DWTS S9 - Results

Tonight was the first results show, a double elimination.

The spotlight dance that the judges wanted to see again was Kelly and Louis' Viennese Waltz. It was gorgeous the second time around.

After all of the hoopla, including a tribute to Patrick Swayze, and a really cool dance production from The Lion King, the results were revealed. Tonight we said goodbye to Ashley Hamilton and Macy Gray. The professionals will be back throughout the season to dance in performances. Sadly, Jonathan once again left earlier than he should have because he's such a sweet and engaging professional. Unfortunately this year he was stuck with a partner who had the grace of a bag of sweaty gym clothes.

Next week it's a more traditional show, with all of the dancers competing on the same night.

Dancing With The Stars - Season 9 Week 1, part 2

The Ladies dance tonight.

Show opens with the women pro dancers performing a number to “She’s a Lady.” It was cute, though some of those moves weren’t so lady-like.

The contestants did their descent from the bit staircases and some were so graceful (Melissa Joan Hart) and some were clunky (Macy Gray)!

Similar to last night, the women will do a dance on their own with their partner, and then participate in a relay dance with three other contestants. The points earned from the second dance will be added to the scores after my comments.

Debi Mazar/Maks Chmerkovskiy – Salsa - She’s got nice legs and can kick high. The stunts are there, but the hips are frozen. Okay good…no handstand. Len said hips were missing, but sees potential. Bruno said she worked her busom but she lost timing. Carrie Ann didn’t see a connection between the dance and her expressions. Maks looks hot. 16/30 + 6 = 22 for the night.

Melissa Joan Hart/Mark Ballas – Viennese Waltz - Off to a nice start. Full arm extensions and nice steps. Looked a little lost at one point. Nice finish. Bruno said it was prim, proper and adequate. Carrie Ann saw good moments, but said there was a lack of connection. Len liked the holds but saw poor footwork. 18/30 + 6 = 24 for the night.

Mya /Dmitri Chaplin – Viennese Waltz – She’s very elegant and moves beautifully. I’m sensing a little bit of Mel B here. Of course what I say and the judges will say may be completely different. Carrie Ann is thrilled. Len said it was NOT a Viennese Waltz, he called it fluff. Bruno is fighting him and has riled up the room. Such controversy. 21/30 (Len gave her a 5!) + 10 = 31 for the night.

Kathy Ireland/Tony Dovolani – Salsa – She’s kind of square in the hips so her hop action isn’t there. She’s doing some OK footwork but the whole things looks awkward. Len sees potential but said it lacked energy and was careful. No sizzle. Bruno said she couldn’t sell the salsa, it lacked sex. Carrie Ann said she needs to work on loosening up. Belinda’s salsa was better! There, I said it! HA! 16/30 + 4 = 20 for the night.

Natalie Coughlin/Alec Mazo – Salsa – We have hips! An athletic number with some clever arms and some shimmies. However, it feels a bit slow. Nice though. Bruno saw stops and starts but liked it. Carrie Ann called her a diamond in the rough. Len said the dance was not sexy enough, it was plain. 19/30 + 8 = 27 for the night.

Macy Gray/Jonathan Roberts – Viennese Waltz – Oh dear…she looks lost and stoned. HA HA Poor Jonathan looks like he’s dragging a sack of potatoes around the dance floor. Now she looks like she needs a nap. Carrie Ann called it “fascinating, Beautiful in a bizarre way.” Len said it was charming. Bruno called her child-like. Macy was censored when she said that the first dance “busted her cherry.” 15/30 + 4 = 19 for the night.

Joanna Krupa/Derek Hough – Salsa – Hips and swivels. Sexy. Cute arm tricks. Nice footwork. It was great! Len is happy, called it hot and smoking. Bruno said it was sexy and seductive. Carrie Ann said it was hot and is excited to see more. She’s cute…nice personality. 24/30 + 10 = 34 for the night.

Kelly Osbourne/Louis Van Amstel – Viennese Waltz – She looks so pretty. The footwork is a bit messy but not terrible. Arms nees to be fuller when extended. She looked good though! Oh, there’s LaToya Jackson! She ran to hug her parents. Sweet! Bruno called her a vision of grace and elegance. Carrie Ann said that her parents should be proud. She spotted a lift. Len said it was the best Viennese Waltz he saw all night. I agree. 23/30 + 8 = 31 for the night.

