Who kidnapped Maks??? (Alas, it wasn’t me.)
Lots of sexy men but only one has the dancing chomps to take the prize: Mario
I think she’s still dating Mario Lopez. Wonder how he liked that dance? :dubious:
Adam…CARROLA!
Yep, it’s my happy time again; DWtS is on and all is right with the world.
Anyway, I was pretty impressed with Mario right out of the gate. That whole phone thing he had going on seemed just about right, because the whole way through I was thinking “RINGER!” Excellent pacing; the stop/start stuff was pretty smooth. Enjoyed hearing him talking about “barroom” (well, that’s what it sounded like) dancing.
Jason wore his size really well, and threw decent shapes to boot. For once Edyta has a partner she doesn’t have to dance around. Like most of the sports stars early in these competitions, he hasn’t got the whole acting thing down, but he should last into the late rounds.
The rest were pretty much White Guys Can’t Jump. Putting Penn Gillette and Adam Carolla on was inspired, but they were both pretty awful. Carolla, as expected, though, looks to be taking an early lead in bringing teh funny. Guttenberg was meh, or maybe too much of a meeeehhhnsch; he bugged me a bit. Looks to be in pretty good physical shape, though.
I think that in Christian’s house there are many, many mirrors, but he seems likeable enough. Unhunch those shoulders, dude, and blossom.
I note it’s a double elimination next week: one male and one female. I’m thinking Guttenberg on the guy side, but who knows, maybe there are a lot more Police Academy fans out there than Penn and Teller fans.
I love this show.
Penn - He did throw himself into it…
Jason - wow. He danced. He didn’t just walk vaguely in time to the music and stare at Edyta (which is what a lot of celebs have done on the first week). I thought he did a good job.
Christian - is a very pretty man.
Adam - better than I expected, and he does have a fan base.
Mario - ringer “I’ve had no dance experience, only choreography”
Steve - he was charming. But I don’t think he has a fan base. Next week might be his last week.
Overall, an entertaining opener. There was a nice mixture of fun, grace, and energy, and I can’t really point to anyone I’d be happy to see go. (More’s the pity…) Mario is the early favorite, of course, but excellence is only half of the winning formula. And don’t write Penn out yet; if he can build off of what he’s learned, he’ll make a run, count on it.
On the downside, I see the potential for future trouble with this emphasis on the professionals who’ve partnered with past winners. The LAST thing I want this to turn into is a cutthroat competition; if that happens, well, it’s pretty much over. The pros have a job and they do it well. They’re not fighting for anything. (And it’s hardly a fair fight anyway, what with star visibility, voting patterns, and sheer luck playing such big factors.) Unless the championships more or less start evening out (unlikely with the male stars winning so often), we could see some resentment building up…death for a show that depends so much on goodwill and entertainment.
Ah well. We’ll see. First few eliminations won’t be easy!
I agreed with – who was it, Len? Carrie Ann? – the person who said “you were the only one to look like you were having fun out there.” He definitely did. Damn the popularity contest thing.
I thought both Penn and Adam were Trying Too Hard to Bring Teh Funny – neither connected, for me.
Jason and Mario are clearly the two who are going to go the furthest of the men.
And Christian is a seriously pretty man. If he’d relax a tad, he might do well.
I was surprised that the football player danced as well as he did. And he’s not as bulky as I expected a football player to be. But TALL! And Penn Jillette made Edyta look like a 3/4 scale model person. He’s such a big guy (not just fat) that he reminds me of Mel Brooks’ Frankenstein monster dancing “Puttin’ on the Ritz”. I was a bit charmed by Steve Guttenburg, but he has an uphill climb. I think being an actor helps - he can think of it as a role at first. Adam Carolla seems to be having fun, but trying too hard to be a comedian… Mario was fantastic, just fantastic. The Chilean Fish seems to be poking fun at himself (I hope), but doen’t do much for me.
StG
Good stuff all around. One question though - at one point, I think Steve was saying he had a special reason for being on the show. At that point my DVR foobed and flashed forward to that dumbass “GIRLZ R GONNA BRING IT” montage. What did he say?
Other thoughts:
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Mario looked good, but I’m curious if all his dances will look pretty much the same. Sometimes it seems like having a dancing background is a hinderance, because you can’t unlearn what you know and learn the new moves properly. Sabrina was the perfect example of this in my eyes.
