Oh, I know it! I just love watching him. He really is light on his feet for such a BIG man! And the guy looks like he’s been carved from an oak, all square-jawed and muscular and burnished and…
I need a cold shower.
Yes, he’s gorgeous, no question. But what really amazes me is the beauty of his lines. His posture is so excellent, and his extensions so beautiful, and his movements so graceful. At this point, I don’t know enough about a Samba to judge how good or not it was, but it was beautiful just watching him move, even if what he was doing wasn’t a perfect Samba. I think I’d feel the same way even if the man wasn’t as incredibly beautiful as he is.
Considering how stiff he was in Latin in earlier rounds, this really demonstrated to me how far he has come this season.
And Jason had the best line of the night: “God gave me a tan.”
(And in general, DwtS is often funnier than most sitcoms. Which, it dawned on me last night, is why I enjoy it so much more than American Idol, even though I continue to watch AI, but can’t remember why).
No kidding! Kristi’s second dance got an eight from her and so did Marissa’s! There is no way those two dances were equal. Kristi’s doing stuff out there some of the others wouldn’t even dream of.
I think the male host (can’t think of the name) is really good and very quick witted. The female host on the other hand is terrible.
There was a lot good in the Samba, but he did keep looking down, and it made him seem more nervous and less like he was dancing and more like he was watching Edyta dance. It also seemed really short. Really really short. Like they hadn’t actually done a dance, he just kind of picked Edyta up at the end. I liked their tango though.
I didn’t like Kristi’s second dance. And really, the guppy face is distracting. But I did like Marissa’s first… I thought it suited her really well and she looked great doing it. Liked Mario’s first dance, but in the second, the lift felt gratouitous. Christian did better this week than he has in the past, but sometimes his arm looked engaged (either behind the back or slightly moving to the music) and sometimes dead. Plus, they cut off the begining of their tango.
Worst judging of the season, IMHO!
Let’s start with Cristian. Yes, he and Cheryl did very well working the choreography around his injury. But the top of the leaderboard? What an absolute travesty! Especially in the Latin dance–I mean, he wore that glittery mesh thing over his bandage, which actually drew attention to the injured arm. When judging Marlee, she got no break from the panel for her deafness (which was the right thing to do)–why does this fool get a free pass this week? Marissa’s dance was better; Kristi’s dance was better. Cristian’s trepidation was visible, at least to Mrs. Know and myself. I don’t want to believe that the judges’ integrity has been compromised by outside forces, but that’s how it looked to me.
I think Marissa is a lot better than the judges’ scores indicate. I didn’t see any egregious errors in her routines, unlike Mario’s total screwup of his lift at the end of the second dance (more on that later)–she doesn’t belong at the bottom of the board by any stretch of the imagination.
Lifts: OK, the panel decided to allow one lift per routine. But, by the same token, if the contestants messed it up, as Mario did, they should have come down hard on them. Mario and Karina deserved no better than 8’s for their Latin dance.
I can only hope the viewers are fairer than the judges were this week.
I just rewatched it, and you’re right; Jason was looking down almost the entire dance. But if he looks straight ahead, he’s staring right over Edyta’s head! What’s he supposed to do?
I’m sorry, but I can’t see the guppy there. He’s not a handsome man, but he doesn’t look like a fish to me. He’s what I would call pleasantly ugly, if you know what I mean.
It’s not his face - it’s the way he sings along with the songs (which I was always told not to do in other non-ballroom kinds of dance and I find incredibly distracting) and highlights his moves with incredibly odd facial expressions. I think there’s a middle ground between having no facial expression at all and well, what he does.
Speaking as a former competitive ballroom dancer, he’s supposed to look straight over her head. In fact, in the samba, he should spend a good fraction of the dance looking out into the audience telegraphing, “Look how fucking hot I am” instead of “My partner! I lost my partner! Where did she go?” The lift was incredibly difficult, but I prefer them to be danced through, instead of walked through. Mario’s lift in the waltz was much better from that point of view.
I didn’t think Kristi’s samba was as bad as the judges said, but I did notice that she didn’t really get the samba timing (which is admittedly very hard). I did think her quickstep was beautiful. I hope she doesn’t blame the samba scores on the lack of a lift and start whining for one next week, though. From the (admittedly biased) practice footage, her ability to be lifted is not on a par with her ability to dance on her own feet, and she should stick with her strength. (She never did pairs, did she?)
Marissa’s dancing was just too careful and slow. Her foxtrot was fun, but the difficulty level that the others are attempting just wasn’t there, so that even if she had totally nailed the routines, she wasn’t going to do as well.
I was surprised by how high the scores were for Cristian’s tango (although I may have been biased by my hatred for the music), but I thought he did deserve the latin scores. I didn’t mind the glitter bandage, especially considering that the choreography drew attention to that arm by keeping it behind his back all the time, and besides, everyone was going to be staring at it anyway.
I wish they would stop using the word “stiff” to describe what they want in the standard dances. They’re not supposed to be stiff at all. Strong and powerful in the upper body, but not stiff. I loved the fluidity of Mario’s foxtrot last week. But his Viennese waltz was even better. As I said before, that was clearly the best integration of the lift into the routine.
She did, actually – she was paired with Rudy Galindo (who later had a surprise win as National Champion).
Consider your Ignorance Fought quotient to be filled for the day, and thank you! I never knew that.
They probably couldn’t be. Jason Taylor is a defensive end.
someone in football had to take over the graceful title last held by lynn swann.
he is dang close to mr swann in dance talent. jason would have made an excellent ballet dancer, he would be knocking down the lights with his leaps.
this season is interesting in have two very large men with jason and penn. how very differently they hold themselves and their self image as tall guys.
will they have shaq on next?
Well, that was rather unexpected!
I wonder if Marissa was in the bottom two.
I don’t think it was all that unexpected – as people have noted, Mario just didn’t have the fan base that others do, and is too young to have really connected with the audience. Marissa also previously unknown – but her joy and enthusiasm are infectious, and I think she’s won a lot of votes with them. She’s definitely the most “who’da thunk” entry in the final four, though!
Good show – I enjoyed seeing the clips of previous seasons, and it was nice so many former contestants showed up for it. Kenny Main is a funny, funny man.
I was surprised. Silly me, thinking it should have anything to do with the quality of their dancing. Still, Marissa does seem to love what she does. Her personality grates on me, though. I guess I want her to act like an adult. Her demeanor is more like a giggly teenager. Mario, who is almost young enough to be her son, is more mature.
StG
I felt that way originally, but I’ve come around to liking Marissa a great deal in recent weeks. Part of it is how much she’s improved and learned to leave the hysterical teenager off the dance floor. Part of it is Tony’s obvious pride and delight in her. And, I have to admit, part of it is how pathetically grateful she is to get a 9 when everyone else left has had at least one 10.
I have a sneaking feeling that if she danced exactly the same way, but had a slim figure, she’d have been given better marks recently. The lines just aren’t as good with her body as it is. And Bruno had a point Monday night when he raved about how beautiful Jason and Edyta are; sheer beauty makes the dance look better. On the other hand, I suspect she’s picking up a fair number of audience votes *because * she’s overweight and many women in particular identify with her.
Oy! - I will admit that her dancing’s come a long was, and that her improvement seems to have come suddenly. And Tony really does like her, doesn’t he? More than just a professional “we’re all just a big family” thing, he seems to be so thrilled for her when she does well.
I wasn’t impressed with Apolo Ohno’s dance last night. I don’t think he’s kept up with it.
StG
I had a family emergency around 15 minutes into the show. Who got the boot?
Love, Phil