Wow. Michael and Anna had the worst Paso Doble music ever.

LOVED Mark and Lacey. I think her choreography was outstanding and FINALLY Mark let go, embraced the dance and absolutely nailed it. I wish Bruno had given him a 9 so that they could have tied for 2nd but oh well. Once again I think that they really have a good relationship that has it's nuances and quirks but ultimately works for them. In the group dance they were definitely one of the only couples who did a credible job. Some of them were so completely cheesy and really lucky that there were no scores for that portion.

Alec and Natalie seem to have absolutely no connection or liking for each other. I feel the coldness every time they interact.

Aaron is still singularly annoying and I wish that we had gotten more group footage. I bet he was not very popular.

That hustle seemed sloooow.

I actually thought Aaron and Karina were the best in the Hustle. Maybe Aaron was born 30 years too late.

I thought all of the Tangos and Pasos were pretty good. Usually there are a bunch of really lousy ones, but not tonight.

The Group Hustle was a total letdown. There were just too many couples, and the music was too repetitive to be exciting. I wish instead of Mark fumbling Melissa, Maks had dropped Joanna.

The only Paso that was really good IMO, was Mark's. He's really improved.

WTF was Alec thinking with his Paso for Natalie?! I understand most of the Paso people were screwed with the music, but I was so hoping for a Jennie/Derek or Mel/Maks type paso from them. So disappointing.

Was that a nip slip, I forget which dancer, in the black dress at the very end of routine and at judges' table?

Natalie's outfit was terrible. It clashed horribly with Alec's.

Carrie Ann, please never use the words "sexy" and "Donny Osmond" in the same sentence ever again.

Joanna just tries way too hard. It's like I can hear the gears in her head working away: Okay, I gotta act perky and nice and likable when the camera's on me! Except she's not a naturally nice or likable person (I think so, anyway), so she resorts to these overly exaggerated, fake movements. Oh, and she needs to shut up, and stop rationalizing every time something doesn't go well.

None of the dances were that memorable for me tonight. Thought Natalie was slightly underscored; she was probably screwed by going first. But I'm still getting that feeling of things not being that kosher with Alec, maybe it's just me.

And last but not least, Aaron is still creepy.

Last season's group dance was much better, IMO. I don't want to see the group hustle as the encore tomorrow!

Absolutely. As dickish as he seems, he performed well in both the individual and the group dances. No one else really stood out in the hustle.

I'm beginning to really enjoy Lacey as a pro. Cheryl is my favorite but Lacey is coming in a strong second.

I really thought this was the best night of dancing in a very long time.

I actually really liked Maks and Joanna. It's the first time I've liked her and it has been a while since Maks has gotten my blood going.

I also enjoyed Dimitry and Mýa. I missed Donnie and Kym, I'll be sure to catch it on the internet to see what all the fuss is about.

I fear Natalie is going home. She went first, got lukewarm scores and she looked like she was having no fun in the group dance. Though I thought Natalie's Paso music was horrid and I didn't think much of Alec's choreography either. I'm trying to prepare myself for the face that she might leave tomorrow night.

It was a pretty good night overall, though I thought the group dance was horrid. I don't understand the point of having a group dance if the couples aren't actually going to dance together. Plus I don't get enjoyment out of watching the couples try and perform tricks they have barely rehearsed. I keep waiting for someone to wind up with a serious injury.

Joanna will have the sympathy vote. I actually felt MJH was the worst of the night, but then again I always hate her dancing, but she's got a fanbase. Michael and Louie both showed improvement.

As much as Donny isn't my favorite personality, I think he is a very good dancer. I liked both the Mya/Dmitry and Donny/Kym Argentine Tangos, but I actually preferred the latter because I think Donny/Kym have better chemistry.

Oh man, that hustle was all sorts of cheesy. Mark owned it though, he did a great job and looked like he was having a blast. Surprisingly, Aaron seemed to nail the style and attitude too. And Michael gets a few points from me for donning the fro and blocking CAI's view.

I missed the first sentence of Tom's after the commercials before the group dance. What happened to Kelly in her dance earlier? Was she injured?

Tom's ad-lib about "Hairstyles by Fellini" was the line of the night.

