DWTS Season 19: Alfonso and Witney Pull It Off

The last three standing of Season 19 of DWTS.

The dust has settled on Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, and we have a winner. It was, quite possibly, the closest race ever. What it seemed like, to this viewer, was that there were a bunch of people who couldn't dance, and a bunch who were actual contenders. Once the former got weeded out, it was a cutthroat race amongst the latter. It was always very close among these, even right up to the end. For example, the finalists came down to judges' points like this: number 1 (Alfonso and Witney), 120; number 2 (Mark and Sadie), 118; number 3 (Val and Janel), 117. The 50% total of audience votes must have come out exactly the way the judges voted, because that is how the finalists ranked too.

There was a two-hour show on Monday night where we got to see what I would call some of the most amazing freestyle dances we have EVER seen. In fact, they were so great (uniformly) that the one the audience voted for as an encore was from Bethany and Derek (who weren't even in the final three).

The three hours of DWTS on Tuesday included a one-hour "Road to the Finals" program, more or less focusing on the final three. It promised to show us a lot of footage "never aired before," but I saw a lot of footage I'd seen before. The final two-hours included interminable recaps, and each competitor dancing one of their previous dances. (Yawn.) I would even say that of all the shows this season, the last three hours of Season 19 were the worst. (Perhaps if you hadn't seen the whole season and needed an update, you might've enjoyed it, but I'd been there, so I was mostly bored.)

I was correct in my assessment from last week that two of the people who HAD to be there were Mark/Sadie and Val/Janel. I was incorrect that the other one would be Derek/Bethany. It turned out to be Alfonso/Witney, who ended up winning.

Various comnmentators have referred to the Alfonso/Witney pairing as "the favorites," but that's not what I saw or experienced. Sure, when he danced The Carleton originally, he did have the country in the palm of his hand, also when he danced his first dance. But throughout the season, I would not say that statement was true.

On social media, I was much more aware of Mark and Sadie, Val and Janel and Bethany and Derek. In fact, I saw very little social media from Alfonso or Witney. So I'm not sure where this "favorite" business comes from.

For myself, I was torn between the lyric poetry of Val and Janel or the creativity and spark of Mark and Sadie, but after I saw the incredible mind-blowing Super Mario and the Princess videogame routine that Mark did as his freestyle, I was 100% convinced that Mark Ballas should be winning this season of DWTS.

Sadie and Mark as the Princess and Super Mario.

I don't really take the position of being entranced by the various competitors (as most people do). I am much more enthralled by the pros, they are what keep me coming back to my television screen season after season. And, at some point, the two individual people (celebrity and pro) gel as a dance team. That is what is exciting.

All four finalists were amazing to watch, especially in later episodes. Derek and Bethany were the fun couple, doing interesting, fun dances. Val and Janel had this palpitating sexiness that permeated all their numbers. Alfonso and Witney had some fun numbers, which for me, gravitated too much to hip hop music. Maybe that's why I didn't like them as much overall.

But for me, Mark Ballas' choreography and creativity are what stood out to me the most about this season. Dance after dance after dance. He said later that he found it to be his favorite season ever. I thought his dances were just far and away better than anyone else's. Far and away.

From the buoyant joyousness of Up, to the cowboy country number, to the stunning threesome with Emma (Can't Take My Eyes Off You), to his fantastic Argentine tango (with guitar), to this indelible freestyle, his muse was on it this season. Truly like never before (that I've seen). I will remember his dances from this season for a long time to come.

Super Mario and the Princess. Amazing.

And when he didn't win, after all that, I was, frankly, crushed. As crushed as I was when the judges gave his brilliant Halloween number bad scores.

Sadie and Mark paso doble (with flamenco touches). Bad scoring from the judges on this one.

In comparison, Alfonso and Witney had the Carleton dance, their Batman and Robin, the first dance which blew us all away, and that stunning Turn Down for What threesome. The rest didn't do much for me. Certainly weren't as memorable as any of Mark's dances, or any of Val's sexy numbers, or even as much as Derek's stunning dances.

This was the best moment in this Goldmember number. 

This season of DWTS was supposedly the lowest rated, which is sad, because the pros and what they present to us just keeps getting better and better. There was a new energy with the new showrunner and director, and Erin Andrews was a wonderful change.

