I do not think Mya deserved to win the mambo competition either. I feel like at times Mya is phoning it in like she knows she has this competition. I was hoping for Donny.

This season is so dull that I was focusing more on the backstage stuff. I found it interesting that when Mya lost that several pros and celebs cheered loudly. It wasn't just a "yeah someone won" type of cheering either. I sense some anti-Mya sentiment among the competitors. Of course I maybe projecting from the gossip posted in the general thread.

I like the idea of the mambo competition but they should do it again when they have less celebs. Donny was terrific and cannot believe I am cheering for him. But I think he grabbed on to Derek's leg before he left the dance floor. Pretty amusing.

Oh yes, Kym is a fantastic choreographer. She gets the entertainment part down with the basics without going OTT or making Donny into a ham. Quite a feat.

O-kay, then! I missed that move as well...apparently I didn't miss all that much. I don't need to see Derek "getting some" in the middle of the dance floor, so I'm glad I don't have that image burned into my retinas.

Of course Derek gets away with that shit, he's a Hough, isn't he?

I could not believe Joanna's scores. Len criticized her footwork but still scored her high. She has been a judges' favorite since week 1. And I knew from the start she and Derek would win the Mambo Marathon - even though I really thought Aaron & Karina should have won instead. Douche or not, Aaron was the better dancer tonight as far as I'm concerned.

I really liked Mark & Lacey tonight too.

Mya did not impress me at all tonight. When she kept dusting the judges' table at the beginning of her jitterbug I knew Len wouldn't be impressed. He hates crap like that. And she was barely dancing in the mambo segment.

Anna D. is a terrible choreographer. I think Michael would have had potential with another pro.

I like Kelly and while she is adorable and her dance was fun, it was boring compared to the other jitterbugs. I'm sure her injury was to blame and limited the tricks/flips they could perform.

I couldn't agree more. Seems like the people with likable personalities are just mediocre dancers, and the better dancers aren't really pulling in the votes. This season has been adding up to the most uninteresting one so far. I can't really get behind anyone.

I like Michael, Louie and Kelly for their fun, but the dancing not so much.

Of the dances I've thought were good, Mya, Joanna, Donny and Aaron stand out, but I don't really enjoy watching them. I will give Donny a little wiggle room because he is dancing with Kym, and because he is less annoying than I had expected him to be.

Melissa does nothing for me personality-wise or dance-wise, and I'm on the fence with Mark. He seems to be breaking out a little both in the personality and dance department, so maybe there is hope.

The dance marathon just lost me. I thought it was way too chaotic. I hope they give this idea up for future seasons.

You beat me to it. That was just wrong.

So in the world according to Len, the following celebs were better than Mya: Mark, Michael, Aaron, Michael!, Joanna, Michael!!, Donny, and Michael!!! And she deserved the same score as Melissa's hesitant, stuck-to-the-floor waltz and Louie's oops-I-dropped-my-partner jitterbug. The only one she beat was Kelly. Seriously Len? Some of those are right on, but second to last? Seriously?!

The mambo marathon was a good addition to the show, except for the whole predetermined exit order thing. Good thing Derek didn't leave Joanna alone to dance with Donny and spoil their master plan. Oh wait, never mind.

I've never been this disinterested in a season so early on. The last time was season three. Even then I wasn't quite this bored.

So what was Derek doing with that dick sucking mime? After all the confusion over why he has to practically position Joanna's legs and body to where they have to go in most of the dances, was he confirming that he's actually dancing with a blow-up doll?

Can we petition to get the Kimber blow-up doll, with partner Dylan Walsh, on DWTS next season?

That's actually a mambo move, I believe Maks and Julianne have done it a couple of times, and then of course there's the time Anna threatened to walk all over Maks' face. :P

That's a good point about Donny's dance placement, spanna. His face looked worringly red throughout most of the night. Donny doesn't need the pimp spot, and I do think it was kind of inconsiderate to make a guy doing the Jitterbug dance right before the 4-minute mambo.

Derek came off like a bit of a jerk to Joanna in rehearsal, IMO, and I'm certainly no fan of hers. I don't think MJH is getting quite the amount of votes TPTB, and the judges seem impatient with her to leave.



Thanks for the recap, Tasya.
WTF. Seriously, WTF?

Julianne tweeted a cute pic of her and Derek and Mark backstage so I am guessing that was her.

Natalie's ouster confirmed my overall lack of interest in this season. Season 10 cannot come soon enough. Jason G. choreography on SYTYCD, even if it was like one minute of ballroom, was more entertaining tonight.

Which leads me to question that if by now the performers know what the judges don't like, (like Len who doesn't like tricks) why do they include them in their routines? Hmmm...methinks it is grassy knoll time.

Thanks, harvest! I wonder why they gave her practically NO screentime. When I first saw her, I figured that when Derek danced, we'd get a close-up, but nada. I guess they really mean it as to not wanting the pros to get too full of themselves.

Now that I think about it -- I'm having trouble believing that Dmitry would choreograph such a long intro with that feather duster. And Mya seemed a bit dejected to me, esp. in the Mambo. For that matter, Joanna seemed down in the dumps as well. What a weird season. Either one of those girls would be a shocking elimination - or even in the bottom 3 - and I wouldn't be surprised by them being in it, either.

ETA: Wow - thinman - I promise I didn't see your post before I did mine. I'm up on the knoll with you on that one. Makes me wonder if the producers aren't involved with all the choreography decisions. You know, another thing, how the hell do the pros even have time to choreograph three dances in five days - plus apparently there's a big pro number tomorrow because Chelsie complained about being worn out because of it - this thing is worse than the $64,000 Question but I suppose nobody cares about ethics anymore, since the advent of "reality" tv. Yeah right.

Am I the only one that really dislikes Aaron & Karina? I just really want to slap the smirks off of their faces! I hope they finally go home this week!

I personally thought Mya was a lot more elegant in that mambo than Joanna. The judges' anti-Mya sentiment is almost palpable. Am I the only one imagining it?
I think Michael/Anna and Louie/Chelsie are going home tomorrow. Following them will be Mark, Melissa, Aaron and Kelly. I think Mya should win with Donny in 2nd place and Joanna in 3d.

Such an understatement elsa. I kept wondering if they did not have the knock out dance to learn or went with two dances to start off the season, thus throwing everyone off from the start, the overall quality this season might be better. I felt every routine was a bit off. The show should just eliminate the bottom 3 and quickly get this season done.

I think the judges' criticism toward Mya seems a bit scripted. Even more than what they did with Kristi. But I also find Mya not as endearing as Kristi.

I think Michael, sadly, is going tomorrow. Argh, another fun personality gone. Then the dance off might yet again be Aaron. Darn, feeling bad for him now. Tomorrow might actually be an interesting results show. I think the final 3 will be Mya, Donny and either Kelly or Mark D. I am hoping for Kelly so Louis can finally make it to the finals.

I am finding it really hard to get excited about any of the stars this season. I think Kelly is adorable but unless she finds a way to show confidence in her dances, she is not going to make it much farther. Too bad she cannot find a way to channel some of Aaron & Karina's over-confidence! I will admit I have a soft spot for Donny cos I grew up with him but he almost out-cheeses Marie!

My guess is that they know she isn't pulling in the voters, so they're trying to go along with "what America wants." Of course, if Mya ends up in the bottom, you know they're going to chastise us for putting her there. (To echo Annie from EW: "Shut up, judges.")

All I could think during the group mambo was that Derek & Joanna were Rizzo and that pock-faced guy from Grease, and shoulda been kicked off the dance floor for vulgar moves.