Dancing with the Stars (DWTS), Fall 2009

Cafe Society
181

I really liked the dance-a-thon format. It was interesting to see them all dance at the same time to the same dance.

As for the indiviual dances, I loved Mark and Donnie’s jitterbugs. Donnie made some missteps, but captured the feel of the dance perfectly. It hardly seems fair to have the oldest competitor doing one of the more energetic dances immediately before having to do the Mambo dance-a-thon. They should’ve put someone who did the waltz in that spot. Louis Vito is still walkinging instead of dancing. I like the kid, but he’s now getting outclassed. Kelly was concentrating on the jitterbug that she had to be reminded by Louis VA to smile. It wasn’t special, but I like her a lot. I was watching the trapeze bit and thinking about Mika’s meltdown on TAR. Kelly’s got guts.

Waltz - Aaron did do better, but I’m afraid he’s just not good enough. joanna and Mya looked graceful and elegant, but not enough to make me not able to tear my eyes away. Melissa just wasn’t memorable.

I wish they’d go over how the dances are chosen for the dancers. Do they draw lots? It would add an interesting factor if they showed the competitors picking a mirror-ball sphere from a tumbling group (like a lottery) that had a dance and possible the song inside. Knowing DWtS, they could parlay that into another 1/2 hour of programming.

StG

182

Bingo! This will pull in viewers for the results show. They had this planned from the start, DKW. In fact, they’d intended three such shows, but then Satan had to withdraw. It’s not a shake-up; it’s a ratings ploy.

Twicky, I couldn’t believe they were bumping DtwS for Monday Night Football. Fortunately for me, the New York ABC channel carried it. Here in Trenton, I get both Philly and NY channels. It was an interesting evening, so I’ll recap it for you:

The individual dances were all either jitterbug or waltz. Mya kicked it off with a jitterbug that was perfect, but kinda dull. Her judges’ scores were 8 7 9 from Carrie Ann, Len, and Bruno respectively, for a total of 24.

Melissa and Mark followed with a waltz. She’s just not very graceful, and she lacks the athleticism that, say, Natalie had. Her scores were 7 7 6, for a total of 20.

Mark and Lacey roared out with a very athletic and likable jitterbug, and Lacey, bless her, didn’t have her hair in the mohawk-ish style she wore last week. They were well received with 9 9 8 for a total of 26 (tied for best individual performance).

Aaron and Karina did a very nice waltz. Aaron seems to have been suitably humbled by the past couple of weeks; he’s coming off as far less obnoxious than he was, to me at least. Karina, btw, had a well-known two year long affair with Mario Lopez, but I’ve never heard any buzz that she had an affair with any of her other partners. Anyway, scores were 8 9 8 for a total of 25.

Michael and Anna did a passable waltz. He showed some grace, and connected with his partner well. Len liked it much better than the other two. Scores 6 8 6, for a total of 20.

Kelly and Louis did a jitterbug. It was meh. Louis made her do a trapeze swing during training to try to get her over her fear and lack of confidence. I didn’t see any sign that it helped. The sprained ankle didn’t seem to have any impact, but the choreography may have been worked around it. Scores were 7 6 7 for a total of 20.

The Hobbit and Chelsea also did a jitterbug, and Louis actually seemed to be bothered to dance rather than walk through it. It had charm, and made use of Louie’s athleticism, but it was nothing to write home about. Triple seven for 21.

Joanna and Derek did a very nice waltz. No gimmicks. It wasn’t perfect, but it was beautiful and graceful. Scores were 8 9 9, giving them 26, tied with Mark for best individual scores of the evening.

Donny and Kym did an enthusiastic jitterbug, but I think that it was a bit much for Donny, what with the marathon Mambo (described below) and the possible dance-off to learn as well. He’s in great shape for 50, but he’s finally getting a tad tired, I think. He got triple eights, for 24.

The second dance was a Mambo marathon. All nine couples got on the floor and did a mambo at once. Couple by couple, the judges eliminated them. The first to be eliminated got 2 points, the last got 10. It was interesting. The order of elimination was:

Michael and Anna - 2 points
Louie and Chelsea - 3 points
Melissa and Mark - 4 points
Kelly and Louis - 5 points
Mark and Lacey - 6 points
Donny and Kym - 7 points
Aaron and Karina - 8 points
Mya and Dmitri - 9 points
Joanna and Derek - 10 points

That rather shook up the leader board. Final scores were
Joanna and Derek - 36
Mya and Dmitri - 33
Aaron and Karina - 33
Mark and Lacey - 32
Donny and Kym - 31
Kelly and Louis - 25
Louie and Chelsea - 24
Melissa and Mark - 24
Michael and Anna - 22

My guess is that everyone over 30 points is safe tonight, but the other four are in jeopardy.

183

Thanks for the detailed summary, Oy!! I was pretty POed when I turned to Channel 6. (Luckily, it meant I got to watch an hour-long SYTYCD pre-competition show, which was entertaining as well.)

Alas, since SYTYCD starts competition tonight, DWTS gets the usual Tuesday night tune-in-at-9:58 move from Mlle. Twicks.