Next season, we will have no Len and no Cheryl Burke. I suspect, though it hasn't yet been announced, that Julianne Hough will be Len's replacement, and if that's true, I'm glad for it. She was a good judge this season. Plus, Bruno and Carrie Anne are so wacky that sometimes Carrie Anne falls right off her chair. It was good to have Julianne bringing some gravitas to these crazies. I wanna know (from a professional's perspective) why a dance was good, and what could make it better.

From a production standpoint, I really liked the multi-camera viewpoints that were new this season, showing backstage in several areas. It really helped to know what was going on during a show. I'm pretty social media and tech savvy, but I didn't once check out their behind the scenes interview thing. Maybe some people did. Personally, I'd prefer to know what's going on, you know, on the show.

The whole stage area seemed to be utilized to greater effect this season than ever. My favorite moment of that was when host Tom Bergeron ziplined across the stage. Just cause.

Costumes seemed to be better. There were a few garish missteps, but no major travesties with celebrities getting entangled with them or tripping on long gowns.

We were graced, this season with three near-impossible things to pull off: the Singin' in the Rain number, the West Side Story tribute and the Nintendo game freestyle. It is a testament to this show (and Derek, Val and Mark's talents) that they were able to finally get these clearances, and in these cases, deliver amazing dances which honored and respected the original artforms.

What I would wish for (if I had these powers) would be to have Derek be the creative visionary of this show (which he is), and have Mark Ballas be the musical visionary. He has consistently used music which goes above and beyond, always fits the dances. It still seems like music for this show is all over the place. Sometimes really crappy, sometimes sublime. There needs to be someone (of Mark Ballas' calibre) who takes a handle on that. The dance he did for his Halloween number was of the sublime variety. Perfect and wonderful, and very theatrical. I don't know if the "celebrities" have any hand in picking the music, but they shouldn't. This show would be infinitely better if there was someone else who had a consistent hand in music selection. None of this "I'm going to dance to a number my husband wrote" crap that we've had in past seasons. Or even all the heavy-handed hip hop things that Alfonso danced to. The music should fit the dance, or at least fit the show (or both, ideally).

Derek did "All About the Bass" with Bethany before I'd even heard of the song, and although I didn't appreciate "Turn Down for What" at the time, it was also a timely song. Sure, if it motivates the celebrity, great. But for heaven's sake, make it a good (or great!) song.

Alfonso and Cheryl Burke do flamenco. Courtesy of ABC.

Cheryl Burke will indeed be missed. There are a few pros which are the backbone of DWTS. Maksim Chmerkovskiy was one, and he is now gone from the show. Cheryl leaving is going to be a major blow. She just kept getting better and better and better. But I think a dance show really only thrives by adding new blood.

Allison Holker and Keo Motsepe were welcome additions this season. I hope they will be back.

But it's a dicey business, being a pro on this show. It almost seems like you need pros who are sympathetic and able to handhold whiny celebrities at the beginning, who can also morph into creative geniuses carrying off grand visions by the end. Or at least pace the celebrities so that they can make it to the end.

And you need pros who are enough stars in their own right to carry off conversations and make a show interesting. Some are ready, some are not. Sasha Farber? Maybe not. Jenna? Maybe so. Artem? Still not sure on that one. You don't want pros who shine too much, and leave their celebrity behind in the dust. Although in the end, I was rooting for Lea and Artem, so maybe they do work it out.

Alfonso and Witney FTW.

I have to say, at the beginning of the season, I didn't think Witney Carson had the chops to make it to the end and win. I was wrong. She was a damn fine dancer and choreographer. She even shone when she had to dance with the race car driver. I'm really glad that someone other than Derek won this time.

But still, when I think of the dances that make me swoon of Season 19 of Dancing with the Stars, it's mostly going to be the ones from this guy.

Mark and Sadie and Emma do a threesome that was breathtaking.

Thank God that Mark Ballas is in the world, creating poetry on DWTS. We are all so very lucky for that, even if, this time, he didn't win.

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DWTS SemiFinals: Plugged and Unplugged Brings Surprises and Tears

Tommy Chong and Peta Murgatroyd dancing one of their best dances.

