'Dancing with the Stars': The Final Five take the floor

Ticking towards the finals of Dancing with the Stars, each of our remaining celebs must perform two dances and a fifteen-second solo in the Latin round. Some of the Final Five should be more nervous than others...

Spoilers!

1. Cody Linley & Edyta
Dance/Song: Foxtrot/"Call Me Irresponsible"    
Cody's a little frustrated and bummed after being in the bottom last week. Enter four of his friens to help him overcome his issues. And they all fell in love with Edyta immediately. This is an improvment from last week but I still feel like Cody is struggling to adapt a bit to his partner. Or maybe he's just nervous going first? There wasn't quite as much shine to his personality. But the technique was there and you can see some chemistry developing. Overall it was solid.
Judges: Len was pleasently surprised by how good he was, Bruno was impressed by what he considers Cody's "most grown-up performance to date," and Carrie Ann liked it but...saw Edyta's foot come off the ground somewhere so she took off a point somewhat apologetically. I didn't see but, well, she is Carrie Ann of the Lift Police...
Score: 24 (all 8's)

2. Brooke Burke & Derek
Dance/Song: Tango/An instrumental piece that's actually appropriate for the dance    
Coming off a questionably deserved perfect score last week, Derek is going to be pushing Brooke more to make sure she keeps up her "professional" like skill status bequeathed by Carrie Ann. She's the only woman left and I totally didn't notice that until now. As I expected, she's not bringing the fire and intensity to the dance that she should be. And it rather seemed that her feet came off the ground at the end. Lets see if Carrie Ann notices. Technique-wise, it was good, though some of the kicks didn't seem to have as much snap as they should and there were a few weird moments that didn't seem in sync. It wasn't perfect but it was good.
Judges: Bruno loves it, Carrie Ann fawned and didn't mention the possible lift, and Len, surprisingly, was the only one to note the mistakes made stating he's judging her as a professional.
Score: 28 (10-8-10) - Hazzah for Len!

3. Maurice Greene & Cheryl
Dance/Song: Quickstep/"Puttin' On The Ritz"    
Maurice gets an additional boost this week by reviewing his performance in the group Paso last week on tape, which he's accustomed to doing in the Olympics. He says Cheryl's critique helped him, but that remains to be seen since first up is the Quickstep. Cheryl assumed he'd have a natural aptitude for it since he's a sprinter. Um...no. Not so much with that. The footwork is actually quite good, it's yet again his posture that's a bit problematic. But it is his best Ballroom dance to date. It was a fun little number
Judges: Carrie Ann complimented his improved posture and the details of his head angles, Len said he had great footwork and decent posture, and Bruno noted that he kept his energy up the whole number which made a huge difference.
Score: 24 (all 8's)

4. Lance Bass & Lacey 
Dance/Song: Foxtrot/"Sweet Pea" by Amos Lee    
Lance asks Lacey to push him really hard this week to work on his technique so they can impress all the judges, not just Carrie Ann and Bruno. Their strategy has changed from wanting to stand out amongst the crowd the first few weeks to really getting the dances as "straight" as possible while maintaining their personalities. I liked the sweet, Old Hollywood with a Modern twist vibe the number had. Lance's technique was really good overall and his posture was solid the whole way through.
Judges: Len noted that Lance's footwork was still a bit "dodgy" during the holds but really liked it overall, Bruno liked that it was traditional but still "them," and Carrie Ann agrees calling him "a bright light." 
Score: 26 (9-8-9)

5. Warren Sapp & Kym
Dance/Song: Tango/A slightly "latinized" theme from Peter Gunn    
Warren was super hard on himself after last week's performance but, after a critical review, it's out of mind and on to redemption. I really liked the into, nice job on choreography Kym. And I love her dress. The kick pattern in the middle was cool. It's not quite the intense Tango that we're used to but the slightly light quality fit the music so it worked. Warren was back to old form, once again light on his feet. The footwork wasn't 100% but good overall.
Judges: Bruno loved it as did Carrie Ann and Len, who added that there was some errant rise-and-fall in his steps that shouldn't have been there.
Score: 29 (10-9-9) - Warren almost fell over when Carrie Ann held up that 10