184

Michael’s only hope is if fan voting vaults him to number 4. If Melissa also goes, next week will be a nail-biter for me. Will someone I like go before Aaron? Will Kelly and The Skateboarder get the boot before The Model?

I’ve got a feeling Joanna may win it all. The judges LOVE her and not even that ugly and ungraceful fellatio move will sway them.

185

10/27 results show has aired.

[spoiler]Melissa/Mark had the lowest combined score and were sent packing. Louie/Chelsea and Michael/Anna were the next lowest and went to the dance-off. Michael did a samba, Louie a jive. Judges voted 2-1 (Bruno was the dissenter) for Michael to stay in.

Louie, typically, did a flip off the stage when Bergeron called him forward for some last comments, while Chelsea looked seriously pissed over the results.[/spoiler]

186

Cute as the Hobbit was, he just wasn’t bringing something. I’m not sure what.

Note that all the people who were safe were in fact the top six couples on the judges’ leader board from Monday. The voting audience isn’t that benighted. The bottom three were the proper bottom three, and based solely on the thirty-second “dance-off” dances, the right person went home.

So if Kelly and Michael go home next week, we’ll be down to five pretty decent dancers, and the only certain finalist at this point is Mya, I think. It’s by no means certain that she’ll win, though.

187

Giles Smith is a columnist for The Times who writes about sport on television.

His particular niche is taking an offbeat look at sports stars, current or retired, who appear on such shows as I’m a Celebrity - Get Me Out Of Here, Strictly Come Dancing, and other reality programmes in which such people choose to appear.

Today, he reviews the Dancing With The Stars edition featuring the eviction of Natalie Coughlin. There’s just a chance that some contributors to this thread (which I personally haven’t read) might be interested in what he has to say.

Link.

If anyone has got this far, here are a few explanatory notes:

(1) Diego Maradona was an Argentinian footballer who was fuelled up on cocaine at the time he scored his goal in the 1994 World Cup.

(2) Joe Calzaghe is a former world boxing champion who was dismissed from Strictly Come Dancing a couple of weeks ago, mainly for dancing like shit.

(3) Richard Dunwoody is a former steeplechase jockey, also voted off SCD earlier this season. A dancing horse would have progressed further, I think.

(4) Phil Tufnell is a former England cricketer. His dancing is more wooden than a cricket bat. I give him two weeks, tops, before he gets the chop as well.

188

“…dancing like a washing machine” Hee! Great link – thanks, Chez!

189

I couldn’t get Chez’s original link to work, but I ran it down here.

190

“signalled a new, broader acceptance for all forms of hand-to-hand combat where you are allowed to bite.”

Thanks, Chez, that was great!

191

Oh, good!

If Giles does another review of DWTS, or any other similar US show, I’ll be sure to post the link wherever it fits.

192

Yeah, definitely – funny stuff!

193

Well, I liked the team dances – quite a bit more than I expected to. The tango was way better than the paso doble, but the latter is pretty damn challenging to do in that context.

Mark got screwed by the “let’s change partners and dance” thing, he definitely didn’t deserve to be in the bottom two. (I wasn’t pissed enough to turn the computer back on and vote, though.)

It really irritates me when people get penalized because the judges don’t like the choreography. What do the stars know from choreography? Seems fairer to judge them by how well they dance the choreography they’re given.

Good field at this point. Michael needs to go home soon – I hope tonight. Not sure who the other person in the double elimination will be though.

194

I was pissed enough to turn the computer back on and vote for Mark. Mike and (sorry, but it’s true) Kelly should leave this week.

Michael danced as well as he’s ever danced, maybe better, but he wasn’t as good as Mark (or any of the others). And the team dance shouldn’t have scored as heavily as it did.

Tonight should be interesting, and I have a feeling I’m not going to like the results.

195

It’s a team competition, and one of the team members is responsible for the choreography.

196

True.

Still irritates me, though.

197

I watch this show just for the entertainment of dancing. I don’t vote because I don’t know the dance styles well enough to understand who’s good or not.

In term of dance technique, aren’t the judges pretty forgiving? I’ve seen a little ballroom dance competition and even the smallest error in hand or arm movement is dissected. Honestly, it’s pretty boring stuff to sit through. DWTS is a lot of fun.

Do the judges ever criticize the pro partners for screwing up? I’m sure they make mistakes too.

198

Heh. I would say the percentage of people who are voting at all knowledgably (sp?) is less than 5%. Probably* much* less than 5%. Vote on instinct, whim, and personal preference, like the rest of us!

Yeah, and when they do, the judges will say something. It’s obviously way rarer than having a star screw up though.

199

Just make sure Len gets back to London for Friday!

200

I really enjoyed Aaron’s jive. Lots of energy and really quick steps. Mya as always was stupendous. Just don’t get the love for Derek’s partner, can’t remember her name. Just not that impressed with her. Mark seems to be serious but still enjoy the experience.

Kelly has gone as far as she can I think. She’s just too whiny, but she has gained some confidence. I truly feel for Louie.

Looking forward to hearing Derek and Mark sing tonight. Should be interesting.