Pretty good is the new perfect on ‘Dancing’

The Viennese waltz proved another good pick for Mel B and partner Maksim Chmerkovskiy. One strong point the judges fail to bring up with Mel and Maks is their sweeping use of the floor. No one else uses the full space the way they do, and rarely to such effect.

The routine was devoid of any standout moves, but it was sweetly smooth and, overall, well done. Without a lift to attack, Carrie Ann started in on the turns, but Bruno cut her off before she could turn the feel-good dance competition into a real fight. M&M earned the second fair score of the night with a 26.

The most impressive aspect of Cameron Mathison and Edyta Sliwinska’s otherwise lackluster paso doble wasn’t Cam’s slow but steady improvement, but rather that the two could dance at all to their music selection. Trying to keep time to the rhythmless “Superman Theme,” had to be a challenge, but somehow they mostly managed, though Cameron did look a bit dorky with the big, glittery “C” on his chest. The judges loved it, again a little more than they should have, giving the pair all nines.

When Marie Osmond took the floor, in possibly her least animated performance yet, she and Jonathan Roberts performed a fine waltz. Nothing spectacular, but at least she didn’t camp it up with winks and hammy gestures. A good choice given the nature of the waltz, but for Bruno that was disappointing. He’s the king of hams, so it’s understandable. Carrie Ann loosened up and gave Marie props for her “stripper” neck whips. Again, the fine-but-unremarkable number ranked a 26 from the judges.

What the heck, have a 10
Last week, Jennie Garth’s tango showed how much she’d improved in three weeks time. For their paso doble, she and Derek Hough put on a decent showing. Overall, it didn’t equal their tango for lines or flow, but it was nothing to be ashamed of.

According to Bruno, the couple continues to improve every week, and while Carrie Ann noticed a lift, she didn’t say much about it. The biggest surprise from the panel wasn’t the overall score of 27, but Len handing out a 10. Their dance was not a perfect 10 by any stretch of the imagination.

After slipping from first to sixth place last week, Helio Castroneves needed a comeback, and after Julianne Hough cracked the whip in rehearsals, he delivered. While no better than his first two performances, Helio certainly improved from the quickstep effort. The only visible weakness from the racer, which Len later pointed out, was a new tendency to keep his head forward in almost a step-watching stance. But other than that small posture issue, he was back in form and the pair continued to display more chemistry than any others in the contest. And the 27 from the judges? That was within a point or two of fairness, so no complaints.

Who’s going home on Tuesday night? The obvious picks are Floyd and Mark. Despite his dance floor shortcomings, Mark has had elimination-night luck so far. With only a point separating the two, Floyd could be down for the count.

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