The Dancing with the Stars Semi-finals are upon us. It's down to the wire with the last five couples, and everyone is producing great work.

Sadly, Tommy Chong ended up going home, but danced two of his best dances before that.

The theme of the night was Plugged/Unplugged, where couples would dance first to an electric version of a song, and then dance a completely different style to the unplugged (acoustic) version of the same song.

The keys to this night are two things: creativity and a great song.

Janel and Val doing a paso in their plugged version.

My favorite of all the amazing dances in the Plugged section was Janel and Val's paso doble. They proved clearly why they could easily win this competition. (And if they win, I sure hope that Maks is on hand to give the trophy to Val. Cause that would be awesome.)

Bethany and Derek danced an incredible samba to "I Want You Back" (with help from fellow dancer Sasha).

Bethany and Derek, plugged, to I Want You Back.

Derek's choreography is so amazing, with so many little touches that make it perfect. Bethany isn't quite the actress she needs to be, but the dance steps are flawless. And Derek and Sasha kiss at the end! Bonus! Ha!

Mark and Sadie did a great quickstep. I'm really loving what the costuming department is doing with Sadie, too. They seem to have hit a groove.

Sadie and Mark do their plugged version. Courtesy of ABC/Dancing with the Stars

Mark's choreography is so stunning, I just love watching his numbers over and over.

Tommy and Peta did a great jazz number to "Tainted Love" (can't ever go wrong with that).

Alfonso has been injured (since doing the crowd-favorite Carleton), and he looked visibly in pain during their Argentine tango. Costumes were fantastic, though.

Witney and Alfonso (much in pain) dance an Argentine tango. Courtesy of ABC/Dancing with the Stars

MICHE'S SEMIFINALS PLUGGED PICKS
1. Val and Janel (paso doble)
2. Derek and Bethany (samba)
3. Mark and Sadie (quickstep)
4. Tommy and Peta (jazz)
5. Alfonso and Witney (Argentine tango)

Sadie and Mark unplugged. Courtesy of ABC/Dancing with the Stars.

Now the challenge of this evening is to do the same song, but with a totally different arrangement, and different style of dance.

My favorite in the Unplugged section (by far) was Mark and Sadie (the judges, as usual, did not agree with me). But here's the thing. The Argentine tango (again) is a very passionate dance. A dance about sex and romance and steamy hot passion. Hard to do that with a teenaged conservative woman who (probably) hasn't known sex or passion. But we have Mark Ballas choreographing.

And what he comes up with is no less steamy a dance than Alfonso and Witney did in their Plugged version. But instead of instilling passion between them, he uses the prop of a guitar, so that it's the guitar which is instilling the passion. So beautifully done, so creative. Truly a stunning dance. I loved it so much.

Normally, I'm like Len, I hate all the frou-frou props and whatnot that dancers use, but in this case, it was just stunning to watch, and totally worked.

The other really stunning thing about this dance is that there is a move (wish I knew what it was called) where the woman sticks her leg in between the guy's legs (it's part of what makes the dance so sexual, that move). It's like invading the sexual space with a leg, very hot. Well, in this dance, ALL of those moves were done by Mark instead of Sadie, which was really interesting and appropriate (and still sexy). I really dug that.

But then... THIS... this dance made me cry.

Tommy Chong and Peta Murgatroyd do a rumba.

Tommy playing the craftsman, Peta his music box ballerina who comes to life. Beautiful dance. Every part of it: the costumes, the set, the arrangement, everything was superb.

Val and Janel do an Argentine tango. Courtesy of ABC/Dancing with the Stars

The surprises weren't over. Val Chmerkovskiy, in case you don't know this, used to play the violin. He graces us with that skill at the beginning of this dance. (Quite wonderful!)

And that foot move is back to the woman doing it with this dance, and it was appropriately sexy and sensual. Val and Janel's Argentine tango was very sexy and steamy.

It was the night, apparently, for dancing amazingly with props. Derek and Bethany's unplugged routine involved a picture frame. I can't even describe it. Seeing someone in a picture frame that you loved, the song, "I Want You Back." You are part of the picture, then not. It was just stunning. Contemporary.