I didn't think there were any awful dances tonight, but no real memorable ones either. I'll give Donny props for keeping a sober face through his Argentine tango (which I wouldn't call "sexy," but at least "grown-up"). I thought CA and Bruno were right about Mya and Dmitry's AT lacking a bit of heat, though it was technically strong. I was surprised Louie didn't do more dancing again tonight, although at least it didn't look like he checked out like last week. Louis and Kelly's odd, odd paso actually was a risk that I thought paid off until the end, when something didn't quite click. Maks and Joanna, despite the stumble, brought the heat; I think I could've voted for her this season with him as a partner.

Yep I actually agreed with Len for once. He was the only one to point out who did well in the dance. All of the judges should have done that even though they couldn't vote. Aaron, Mark and Donny did the dance and the rest of them were pure cheese and not the good kind either. More like government brand.

I really think she's attempting to throw this competition to get out, but she's trying to do it subtly so she doesn't look foolish. There were times in the Paso where IMO she to know what to do and was purposely not QUITE doing it. As Carrie Ann said, in one of the few times I agree with her, she didn't extend the dance. And something about it seemed like it wasn't just a lack of skill.

Poor Michael. He was improved, but this just isn't happening for him.

I was actually impressed with the overall quality of dances.

I thought Michael and Annas paso was actually good. Not winning the night good, but "Given your history, that ruled the school!" good. I'll grant that I don't know the technical ins and outs of it, but I felt like she'd finally started to hear the judges scream "Please give him SOMETHING to do!" at her. Bad music, but I liked the choreography.

And my love of all things Iron Chef requires that I go "Wow, look at Mark and Lacey go!" :D I just about jumped up out of my chair.

I gotta say, I felt like Alec would have put together a better paso then that. I was kind of surprised by it, really. :( I was equally surprised with Louis and Kelly.

For the "HOW blonde are you?" move of the night, I hadn't realized that they'd said that it was the AT, so I'm watching Aaron and Karina, and I went "Gee, this looks awfully Argentinian..." then I realized that that's because it WAS. lol?

The night was actually really good. I enjoyed a lot of the dances, there wasn't really any that I disliked. The group hustle however was a hot mess. It was so long, and the music got repetitive and boring. Last season's group dance was much better because the cheese factor actually worked.

Anybody know what that blonde kid is sitting next to Ozzie? I've seen him before.

I hope not. Just a couple of weeks ago, she was saying how much she was enjoying learning to dance. But Alec did her no favors. Yes, he had to choreograph to that horrible music, but there was still more posing than movement, IMO. Still, I'm throwing her all my votes. It will be doubly depressing to lose Chuck (and Anna) and Natalie back to back.

slasherboy, the blonde kid is Kelly Osbourne's fiance. He's also a model.

Performance-wise, I liked all the dances tonight, except I thought Natalie was lacking, but on her behalf, I thought that was a horrible song to do the Paso...and on that note, I thought we were going to see Alec in the swimming pool tonight. Why did that not happen!? Is there a complaint department at ABC?

Dance-wise, I was less impressed, but still there were a few good ones.

I don't even believe I am saying this, but Donny is growing on me, and even Aaron seems like he is working the image makeove angle.

I don't know if I am alone in saying this, but this was the first group dance that I actually liked.

Yeah, Natalie seems like a competitor; heck, she's an Olympic-level competitor. ;) I don't like to think about her possibly trying to throw her routine. That would be a lousy thing to do, and it wouldn't be fair to Alec, although I do agree that he dropped the ball where the choreography was concerned.

She's one of the few thoroughly likable contestants remaining in the competition, for me. After Chuck left, the likability factor of the group as a whole went down, lol. If we're not careful, we're gonna be left with only douches!

They don't do recaps of the scores do they? That would be helpful in deciding how to cast your votes. At the end, Tom said Donny had a 29 and Michael had a 22. It feels like Natalie was near the bottom this week, along with a couple of other 24's. To me, Joanna doesn't have the "getting into character" problem that Natalie and Melissa are consistently faulted for. I think she's believable every week. I'm enjoying her.