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Steve was charming, though not as funny as I’d thought he’d be. Way to age gracefully though - he looks great (Priscilla - find out what he’s doing pls). And I wouldn’t underestimate his fanbase. Obviously he hasn’t been around for a while (as far as I know at least), but I bet there are a lot of “I Love The 80s” people out there picking up the phone for him.
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Adam and Penn were funny (as they are supposed to be), but two things: First, don’t talk back to the judges. Unless what you’re saying is hilarious, you just look like a jackass. Second, don’t try so hard with the funny during the live show. It’s not as easy as Tom makes it look. I think one of them may be the first to go, which of course is a huge blow to the male fanbase of the show - losing either Julianne or Kym.
It was his parents’ 50th wedding anniversary.
And I agree with you on “not sassing the judges.” Bad form – and people are rarely funny enough to pull it off. (Except Tom Bergeron, of course – I don’t think my crush on him is a secret?)
My assessment:
I absolutely love Penn and Teller. Penn dancing, not so much. He has it right himself - Sasquatch.
Jason Taylor, of whom I had never heard, is one of the most seriously beautiful humans I’ve ever seen, although like most men who shave their heads, IMHO he’d be even better with some hair. But he’s up there with Keira Knightly and Johnny Depp as just breathtakingly gorgeous. Also extremely well spoken; he sounded like a true gentleman. (And were those blue eyes I saw?) On the floor I thought he had a few awkwardnesses, but as the judges said, his posture was exquisite, and I thought his rise and fall was outstanding, especially given that he’s such a big man. I wasn’t spending his dance thinking “gee, he’s quite good for such a big guy.” I was saying “gee, he’s quite good.”
Christian did absolutely nothing for me, although I thought his dancing was quite good. I can’t see why anyone would find him good-looking. Go figure.
Adam Carolla - Carrie Ann nailed it perfectly. There were two or three moments when I went “Hey, that’s really goo-” at which point he returned to the SOS he’d been doing, which ventured on the truly atrocious. I didn’t find his humor especially funny, I have no previous knowledge of or affection for his public persona (unlike that of Penn), and to me he looked a lot like a corpse laid out for burial. Not fair to hold his looks against him, but I can’t help it; he looks dead to me! Hope he’s the first to go. Also, I was just utterly horrified that they gave him Mellow Yellow to foxtrot to! That just seems a desecration of both Donovan *and * foxtrots.
Mario - very good, but I thought the music and hence the dance were too laid back for a good cha-cha. Cha-chas aren’t suppposed to be cool. The young man himself seemed quite charming and I love his crooked smile; he clearly knows his way around a dancefloor, even better, he’s clearly a fan of the show and not just this season (especially delightful in someone who is “cool” for a living), but I’m really not all that taken by cocky young men in general. If I had to pick a technical winner, though, he’d certainly be the one thus far.
Gutenberg. Still a good-looking guy, but I wouldn’t have recognized him as Steve Gutenberg if he hadn’t been introduced (or his voice identified him). His enthusiasm was lovely, but I was disappointed in his dancing. From the rehearsal footage, I figured he’d do well in Ballroom and terribly in Latin. So if last night was his best Ballroom, he’s gonna be dead meat.
But I liked what he had to say about the show in general (even though it was a bit gushy and overdone), and his comments made me realize one of the things I really like about it. Like most other Dopers around my age, I was doing Irony before it was *the * universal social format, and I’m tired of being entirely surrounded by it. One thing this show is not is ironic. Every person on it except Tom Bergeron (who is very funny, and properly detached as a humorous host should be) is absolutely sincere, busting his/her ass, and enjoying it greatly, or they’re out of there before they can turn around. They’re highly competitive, and yet, even ignoring all the nicey-nice things all the contestants say about one another in front of the camera, they do seem to have a genuinely supportive attitude toward one another. I’ve said jokingly that I feel dirty for watching this tacky show, but actually, I don’t. Yes, it’s tacky because of the (mostly) C-list stars, but the participants are genuinely enthused, and what they’re doing spreads a lot of happiness around with no moral or social down-side that I can see. In the words of parents (and I never thought I’d say this seriously in a million years), it’s good *clean * fun. Did something chemically alter my brain when I turned 50 a couple of years ago?