Relay time:

Group 1 is doing a Fox Trot – Kathy, Natalie, Debbie, and Joanna. Natalie Has nice elegant moves. Classic elegance. Kathy looks more relaxed in this dance than in the latin round. Joanna looks precise and the footwork is nice. Debbie looked much more relaxed and really performed nicely! 4th is Kathy, 3rd is Debbie, 2nd is Natalie, 1st is Joanna.

Group 2 is doing a cha-cha-cha – Melissa, Macy, Mya and Kelly. Macy…not sure what to say. Poor Jonathan. It’s a bit better than her waltz. Melissa’s footwork loosk precise but a bit off beat. Mya is having fun and ls sexy with good legwork and arms. Kelly is awesome! Hips and legs and arms. Nice!! 4th is Macy, 3rd is Melissa, 2nd is Kelly, 1st is Mya.

Night two is finished. I think Macy’s going home, if not her, it may be Kathy Ireland. Stay tuned!

Dancing With the Stars - Season 8, Week 10

File Under: Television Obsessions

Tonight, the semi-finals!

The remaing couples are:
Melissa and Tony
Gilles and Cheryl
Shawn and Mark
Ty and Chelsie

Tonight my DVR was my friend and recorded the program for me. YAY. Oh look, there's Belinda, top billing of course. :-)

Fast forward thru the pro dance stuff.

The four remaining couples will dance the Latin dance and the ballroom dance that they haven't danced.

Wow...an entire half hour before the first dance begins...

Melissa and Tony - Quickstep - I love the quickstep. Nice footwork. It's a pretty routine, remindes me of an old movie. Okay Melissa, we know you can kick good and high. You must have been a cheerleader. Oh yeah, you were. Wow...great finish! 10 from Len, 9 from the other two. 28

Gilles and Cheryl - Waltz - Aww...they brought Jonathan Roberts back to offer Gilles some pointers from a man's perspective. The word suave comes to mind. Nice long lines, smooth with the arms, his steps look clean. Bruno is standing to deliver his comments. Carrianne and Len are thrilled too. 30

Shawn and Mark - Argentine Tango - The flying sausage is trying to look sexy. She's got such an athletic body, it's difficult to watch her doing these sexy dances. Strangely, it's working. Her leg moves look great. This number is well choreographed. I always get uncomfortable when after she does something that sexy, they show her parents. Carianne said that she totally delivered the emotional content of the dance. Wow, Mark's wearing a lot of eyeliner. 30

Ty and Chelsie - Viennese Waltz - Ty takes Chelsie bullriding on a mechanical bull. It's cute watching him do the arm extensions because he still looks so stiff and awkward when he does them. Yet, he's so dashing to watch and he's charming. A couple gaffes here and there with his feet. Oh dear, when he spun her on one foot he looked so goofy. Len's always a gentleman with his comments. Bruno called it "chasing flys" and Len and Bruno are arguing. Carrianne called it a struggle. Wow...the judges nearly had a knock-down, drag-out. Tom handles them flawlessly and deserves all 10's! LOL 25 (a 9 from Len).

Now it's time for the visit home and interviews with people from their past. Fast forward...

Melissa and Tony - Cha-Cha-Cha - Some good moves I guess, but I don't like it. OH, there's the cheerleader kick again. Surprise. No boob slippage this week. Bruno said that she didn't sustain energy throughout the dance. Carianne agreed with Bruno, Len didn't feel it was up to her standards, said it was lackluster at parts. 27

Gilles and Cheryl - Salsa - Okay I watched Gilles' family story. I love him. Fast footwork and sexy moves, he's shaking those hips and that ass. Nicely done! Aw, his wife is so pretty. Carianne's dancing her approval. Len wishes he had an 11 paddle. Bruno said that Lil' Kim is hiding in Gilles' pants. LOL 30

Shawn and Mark - Jive - Cute start. She looks like Kitty Carry-all. Looked a bit out of step in a couple spots. It's making me dizzy. It's cute but distracting. I just heard Len say "put an 8 there." Judges picked at the performance. 26

Ty and Chelsie - Samba - He's not a latin dancer. He just seems to be a half-beat behind. Some of his work is really good but I think his nerves get the best of him and when he's standing still and just moving his feet, you notice it. Bleh...poor attempt at a Samba roll. Good butt jiggle though! Okay, he should not shimmy his chest. Ugh. Bruno picked a bit but was polite, Carianne was just kind with her words but didn't really comment on the dance. Len called him "Murray in a hurry." 23

So here's how they stand:

Melissa and Tony - 55/60
Gilles and Cheryl - 60/60
Shawn and Mark - 56/60
Ty and Chelsie - 48/60

It could be Ty's last dance, but the viewers saved him when in the bottom two with far superior Lil' Kim so it could be Shawn, or even Melissa. Stay tuned.