Did they acknowledge that Nathan Fillion and Stana Katic were in the audience tonight? Maybe I zoned out and missed it. Debi Mazar is on Castle tonight.

I really thought Maks and Joanna were going to go down. Big Jump by Maks to avoid stepping on her. I think she either thought there was a corte/lunge move and it was just a backward move. Nice recovery.

All the dances were OK but I did think the judging was not real. Sort of lump everyone together and see whose fanbase saves them. That Hustle was kind of a mess. Mark sort of dropped Melissa.

I was happy for Mark, he had a good night. I was pleasantly surprised by most of the celebs, but not Kelly or MJH. Nevertheless, the overscoring was so ludicrous, it was as if there were three guest judges.

The group dance made me wince for several different reasons. Glad nobody got hurt. All that hair - I thought that show "Cavemen" was cancelled?

Louis Van Amstel totally looked like Ozzy's relative tonight. I kept expecting him to bite the head off a bat.

It's sad when I prefer he hot mess of Group Hip Hop to the lukewarm mess that was this season's group dance. I hope the Team dances, if there are any this season, will be better.

I wish Donny would stop acting like Kym has cooties, but wonder of all wonders even his childlike behavior during his rehearsal packages doesn't prevent me from enjoying his dances. Aaron, however...




I thought he was pretty respectful of her, but she seemed to be pulling a Shannon and acting sulky that her boo was unable to dance with her, so there was that bit of awkwardness.

As much as it pains me to say it, I think Donny and Kim had the dance of the night. In fact I think its been his best dance so far. He could be "Donny" so he actually had to learn a character and I think he did a good job.

Joanna and Maks were on track for the best of the night, but after her stumble, she didn't really get back the attack she had in the first half of the dance. And what was up with Maks? From his twitter he got along with Joanna fine, so what had him all dower tonight? Is he always that glowery and grumpy and I just didn't notice? --- Never mind, I just watched it again, and what I think I read as dower the first time was just him bummed about the dance, he kissed her on the head, and was supportive. Good, I like Maks, I think I was just grumpy by the end of the show, nothing really worked for me tonight.

Mya and Dimity were technically the best, but I though she played the character too cool, there wasn't any fire from them. Also, for the first time I noticed her extension isn't really that good. Although since they've done the rumba, the Viennese waltz, and the tango, it probably won't matter much. I was just expecting more out of them. Call me Len.

Speaking of Len, he was in a surprisingly good mood tonight. Apparently cold meds have a mood lightening effect on him.

Melissa and Mark were just off. I actually thing that he was the biggest problem. The entire thing was way to staccato. Maybe he doesn't really get the difference between Argentine Tango and ballroom tango? Also, Mark loose the spats, all they do is show how bad your partner's footwork is next to yours. I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say he's trying to draw attention to his feet so we don't notice hers, but its not working.

The group hustle was boring as all get out. Even the rehearsal footage was boring. And everything else all blends together, except for fever drenched Derek. What in the world made him think he was going to be able to dance through that?

I love me some Paso and Argentine Tango. I watched all of them but Natalies and Melissas. I couldn't stand Natalies music and Melissa just looks like a horse stomping around. I think Aaron did a pretty good job tonight. Why is Anna's hair black - is it a wig? Loved Mark and Lacy's routine.

I think my only real complaint is that I didn't see a lot of the "Cape" movements I like in the Paso.

Oh, Samantha...What.The.Hair? That was bigger than Michael's 'fro in the Hustle. Wow. Who did she piss off in the hair dept?

I, too, find myself inexplicably liking Donny Osmond. He seems to have the self-important ego thing much more in check than his sister did. I feel like he's genuinely enjoying the dance/performance aspect of this and not just the popularity aspect of it. Marie, I thought, was quite the opposite. She was all about the validation. I feared he'd be her times ten, but he's really, refreshingly, not. And I adore Kym, so I'm OK with them taking the whole thing if he continues to improve and doesn't have an abrupt change in attitude.

Aaron, on the other hand, I just can't like.



I liked her brunette - it was the first time I wasn't thinking "look, it's skinny Barbara Jean" every time she was on my screen.