Bethany and Derek dance contemporary. Courtesy of ABC

At a different part of the season, this would've been my top pick. Beautiful dance.

Alfonso and Witney also danced contemporary (my least favorite dance style).

MICHE'S SEMIFINALS UNPLUGGED PICKS
1. Mark and Sadie (Argentine tango)
2. Tommy and Peta (rumba)
3. Val and Janel (Argentine tango)
4. Derek and Bethany (contemporary)
5. Alfonso and Witney (contemporary)

THE ROAD AHEAD
It was very sad to see Tommy Chong leave. I really truly enjoyed every dance he danced, even when he really couldn't dance. But here's the thing, Tommy. No one who really couldn't dance ever won Dancing with the Stars (since I've been watching it, anyway). So it was time.

Peta and Tommy say Goodbye.

We will miss you, old man. And it's true what Len said. No one your age is ever going to get this far again (unless Betty White decides to dance). But, boy, are we going to miss you.

Tommy Chong dances with Sharna and Peta.

So, we have four contestants left. Here's what I see at this point.

If it were me, I would have two couples guaranteed of the finals: Mark and Sadie and Val and Janel. They have consistently, without misstep, danced amazing dance after amazing dance this season. Val has never won a Mirror Ball (amazingly). Mark hasn't won one in awhile.

So when you're voting tomorrow, please consider all that. Also the judges haven't been scoring Mark and Sadie with as good scores as they deserve. Let's help make up for that, America!

The two wild cards (to me) are Bethany and Derek and Alfonso and Witney. Derek's choreography is phenomenal. And he is one of the choreographers who builds in little grace notes to the whole season once he gets to the freestyle (on Tuesday). I love when they do that. But he has won a lot recently. So I wouldn't be sad to see he and Bethany go home either Monday night or Tuesday. They've done great work, but so has everyone. (But compared to Val and Mark, Derek has been a bit off this season.)

Alfonso and Witney I thought could take this thing when they danced their first dance. Along the way, there have been lackluster dances, and dances where he seemed like he couldn't move cause he was in pain. Yes, he's a pro, and he's toughing it out, but this is when America is his mother, and sends him home so he doesn't have to continue on and injure himself.

My personal choice, for that reason, to go home Monday night would be Alfonso (and Witney). Not because he couldn't do it, just because he SHOULDN'T do it.

Also, if Alfonso went home, it would be a three-girl final. How cool would that be?

MICHE'S PICKS FOR THE FINALS
1. Val and Janel
2. Mark and Sadie

I would really be happy with either of these two couples winning the Mirror Ball this season.
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3. Bethany and Derek
4. Alfonso and Witney

What do you think, America?

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DWTS Week 5: The Switch-Up and the Case for Mark Ballas

Bethany and Mark Ballas do hip hop on Switch-Up Week. Courtesy of ABC/DWTS.

An interesting thing happened during Swtich-Up Week (Week 5 of Dancing with the Stars). I switched my favorite.

The dreaded Switch-Up takes our already established pairs, and puts the celebrities (remaining) with another partner. Sometimes this has disastrous results, sometimes great ones. (Remember last season's switch of ultimate winner Meryl from Maksim to brother Val? Fantastic stuff.)

This week, maybe cause Len's still gone, we had a lot of dances not normally done, with a lot of sets and props and hooha that Len hates.

But the thing that happened to me, is that I can now see a very clear break for myself. There are PROS that I love this season, and there are celebrities. They don't really go together (in most cases).

For example, my favorite celebrity, whom I had initially chosen as my favorite this week, is Alfonso. I just dig the stuff he's doing. This week, he was switched to Cheryl, and they did a pretty amazing flamenco. It was beautiful to watch.

Alfonso and Cheryl do flamenco. Courtesy of ABC/DWTS.

Cheryl Burke has never looked better. Her flamenco was stunning. And we don't get to see the flamenco very often. It's not one of the regular dances. So all of that was very nice. (Maybe I'm still on a Carleton high from last week... dunno.)

But I was watching back the dances from this week (as I do when I write this column), and something struck me. Mark Ballas. JEEZ. Unbelievable.

