God bless 'em, Jeanine and Phillip are screwed again. After the Russian debacle, now they have to try their hands at the jive. Jeanine will miss Phillip's big heart. He will miss her positivity. Tony and Melody return to teach them, and there is talk of smooching, sailors and sass. Phillip notes some awkward groping moments in the dance. In any case, Jeanine hopes they do better on ballroom than last time. They're dancing to "Stuff Like That There" by Bette Midler. Phillip seems to be holding his own, he's by no means a master. And then. Oh. My. God. HE'S MOTORBOATING HER! This distracts him sufficiently to make him nearly fall in a subsequent slide across the state. From that point, he never really gets it back. She does some cartwheels. They do some tricks. And he wraps up with the same break dancing spinning, leg flipping thing from the Russian number, as if to say, "Remember! I'm talented at something! You love me! Don't vote me off!"
Nigel compliments the dance and its choreographers but adds a proviso that the dancers must bring the style to life. He looks dramatically at Phillip and takes a pause. He surprisingly says it's the best Phillip has been outside of his own style. He notes the slip and the nerves but says he came to life. And how could he not be without a partner like Jeanine? Nigel says he would be surprised if she doesn't make it to the Top 10. Mary echoes that sentiment and says Phillip surprised her. She tells America not to count him out. At Cat's prodding, Phillip admits that he had a couple of crashes during rehearsal, so it could have been worse. Mary selectively puts Jeanine on the HTT. Sorry, Phillip! It's steerage for you! Tyce, apropos of nothing, tells everyone to "call 1-888-FAN-FRIGGIN-TASTIC." Oh, Tyce... He says that Jeanine is a star, the choreography was awesome, and both of them were a great package. No one mentions the motorboat incident. But it happened. Never forget!
Before they dance their final number together, Randi says she'll miss some face Evan makes that is meant to imply wanting and needing but inadvertently implies mental handicap (this last part is my interpretation because Randi is way too nice to say anything like that). Evan says he'll miss laughing with Randi and wishes her next partner well. But first, Randi will have to push her limits with a sexy samba choreographed by Pasha and Anya from Season 3. Yay Pasha! It must be noted that Randi, the girl with unitard pride, says she feels like a fool doing this dance. Yeah, honey. It's the shimmies and not your lycra onesies... Anyhow, cue music: Jubaba's "Ritmo de Bom Bom." They kick-start the routine with an eye-popping leap-lift combo. And you can tell that they are working their little Cabbage Patch asses off, but even with a strong ending, it's all still very Stagedoor to me. Again, imagine Benji and Heidi doing this. And they were cousins! (But boy could they mambo.) It's not a good sign when both of your routines just make people think of who would do them better.













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