'Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars' recap: More guilty pleasures, Gangnam Style

By Allyssa Lee

Oct. 24, 2012 12 AM PT

Guilty Pleasures Week and the “Dancing With the Stars: All-Stars” halfway point continued on Tuesday night with the members of Team “Call Me Maybe” performing their individual dances, while Team “Gangnam Style” added to their individual scores from Monday night with their group freestyle routine.

Launching themselves back to the top of the leaderboard were Sabrina Bryan and Louis Van Amstel. Sabrina chose “So This is Love” from the Disney classic “Cinderella” for her guilty pleasure so she could live out her childhood princess fantasy. Though as Louis Van Charming said, this Cinderella waltz required this normally fierce and fast Cheetah Girl to slow down the edge and be vulnerable. This was like a Disney cartoon come to life, with carbon copies of the Cinderella and Prince Charming costumes, and the disembodied British voice announcing “Once upon a time in a land far, far away...”

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The lilting dance ended with a clanging clock (which was distracting at first), and Sabrina running away at the end. “I loved the story … it had a beginning, a middle and an end. It was such a charming number,” Len smiled. “Cinderella, I think you’re going to the ball.” The dance had Bruno lilting back and forth and lost in his own fantasy reverie. “It was like a magic ride into an enchanted kingdom,” he swayed. So much so that Louis gave him the sparkly slipper at the end. “I think you fit the shoe!” Carrie Ann started off a downer: “I don’t think you quite got to vulnerability,” she said sternly. “But I think that was elegance personified.” Fake-out! Carrie Ann also said Sabrina was headed toward a happy ending. Sabrina and Louis received a 29 for their waltz and an additional 29.5 from their Team “Call Me Maybe” performance. Total: 58.5 out of 60.

Melissa Rycroft’s guilty pleasure: Britney Spears, of course. Melissa chose “Toxic” to tango to with Tony Dovolani. Turned out this week gave Melissa a bunch of firsts. She’d never done the Guilty Pleasures dance, and she’d never done the tango. All the new steps were getting to her head and resulted in tears during rehearsals. But the judges couldn’t find much amiss with the Dr. Frankenstein meets Sydney Bristow on a hamster-wheel performance. I felt it was a little slow compared to the pop beat of the song, but Len gave Melissa “a verbal pat on the back … it was crisp, it was sharp, occasionally I thought you could have snapped a little bit more.” Which led to a bit of a spar between Len and Tom Bergeron. Tom said Melissa’s lack of snap was due to the fact that she was toted off in an ambulance for a neck injury two days earlier. Len snappily told Tom to “keep your witty comments to yourself.” To which Tom sassed, “That was more a factual comment in an attempt to find your beating heart.” Boom! Bruno thought Melissa was “a fascinating fantasy creature. It wasn’t toxic, it was intoxicating.” While he loved her character, he thought her top line could be better. Carrie Ann agreed. “Tonight, you were absolutely gritty,” she said, but “your torso could be a little bit tighter.” Melissa and Tony received a 27 for their tango. Total: 56.5.

Shawn Johnson was really nervous about this week’s rumba, set to her guilty pleasure, Celine Dion’s ode to the ocean, “My Heart Will Go On” from “Titanic.” And I thought Derek did a really good job trying to get the stoic gymnast to show her sensitive side. Kudos to him for showing that there is strength in vulnerability, and for choreographing such an awesome routine. I was swept away by the heartfelt romance. I loved her flying leap into his arms (it was a catch, Carrie Ann -- not a lift!). I loved their vulnerability. Derek didn’t even have gel in his hair -- that’s how naked he was. And when Derek disappeared into the fog at the end, I was transported to Rose and Jack all over again. Never let go, Jack. Never let go. The crowd erupted into applause, and Bruno stood with disbelief at what just happened. “That was awesome! Ever-changing shapes. Emotionally connected, touching and romantic, absolutely stunning,” he crowed. Carrie Ann said she felt like “a proud mama right now -- you’ve grown so much.” But one hand gave while the other hand took away, docking for what she called a “lifty-poo” (“Carrie Ann plays the iceberg,” said Tom, in rare form Tuesday night). Cranky Len saw no hip action and just clipped movements, and likened the performance to “a Dickens novel. I had ‘Great Expectations’. I got ‘Bleak House’.” Clearly, Len got lost in the fog. No lifeboat for him. Shawn and Derek received a 27 for their samba. Total: 56.5.

Karina and Apolo had to redeem themselves this week after last week’s tumble. As Karina said, it’s how you get up, not how you fall down. Karina wanted to add a samba roll because it’s a hard move and is bound to get applause. And I liked the set-up of the routine, with Karina reading a “Give It to Me Baby” and jumping out of Apolo’s bachelor pad bed as he jumped in it. Tom thanked Bruno for lending them their bedroom set. Carrie Ann thought the legwork was fantastic, but said she’s still waiting for his breakthrough moment. “The chemistry feels like it was out of sync.” Len, however, thought Carrie Ann was bonkers. “I thought that was terrific,” the head judge said. A little too much grinding, maybe, but “I saw rhythm, I saw clean, sharp, precise movement.” Bruno also thought Apolo was “terribly sexy,” save those bachatas. “I thought you did a really good job.” They got a 27. Total: 56.5.

Freestyle Team dance “Gangnam Style” started out with the best of intentions. And Carrie Ann put it best when she called it a “hot mess.” Gilles Marini took his leader duties seriously, trying to take charge of the situation and butting horns with “alpha male” Maksim Chmerkovskiy. The rehearsals showed scenes of chaos, with Emmitt Smith getting kicked in the “freaking head” and Maks, after a horsey run, saying “That is so ... stupid.” Kirstie said this routine, to Psy’s K-pop hit, was so wild, they were going to end up in an institution.

They started out uniform, in matching color-coordinated suits and sunglasses, and the women wearing bobbed wigs. And then the suits were torn away to reveal some sort of ‘80s nightmare for Maks and Kirstie, Emmitt and Cheryl Burke, Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovskiy, and some sort of spa sauna costume for Gilles and Peta Murgatroyd. Kirstie had “Gangnam” on her front and “Style” on her rear end. Val looked like a stripper at a bachelor party with his tight pants, no shirt and aviator glasses. Emmitt was being ridden like a pony by Cheryl. And Gilles showed up in a towel. The men slid through the ladies’ legs. And then the wind machine blew out trash while they horsey danced and lassoed. “That was the most fun I’ve had in 15 seasons,” Tom declared. “That should have come with a health warning!” Len proclaimed. “That was the craziest number I have ever seen.” Bruno asked Gilles for his towel: “I’m wetting myself.” And Gilles, ever the team player, gave it to him, revealing white skivvies underneath to the squealing delight of the ladies. “You guys were a hot mess,” Carrie Ann said. But “sometimes hot mess turns into crazy fun insanity.” Team “Gangnam Style” received a 27 for their group effort. Added to Monday’s scores, and here are their totals:

Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd: 56.5

Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke: 56

Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy: 52.5

Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovksiy: 51.5

What did you think, ballroom fans? Impressed by the guilty pleasures this week? Should Shawn have been penalized for that catch/lift? Should Gilles officially become the “DWTS” towel boy? Who’s in danger of going home next week?

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