'Dancing With the Stars': Mya leads but Donny Osmond scores perfect Freestyle

The last three standing on "Dancing With the Stars" takes the floor with three dances to determine the winner. Will the Freestyle once again make or break our celebtestants?

After the extremely brief Descent of Doom, hosts Tom Bergeron and Samantha Harris give us the low-down on tonight. There's yet another new dance event tonight - the "Megamix Challenge" where all three couples will perform the same dance (possibly the same choreography) for a side-by-side comparison. Scores, as always, are listed in Carrie Ann/Len/Bruno order.

1. Kelly Osbourne & Louis Van Amstel
Dance/Song: Argentine Tango/"Los Vino" a la Otros Aires
Before getting to the rehearsal part, we have Kelly & Louis discussing the weeks up to now. During practice, Carrie Ann comes to visit to give some tips about performing, specifically connections in more intimate dances like this one. The choreography is great. I think she did well overall but I noticed she was looking down a lot in the beginning which, while it was probably choreographed, I think she started watching her feet on occasion which distracted from her posture. The connection was definitely improved.
Judges: Len says she's what this show is about, someone with little to no dance training who made it to the finals and started off well. Bruno thought her free hand was a little loose and could've used some more sexy, but was very good overall. Carrie Ann, after seeing her in rehearsal, complimented her on how far she's come and that she maintained an "intimacy and intensity" throughout a sophisticated routine.
Score: 26 (9-9-8)

2. Mya & Dmitry Chaplin
Dance/Song: Paso Doble/"We Will Rock You" a la Queen
Mya & Dmitry also talk about their journey up to now while watching past performances. Of course they get Len as their rehearsal judge. He wanted more aggression and attitude, saying Mya's subdued nature won't get her the Mirror Ball. She certainly took his tips to heart. Her moves are sharp and big and have tension when needed. Very well done.
Judges: Bruno called it "fearless" and "flamboyant." Carrie Ann dubbed her the "Queen of the Paso Doble" adding that it was "dynamic" and "hot." Len said it was up there with his favorite Paso ever from Mel B. & Maks.
Score: 30 (10-10-10)

3. Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson
Dance/Song: Cha Cha/"September" a la Earth, Wind & Fire
During Donny & Kym's walk down memory lane, Donny says his hardest part was dancing the Quickstep with the flu. Ugh. I can't even imagine. By process of elimination, I'm sure you've guessed that Bruno is their judge. He tells him immediately that Donny can win but he should based on dancing, not because of who he is. Bruno gave him tips about some technique things he was doing wrong. Kym's shimmy dress is freaking aweasome. That aside, his technique was solid and he had good hip movement but there was a little something off at the beginning. I can't quite figure it out but it sorted itself out about 20 seconds in.
Judges: Carrie Ann was impressed by the hip shaking and loved the energy, but noted there was a messed up hand connection. Len said Bruno must've worked some magic and was very good overall. Bruno said what we didn't see in the rehearsal footage was that Donny is a consummate professional and a credit to the profession.
Score: 27 (9-9-9)

Before we move on, we see the rehearsal package with all the couples joining together to learn the Megamix Challenge. The Megamix is all three couples on the floor at the same time performing the same choreography in three styles (Viennese Waltz, Samba, Jive) one after the other resulting in first through third placing. Nick Kosovich (he was on Season 2 & 3 - Vivica A. Fox's partner most notably) is the choreographer with Karina Smirnoff on hand to assist.

