Dance War: Houston, We Have Teams

This week's episode of Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann was better than last week's but not by much. The show opened with the 16 finalists performing a routine to a medley of music that included Michael Jackson's "Don't Stop 'Til You Get Enough" and Peaches & Herb's "Shake Your Groove Thing". The dancing was good I'll give them that but there was too much background vocals!

After Carrie Ann and Bruno took their seats in the cushy chairs at the side of the stage, Drew Lachey informed us that one girl and one guy would be leaving this evening. The guys and girls both would perform as groups first and then in numbers that would emphasize solos next.

The guys' group performance was good but I had no idea who was who because they wouldn't put captions up on the screen. Carrie Ann and Bruno both thought they did a good job. Carrie Ann said she thought Bradley and Zack stood out while Bruno liked Chris and Tony. After this, then they spotlighted the guys and told us a little bit more about them. I thought that was stupid but whatever.

The first spotlight on the guys included Maxx (works on his family's farm), Qis (had wanted to be a professional football player), Chris (his mother has multiple sclerosis), and Bradley (his older brother dances on Broadway). After watching their interviews, they sang and danced to the Backstreet Boys hit "Larger Than Life". The dancing was good and the vocals were just OK. There's something hinky going on though because I could swear their lips weren't matching up with the music all the time. I thought this was a singing contest too?

The final spotlight on the guys was with Zack (he's studying to be a dentist and his brother has Down Syndrome), Tony (been in Los Angeles over a year trying to make it big), and Phillip (doesn't have much dance training and loves sports). They performed "Hard To Handle" by The Black Crowes. This group was definitely better than the first group and Carrie and Bruno thought so as well. Carrie Ann thought the strongest voice this time around was Phillip.

Bruno and Carrie then chose two guys each for their teams schoolyard style. Carrie Ann's envelope said she got first pick and she chose Bradley. Bruno chose Zack and Carrie Ann then chose Chris. Bruno chose Tony as his second guy and that left Maxx, Phillip, and Qis to wait around until the end of the show to see which one of them would be going home. I must say that during Carrie Ann and Bruno's picking, their "acting" was so over-the-top it was hilarious -- and not in a good way.

It was time for the girls to perform as a group now and they chose "Bad Girls" by Donna Summer. The dancing was a bit rough and the lip-syncing issue came up with them as well. Bruno loved them and thought Lacey, Mariel, and Kelsey were the best. Carrie Ann thought that Elizabeth had improved a great deal in her dancing and called Corina out for being off balance.

The first spotlight on the girls included Kelsey (in dance training since an early age), Corina (same as Kelsey), Allysa (took a friend to the DW auditions and decided to try out at the last minute), and Charity (she teaches ballet to little girls and her father is a Contemporary Christian singer). They performed Sonny & Cher's "The Beat Goes On". Their outfits (especially the boots) were the best part of the routine as I thought their singing and dancing to be boring and lame. Carrie Ann thought Allysa and Kelsey stood out while Bruno also loved Kelsey.

The last girls spotlight was with Mariel (grandmother sick with cancer), Lacey (uses this as her stage name and is a choir director at her church), and Elizabeth (was adopted). They performed "Lady Marmalade" by Patti LaBelle. Like the guys, this second group was way better than the first group. Bruno and Carrie Ann loved them and Bruno thought Mariel especially did a great job.

Bruno was able to pick first from the girls and chose Lacey to be his diva. Carrie Ann picked Mariel and then Bruno picked Kelsey. Carrie Ann picked Elizabeth as her second lady leaving Corina, Charity, and Allysa wondering which among them would be packing their bags.

Then, both of the leftover three groups performed one last time to try to win the judges over and get the remaining spots on their teams. The girls performed "Survivor" by Destiny's Child and the guys performed Boyz II Men's "End Of The Road". I thought the guys did much better than the girls on this one!

Bruno was first to pick again and chose Phillip and Charity to complete his team. Carrie Ann chose Qis and Allysa to round out her team. Of course, that means that Maxx and Corina would be going home. Both said they were disappointed but had a great experience. Like they would say anything else!

Next week, the voting begins and the dance war is on! I'll probably watch next week's just to see how the show is going to go with each team performing as a cohesive unit. Depending on how good it is, I'll watch the week after that.

What did you think of the show this week? Will you be voting next week?