Dancing with the Stars 9, November 2: The World Series of Dance

Welcome to another exciting week, Dancing with the Stars fans! This week each couple gets to choose any dance from the season for their individual routine. The group dances will feature a team format similar to that seen in the season premiere, with one team performing the tango and one the paso doble.

Tom and Samantha welcome us and introduce our remaining stars. Lacey Schwimmer is sidelined with the flu tonight, so Mark Dacascos is dancing with Anna Trebunskaya. Our pros show us what a team dance should look like and I’m already hating the filler in tonight’s show. Their routine is quite entertaining, but these performance shows are WAY too long this season!

I’m not going to lie, I’d rather be watching the World Series right now (GO YANKEES!) but if I did that there would be nobody to bring you this recap. My remote will be getting a workout during the commercial breaks, though since these games tend to end somewhere around midnight I am hopeful that I’ll be able to catch a good portion of the game after the show is over.

This week the stars designed their partners’ costumes. It’s usually the other way around. Everyone looks pretty good to me.

Our first couple tonight is Michael Irvin & Anna Demidova. They have chosen to dance the foxtrot for their individual dance. Anna tries to draw on the showmanship Michael displayed on the football field, particularly after scoring a touchdown. Michael wants to live up to his nickname, “The Playmaker” and put on an elegant and entertaining foxtrot.

Michael & Anna look great in their purple costumes tonight. They are dancing to “Sunny Afternoon” and while it’s a fun routine I really wanted to see more energy. I didn’t hate it, but I wasn’t really wowed by it either. Michael has come a long way though and that is nice to see.

Len is going to be honest. The first couple of weeks he was on the show Len would have been happy to see the back of him. But the last two weeks he’s been great.

Bruno says Michael’s musicality has improved. He reminds Michael of the nickel trick to keep his butt in.

Carrie Ann doesn’t know how he does it, every time she thinks he is going to fall flat he does wonderfully. And she loves the costumes.

Tom reminds us of the voting procedures. Go to abc.com or text your vote if you don’t feel like calling. Everyone gets seven votes tonight.

Carrie Ann gives their foxtrot an 8, Len does the same, and Bruno gives them a 7 for a total of 23 and their highest score of the season.

Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson are dancing the quickstep tonight. Donny is concerned about the pace of the dance since he had trouble keeping up with Kym last week. Kym works with him on his posture and she employs the dreaded posture bar. Donny asks if it can be built into his costume.

Donny & Kym’s quickstep is fast and fun. I don’t like the costume Donny designed for Kym though. They are dancing to “Sing, Sing, Sing.” Donny does make a few mistakes but as usual he puts on a very entertaining performance.

Bruno says as a performer Donny is solid as a rock. Nobody could cover up all the mistakes as well as he did.

Carrie Ann says it was pretty good. She liked the hold and he was very light on his feet but he did make some mistakes. It was not his best.

Len says Donny came out full bore at all times. There were mistakes but he went for it and attacked it and it was great.

Tomorrow on the results show Rod Stewart, Colbie Caillat, and Mark Ballas and Derek Hough will perform. And a dance-off and double elimination. Be there at 9/8c.

Score time! Carrie Ann: 8. Len: 8. Bruno: 8. Total: 24.

Tom reveals the teams for tonight’s team dances. The captains are last week’s highest scorers. Joanna picked Donny and Kelly for Team Tango. Aaron chose Mya, Mark, and Michael for Team Paso. The teams will perform in round two after the completion of the last individual dance.

Our next couple tonight is Mark Dacascos & Lacey Schwimmer Anna Trebunskaya. Last week Mark’s jitterbug earned his highest score of the season. Lacey came down with the flu so Anna returned to the dance floor to stand in for her. Tony Dovolani helped Mark learn the routine in New York, and Anna took over when he returned to California.

Mark & Anna are dancing the samba tonight. I love their costumes! Their samba is… interesting. They are dancing to “Switch” and I think the judges are going to be very difficult on them.

Carrie Ann says he had a really rough week. The dance was a mess and it kills her to say that. It was disjointed and there was no flow to it.

Len says he had a difficult week and a difficult dance. It wasn’t terrible. He coped very well.

Bruno says as a samba it was different. It looked like Kung Fu Panda doing the samba on the Planet of the Apes.

Carrie Ann gives them a 6, Len a 7, and Bruno a 6. Mark & Anna have 19 tonight.

Mya & Dmitry Chaplin received their lowest score since week one last week. They are dancing the foxtrot tonight. Mya wants to show she can be classy and elegant. Dmitry tells her to let go and have some fun. He brings in Cloris Leachman, who of course competed in Dancing with the Stars 7. She tells a story about being at Fred Astaire’s house with Gene Kelly. She helps them work on connecting with each other.