DD's Dancing With the Stars (Read 952 times)

[DancingDays]

Welcome to DD’s DWTS. For those of you that don’t know, I started teaching Ballroom Dancing about 10 years ago. It’s even where I met my husband. He was my professional partner and we still dance together every now and then. People often ask me what I thought about that night’s show or what I thought of what the judges said, so I decided to start this thread. For my first post, I’m going to cover the “Stars” and their Pros and my feelings on the Judges. *DISCLAIMER: This is only my opinion. I will say that my take on the Ballroom part of the show is accurate, but my background often taints the Entertainment portion of the show. Here goes!

(Couples are listed as Star and Pro)

Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer – Bless his heart, Mike has been set up as the sacrificial lamb for this season. There’s always one that you just KNOW is going to go home that first night. I’m afraid it’s going to be him. His lack of star power combined with his….less than thrilling dancing means he’s almost certainly going home. Lacey is best known for her time on So You Think You Can Dance, and she can’t seem to let go of it. I like seeing routines that are a bit different, but she gets a little too wild and a little too sexy sometimes. I find that just distracting. We get it. You’re sexy. Now, let’s see you dance.

Wendy Williams and Tony Dovilani – Sorry Wendy. Your chances aren’t much better than Mike. I hate to say it, but I’m going to anyway, I’ve seen 90 year olds dance better than she did. Tony is a FANTASTIC teacher and is very patient. All of the moves they did were very basic and I always trust Tony to create routines that are perfect for his partner. I guess that was all Wendy could handle. And that’s sad. Tony deserves so much more. He always seems to get stuck with the divas.

Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskya – Not bad. The athletes always do pretty well because they are in touch with their bodies (not in a dirty way, GG) and they usually know how to move. Anna did a good job with him. Unfortunately, SHE was leading the whole time. It’s so much harder for the men to learn to do this because they have so much more to learn. The girls can just hang on and let their male teachers tell them where to go and that’s the way it’s supposed to look. The boys have to know where they are going, how to get there, and then at the same time, communicate to the lady what step she’s supposed to do next. When she leads it just looks off. Hopefully, Sugar (as Bruno calls him) will get better and will actually start leading.

Petra Nemkova and Dimitri Chaplin – Poor girl. So stiff. I know she broke her pelvis, but she’s clearly NOT a dancer. Dimitri is also known from SYTYCD and has done much better on DWTS than he did on the other show. He was good, don’t get me wrong, but I don’t remember him being able to do the other styles as well as he does Ballroom. It seemed to me that the choreography was WAY too hard for Petra. She could have benefited from some easier steps that could have been danced better. My guess is she lasts for 3 weeks.

Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel – She’s cute and she can shake her butt. But can she be elegant? The jury’s still out on that one. Under Louis’s careful tutelage I know she’ll get better. Louis is a fantastic teacher and they should be fine for a while.

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas – Here’s the obligatory Disney kid. Gotta have at least one. She’s obviously danced before and has real talent. Mark seems too concerned with how HE looks than how SHE dances. Her struggle will be in learning Ballroom technique which is totally different that Ballet or Jazz. If she can capture the audience, she’ll likely be around for a while.

Romeo and Chelsea Hightower – The kid can move. No doubt about that. But sadly, again, his partner did all the leading. Chelsea did a nice job with the choreography, but they desperately need to work on technique. Romeo will do fine with moving and timing, but he’s just not doing it right. He could be a real threat down the line, IF he can get the right technique going.

Chris Jerhico and Cheryl Burke – Hard to have an opinion about him, as he didn’t do all that much dancing. Watch it again. Cheryl created her typical routine “Stand there and I’ll dance around you.” The quickstep forced him to move around the floor, but Cheryl was leading the whole way. Blah. Not sure what kind of future he has. Cheryl is not my favorite teacher and I don’t usually like her choreography. She’s only had ONE really great routine and that was her Argentine Tango with Gilles a few seasons ago. Look it up on youtube. Gives me chills every time I watch it. It was the only time HE lead, and that was only because he was the best student she ever had. But this isn’t about the past. Moving on!