Perfect 10's!

In my recap of my trip and my discussion about the judges paddles, I fully intended upon sharing with you a picture of us holding the paddles, but forgot. So here you go...


This was taken after the show. Kim broke the handle off of her paddle. I think she was spanking somebody with it. Oopsie. I think they turned out pretty good, don't you?

(Photo credit - someone else, but it was from DeDe's camera, I think)

LA Adventure, Continued

File Under: La-La-Land-a-Go-Go

Saturday morning began with a workout and then breakfast. Mark and I relaxed a while and then hit the road back to Los Angeles to meet up with our friends DeDe and Kim. I've not seen DeDe since January 2007 when we met up in Vegas. I've not seen Kim since August 2001 when a large group of us met up in Vegas. Yes, both were for G0-Go's shows. :) For this trip, both were staying on Sunset, right down the street from The House of Blues.




Kim, Jim, DeDe

Here's a picture of the larger group of us. Mark is in the black t-shirt, he was my host on this trip. Kim's in grey, then our friend Damon is in the center, next is DeDe in pale blue and finally me.



Now for a little secret about my trip. I traveled with props. No, nothing naughty, just something to take to the show. As the regular readers of my blog know, Belinda Carlisle, lead singer of The Go-Go's, recently appeared on "Dancing With the Stars." She never got a score higher than a 6 from any of the judges. I decided that she deserved some 10's, so I made judges paddles and took them with me. I was going to see to it that Belinda got her 10's. More about that later.

At the venue we took our "standing room only" spots in front of the stage, we were all clustered near one another, approimately 4 "rows" back. The wait began at about 7:50 pm.

Around 9:30, the opening act appeared. They were called "The Upper Crust" and were hilarious! Four men, dressed in 18th century period clothing, powdered wigs and white makeup faces. They put on a great show. I spotted Belinda and Go-Go's drummer Gina Schock watching the show from the balcony, both seemed to enjoy it.

Finally at 10:30, The Go-Go's came out and the crowd went wild. They opened with their hit single "Vacation." Belinda began her trademark moves, at which point, DeDe, Kim and I raised our "10" paddles. Belinda looked over and was completely surprised and very happy to see the scores. She smiled wide, bowed a bit and moouthed out "THANK YOU!" However, our work was not complete.

I received kudos from Jane. She spoke and said that while surveying the crowd, she saw so many familiar faces - friends from the UK, from the East coast, and Chicago!! She waved at me when she said Chicago. I love Jane. :)

Back in the early days of the band, they adopted the song "Cool Jerk," the song by The Capitols from the 1960's. They've been performing it for about 30 years. Often, the band would bring somebody on stage to dance for them and be their "Cool Jerk." On Saturday, Belinda introduced the song by saying "I've spent so many years looking for my Cool Jerk and I finally found him, about 3 months ago. Tonight I would like all of you to meet him. Jonathan, come on out, please!" Out walked Jonathan Roberts, Belinda's dance partner from "DWTS." They hugged and he waved and the three "judges" in the audience waived our 10's high. Belinda pointed them out to him and he smiled, pointed at them, indicating his surprise, then waved at us. Then the dance began. He got to see how she does things. And so do you. I filmed it once the song began.



The song ended, Jonathan took a bow and waved to the crowd, and the band played on. The show ended at about midnight and after chatting with some friends in the crowd, the group of us wandered back to DeDe's hotel for drinks and catching up. Finally, Mark and I hit the road at about 1:15 and managed to get back to his house at about 2.

Next up, Sunday! Highlights include a lost phone, a beach, nearly-naked surfer boys, and scary dolls!

Thanks to DeDe for the use of some of her photographs in this post.

