# Dancing with the Stars **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [June 9, 2005, 1:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539 "2005-06-09T01:52:25Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![dropzone](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dropzone/32/7515_2.png) [@dropzone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/dropzone)\ **Post date:** [June 27, 2005, 7:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/61 "2005-06-27T19:00:57Z")
Just a wacky aside, but after years of playing J. Peterman on TV, John O’Hurley is now co-owner of the company with the _real_ J. Peterman. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/62 "2005-06-30T01:42:28Z")
Okay – I didn’t vote this week because I didn’t want to jinx John and Charlotte. It worked. Yay! ---
**Author:** ![marymargaret](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/ba9def/32.png) [@marymargaret](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/marymargaret)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/63 "2005-06-30T01:49:22Z")
I missed it tonight. What happened? ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 1:55am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/64 "2005-06-30T01:55:39Z")
First half – foxtrot. John and Charlotta were, as always, very good – the other two couples were okay. Second half – paso doble (that bullfighting type of dance, if you’ve ever watched ballroom dancing). J&C were excellent – the other two couples were both pretty impressive. Of course, it’s more about posing than footwork, but whatever. They annouced that J&C were in the finals (phew!) – and then that Joey and Ashley were out. So the finals – next week – with be John and Charlotta vs. Kelly and Alec. (They’re bringing back all the couples for some kind of something or other.) Was just on IM with a non-Doper friend – she suggested they weight each judge’s score at 20%, and give the other 40% to the audience. I think that would be a lot fairer. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/65 "2005-06-30T02:04:07Z")
BTW, they reran last week’s show at 8 again this week – I’m guessing they’ll do a rerun next week also. ---
**Author:** ![h.sapiens](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/e0b2c6/32.png) [@h.sapiens](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/h.sapiens)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/66 "2005-06-30T02:34:11Z")
I’m so glad John and Charlotte got to the finals! I don’t have really strong feelings one way or the other about Kelly and Joey. It may just be my personal taste, but I think the best music choices are usually given to John and Charlotte. They seem to be getting more traditional-style songs, that fit the dance style best, especially for the paso doble. That was _the_ classic paso doble music, while the others got “Hey Big Spender” and “Eye of the Tiger”! I wonder if this has any effect on the judges. ---
**Author:** ![Wile\_E](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c37758/32.png) [@Wile\_E](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Wile_E)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/67 "2005-06-30T03:28:23Z")
John and Charlotta have great chemistry. Are they both single? They do look good together. ---
**Author:** ![GraceTX](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c4cdca/32.png) [@GraceTX](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/GraceTX)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/68 "2005-06-30T03:40:31Z")
> [@Wile E](#): > > John and Charlotta have great chemistry. Are they both single? They do look good together. John’s married. I don’t know about Charlotta, but you’re right. They have great chemistry. I’m kinda sorry about Joey being eliminated. Kelly’s partner flings her around a lot and I always feels like it’s to cover that she’s not the best dancer there. I guess it works for them, but I hope John and Charlotta win. ---
**Author:** ![amarinth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/3be4f8/32.png) [@amarinth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/amarinth)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/69 "2005-06-30T05:45:36Z")
> [@twickster](#): > > Okay – I didn’t vote this week because I didn’t want to jinx John and Charlotte. > > It worked. > > Yay! Same here. Not sure what to do about next week. Joey & Ashly, I watched their fox trot and also thought WTF was that? The “tell a story” idea just went too far. Cute dance, but after the other two fox trots, I couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be. And tonight during the Paso Doble was the first time I ever liked Kelly at all. But still, John and Charlotte were great. (of course, the only place I’ve ever seen that before was Strictly Ballroom. So - ) Aren’t there only 5 ballroom & 5 latin dances? What will they do next week? ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/70 "2005-06-30T12:00:36Z")
I fall in love just watching John dance and hearing his humor afterwards. I hope John & Charlotta win. ---
**Author:** ![phall0106](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/phall0106/32/5934_2.png) [@phall0106](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/phall0106)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 5:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/71 "2005-06-30T17:54:10Z")
> [@Lil' Mahoney](#): > > John’s married. I don’t know about Charlotta, but you’re right. They have great chemistry… He’s married? Heh. For some reason, he struck me as being gay (and no, it wasn’t because of the ballroom dancing). Yes, I think they have great chemistry on the dance floor, but watching them together when they’re off the floor (especially how he pats her on the back) makes me think that it’s limited to the dance floor. Maybe my gaydar is off. Way off. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 11:25pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/72 "2005-06-30T23:25:23Z")
