It started with three dancers doing "I Want You Back", then continued with several couples doing "Man in the Mirror" and closed with all the pros doing the "Thriller" dance. It was short and didn't feel at all like Michael, aside from the fact that his music was playing. This was very loosely inspired by Michael's legendary moves, and frankly, the fact that Mark Ballas likes to wear sparkly socks and short pants (like MJ) while he dances isn't really enough of the hook. I appreciated the quick moment where the "I Want You Back" dancers did a little bit of "The Wiz", but the "Man in the Mirror" segment was literally just couples doing sexy dances to that song, with a few leg flips thrown in for good measure. The "Thriller" part was the only portion that was actually familiar MJ dancing, but frankly, while the pros are good, this is not their speciality. I thought the one in 13 Going on 30 was much more fun and well replicated, and even the version a few years ago on America's Best Dance Crew seemed more special. And, as our DWtS recapper Kim pointed out, someone other than MJ choreographed that dance, though to his credit, Michael Jackson totally made it awesome.

All in all, I felt like a let down. It was quick, very ballroom heavy and lacked all of the spark that made Michael Jackson's dancing so interesting in the first place. I would have been far more interested to see what the choreographers on So You Think You Can Dance would have come up with this summer, but for some reason they were denied. Perhaps because DWtS has a bigger audience? Perhaps because the Jackson family didn't have a movie to promote out of the deal? Whatever. I think that would have been more original and actually featured more MJ-esque dancing, which is what I was really hoping for here. Additionally, for something that was as highly overhyped as this DWtS MJ tribute, why squish it into one short little segment? (I am not counting the two second flashbacks to other times the stars/pros have danced to MJ because they were small and forgettable) There were a million other songs to choose from and they could have easily eliminated or postponed the Norah Jones portions of the evening in order to compensate and make up the time. Basically, I'm feeling letdown by DWtS, and it isn't the first time.