What you saw Leggy Model (Joanna) do and what I saw her do appear to be entirely different, biggirl. I think Joanna is competent, while I don’t think Melissa (Sabrina) is.
Funny, that.
How DARE you have an opinion different from mine! That’s it. I’m calling the cops.
I’d love to hear that call:
“Yes, Officer, she’s named Oy! And she lives somewhere in Trenton, NJ. I think. At least, that’s what her user profile says…”
Of course, twickster knows my real name, but she’s my pal, and she ain’t tellin’. Besides, she only cares if Louie (snow boarder) stays in.
And Kelly. I like Kelly, too.
Officer, you can see how this totally bypasses a misdemeanor and goes straight to felony 1. A FELONY, I say! Hey. . . whataya doin’ with those handcuffs?
True. I apologize for having forgotten.
Jersey? Oh man, I’m sorry for teasing you, Oy!. You have enough to contend with, what with trying to decide whether to vote for the mammogram and pre-school hating neo-con or they guy who doesn’t wear a seatbelt.
That’s OK, Biggirl. I am a solid Democrat and have no problem whatsoever in voting for Jon Corzine.
I did vote for a New Jersey Republican once: Millicent Fenwick. But she lost to Frank Lautenberg, who has been a very good senator, so my trip to the Dark Side was wasted but not harmful. With things as they are today (as opposed to my voting adventure over 25 years ago), I wouldn’t vote for any Republican this side of Lincoln Chafee for any position. The Democrats aren’t good, but the Republicans are both disciplined and evil, even if Tom Delay does dance well for his years.
Getting this in before I fall asleep.
I don’t get the all the love for the stiff model. She spins and stands, steps and stands. Although I’ll admit she did more than either Irvin or The Hobbit. Snowboard really just phoned it in today.
What a six pack on the swimmer! Dang.
Kelly is turning out to be a nice, reasonable and even funny person. Perhaps she’s getting over all the spoiled brattiness she displayed on The Osbournes. And she’s a fine dancer too.
I knew Len was judging Mya on a more professional standard than the rest of the dancers. As he should and as the others should too.
Is there any hope-- any at all-- that Aaron will go this week? I’ll even suffer through another week of the or two of Irvin’s zombie non-moves if it means I’ll never have to see Aaron’s sulky, silly interpretive dance moves, gaydar-dinging visage ever again.
Well, mixing it up with some non-traditional dances had decidedly mixed results, it seems.
Firstly, I was a bit shocked at how utterly crap everyone who attempted a two-step was. Apprently the pros don’t do this one often (or ever?) and they certainly didn’t seem to have any idea what to do with their partners in it. IMO, the Hobbit and Chuck turned in two of the worst single dances I’ve ever seen on this program. Lacey and Mark were least dire, but I’m not sure that’s saying much.
Only two couples (Natalie/Alec and Michael/Anna) did boleros; I wasn’t sure what to look for, exactly, but just didn’t find their turns very interesting. Michael was roundly criticized for lack of content, but lt least he seemed to be actually performing a bit, so for me it was a net gain from last week.
For whatever reason, all the charlestons came off pretty good, particularly Melissa’s and Donnie’s; not much surprise in the latter case, I guess.
That leaves the lambada. Loved Mya’s, but then I’ve got a big fat crush on her so maybe I’m just a teensy bit biased. It does seem pretty clear Len considers her too much a ringer to deserve being scored on the same scale as everybody else. The Barbie Doll and Derek were pretty good too. Aaron looked completely stiff and awkward.
Please, voters, send Chuck home tomorrow. Or Aaron or Michael, doesn’t really matter.
When they introduce new dances it always becomes a bit awkward. i could live without them.
I thought her dance suited Sabrina well. As it did Kelly & Donnie. The fact that everyone did well on that and poorly on the two-step shows the problem with the new dances.
Aaron & Karina were anti-sexy. It didn’t look remotely “forbidden” it reminded me of bad disco or something. Derek & Dmitri did much better.
Tom Bergeron doesn’t get enough credit as a host.
Yeah, I don’t know much about dancing, but I didn’t see any actual two-stepping in either of the “two-step” dances.
Derek’s choreography was entertaining, but it was pretty much all about him. The model was just along for the ride. Pretty sexy dance overall, though.
Natalie (the swimmer) looked VERY hot! Awesome bod.