4. Megamix Challenge
Songs: "You and Me" a la Lifehouse/"Wherever, Whenever" a la Shakira/"Maniac" a la Michael Sembello
The Viennese Waltz was pretty much even. The biggest difference I saw was just stylistic in terms of what each dancer has tendencies to do. I did notice that Donny & Kym were a little ahead of the other two couples at one point but that was quickly fixed. Kelly started out the Samba round with a wardrobe malfunction as her rip-away skirt didn't cleanly rip away. To her credit, she recovered pretty well. I found it harder to evaluate this round because I wanted to compare Kelly and Mya but the were separated by Donny & Kym. That round I'd have to give the edge to Mya. It took Kelly a second to transition into the Jive - perhaps the skirt malfunction was still on her mind? She also had another bit of a misstep but kept fighting through. Donny also messed up a kick in the ending side-by-side sequence. Mya's the only one I didn't note a mistake from so I'll have to give her the whole thing but they all did very well overall.
Judges: Len says it was really difficult to decide this and they all did spectacularly well. Bruno thought Mya's Samba was great, Kelly's Waltz was amazing and complimented her on recovering from the skirt, and said at times Donny looked like a pro. Carrie Ann agreed stating she was impressed how Donny kept up with the pros, that Mya's Samba made her shake her hips in her chair, and that Kelly brought grace and beautiful lines to the Waltz.
Rankings: Kelly & Louie - 3rd, 26pts; Donny & Kym - 2nd, 28pts; Mya & Dmitry - 1st, 30pts

5. Kelly & Louis
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"I Will Survive" a la Gloria Gaynor
The rehearsal package reveals that Kelly has torn cartilage in both big toes. I have no idea how long that's been going on but I have a whole lot more respect for her. I like her giant, hooded, bedazzled white and silver robe with a train. She definitely looks like she's having a lot fun. She had some choreography bobbles but that never wiped the smile off her face.
Judges: Bruno said she's never looked more beautiful and totally reminded him of the 70's...where people occasionally fell on the floor while dancing and "it was part of the night." Carrie Ann said that Kelly reminds people of what they want to be in that position - laughing off mistakes, getting back up after falling. Len says that, regardless of the mistakes, he thoroughly enjoyed watching he smile and sing through it.
Score: 24 (8-8-8) - The audience booed but I think the scores were right on

6. Mya & Dmitry
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"You Can't Stop The Beat" from "Hairspray"
Mya really wanted to take a huge chance and go with something big and "Vegas style" with the number but Dmitry's Broadway theme eventually won out. She was initially worried that it was going to be too safe but the rehearsal package showed she changed her mind. It was a fun number, for sure, but I was hoping for a few more lifts or a ridiculous "holy crap!" one. However, the non-stop choreography and high energy was certainly impressive.
Judges: Carrie Ann thought it was high-energy and fun but wasn't outstanding and didn't showcase Mya enough. Len says it's clear she has a lot of talent but agrees with C to the A, adding that he was expecting something to happen that never did. Bruno said they had the vibrancy and joy of the time and period but agrees he wanted something more spectacular... but it wasn't bad.
Score: 27 (9-9-9)

7. Donny & Kym
Dance/Song: Freestyle/"Back In Business" a la Liza Minelli
To help prevent Donny from letting anything distracting him, she had sister Marie Osmond & Jonathan Roberts try to throw him off while practicing. And that fills our "Marie Stops By Rehearsal" quota for this season. It was definitely a big time Broadway feeling number. It was very good choreography and performed very well...it was 100% in his comfort zone. I very much liked it but it didn't blow me away.
Judges: Len called it a "show stopper." Bruno said it was "Mr. Show Business at his best." Carrie Ann thinks it's a Freestyle Hall of Fame performance.
Score: 30 (10-10-10)

Overall Thoughts: Kelly's going to be in third place, but a valiant and loving third place. Even with the mistakes I still enjoyed watching her dance. I bet Mya's ticked at herself for not pushing to go with her idea for the Freestyle based on the judges' comments. Unfortunately, being at such a consistently high-level sort of backfired on her this time. It was performed extremely well but I don't know how people are going to react to it. I don't think Donny performed any better than she did but reached the high-bar of what was expected of him without any mistakes. So, that being said, I don't know which is going to win but I'm betting it's going to be close. Also, I really liked the Megamix Challenge.

Your thoughts on tonight's proceedings? Were you extremely impressed by anyone or any dance in particular? Think you know who's going to win? Did you like the Megamix or was that just another random stab at reinvigorating the format? Share, my friends, share!