I've been saying this all season long, but let me again shout this from the rooftops: WHY IS THIS MAN NOT GETTING 10s? Holy crap. This week, he did a hip hop dance with Bethany. From the very first note to the very last, it was PERFECT. He gave us a story (from the beginning to the end; loved it). He gave us incredible dancing and choreography, as he has done all season. He's savvy enough to know that hip hop is not one of Len's favs, so he does it now, and he does it with Bethany. Just perfect, all across the board.

Most of these other dances, I can watch once again and I'm done (even that flamenco), but his hip hop this week: WOW.

And mind you, he's been doing that all season with his own partner, Sadie, too. The judges went all gaga over Derek's Charleston with Sadie, and complemented the heck out of her (and it was stunning, true), but what she does with Mark Ballas has been incredible! Where are the 10s for that? C'mon, judges. Mark Ballas deserves higher scores. (I'm looking at you, Julianne.)

They rightfully took Artem to task for his burlesque dance with Janel (not enough burlesque content), yet that dance scored higher than Mark's hip hop, which had tons of great hip hop content. And it's straight-up not fair.

In other dances that I liked/loved, Val danced that nebulous category (sometimes called "jazz," sometimes called "Broadway," basically meaning whatever we want to dance to) with Lea. She, too, is one of the contestants whose dancing I really like, and like to watch. Not sure about Artem yet though.

But this dance with Val included multiple walkers... like the kind old people use. Wonderful stuff. Never been done on DWTS before either!

Val and Lea and the team of walker dancers. Courtesy of ABC/DWTS.

Those are the dances I like the best. Give me a story around the dance, make it a complete entity. (Which Mark Ballas does every week.)

Another interesting story dance was the Bollywood danced by Allison and Antonio this week.

Allison and Antonio dance Bollywood.

She's trying. She's trying so hard, gotta give her that. Her Bollywood was stunning, the best ever on this show. However, Antonio was in no way her match. Not even close.

Her regular partner, Jonathan, kinda proved that it's more him than her which is causing the low scores. He was paired with Peta, who does a mean jitterbug. Their scores were terrible.

And Witney and Michael doing disco? The less said about that, the better. (Although if someone had to dance to Car Wash, I'm glad it was the race car driver.)

And in that vein, I have to say that a large part of why I continue to vote for Tommy Chong every week (even though he is just as bad a dancer as Michael Waltrip) is that I really dig the fact that DWTS is using every opportunity to have pot-themed songs and dances for Tommy Chong (as they should). This week, no joke, he danced to "Pass the Duchie." It was supposed to be a mambo. I don't know what it was, but it made me laugh.

Ah, but let's clear out the pot smoke, and instead meditate on one of the best Charlestons ever on this show.

Sadie and Derek Charleston. Courtesy of ABC/DWTS.

Another thing, I want to really comment on how all the technical parts are coming together. DWTS has always been a miracle of costuming and sets, but the camerawork and editing both seem to have hit their stride finally . The dancers are really getting featured, as they are supposed to (catch the ending of Mark's dance to see what I mean). The cameras are where they are supposed to be to catch the best bits. And they actually catch FEET, not just faces.

Working in social media (in the Mark and Derek bits) was and is wonderful. Love that about this season. Also, Erin is really hitting her stride as a host. She actually knows what the voting methods are this season!! (YAY!) And she really asks probing, good questions. Thank whoever had the idea of hiring her. To my eyes, she is MILES better as a host than Brooke ever was.

The only downside of the technical stuff is that the music has issues. Both in song selection, and performance. Positive: we get former cast member Joey Fatone singing The Stray Cats song, "Rock This Town." (What? Brian Setzer was busy?) Negative: we get more and more taped crap, which often doesn't work (case in point: Lea and Val's song, which was loud and obnoxious), but which sometimes does (Mark and Bethany's song). When it's good ("Pass the Duchie" and "Car Wash"), it's great. When it's bad, it's painful.

That song that Allison and Jonathan danced that Gatsby thing to a couple weeks ago was a good example of new music done beautifully. Revisiting a familiar song, and putting a new spin on it. That's what I had hoped for when I heard there was a new band. Guess they're still working out those bugs.

But enough of all this. I wanna go back and watch Mark Ballas' hip hop dance again, and dream of the day when he actually gets all the 10s he deserves.