Kirstie Alley and Maks Chmerkovsky – Holy cow!!! She’s 60?!?!?!? Amazing! But I’m not all that surprised. Maks is THE best teacher on the show. And the hottest, but that’s a given. He has just the right amount of tricky choreography with easy basics to make sure it looks good and is still entertaining. Since Kirstie has the name recognition and a fair amount of talent, she just might make it to the final three. On a side note, Maks actually came to our studio a few years ago and he could NOT be any nicer. He’s exactly like what you think he’d be like; slightly shy, but a badazz dancer and a heckuva teacher. LOVE HIM!!!

Hines Ward and Kym Johnson – Football players usually do really well. And I’m happy to see Kym with a man that can move. Kudos to him for actually leading a little bit too. Footwork was pretty bad, but that will come. Unless he completely falls apart, he should be up there in the final 4.

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff – I LOVE RALPH!!!! He blew me away that first night. His Foxtrot was amazing. Excellent dancing and he was LEADING!!!! The jive was a little too much energy that I think got away from him in the end. But he’s my winner. I know it’s only week one, but I’m putting my money on him.

As for the judges: Carrie Ann is an idiot. She STILL has no idea what the heck she’s looking at and should not EVER open her mouth. Argh. Bruno, ehh. He doesn’t really say anything that’s so bad. He just likes to hit on the guys, which is funny to watch. Len is the only one that actually knows what he’s talking about, but he hates anything that isn’t his style. He often expects too much and I rarely agree with him. Overall, these are the worst people they could have gotten to judge this show and I still pray every season that they will be replaced. I never care what they have to say.

So there you have it. I will do my best to comment on every show and I hope someone finds this to be interesting.

PS. When my husband and I were competing professionally (about 7 years ago), we actually competed against Louis and his partner and Anna and her partner. They wiped the floor with us, but we CAN say we competed against them.

[sportsgirl]

I am not watching this show but I used to... it's nice to get an opinion of someone who knows dancing, rather someone who has no clue... The problem I had with this show was how certain "stars" were obvious to be in the top... Kristi Yamaguchi... of course she could dance.

Can you just also post the "stars" full names? in the 1st post. I am not sure all that are competing. I do know it's Hines Ward of course!!! (GO HINES) ;D

FYI: fantastic write-up!!

[DancingDays]

SG - I will go back and fix that right now (if I can remember all of their full names).

[MrsM]

I love Gilles! He is one of my favorites! My mom and I went to see him in Ballroom with a Twist. I was bummed because none of the pros were at the show we went to, but it was still amazing.

I have watched a few of the routines on Youtube from this season and I was impressed by Kirstie (love Maks!) and Ralph (though I am not a fan of Karina). I like Chelsea and she is a decent dancer, but I agreed with the judges and would like to see more content. I think Kym and Anna are my favorite pros and I would love to see Anna win, but I don't think this season will do it for her. I hate how they always give the same type of dancer to the pros. Tony always seems to get the short end of the stick (Kate Gosselin anyone?).

I would love to learn to ballroom dance. I did tap and jazz in a very small studio for 11 years and I soooo miss it. There just isn't anywhere around where I live to be able to do it.

[Kpatch]

DD- now I get where your DancingDays name comes from! Love your passion for the show. I don't watch, but I know the show is uber popular.

So I stickied the thread so it's easy to find. If there is a lot of off-topic interest in other TV shows, we may consider creating a sub-forum here in After Hours.

I know Kazz and I (and probably others) are rabid Mad Men fans, and if it ever comes back from hiatus, we "might" want to discuss it too.

[ghoulgirl]

Or a Fringe thred too, right SG? (I am still catching up, will let you know as soon as I am done...)

bad. The athletes always do pretty well because they are in touch with their bodies (not in a dirty wat, GG)

Ahhh, you know me so well already! LOL

Great commentary. Thanks for sharing that with us DD! I started watching DWTS when I was pregnant with my daughter Ava. So, almost 4 years ago now. It's a lot of fun.