It’s not my type of show but it’s not bad. I started watching about 8:20 and skipped through much of the fluff and just watched a couple performances and scores, then watched Big Bang Theory, then went back and watched the rest of DWTS. I probably won’t watch the women tonight, but I’ll watch the ep after that.
A beautiful summary. Couldn’t agree more.
I just remembered – Kristi Yamaguchi used to skate pairs – with Rudy Galindo. Many, many, many years ago.
Re: tonight’s show – I felt really bad for Monica Seles – damn, way too nervous. I hope she’s got enough of a fan base to stay in for another week or two.
I NEVER watch reality shows, but heck, I might watch it to see Penn Jillette.
I became a fan when his CBS radio show was podcast a few years ago. I was surprised to find out he actually seems like a nice guy. A horndog, sure, but a NICE one. 
I was pretty tired tonight, so maybe I missed something, but what was it in Priscilla Presley’s routine that made it an 8?
Meanwhile, amongst the rest of the laydeez, Kristi was pretty much the ringer of the crew; not unexpected, I guess. I personally rated Marlee second for overall technique, and although there may be a trick to it that I’m not aware of, I was gobsmacked by her ability to keep accurate time with her partner without appearing to be getting constant visual cues. That was really quite impressive.
While Shannon didn’t exactly light it up, she’s, uh, pretty hot, and she and Derek seem to have an especially good rapport so I hope to see more of them. As I do Marissa and Tony; yeah, she’s a bit like Sabrina, not quite so hard-edged but just as much in need of a shot of decaf. Dovalani’s taste in dance costumes has always kinda cracked me up, and tonight did not disappoint.
Monica looked surprisingly lost and frightened, and I felt bad for her, too. No idea what her fan base may be, but she looks like the first to go.
I haven’t seen the show, but I’m surprised Penn’s not a better dancer. One of the reasons he gave for relocating to Las Vegas was “showgirls”. Nothing like a 6’ 6" man to make a 6’ tall woman feel all girly. I imagined that dating dancers, he’d have learned to dance - maybe not.
“The most beautiful words in the English language are ‘Oh! I could wear heels with YOU!’” - Penn
Whew, Most Tedious 6-Performance Show ever. I was actually glad I could switch between American Idol for an hour (and boy, you laid odds I’d ever say THAT… 
).
Good stuff all around, though unfortunately just too many pauses to remember much of it. Seles was the only one who looked lackluster…I’m getting the unpleasant vibe that she’s just not up to this. I was most impressed by #3 (don’t remember the name), mainly because she had vastly more elegance than roughly 300 pounds in spike heels should ever be capable of. Thought the judges were a bit too generous to Yamaguchi, but it’s no biggie in the opening round.
Remember, it’s a two-week opener, so nobody’s safe just yet. Definitely don’t count Jilette out (especially with Comedy Guy on the verge).
Shannon: It seemed to me that she did a series of perfect poses and moves, but not a dance. There was no connection. Each individual position or little dance move, like a hip shimmy or that thing that looks like “the wave” but done with a single human body (and when did that become a required part of a cha-cha???), looked to my ignorant eyes to be just right, butit was as if they were disconnected - between were either walking steps or marching steps like the middle-aged white guys who can’t dance do all throughout.
Monica: God, I felt bad for her - eight world championships, and she was literally in tears because she made it through 1 and 1/2 minutes without tripping over her feet. She may do better in Latin, where power and flexibility are more important, and grace is less so.
Marissa: The judges were right - it was choreographed terribly, but that was because the music was awful! What idiot thought it was a good idea to give an electo-hip-hop style cha-cha to someone who has apparently made it her life’s work to exceed the steotype of the happy, funny, cheerful fat girl? This girl, at least as she’s presenting herself, couldn’t do cool or sophisticated if her life depended on it!
Priscilla: Her steps were good and she kept in character very well, but the whole thing looked like it could crack any moment, just like her face. On the other hand, the poor woman is almost 63, and clearly way out of her comfort zone. She didn’t deserve three eights, unless you consider her age (which you’re not supposed to do).
Yamaguchi: Phenomenal!
Marlee: Amazing given her age and deafness. Better than Presley, I thought.
One point for showing up. Four points for the dance and three points for not breaking a hip at her age.