Shawn Johnson and Mark Ballas - Jive

We take a trip to Des Moines, Iowa, to see where Shawn comes from. Holy crap, Shawn was one CUTE LITTLE KID. Is that really her at six years old, flipping around on the gym equipment. I think as far as likeability is concerned, I like Shawn the best. Plus, I love Midwesterners.

However, I'm not loving Shawn and Mark's polka-dotted outfits. What is with Mark Ballas and his need to wear high waters with white socks. Shawn's dress looks too similar to a dress that Cheryl wore earlier in the season. However, their jive is awesome. and not just because I love me a good jive. This is the bubbly Shawn that we've all come to know and love. She's still got the extreme precision thing going, but it was also so much fun.

Len starts off with a compliment to the band and the singers. Then he goes on to tell Shawn that it was fun, but there was too much "messing about dancing" going on. He would have liked more traditional jive steps. Bruno says that it was a bit more like a lindy hop than a jive at times, but she gave it 110 percent. Carrie Ann nitpicks that Shawn seemed to lose steam toward the end of the routine, but she still thought it was a good performance.

The scores:
Carrie Ann: 9
Len: 8
Bruno: 9
Total: 26 out of 30, which makes that a 56 out of 60 for the evening.


Ty Murray and Chelsie Hightower - Samba

Let's take a trip down to Texas to see where Ty comes from, shall we? He's apparently a fourth-generation cowboy, and that's all he's ever wanted to be. His mother says that he never played with toys; he's only ever wanted to rope and ride, or whatever you say. Sweet Jesus, he was a cute kid, wearing a little black cowboy hat and homemade chaps.

Chelsie is definitely really hot and she has no problem shaking her hips. I can't quite say the same about Ty, though. They are a little bit out of sync here and there, and she is doing most of the work here. Oh golly, it's not pretty when he shakes his butt or his torso. Well, he does warm up a bit, and the second half of the routine is better than the first.

Bruno says that Ty looked so determined that he looked like he was dancing on a tightrope. Carrie Ann votes Ty as the most valuable player of season 8. Len says that in the ballroom dances, he's like Arthur Murray, but in the Latin dances, he's like Murray in a hurry. Len does commend Chelsie for all her hard work, however, so at least he ends on a high note.

The scores:
Carrie Ann: 8
Len: 7
Bruno: 8
Total: 23 out of 30, for a 48 out of 60 for the evening.


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