The judges really want Michael gone. I’d like to see crybaby Aaron go first.
I like Anna (the pro with the red hair). She’s cute and intimidating at the same time. She did well with Jerry Rice in his season–I wish she’d get paired again with someone who had a chance of winning.
And you know, I too want to know the answer to Kelly’s question: Why do dancers do that ‘boomchickapahwa!’ thing?
Okay, I still love the Hobbit, but I am very cross with him this week. Zero content – zero! ('Twas fun to see Ty again, though. And Gilles in the audience, for that matter. And I’ve glimpsed Wozniak in the audience this season, too. I love the way people just keep hanging out with this show.)
Agree that Aaron sucks and needs to go home.
The Charlestons were all a lot of fun – loved Kelly’s. She may be replacing the Hobbit as the Ty of this season in my heart – “not actually gonna win, but damn, I love his/her pluck and willingness to throw him/herself into the experience whole-heartedly and I hope like hell he/she makes it to top five or so.” The Hobbit clearly showed lack of whole-heartedness this week. He may be too young to do so without self-consciousness.
General remarks: I have no idea what the Bolero is supposed to look like, and I’m sure I couldn’t tell you after last night. Stretches with partners in evening wear. If there were steps, I couldn’t tell. The Lambada, on the other hand, appears to be a Samba with lifts and frottage. It looked better in Dirty Dancing. I also don’t really have any idea of what the Two-step is supposed to look like. The Charleston is the only dance I was familiar with enough to actually judge it on any kind of merits. I don’t like the introduction of these new dances, and I wish they would stick to actual Ballroom and Latin.
As for the dancers themselves:
Chuck (Two-Step): why do the judges want the audience to do their dirty work? He gets out there each week and lumbers around the stage like Frankenstein’s monster, and they give him sixes. Sixes aren’t great, but this guy should be getting threes or fours. I’m sorry, but I’m not seeing the entertainment.
Melissa (Charleston): Holy cow, what a great Charleston Mark choreographed and they both executed! Of course, they got the really good Charleston music, which helps a lot. However, I don’t think this was a breakthrough for her; I think it was her bright spot. Maybe she’ll pleasantly surprise me, but I think she’ll slip back into mediocrity after this.
Natalie (Bolero): As I said above, I have no idea what a Bolero is supposed to look like. The music they were given wasn’t very danceable. It was obvious what she was doing was very difficult, and I found it occasionally rather shaky or awkward.
Aaron (Lambada): OK, he got a point from me just for wearing his hair combed down. It looks SO much better! But he still danced like a muppet. The judges nailed it: he’s trying to force it too hard.
Mark (Two-Step): That is one gorgeous hunk of manhood out there! I’m still not sure what a Two-Step is supposed to look like, but he seems to have approached it more closely than either of the other attempts.
Kelly (Charleston): I thought as soon as they came down the stairs at the beginning of the show that they’d bloody well better be doing a number from Cabaret, because the Joel Grey look is just not inherently appealing. Also, the makeup people did his mouth wrong, and made him look a little too much like a female impersonator. I was hoping for Money, and got Cabaret instead. It was a good performance, but I didn’t think it was as strong as either of the other two Charlestons. But I like Kelly as a dancer and Louis is one of the best pros on the show.
Joanna (Lambada): I don’t see how anyone could watch last night’s performance and call her stiff. She tries, and she delivers good solid performances. She’s hugely helped along by Derek’s happy heterosexuality (I have the best job in the world, he said with a huge grin), charm, and skill at choreography.
Donny (Charleston): I re-watched that dance twice, and could not find the stumble that Carrie Ann picked out. I guess that’s why I’m not a judge. Anyway, delightful choreography, well-executed.
Michael (Bolero): Again, no idea what I was supposed to be seeing, and they had really, really crappy music for dancing to. But I can’t understand why he consistently gets lower marks than Chuck, as he shows at least a little rhythm and grace.
The Hobbit (Two-Step): OK, what the hell was that? Walk and pose, walk and pose, while poor Chelsea danced her heart out. He didn’t even try to bounce a little. Twicky, you’d better get your boy moving, because cuteness without effort is not enough!
Mya (Lambada): Ringer. Perfect, as usual.
