DWTS13 Who Danced it Better? Halloween Edition
And the parade of song dittos just keeps on coming. 🙂 Seriously, I find myself groaning aloud each week when I see the song list – “Ugh, that one AGAIN!” or “I feel like they just used that song!!!” But alas, at the very least, it makes throwing these posts together a cinch 😉
Lotsa dittos this past week – the only ones who managed to make it through semi-unscathed by the reuse of songs that probably shouldn’t have been reused were Nancy, Hope, & David. Guess that was to be expected, though, since there aren’t too many songs that are both Halloweenish and suitable for ballroom!
Battle of Evanescence “Bring Me to Life”
As most of you already know, it was Evan & Anna’s paso doble song in season 10:
And then, this past week, it was the song for Team Paso Doble:
Court’s take: I have to say I was a bit shocked that they were reusing the music from a very memorable routine, and I gotta give this one to Evan & Anna. Both routines are great, and this song is damn near perfect for a very dramatic, intense paso doble – but compared to Evan & Anna, who were absolutely KILLING their routine, team paso doble was just kinda kicking it in the shins. 🙂 And on a side note, it’s amazing what you notice when you watch these routines the 2nd or 3rd time around – Evan looks a lot better than I remembered him being at the time (guess a few seasons of subpar dancing will make you recognize REAL talent even more!), and Hope looks off-time in several parts of team paso. That cape section Evan did was SUPERB.
Battle of Rihanna’s “Disturbia”
Lance & Lacey had their tango to it in season 7, Lacey’s very first season on the show:
And it was Team Tango’s song this past week:
Court’s take: Why oh whyyyy did they pick this song to reuse for a tango??? I mean, the lyrics are edgy…but the beat is so clubby & dancey. Not edgy enough for a tango, IMO. But anyway. As overrated as I thought Lance & Lacey’s tango was at the time (and I still kinda do), it was better than team tango’s interpretation of the song. I liked how Lance & Lacey went the classy-edgy route, with the dark costuming and slight tweaks in choreo to make the dance feel “creepier”; in retrospect, it just seems like team tango was doing a regular tango in straightjackets and kinda let that be our only indicator that it was a scary Halloween tango. I will say this, though: I still think Lacey’s ballroom is horrid. You could drive a boat show between her & Lance…and that footwork? Yeesh. And as ho-hum as I felt about the team tango on the whole, I actually really liked JR & Karina’s section, upon second viewing. Liked that body wave move they did in reverse 🙂
Battle of Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams”
It was first used as Chad & Cheryl’s tango in season 10:
And then it was Ricki & Derek’s paso this week:
Court’s take: Considering that most of you probably didn’t remember that it was Chad & Cheryl’s tango, you’ll probably agree that Ricki & Derek had the better interpretation 🙂 Chad & Cheryl were just a non-event to me – it was just a garden-variety example of their usual routine each week that season, with Chad just kinda walking through the steps while Cheryl danced circles around him. I think I remembered Cheryl’s dress more than the dance itself – that was during her sheer-skirted ballgown phase, and I remember the back being vaguely…thong-like. 😛 It may not have been the most compelling paso doble that Derek has ever choreographed, but for me it at least managed to take a step beyond the stereotypical Halloween schlock we saw this week. Plus I just kinda dig Little Red Riding Hood – my favorite Halloween costume everrrrrr. 😉
Battle of Ray Parker Jr.’s “Ghostbusters”
Monique & Louis had it as their cha-cha song during the first Halloween show back in season 3:
And JR & Karina got it as their tango this week:
Court’s take: This is almost a no-contest to me – Monique & Louis!!! The song was positively sucktastic as a tango and I think JR may have been 2nd only to Nancy in song screwage this week. Wayyyy too hard to keep timing. And let me just say this: I think Monique may be one of the most underrated contestants that’s ever been on this show, and I think Louis is capable of being every bit as creative as Derek, Maks, or Mark – when he has the right partner 🙂 I loved this cha-cha – it was fun, cute, cheeky, creative, and yet still a proper cha-cha. And Monique is like the DWTS-conceived love child of Kyle Massey & Lil Kim – she was a sassy showgirl like Kim, with the skill & youthful appeal (and Disney pedigree) of Kyle. That girl could DANCE, too – kinda makes me wonder if she would have fared better (and possibly won) if she was in a less-competitive season.
Battle of “The Addams Family Theme”
Another gimme from the original Halloween episode in season 3, it was Joey & Edyta’s tango:
And Rob & Cheryl had it again this Halloween episode:
Court’s take: This is a little bit of a weird one for me, as I’m not particularly fond of “The Addams Family” as a tango – even though it has a strong tango beat, it just seems…hokey. 🙂 And I think both guys had different strengths in their respective routines – Joey’s was definitely better from a technical standpoint, but I thought Rob played the character a bit better. I enjoyed both for different reasons. But overall – I just don’t ever want to hear this song again on DWTS!
Loved Evan and Anna’s Paso and although I’m not a Tango fan I really liked Rob and Cheryl’s performance
Thanks for this post. Do you think we’re going to get a really memorable dance this season, like Anna and Evan’s paso? Looking at some of these (Monique) makes me say “Meh” about a lot of this season. And watching that team paso, yeah, Rob did a good job. And Hope has the wrong partner, I think. What would she be like with a different teacher?
really love this post! thanks Courtney!
no question about it – Evan and Anna’s Paso was amazing. one of the best routine i have ever seen on DWTS. i can honestly say that Evan performed the greatest Paso a star ever did. It suited him so perfect … the group routine could never win this one.
the tango…i am not crazy for either of them…but let’s give this one to Lance.
Beyonce’s “Sweet Dreams” goes without discussion to Ricki and Derek…i know Derek cut a little on the choreo, maybe because of Ricki’s injury but they still pulled off a great routine.
i don’t like “Ghostbusters” for a tango…so JR and Karina did the best that they could with what they had. this one goes to Monique and LVA
and “The Addams Family Theme” tango goes to (can’t believe i am saying this) Rob and and Cheryl…intense, intense! 🙂 he nailed the character. the technique … not so much
Evan and Anna’s Paso was one of the very few dances I watched repeatedly. I thought they killed it and that they were robbed of the Mirror Ball
Evan and Anna are probaly my favorite couple ever, and their paso was my favorite of their dances. It was one of my favorite nonfreestyles ever. I favored Lances tango rather than team tango, I think, I keep changing my mind. Do I really need to say if I liked Chad or Ricki’s dance more? It’s obviously Ricki. I think I’m going to go with Moniques cha cha. Ghostbusters should not be used for the tango. I tied Rob and Joey after debating for a while.
I re watched some of Anna and Evan’s dances. Anna is my favorite female pro because of her season with Evan.
And Evan was a truly special and spectacular contestant.
He was so elegant,long and lovely to watch
I don’t know if this has to do with anything, but they used the same song for Gilles Marini and Romeo Miller’s salsa. The same section of the song, too.