**h.sapiens** - do they choose thier music or is it chosen for them? Somehow I had the idea they chose it. The only dance I really liked Joey what’s-his-name in was the Jitterbug number where he was dressed as a WWII soldier. It was cute and fun. Basically John and Charlotte have whipped the floor with every couple as far as I’m concerned. I wish they’d show more footwork, though. StG ---
**Author:** ![John\_Mace](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/john_mace/32/185_2.png) [@John\_Mace](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/John_Mace)\ **Post date:** [June 30, 2005, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/73 "2005-06-30T23:32:26Z")
I only see the last few minutes as I get ready to watch LOST. Seemed to me from the very beginning that Peterman was going to win. ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 5:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/74 "2005-07-01T17:24:46Z")
OK, I had to stay away from all discussion on this topic yesterday, as I couldn’t watch the show on Wednesday and had to tape it to watch last night. John and Charlotte turned in great performances in both dances. Classic styling, good characterization, nice footwork - well done. Kelly and Alec did two very nice dances, which were pretty “ballroom-y”, but neither was the advertised dance. Their foxtrot looked more like a rumba or theatre arts piece, and their paso was a samba with some paso steps thrown in here and there. (And Kelly turned back into wood every time they switched to paso, then became animated again when they were dancing samba.) That piece is a classic samba - gets played at competitions all the time. Joey and Ashly got unfairly reamed by the judges in the foxtrot. It was indeed a classic American-style foxtrot, and looked it. It just didn’t look like the international-style foxtrot that Len Goodman is used to. I’ve seen a number of comments that the music wasn’t a foxtrot, but it was. In fact, I commented to my husband “nice music!” as soon as it started - I’d rather compete to that than to whatever John & Charlotte had. I also thought their paso was pretty decent, but the music was awful. Charlotte is not married, but she has a serious boyfriend. Any other questions? ---
**Author:** ![DeVena](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/dec6dc/32.png) [@DeVena](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DeVena)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 6:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/75 "2005-07-01T18:12:41Z")
\ OOoo Me! I gotta question!! I would like to see a real competition but I have no idea where to find one on TV. Do they show this on ESPN? (And if not, why don’t they?) ---
**Author:** ![ENugent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/4af34b/32.png) [@ENugent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ENugent)\ **Post date:** [July 1, 2005, 6:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/76 "2005-07-01T18:40:49Z")
They have tried ballroom competitions on TV a few times, but they’ve generally gotten dismal ratings and been dropped. The exception was the annual showing of the Ohio Star Ball as “Championship Ballroom Dancing” on PBS. A few years ago, the PBS exec most interested in the show, Aida Moreno, moved on to other things and they stopped taping. I have heard that they are planning on starting again this year. I’m not sure how long a drive it is to Atlanta from Montgomery, but the Southeastern Regionals will be in Atlanta on Oct. 14-15, if you want to see a competition live. There is a competition calendar for the US amateur body [here](http://usabda.org/dancesport_competitors/competition_calendar/index.cfm), and for professionally-run competitions [here](http://www.ndca.org/events.cfm?showsection=events). “Real” ballroom competitions are pretty different from DWtS. In particular, all the couples dance at once (except in the showdance category). Typically they’ll start with a field of (say) thirty couples, who do all the dances in the event (probably divided into three heats, as thirty would be too many couples to put on the floor at once). Then they’ll call back about twenty to dance all the dances again. Those twenty will be cut to twelve for the next round, and the twelve to six for the final. In the final, the judges each rank the couples from first to sixth in each dance, and the [skating system](http://laurent.riesterer.free.fr/skating/rules.html) is used to convert those marks to an overall ranking. (In the early rounds, the judges each write down the numbers of the twenty or whatever couples that they want to come back for each dance. The scrutineer then figures out which couples have been marked by the greatest numbers of judges to determine who is recalled. You can see an example of what the marking sheets look like [here](http://www.ballroomregistrar.com/results/MIT05/a-i-wq.html) - this is a two-dance event with 31 couples entered.) If you have any friends in the UK, the International and Blackpool are televised on BBC every year. You can try to get someone to tape it for you, and then have it converted from PAL. Dancing With the Stars is also a remake of a British show, Strictly Come Dancing, which is itself a makeover of a long-running series, Come Dancing, that ran for many many years on BBC. ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/77 "2005-07-07T00:52:37Z")
It’s on right now on the East Coast – anyone else watching? ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:07am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/78 "2005-07-07T01:07:18Z")
I thought John and Charlotte’s Quickstep was very nice, but it’s still the easiest step. Kelly and ALec’s Latin dance was good. but I’m biased. I really like John and Charlotte. Waiting for the next set. StG ---
**Author:** ![twickster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/ec9cab/32.png) [@twickster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/twickster)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/79 "2005-07-07T01:11:46Z")
Check out the smile on John’s face. That is so adorable. ---
**Author:** ![StGermain](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/stgermain/32/2868_2.png) [@StGermain](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/StGermain)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2005, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539/80 "2005-07-07T01:21:58Z")
I thought I saw several bobbles on the lifts for Kelly and Alec, but apparently the judges didn’t see it, so we’ll see. StG [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539.md?page=3) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/dancing-with-the-stars/307539.md?page=5)