Maks is one of my favorites, I even had a dog named after him, sadly he got sick and passed away.
I love Ralph, he is one of my favorites, but I simply cannot stand Karina. Just something about her. Even looking at her gives me cold shivers. I wish she wasn't on the show.
I am so disappointed that Derek Hough is not in this season. He always has such amazing coreography. Always. He did this futuristic dance with Joanna Krupa a few seasons ago and it was just great. Loved it.

I love Hines Ward's smile. He always makes me laugh.

I WISH FOR ONCE THAT TONY WOULD GET A GOOD PARTNER. I love him and I hate that he always get voted off early and in my history of the show, he has never won the mirror ball. I want it to be him! But it is obvious that it definitely won't be this season.

[sportsgirl]

Yep, love Fringe, but I wouldn't want to give anything away... I did read though it got renewed for another season...

Now onward for DWTS...Hines is a tough wire receiver, by tough I mean when he's not involved with a route, he will become a big time tackler.
So yes, he's one tough cookie!

[MrsM]

As much as I love Derek & Julianne it is kind of nice seeing someone else have a chance to win. I think that is why I was so excited when Donny and Kym won. I don't want Mark to win again. I think that may be part of the reason why Edyta isn't on the show this season either. She has been on since the very beginning and has never finished better than 2nd. It has got to get old to see the same 4 people win over and over. As a viewer it gets old as well. I think I am just getting worn out on the show and that is probably why I am not really watching this season. I have watched some clips on Youtube, but I just can't make myself sit down and actually watch the whole thing.
I really love Tony's choreography and also Louis' as well. Chelsea Hightower is also a cute dancer. (My hubby is obsessed with her legs!) I would love to see either one of them win. I think for me this season I have more invested in the pros than I do the celebrities.

[DancingDays]

I totally get it! Its getting to the point that the pros are more famous than the celebs. And since most of the pros are former world champions, it's nice to see them getting the recognition the deserve.

And as much as I love Ralph, I hate hate HATE Karina. She is such a diva. I can't stand her. But I always cheer for the student, because they were my students, so to speak. And I'm super partial to the men since that's who I always worked with. I know the pressure the men put on themselves so I cheer extra for them.

[rockfordfosgate]

Celebs: First, I loved Gilles! That Argentine Tango was/is my favorite dance ever on the show. This season, I love Kristie and Ralph and Hines.

Pro Dancers: I can't stand Karina. I agree with you DD that she is a diva. I think for me, the tipping point on her was when she cried when she had Billy Ray Cyrus as a partner. I mean, I get the celebs crying, but she's supposed to be the professional. I love Maks. He's great to look at, and even though he comes off as the hard teacher, he's good. I do miss Derek's choreography.

[addictedtodool]

Oh, cool thread DD. So wish I could dance as well as Chelsea. I don;t watch faithfully because I already have waaaay too many reality TV shows on my DVR, but I do try to watch enough so I can keep up a conversation with my best friend who is a faithful fan. Now I can talk SMACK! You are the bomb!

BTW I totally agree about Ralph! I picked him to win week one. (she and I always bet...I know nothing, but somehow I win...hmmm) Loved Kirstie and Hines too. The Playboy bunny needs to go.

[DancingDays]

Btw, Elena Grinenko (Tony's old Professional partner) is at my studio today. I know she had a star at least once, but I can't remember who it was. I don't think they lasted very long. I'll see if I can get some dirt from her. Stay tuned!

[ghoulgirl]

She got voted off the first episode of season three with Tucker Carlson!

www.people.com/people/gallery/0,,20477393,00.html#20930117

It was funny you posted that because I was looking at the above link on my lunch break today...

[sportsgirl]

Elena Grinenko competed in two seasons of Dancing With The Stars. In Season 3 she danced with Tucker Carlson and finished in eleventh place. In Season 4 she danced with basketball great Clyde Drexler and finished in eighth place.

[ghoulgirl]

I didnt start watching until early 2007, so I missed all of that.
I love this show. I am hooked too on America's best dance crew. I cannot stand so you think you can dance. I am NOT a fan of contemporary pieces, at all and there are a lot of them on SYTYCD. Plus, I DESPISE that lady judge. Ugh. One word from her and I am changing the channel. I cannot stand her voice! Thank goodness they don't do contemporary on this show.