Dancing With Stars Semi-Final Madness

Opening thoughts for this week: Bristol Palin needs to go. Sure, she's the plucky underdog, but really, she does not belong in the final three. Let's stop voting for values or politics and start voting based on performance.

Mrs. Angrybell is of the opinion that this is one of the weakest as far competitors go. And I have to agree. Other than Brandy and Jennifer Grey, I doubt that the other two would still be standing at this point.

So let's see how the couples handle a two dance night.

Brandy and Maksim lead off with a Paso. Interesting routine. Very heavy on the story and not as much, at least at the beginning on the dance. But I think Len should let it go. Brandy is having a bit of a problem. The look is there in her face, but her steps are not... powerful. She's stomping but it almost looks like she is afraid as opposed to being powerful and flowing. The 27 seemed a little high for that dance. It was good, but it wasn't that close to perfection.

Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough are coming in off last weeks perfect score and doing their first one with a cha cha cha. Bruno is getting a little too excited with Jennifer's gyrations. It was a little off in the beginning, but by the time they crossed the floor it looked sharp and with good hip action coming out of her. I kind of feel like she was a little over amped. The Judges may give her a perfect score, but I think there was just a little something off in the beginning because it felt almost like Derek had to slow her down. Now this is not to say it wasn't a great dance. It just had some problems. And of course, with it so close to the end, the judges throw up a row of perfect 10s.

Bristol and Mark doing a Paso. Starts off strong. Mrs. Angrybell is stunned by Bristol's technique at the start (which is good) and by Mark's shirtlessness (which is bad). As the dance goes on, it gets a little more uneven. But there are some parts where she is fully committed to the dance. However, when she has to lift the cape/skirt, she drops out of the zone. Good lord, Carrie Ann... please. Len is right. She has hung in there and this was probably her best dance. But is it good enough to hand in there for the finals? I'm still saying no. She got a 27. Not sure it was that good. But we shall see. And I have to say, someone must have shown Bristol the scene out of Bull Durham for her answers to Brooke Burke's questions.

Kyle Massey and Lacey Schwimmer doing a Samba. Mrs. Angrybell likes him ("Such a joi de vive"). Mrs. Angrybell has noticed that Lacey is very into her partners smacking her bum whenever possible. I'm just not able to focus on this dance. The song was terrible and distracting. It was nice. No real mistakes I guess. But that song just drove me to distraction. And Len has that look that says he is going to give a 10. I guess it was good, since they gave it a 29.

Brandy and Maksim return for an Argentine Tango. And Maks choose to have them play on the steps for a while. Her steps are a little tentative for what I think we should see at this point. But that's just a shading quibble. Otherwise, very nicely done. It was better than her last dance. Which is why they gave her a perfect 30.

Jennifer and Derek return for their Waltz. Nice pirouette to start things off. The dress makes it hard to watch her feet. However, from the way things are flowing for most of the dance, it looks like she is getting the nice rise and fall. However, there was a little problem when they danced into the corner and did those arm behind the head things. She got out of the moment for just a second. But she recovered and got back into the flow. Another perfect score for the couple.

Bristol and Mark return for their Waltz. Mrs. Angrybell wonders if this is the Muslim version. I think they are just going for the very intense, very dramatic look. Her frame is nice. Head in the right spot. Going into the spins, there was a weird weight change. She also needs to be a little tighter on his hip until she moves into the next combination. Mrs. Angrybell just said "wow, she is in a character. Who replaced Bristol Palin with someone else?" Was her best week. Good dance. I just don't think she has what it takes to go to the next round. Of course, America will just want to prove me wrong. And the 26 was probably the most honest score of the night.

This brings us to the last Kyle and Lacey doing their Argentine Tango. They got hosed with the song. Its so up tempo for this dance, that it is forcing him to be quick as opposed to powerful with his feet. The other thing, and Mrs. Angrybell said this before I could type it was "What about Kyle? Isn't he supposed to be dancing too?" There were long periods where Lacey was showing. I almost get the feeling that he was having trouble with the dance and she covered for him by extending her bits where she could allow him to stay hidden as the center. That being said, he had to be an effective center. Mrs. Angrybell agrees with Carrie Ann about the Emmit Smith comparison. Both had that twinkle that could get you to over look their technical faults. The 29 was generous. Probably should be have 27. But then, it is the semi-finals.

If we are being honest, the best entertainers are Jennifer, Brandy, and Kyle. The underdog is clearly Bristol. She has shown improvement. She may even be peaking. The problem is this: her peak for dancing, at least right now, is not as high as Jennifer, Brandy, or Kyle.

Bristol needs to go home. Her held high. But she needs to go home.

But then I've been saying that for a while.