Could we please just have Tom as host, announcer, interviewer...
Alfonso was stiff and not funny. I thought the band director looked mighty irritated with him.
Oh, Erin. So awkward.
Alexa and Mark: Liked the music, and surprisingly never noticed Mark. Charming dance, shame about the slip up. Gee, are Alexa and Carlos married? <rolling eyes>
Gary and Anna: Sorry to see Gary leave, but it was time. Barely. Paula is only a point better, but I like Gary's spirit more. I was in a motorcycle crash 22 years ago, and haven't danced a day since. Gary is very fortunate, and to not play on it for Most Memorable Year is refreshing.
Tamar and Val: I do not get what the judges were raving about. I thought the dance was pretty, but it was not sexy or emotional at all. Her husband was in the hospital for 40 days, she had a child, her husband played live piano for her, and she danced with a fairly hot-bodied pro...what does it take to truly move her?
Hayes and Emma: I loved this contemporary. For such a young teenage boy, he carried that off in a very mature and touching manner.
Alek and Lindsey: I was looking forward to this dance. I like and respect Alek. First the train incident, and now the college he attends suffers a tragic attack... That's a real American hero, and someone not "trained" to act for the camera's. His emotion was real and raw, and to say he was angry and upset is an understatement. It would have been a powerful dance if he could have channeled that anger into the paso, but I can't fault him for having his heart and mind elsewhere.
Nick and Sharna: Am I showing my age that I don't know half the people on this show? Maybe it's because I don't know him, that I found his story compelling, and I enjoyed his dance.
Is it wrong of me to wish that these nice folks would just be themselves during the package and stop trying to squeeze tears out during Memorable Year Week? It's really awkward and takes me out of their story...
Carlos and Whitney: Waltz to Amazing Grace. I'm sure it's been done before, but it's a first for me...and I sort of liked it. It was pretty and peaceful. I thought the 9, 8, 8 should have been an 8, 8, 8, or 8, 7, 8.
Paula and Louis: Loved the bottom half of the dress and those legs. The top of the dress was not flattering, I couldn't take my eyes off trying to figure out why. Wow, I much preferred her in the package with her hair pulled back, glasses and very little makeup. Didn't care for the dance at first, but started liking it just as she messed up...
Andy and Allison: Gee, is Allison pregnant? Did she and Andy even dance? I can't remember.
Bindi and Derek: Beautiful contemporary. I am three times Bindi's age, lost my dad 10 years ago and I still can't talk about it without bursting into tears, and we were never as close as those two were. Ambivalent about Derek, but I give him kudos for that dance. It told a very clear and poignant story, danced very tenderly and gracefully.
