Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann, the First Battle

This was the first real battle episode in the team based dancing and singing competition that is Dance War: Bruno vs. Carrie Ann. The evening started out with an energetic performance of "Spice Up Your Life" that featured all of the contestants from both teams. The number was followed by a painfully slow, detailed and somewhat over dramatic recap of the previous week's competition. Portions of each performance, essentials of each performer and the entire team selection process was reviewed and replayed along with commentary from the contestants taken after last week's taping. With a half hour already gone, it was time to get down to the actual competition.

Team Bruno (Zack, Tony, Lacey, Kelsey, Charity and Phillip) kicked things off with a quick look into the week's training for the first number and a sappy story on the vocal strain being suffered by Phillip - was he already burned out? Team Bruno's first number was "A Little Less Conversation," and featured the guy's vocals with the girls singing backup. Tony was the real standout in this number.

Next up was team Carrie Ann's week in training. She had her team memorizing lyrics right out of the gate and everyone on the team (Bradley, Chris, Mariel, Elizabeth, Allysa and Qis) agreed that Carrie Ann was going to be tough to work for. Unfortunately the tough training didn't seem to help the team's performance of "Run It." The number was slow, the dancing simplistic and lazy, and the vocals were never quite in tune. The performance was further hindered by a microphone malfunction that rendered Chris silent throughout the routine.

Round one went to Team Bruno, hands down.

Round two was also led off by Team Bruno. A Further look into the weekly training regime showed a caring Bruno putting the team through physical conditioning, teamwork exercises, attitude training and vocal training. The second number showed that all the work was worth it; "S.O.S." had an Asian flair, with the boys doing the heavy dancing; stylized, crisp, karate like moves. The girls handled the lead vocal duties, with Lacey being the clear standout.

Back to Carrie Ann's team and more review from the week's training and a focus on Mariel's insecurities as a dancer. The team's performance of "Call Me" was an improvement over their first number, but it still wasn't enough to pull them out of the hole for the night. The girls took lead vocal duties while the guys slinked and slid around them. The dancing was still less technical that it could have been, but Mariel's powerhouse vocals saved the performance.

Round two, while a much closer call, also went to Team Bruno.

Next week, the team with the fewest votes will have to lose a team member and it looks like Carrie Ann is going to have to make a tough choice. Look for Bradley or Elizabeth to depart next week.