California Here I Come

File Under: Proper Getaway

Last week's DWTS disappointment was the push I needed to check ticket availability for the Go-Go's House of Blues show in Hollywood. Sure enough, there were a few tickets available. My friend Mark was the deciding factor, he so graciously offered me a place to stay. I bought the concert ticket, so the only thing that was left was the airfare.

Round trip, $196.

Done.

I'm going to California next month, to see the Go-Go's. I'm sure there will be assorted DWTS people in the crowd since it's televised from LA. Belinda may even bring Jonathan Roberts on stage with her to dance. It'll be nice to see "the girls" again, hopefully I'll have the opportunity to visit with Jane, and Belinda, and the others. It'll also be excellent to meet up with my friend DeDe who I know will be there, as well as some of my other LA based pals.

Dancing With the Stars - Season 8, Week 2

File Under: (same as the previous post) LOL

Week 2 of Dancing With the Stars and it was an interesting departure from last week's showing. Many improved, a couple languished at the lower end of the scoring and there was one who was MIA. Here is my summary of the performances, these are the comments I made as I watched each performance. In some cases, the judges and I agreed.

This week's scores will be combined with those from last week so my scoring indicates the total that each couple received over the two weeks.

Holly and Dmitri – Quickstep 6/6/6 + 18 from last week = 36/60
Dance was uneven, her feet weren’t quite in it and she lacked posture. The judges noticed it too.

David and Kym - Salsa 6/5/6 + 19 = 36/60
Fun routine, but it seemed a bit clownish. He’s stiff with his movements. It’s a fast routine. Kym danced around David a lot.

Denise and Maksim – Quickstep 7/7/7 + 18 = 39/60
Still looks stiff and nervous, counting steps, a beat or two off but had some good moves. She fared better from the judges this week.

Belinda and Jonathan – Salsa 6/6/6 + 17 = 35/60
Fun and free, kind of wild, kind of lost something in the middle but she took some chances and did a handstand! She was enjoying herself. Judges were complementary but still felt she was lacking.

Ty and Chelsea – Quickstep 7/6/7 +14 = 34/60
Nicely done, improved over last week with confidence. A bit stiff but it seemed clean. Judges were pleased.

Shawn and Mark – Salsa 8/8/8 + 23 = 47/60
Kind of stiff in the hips. Good footwork and of course good with kicks. Judges are favorable.

Steve and Karina – Quickstep 6/5/6 + 13 = 30/60
Steve is dancing with a broken foot. Dancing in sneakers, looks paddle footed, clumsy and lost. Kathy Griffin is in the audience.

Chuck and Julianne – Salsa 6/7/7+20 = 40/60
She’s doing more of the dancing. He’s doing OK…still looks stiff. He didn’t move a lot. Couple of hip moves and wiggles. Bruno thought so too!

Lawrence and Edyta – Quickstep 7/6/7 + 16 = 36/60
Nice, but he still looks like he’s unsure of his steps, good energy. Judges seemed to like it.

Steve-O and Lacey – Salsa 5/4/5 + 17 = 31/60
This is dress rehearsal, he was injured earlier, so this is the performance on which they are judged. The performance lacked salsa, it was just a bunch of disjointed somewhat raunchy moves. Judges no likey.

Lil Kim and Derek – Quickstep 8/7/8 + 21 = 44/60
Nice and light and fun. She has a look on her face like she’s kind of surprised. She’s got the footwork right. Sweet! I like her!

Melissa and Tony – Salsa + 9/8/9 + 23 = 49/60
She’s got the hips and the kicks and is pretty good with the footwork. Heavy on “stunts.” More sympathy applause. Carianne loved it. Len loved it. Bruno loved it.

Gilles and Cheryl – Quickstep 9/9/9 + 24 = 51/60
Nice footwork, seems very smooth. Couple of steps were out of step…looked a bit like he was holding back but did a showoff finish. Judges LOVED IT!

So that's week 2. I'm biased so you know where my votes went, and I hope you all voted for my favorite, too. She's trying, she's having fun and she's warming up. She won't win this, I'm pretty certain of that but I want to see her hang around a little while longer. I'm guessing that one of the Steves will go.

Here's a screen capture from tonight's show. Guess who...

Added these for David, since I'm sure he's missing Gail's boobies.