How many times are they going to show Marie dropping to the ground? It's kind of creepy at this point. She looks really, really dead.

Based on the shot of the dancers at the beginning, I'm guessing that the encore dance this week is going to be the group dance, because they're all dressed up as greasers and jocks again. But let's reminisce about what happened twenty-four hours earlier. After getting perfect scores, backstage, Maks shows off his hairless chest and jokes that it's why they got such high scores. I know a lot of forum posters who would agree with that assessment, and I'm enjoying Maks a lot more this season because Mel puts him in his place. Helio declares that his smile is his secret weapon. Cameron says backstage that this was his most challenging week, schedule-wise, and his most challenging week, dance-wise, so he's pleased that they just made it through. Cameron clearly learned the lesson early on that the audience doesn't have a lot of sympathy for the dancers' busy schedule. Sabrina doesn't understand why Len doesn't think she's bringing nuance to her performance. Could it be because she goes at everything with the same amount of intensity? I don't think it has to do with the speed of the music or the dance; it's about intensity, which she has cranked up to 10 at all times. Marie was upset that the judges didn't see the passion in her paso doble. Jane makes yet another crack about how the youngsters who are professional dancers might be better at the jive than she is, which, can it, Jane. She got to choose the dance this week. I can't imagine anyone thought she would do well at that routine.

Tom announces that Jane has food poisoning and won't be out on the floor tonight. Man, it is not her week, between nearly losing her home in the fire, still grieving her mother, and now this? As I suspected, the encore this week is the group dance. Frankly, Jane was the worst at this last night, so I don't think she'll be missed. Except for the fact that Tony is dancing all by himself during the couple stuff, which is kind of sad. Julianne joins him for his stunt, though. I thought the whole group dance was actually much better tonight than last night -- it went much more smoothly.

Tom points out some L.A. County firefighters in the audience, taking a much-deserved break. But now it's time for Barry Manilow's performance. He's joined by Cheryl and Louis Van Amstel. Hi Def is not a friend to Barry Manilow. I think he must have a spray tan, because you can see the lines around his eyes where the tan ends. Barry is also a tiny bit flat on some of the held notes, which is painful. I don't know if his monitors are off or what. Barry's singing a song called "They Dance," which is...kind of perfect for this show because it's super-corny and cheesy.

What did the studio audience think about the show? It was amazing. It was dangerous. The audience thinks Jane and Marie are going to be in the bottom two. Wow, fascinating. At least that segment seemed shorter than most weeks, although I may have fallen asleep in the middle.

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