I was really disappointed in the Hobbit. There was no dance in his dance, he’s so cute and appealing I want him to do well, but that was sad. I didn’t expect much from Chuck, and I didn’t get it. Somehow I expected the two-step to be easier. Donny was lucky he pulled a dance that suited his talents and personality. I don’t know what he’ll do when he has to do the lambada. Melissa was okay, she didn’t make me go ugh, but she didn’t make me like her, either. Kelly Osbourne makes me like her, even when I didn’t want to. As a middle-aged woman, I feel a little skeevy saying it, but Derek is hot. He doesn’t have a muscular build, but he must have a lot of upper body strength. And he always choreographs to bring out the best in his partner, much moreso than most of the pros. Michael Irving does nothing for me. Aaron needs to take his whiney baby butt back home. No offense to our gay friends, but that kid doesn’t have enough masculinity to pull off dancing sexy with a female partner. Mya was great, but she was a ringer.
StG
10/13 results are in.
Chuck has galumphed his last, with Aaron sharing the Red Light of Shame.
So close!
Getting some comments out of the way before I actually watch the dances (I can’t really get into this program before it goes down to one hour):
twickster - I explained something at length, and someone not only appreciated my insight but agreed with me? Woo hoo! I’ve ARRIVED, bay-bee!! 
Seriously, I’ve thought about it, and “sandbagging” and “having a jolly old time” are the only explanations that make any sense to me. We’ll see in a few weeks whether I’m on the mark, but I doubt I’m going to get blindsided on this one.
Oy! - The judges let the audience do their dirty work because they have no choice.
Here, let me tell you about a plucky underdog named Master P.
Second season. Rapper, but not an energetic dancing type like MC Hammer, and didn’t know a ballroom from a mushroom. Goes out there, doesn’t do so good, judges don’t like him, but he manages to squeak through. Gets worse; you can tell he wasn’t prepared for the long haul. Judges score him appropriately.
Fans are absolutely outraged at the criticism, and they vote, vote, vote like crazy for him. He survives.
Next week is even worse. Judges are really ripping into him now. Fans are apoplectic, screaming for the judges’ blood. They get behind him even more. He survives.
Round of 5; he’s exhausted, bewildered, absolutely hating every moment of this, and in several miles above his head. He barely moves at all; by far the single worst performance I’ve ever seen on this show. Gets the lowest score ever (8 points, and believe me, that was generous).
From the fan reaction, you’d think the judges had just blown up an orphanage.
This, my friend, is what happens when the judges 1) are limited to a narrow range of possible scores 2) and have to reveal them before the vote. This puts a GIGANTIC stranglehold on the kind of power they have to actually influence the outcome.
If they could score in tenths of points, or even half and quarter fractions, this would give them a lot more leeway in ranking one competitor above another (which is supposed to be the whole point of judged scores). Alternatively, why not just have straight best-to-worst rankings? I’ve often argued that fan voting should be like this; it should be a piece of cake for three experienced professionals. That way, if anyone claims they’re unfairly dumping on someone, they can always claim that it was extremely close and (s)he just didn’t quite measure up this week or whatever. “Plausible deniability”, I think it’s called.
If they could hide their scores until after the vote, the fans would have no choice but to actually back their favorite. Sure, they’d have some idea of who was in trouble from the comments, but now it could be any of three or four people. Is it the one who did inappropriate lifts? The one who didn’t understand what the dance was about? The one who was awkward and lacked poise?
They learned the Master P lesson well. Give a low score, and the fans respond with a flood of outraged votes and bail out the chump. It’s that simple. Remember all the tiptoeing and mincing around Cloris Leachman, when it was plainly obvious that she was a cement-footed geezer who couldn’t cut a rug with a chainsaw? Because they held back from criticism and kept their scores higher than “insulting”, her support gradually petered out and she left in the middle rounds. Had they ripped into her, she might’ve made the final.
Kinda sucks, I know, but still better than American Idol. 
I get what you’re saying, DKW, and I agree with it in principal, but it doesn’t explain why Chuck was getting sixes while the more charming and (I think) more able Michael Irvin was getting fours and fives.
I think the object lesson we can take from the 13 Oct episode is that if you’re a male reality show contestant, never ever cry on camera. Kelly cried and people felt bad for her. Aaron cried, and even on the comparatively open-minded SDMB, he is scorned. Hell, it squicked me out. But then Aaron has squicked me out from the start.
Anyway, glad to see Chuck gone, and now looking forward to the elimination of both Aaron and Michael.