6. Cody Linley & Edyta
Dance/Song: Mambo/"My Way" by Los Lonely Boys    
There was a second where Cody got out of sync during the side-to-side portion but overall it was an entertaining number. Lots of energy. The technique was solid overall and his solo, which came at the end, had a tinge of silliness but was great - he ended by running and jumping on the judges' desks, landing laid across it. Bravo!
Judges: Carrie Ann said it was a little erratic but liked the energy, Len thought it was good though a little stiff, and Bruno thought it was a little spazzy but also appreciated the effort and energy.
Score: 24 (all 8's)

P.S. According to Cody, Julianne is well rested and ready to come back. So Edyta is out and Julianne will return next week assuming Cody sticks around. Also Tom Bergeron informs us that Julianne will be on the results show tomorrow. She's like the freakin' Terminator, you can't stop her from dancing long.

7. Brooke Burke & Derek 
Dance/Song: Mambo/"Cuban Mambo"    
Brooke starts out with her solo dancing in front of the judge's desk like a it's a ballet barre. I'll give it up to her, it was a good solo - though it was smart and sneaky to have her doing all that footwork while obscured just in case. The actual dance had some issues but I think the wig she's wearing helped her maintain a little more personality overall.
Judges: Len thought the solo was good but the performance was a little hinky, Bruno was impressed overall, and Carrie Ann liked that the solo didn't feel out of place, also noting that her posture was a little off in places and agreeing with Len that it was an ambitious number.
Score: 27 (all 9's) - Really? She should've gotten one 8...

8. Maurice Greene & Cheryl 
Dance/Song: Paso Doble/"Let It Rock" by Kevin Rudolf    
First of all, I kind of hate this song normally so hearing a cover of it makes me cringe just a little harder. That being said, Cheryl did a good job choreographing for a song that sort of fits the discipline. Maurice's solo came in at sort of the middle. It was kind of a cheat because all he did was move his cape around, but he did twirl it very well so I'll give it a pass. He had a great intensity the whole way through and the technique seemed good, though he seemed a bit stiff at times.
Judges: Bruno called it "strong, imposing," and "very, very powerful," Carrie Ann loved the intensity but suggested he bridge that with some grace and elegance, and Len also thought he did a good job and liked his "aggression."
Score: 24 (all 8's)

9. Lance Bass & Lacey
Dance/Song: Samba/"1 Thing" by Amerie    
After a brief intro with, Lance starts with his solo. It's a little bit awkward but I think it may because the music is seems a few beats too slow. It's definitely one of the more ambitiously choreography solos of the night. There was something just a little off about the number though. It wasn't bad or anything, it was just...I don't know. I did notice that Lance looked down a lot during the number which he'll definitely have to work on. But they did put in a lot of Samba content including a Samba Roll (which are my favorite things about the dance).
Judges: Carrie Ann noted that Lance was looking up during his solo and that was kind of weird for her but thought he did a good job overall, Len thought the solo wasn't Samba flavored enough, and Bruno complimented him on holding everyone's focus during his solo and their Samba Roll.
Score: 24 (8-7-9) - Bruno threw Len a mega-dirty look for that 7...

P.S. Lacey is dancing with brother and So You Think You Can Dance former champ Benji Schwimmer on tomorrow's show. Hazzah!

10. Warren Sapp & Kym
Dance/Song: Jive/"Hallelujah I Love Her So" by Ray Charles    
Warren had a little mistake but didn't show it on his face this time. His solo came in the middle of the number. I think it might be my favorite of the night. I was impressed by the whole thing. His feet seemed a smidge heavy at times but it was such a fun number that it kind of evened out.
Judges: Len loved the fun and energy but didn't even attempt to describe his feet, Bruno was in agreement but went a step further and pointed out that Warren was a bit flat-footed this time around, and Carrie Ann complimented Kym's choreography as well as complimenting the fact that his feet keep moving even though they were a bit flat.
Score: 26 (9-8-9)

The Bottom Two: And this is when it gets really rough. Maurice I think will be in the bottom but I couldn't even guess the other person. Part of me thinks it may be Brooke now that the herd has been thinned a bit. Plus the producers like to put the front runners in the Red Spotlight of Doom at least once during the season.

Who's Out: I'm thinking it'll be Maurice, though he did improve a lot this week. I figure the Julianne Fans will help keep Cody around another week.

So what did you think of the solos? Was it a good idea to put them in? Did you have a favorite number? Any other thoughts?

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