Natalie got so screwed by the music tonight. I threw all my votes to her to hopefully make up for it. She also did what so many other stars have done with intense dances like the paso - complete stone face without any emotion.

As far as the choreography, I'll have to watch it again without the sound on in order to block that crappy rendition of American Woman out of my head.

Thought Donny did an amazing job and I just loved Dmitry's choreography tonight.

Joanna should have had Maks as a partner, but I didn't like that little swipe at Debi with the "it's refreshing how easy Joanna picks up choreography". It was the first time I've liked Joanna's dancing though, she usually looks like Bambi on ice with the wobbly legs.

As much as I've been complaining about Lacey's attitude this season, Mark's Paso was amazing. I'm so happy to finally see him breaking out of his shell. See Derek, that's how you do an entrance! They were "on" all night—I thought they did the best job in the group hustle too. Maybe they've been reading these boards about their lack of chemistry, because for the first time, I actually got the idea that Lacey liked Mark. Finally!

I wish they would get the encore tomorrow night, but you know the group hustle is getting it. Sigh.



I hate, hate, hate Donny, but he's proving to be one of the better dancers, and as long as he keep its up, I won't be angry with him winning. And Kym would finally get a trophy! I liked his Charlston last week, and his AT this week. It was sexy and adult, without relying on the whole "hooker" aspect they judges are always pushing.

I still love Louis and Kelly, although I get this impression that she's amazing in her rehearsals, but gets a little tripped up by stage fright during the live show. Still, the first thing I said when I saw them, was "Oh my God, they're supposed to be Ozzy and Sharon."

And yet another week where Mark Ballas overdances his partner and in red spats no less! Melissa was clodhopping all over the place tonight and Mark's overdancing just emphasizes it even more.

For me Karina, Kym and Chelsie did all the work in theirs argentine tango.

My favorite dance of the night was Lacey and Mark, great paso.

Alec should stop dressing Natalie like Edyta, that dress was just like Edyta paso with Jason.

Mya and Dmitry tango was good but not memorable, I couldn't see any passion there.

I thought Mickey Dolenz was in the house doing the Hustle, but it was Donny. Enjoyed the group dance because the dancers seemed to be enjoying it. Liked almost all of them, but Natalie and Alec needed more spark, and Joanna looks to have no athletic ability or flexibility - she seemed awkward. Mark and Lacey seemed to be having a great time tonight. So did Michael and Anna.

Of the paired dances I really liked Aaron, but he's one intense dude. Scary. Also was impressed by Donny, Mark, and Mya. I want to like Natalie but that partnership doesn't seem to be any fun at all. What's up with her and Alec? I'm not a fan of her dancing, but Maks and Joanna look fantastic together. Why weren't they paired from the start? With Derek, she looks like his mother. Let Maks dance with Joanna and give Natalie to Derek.

I actually didn't notice Mark outdancing Melissa too much this week (though I thought his bright red socks were clever in distracting from her footwork), but Melissa just was not good. I actually thought Shawn, who was much shorter than Melissa had better lines and footwork.

At least we got to see Anna again this week. I like her new dye job, and I would have liked them to have performed the tango together, lol.



Derek's not tall enough for Natalie, but things are going so poorly with Alec that I actually would prefer her with him. But Derek keeps getting bland nobodies because his fanbase can carry them for awhile.

I thought that too, but I kind of don't blame him for it. He's coming off Denise Richards and Debi. Having a partner that could put together that AT, stumble not withstanding, in a shade over a day was probably really nice. That's the speed that the pros put their own dances together. Having a non-pro do that is kind of impressive.



The other day it occurred to me that part of the reason that Mark overdances as much as he does is because he came up with Julianne. He came up with the overdancing queen - of course he had to learn to hang!



I think Karinas been reading the boards too, with her cold blooded bitch joke. I totally laughed at that.

I like Natalie a lot, but I agree with others that she just seemed like she didn't even want to be there tonight. I would not be suprised if she is in the bottom 2 tomorrow.

At least now we see that Mark isn't being whipped and flogged by Lacey, and that she has a good enough relationship with him to produce a good dance. I'm glad for that, as the interpretations of their partnership did neither of them any favors.

I will credit most of Donny's success to Kym.