MICHE'S PICKS FOR WEEK 5
1. Mark and Bethany (hip hop)
2. Alfonso and Cheryl (flamenco)
3. Val and Lea (Broadway)
4. Derek and Sadie (Charleston)

NOT LONG FOR THIS WORLD (Need to Go)
1. Michael
2. Jonathan
3. Antonio
4. Tommy

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My Favorite DWTS: Week 4

Sadie (of Duck Dynasty) and Mark Ballas wow the crowd.

My favorite dances on Dancing with the Stars involve some combination of these things: a dance which incorporates the required number of content elements, something which addresses the theme in some way, elegance of choreography: all of which together create dance magic before us.

Usually, Derek Hough's dances have all of these things, which is also why he has won most often. But also usually, so do Mark Ballas' dances. These are dances, which at the end, leave you with your mouth hanging open, just saying: WOW. This week was one of those.

The theme of Week 4 of DWTS was My Favorite Year (as it usually is). We had the usual ones: my favorite year being when I got my big break on whatever show, or when my parent (or loved one) died or was born, yadda yadda. Bethany had a moving one with the theme of: "I thought I was ugly, but really I'm not." (A new one on these shows, admittedly.)

For me, there were really two dances which went beyond the pale this week. I am now eating my words about Alfonso getting back to the top of the leaderboard. Sheesh. When that man tries! Wow. Course, he had a built-in audience-pleasing factor: the Carleton.

I never watched the show (The Fresh Prince of Bel Air)  in its heyday, but apparently "the Carleton" dance was a thing. And people, apparently, have been clamouring, ever since they knew he was going to be on DWTS, to see him incorporate it in some way. My Favorite Year seems the perfect place to do so.

Alfonso and Witney did not disappoint this week. Wow.

But despite those two dances which really blew my mind (Alfonso again taking the top of the leaderboard this week), these two were not my FAVORITE dance. That honor belonged to this:

Val and Janel doing the sexiest, steamiest rumba you're gonna see this season (although Cheryl and Antonio were also pretty hot recently). It was just beautiful and it kicked everything off. And more and more, Val and Janel are my favorite couple.

However, we also had this (the couple who actually received the most votes from me this week): Peta and Tommy Chong, dancing to Jailhouse Rock. With Peta as a policeman. With fishnets. It so worked for me, on so many levels.

And unlike another older contestant, Tommy Chong just keeps getting better each week.

Wanna know who was voted out this week? (Well, you probably already know, but it was:)

She was a little bit wacky, our Miss Betsey, but I did enjoy her dances, and the music she chose. Gonna miss her (in some ways). Also really gonna miss Tony. He's always fun and inventive.

That leaves at the bottom (literally and in my opinion) Michael and Emma (whom I thought would be leaving this week) and Jonathan and Allison. I really like Allison and I was rooting for her, but WOW was the dance they did this week terrible! No through line. More content, yay! But just awful to watch. And I had been so focused previously on her choreography missteps that I didn't before realize that Jonathan is actually a pretty bad dancer (compared to his competition, especially). So they will be going home soon (unless she really turns it around somehow). 

I hated almost everything about this dance. Except that it did have a lot of samba content. But the music was DREADFUL, the set and costumes were garish and horrible. It was just painful to watch. Just to clarify that I'm not the only one who thought this, they scored the lowest on this week. Even Betsey and Tony (who went home) got better scores on this night. Ouch.

And it's strange, because I really didn't love the music that Mark Ballas chose for his and Sadie's number. I would never listen to it on my own, and it's not even the type of music DWTS normally plays. But it fit. It was of a piece with the rest of what he was doing as a choreographer, and I think that is the difference. His choices were sublime, hers were... UGH.

I mean, I hate to say this, but I just don't think she gets what DWTS is about, exactly. She seems bound and determined to stay on her own path, and that road is currently leaving off the show soon, and that makes me sad. It really does. Her dance to Sia's music was brilliant, because she had none of these constraints. But darlin', that is what you signed up for: to choreograph these dances for these people in this way.

I do kinda get the feeling now that she never really watched this show before. Maybe she signed on cause she knew all the other choreographers, even having worked with some.

I think people may look at DWTS from the outside and dismiss it simplistically as just another reality dance show, but it really is a very complex, layered thing. 

