Okay, let’s see if I understand this correctly: there is either a “dance your favorite” or “judges choice” (and judging by Shawn’s choice I’m going to go with favorite) and a freestyle (supersized, whatever the hell that means) on Monday night. Then on Tuesday they do an instant dance of a style (and song) to be picked on Monday night.
Looks to me like Derek and Shawn are playing this the same way they have played all season – risky. Good for them. Go big or go home. It will be hard for the other two couples to be remembered after seeing that Quickstep again. Melissa’s choice is also somewhat risky, considering I don’t think she’s really fixed the issues that she’s always had – her legs. We’ll see how the judges score – both couples are putting them to the test, IMO.
That said – the choices of all three couples could also be called not really risky, just from a previous scores stand point. All three couples have had at least two dances that were scored lower than the ones they chose to re-do. Their previous scores are shown, below, in parenthesis. Looking at it that way, only Shawn’s choice seems gutsy, seeing as how I doubt Derek’s changing the choreo. I think Mark played it this way one season as well and didn’t get docked the second time around. We’ll see. I expect that Melissa and Kelly are going purely for the perfect 30 (which they will likely get) and Derek/Shawn’s strategy seems to be the same as it’s always been: go for the audience.
Another point…I don’t really believe in coincidences. All three couples chose to do a week 3 dance?? REALLY?? That’s about as coincidental as all three couples choosing AT in Nicole’s season. I wonder…
Good luck to all the couples!!
ETA: The order listed below for Shawn and Melissa is from DWTSGossip on Twitter, NOT our source. Val tweeted that he and Kelly were going first. This order is for Monday night ONLY – most likely. In the past, the Tuesday dance has either been drawn out of a mirrorball OR is just reverse order from Monday night.
ETA2: New interview with Shawn which has this interesting little spoiler in it – don’t think I knew this for sure but had heard it might be the case. From the Des Moines Register:
Q: Let’s talk about your dances this week.
We have six numbers this week. Our freestyle is going to be really exciting, with a lot of cool aspects. I wish I could talk about it, but it has to be a surprise. We’ll also be doing a repeat dance of our favorite dance this season, and I can’t say what that one is, either.
Plus, we’ll be doing a group number with everybody from the season. On Tuesday, we are doing an “instant dance,” which means we’ll draw either samba, cha-cha or jive and have 20 minutes to prepare it. I’m really nervous for that.
ETA3: Someone is dancing to “I’ve had the time of my life.” I tend to think Derek and Shawn, but we’re not positive. 🙂
ETA4: Carnival de Paris is another song – could be Melissa with the aerial dancers and all.
Kelly/Val
Favorite Dance: Iconic Paso (27)
Freestyle
Instant Dance: ??
Dancing 1st and 4th
Voting #: 1-800-868-3411
Melissa/Tony
Favorite Dance: Iconic Samba (27)
Freestyle
Instant Dance: ??
Dancing 2nd and 5th
Voting #: 1-800-868-3406
Shawn/Derek
Favorite Dance: Iconic Quickstep (26.5)
Freestyle
Instant Dance: ??
Dancing 3rd and 6th
Voting #: 1-800-868-3402