I am going to stop rooting for people this season! Chuck is gone. I can't even watch Louie now. Natalie looks miserable and apparently now cannot stand being around Alec. Kelly is, as always, uneven.

Of everyone left, I like Mya the most, but I don't know where she will go, it's hard to say what her fan base is.

Lots of stumbles and fumbles. Louie just continues to walk around, where is his footwork? When Chelsie was doing the foot flicks, isn't the partner supposed to do the same foot flick step? Louie just kept on walkin'. Maybe he learns the footwork and then just forgets because he's nervous? The judges always remind Kelly she's nervous. Louie shows it dancing, but he also has a hard time in front of the judges. Michael may not have his steps perfected, but he at least HAS steps. He doesn't totally walk through the dance. I thought he'd get a couple of 8s, IMO his dance was better than Louie's. Donny is entertaining and at least as appearances go, less making this competition all about himself. I never thought Marie would be harder to take than Donny. Although in a perfect world, neither of them would have been on DWTS.

Joanna is fun, and a fairly good dancer. When Maks was admiring her ability to pick up choreography quickly, maybe he was mentally comparing her to Debi and Denise.

American Woman for ballroom dancing?

I'm in with enjoying the Hustle. Last years was craptastic also, but it's a good laugh. Mya reminds me of Bachelor's Melissa, and in my book, that's a very bad thing. MJH is pretty bad. Enjoyed Mark. Aaron is back on the top of his game, unfortunetly. ick. Loved Kelly dancing to Crazy Train!

Shawn had way better footwork than Melissa. I wasn't Shawn's biggest fan in that I wasn't rooting for her to win, but she and MJH are miles apart in terms of actual dance ability IMO.

I don't think Natalie is throwing it at all. There are problems there for sure in that partnership, but I don't believe for a second she is throwing it.

I don't mind Donny here because he has backed it up every week with his dancing so far and IMO he's done better than I've expected in terms of adapting to dances that aren't in his obvious comfort zone. I actually thought Donny's 10's were deserved tonight and I wouldn't have been angry if he had gotten a perfect score either, but I'm not surprised the judges busted them out this week when Donny was playing against type. Like for instance he was better than MJH last week IMO, but I'm sure the judges expected Donny to do well with the Charleston. It also helps that I love Kym and her choreography and as she is one of the unsung pros on this show I really would love for her to have a trophy.

Aaron was way better tonight and I agree that he was one of the few on point in the Hustle. That said, he still makes me uncomfortable for some reason and during judging all I could stare at was the huge vein in his forehead.

Too bad Joanna stumbled because it was on its way to a fantastic argentine tango. I did not see any weirdness between Joanna and Maks. I thought it was fine and I did not get Shannon like vibes either. Seemed more she was pretty upset at herself. Ugh, why was Corky there. But that group dance seemed to go on forever but then I remembered there are 10 couples! Why is there a group dance when we have ten couples.

I am worried that Natalie's going tomorrow. She is not quite there with Alec right now. I am with Thadeeeyus and the pairings are off this season. Disappointed with the score the judges' gave Aaron because it seemed like Karina did all the dancing. Donny is annoying but Kym is fabulous to watch. Love her.

I figure his dad is probably the reason he overdances. I found MJH bad and those red shoes his attempt to distract from her poor footwork.

Natalie is, I think, an inch too tall for Derek but considering how well those two do get along and with his choreography (and since I am rooting for her), I wish they were paired together. That and I would like to see Derek with an athlete one of these seasons. He is pretty supportive of his partners and his past partners all keep in touch with him. I also think he could lighten things up for Natalie where as Alec seems too tense.

Still rooting for Natalie but at this point, Kelly/Louis are the only entertaining pair for me since Chuck/Anna left.

I too, shockingly, liked Donny's AT best. He did a good job with the character of the dance and I liked Kym's choreography (as always. She's so underrated!)

Shame about Joanna's stumble. If it hadn't been for that they would have had the dance of the night. I liked that they actually used most of the dance floor. I know Len commented about it being an intimate, club dance, but it was nice to see some actual, you know, dance steps. (Looking at you, Louie and Chelsie.) And Maks? Smokin' hot tonight. Yowza!