Take Mark Ballas' amazing dance this week, in comparison. The theme was "My Favorite Year." His partner, Sadie, chose the year she first appeared on Duck Dynasty. Sure, lots of celebrities take that route. (Alfonso essentially did the same thing. Lea had done her homage to Back to the Future the week before, so she could do a more poignant dance this week.)

What can one do with Duck Dynasty? And the dance Mark chose was samba? Duck Dynasty and samba? HUH? What can one do with that?

Well, Mark took the time-honored pairing of a hunter and a duck (man vs. animal). He was the hunter, and Sadie (of course) was the duck. She was resplendent in her feathers. He was all bearded out, like the other male members of Duck Dynasty (some of them even onstage with him). And within that (up and around and over that), he wove together a samba which touched on all the content that the judges were looking for, as well as making a statement about Duck Dynasty, using a song which has LYRICS about Duck Dynasty. Boom, boom, boom. He hit every beat.

It was frikkin' beautiful. It was stunning and magical, and I don't even like Duck Dynasty.

That is, ultimately, how you do this: content (of whichever dance you are doing) + theme + stunning choreography + heart (if you can manage it). Making a statement through choreography, which Allison seems so badly to want to do. I suggest she really pore over tapes of Mark Ballas' dance this week for how to do this show right (and still maintain your edge as a choreographer). Now mind you, a winning (as in ALL 10s) dance has to have one more thing: it has to sweep away the audience and the judges, so that they are compelled to give it tens.

Sadly, Mark Ballas' dances too often don't get the 10s they deserve (he didn't with this, garnering only 37 out of 40, and it was brilliant). But, for my money, he's the most artistic choreographer on this show, and I so appreciate him for that. But Derek's Singin' in the Rain last week, Val's West Side Story last week, and Alfonso's Carleton (to Tom Jones' "It's Not Unusual") were those showstoppers that garner 10s.

Derek's dance this week, although using poignant subject matter, was almost like a rest after what must have been immense stress from doing Singin' in the Rain. It really did nothing for me. Good thing Len was gone this week. 

Oh, and another thing. They've been having all these hokey guest judges standing in while Len is out of the country. (Last week, comedian Kevin Hart, next week Jazzy J or someone...). This week, blissfully, they let "America" vote in a new system where (well, let's just say the EAST COAST, anyway) voted right after they saw the dance. Cause they announced America's vote when they announced the judges' votes (and I know we West Coasters see it later than the East Coast). Nonetheless, it cut down on all the judges' chatter, which seemed to be dragging the show down (with four judges). "America" says nothing, just votes. I liked it immensely.

And AMERICA gave "the Carleton" a 10 also! It was awesome.

Miscellaneous notes about Week 4: Erin just looked spectacular. The most fun thing was when everyone on the balcony started doing the Carleton. Sharna choreographed a wonderful opening number. And the second most fun thing was the dance where Karina's crotch ended up in Keo's face, which Tom (ever quick on his feet) called, "a great getting-to-know-you dance."

 BTW, Val kept referring to his dance last week as "The West Side Story." It's actually called "West Side Story." (Unless he was adding a "The" to the title so it wouldn't be confused with... um, you know... that other one... In which case, that was brilliant.)

Lea and Artem scored high, but their dance also did nothing for me. Beautiful to watch, and I could tell it moved her quite a bit, but... eh... (Sometimes contemporary works for me, often it doesn't.)

Antonio's first job in NYC was a little Janet Jackson video that you may've seen. It was fun to revisit that, as well. And Cheryl makes a great Janet Jackson!

When is Len coming back? Next week, right? Next week (ooh, let's hold our breath!) is also "the Switch Up." The week that all the pros hate, and usually leaves the celebrities wanting to RUN back to their partners. Fun. Can't wait. Meanwhile, let's do the Carleton again... do it with me...

The Carleton, to Tom Jones' "It's So Unusual"

MICHE'S TOP DANCES WEEK 4

1. Val and Janel (rumba)

2. Mark and Sadie (samba)

3. Alfonso and Witney (jazz and "the Carleton")

4. Tommy and Peta (jive)

5. Antonio and Cheryl (samba)

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