Music-wise, quite possibly the WORST rendition of American Woman EVER! Yikes. And Crazy Train? Should have just done an instrumental or had Ozzy sing it for heaven's sake. He was in the audience. (And I don't even like Ozzy's music.) Kelly looked beautiful.

The Group Hustle was dull, but as always I enjoyed the rehearsal footage. Favorite part: Aaron, "Louie, bet I can do a better flip than you." Louie (doesn't even look at Aaron): "Doubt it." Then Louie does some insane twisty flip thing. And Aaron? Squeals like a little girl. Ha! Second favorite? "Ew ew ew ew ew! Something came out of your nose and landed in my mouth!" Louis went from looking totally amused to totally horrified in about 0.5 seconds.

Louie is not a good dancer and can't remember steps. It holds Chelsie back as a choreographer, and now many people are calling her out for the 4th straight week. Such a shame.

And it's not like he didn't do anything. I thought it was a decent routine anyway. I still think Louie and Michael are on a whole other level from everyone else with their ability as a dancer.

Something tells me if they were paired together they might not get along.

Why is it that we have apparently already arrived at the point in the season (with 10 celebs) that the judges are already throwing it to the fanbases? Is it that the judges have to be the big bads next week and actually (gasp) send someone home on their say-so only? And that they don't want to be perceived to be mean? I swear that Len bribed Bruno to be the mean one this week.

Michael and Louie were both seriously overscored and basically just walked around the floor again. I'm sorry, Len, but Michael's knee moves (what are those called again) during his paso just looked geriatric to me. Louie, while not stoned, also looked creaky tonight. I just seriously don't get Chelsie this season; Louie looked about a million times more limber doing his flips during the group dance rehearsal than he ever has during a performance. And why the heck did Len actually go for the chair gimmick?

Mark D.! That was seriously an awesome paso, and I think of all the male celebs during the time I've watched the show, I liked his the best. That includes Gilles's paso, which while also good, relied more than Mark's on just the sex appeal. I kept thinking that Melissa should watch Mark D.'s paso in order to get a better idea of what good footwork should be like, because unfortunately I think she'll be around a while. Blech for that. As others have mentioned, I don't think she has any natural grace.

I'm seriously worried for Natalie, because apparently there is a dedicated voting bloc out there that will vote for any NFL player no matter how bad the dancing. She didn't deserve to be hanging at the bottom with Michael. Her paso was merely adequate, but at least she actually danced.

I loved Donny and Kym tonight. And, maybe I'm just not getting out enough lately, but...I thought the dance was really sexy. Kym looked absolutely amazing in that dress, the choreography was perfect, and Donny just proved my theory that even the least desirable man can be sexy for three minutes if he can dance.

At this point in the season I am still overwhelmed by all the dances. So many of the hustle moments were just BAD. I realize it was an un-scored portion but it's still the last thing the audience has seen of you. They should have put in more effort.

I think it's good that double eliminations are coming up. I expect Louie, Michael, Melissa and Natalie to go in the next few shows. I think that Joanna is also a possibility to be a victim of the double elim because I don't think she's very likable. The next couple of weeks should be interesting.

That's kind of the whole point of the show though IMO. I like Chelsie, but the show isn't supposed to be about her. It's supposed to be about Chelsie getting the best she can out of her celebrity. Ty wasn't a good dancer and she was able to choreograph for him just fine, so I'm not entirely where her head is at this season. I know Louie isn't Ty, but I enjoyed last season Chelsie better--at least in terms of choreography.

I'm kind of waiting another week to jump onto the Mark D. train. I thought he was great tonight and I was glad he had his breakthrough, but I think if any dance was right up his alley it was this one. I'm not sold that he can keep it up when he has a dance less suited to his personality. That said I give him his due this week in terms of performance and to Lacey for choreography.

I feel like in I'm in bizarro world in that I was really mesmerized by Aaron's dance and though Kelly was really bad. I can't believe they got the same score.

The rest of my reactions aren't so bizarro - pretty normal for me, in fact. I too thought Donny and Mark were very good. I was also really loving Joanna's dance, too bad about the stumble, it looked to be really good.