It's Week Two of
Dancing with the Staaarrrrrrrrrssssss!!!!! Sadly, we are down a leprechaun, but we can soldier on. Right? RIGHT?!?!? Bring on the Frenchman! Oh la la.
Melissa and Tony (JIVE) – Very cute! Thank goodness it's the right kind of song for this dance!
As for the dancing, it was pretty good. If it were really just week two of any old season, I'd say it was near perfection, but it's not. Her flicks (those are the little kicks) were rather hesitant and, with this level of competition, they should be MUCH sharper. Still, it was pretty good and I have few complaints.
MY SCORE: 7.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8, 8, 7.5 = 23.5 Bristol and Mark (QUICKSTEP) – Still snarling over here. Ugh. Note to the producers – Quickstep is NOT the fancier version of the Texas Two Step. Note to Mark – Two Step is NOT Quickstep. Please just make it (and her) go away. Quickly. Where's that FF button? Seriously though, everything about this was bad. E V E R Y T H I N G.
MY SCORE: 3 JUDGES SCORE: 6, 6, 6 = 18 Helio and Chelsie (JIVE) – Ooooh!!! Great jive song!!! I love it when a modern song is used – and it fits!!! Oops, went a little exclamation mark crazy there. I'll slow down. The dance itself was, Ok. Chelsie did the whole “Imma twist/spin/shake my ass a lot so the audience doesn't notice that he's not doing all that much” routine. Also, she went for the “Imma back-lead the shnizz outta this thing.” Helio DID have some nice flicks and kicks here and there, but he did a little too much face dancing and not enough actual dancing. For some reason his schtick is wearing thin this year. Hmmm. Wonder what that's about?
MY SCORE: 6 JUDGES SCORE: 8, 7.5, 7.5 = 23 Apollo and Karina (QUICKSTEP) – I could kiss Karina. She mentioned in the rehearsal package that she knows the judges are going to be looking for male stars that are leading their partners. Does that mean she's going to teach him to lead???
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Now the dance – YAY, it's an actual Quickstep song. And it's adorable. He stayed well in frame the whole dance and his footwork was really pretty good. He looked like a real dancer. Good for him (and hopefully a great big Thank You to Karina – MAKE HIM LEAD YOU).
MY SCORE: 8.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8.5, 8, 8 = 24.5 Sabrina and Louis (QUICKSTEP) – You know what? It's pretty darn good. Interesting song, not a typical Quickstep, but I kind of liked it. Sabrina was smooth and reserved, and had beautiful top line. Her frame + her head positions = gorgeous! I say well done!! I maintain that it's so much easier for the female stars, but this was a very good routine and she did quite well.
MY SCORE: 8.5 JUDGES SCORE: 9, 8.5, 8.5 = 26 Kirstie and Maks (JIVE) – Bless her heart. We forget (or at least I sometimes forget) that Kirstie is in her 60s, and, as she reminded us in the rehearsal package, she's THREE times as old as some of her competitors. Not that 60 is old. But for the sake of this show, it certainly doesn't seem to be helping. I'd say she gave it her best, but she really can't compete with kids 1/3rd her age. I mean, how is that even fair?!? In any case, it was a fun routine, but not up to snuff. Bless her heart.
MY SCORE: 6.5 JUDGES SCORE: 7, 7, 7 = 21 Emmitt and Cheryl (QUICKSTEP) – I'm not sure why, but this routine leaves me wanting more, and I'm not really sure what. Maybe it was because it looked like Cheryl was leading the whole thing and Emmitt was just along for the ride. Argh. I hate that. His frame seemed kind of sloppy, in fact he just seemed too loose for this type of dance. Maybe that's what's missing – some body control. Don't get me wrong, it wasn't awful. But he's not holding his core, he's just kind of moving around with his arms up. Work on that, Emmitt. Oh, and while I'm at it, teach him to lead, CHERYL!!!
MY SCORE: 7 JUDGES SCORE: 7.5, 7.5, 7.5 = 22.5 Drew and Anna (JIVE) – I really like the punk rock vibe they are going for (and can we talk about how gorgeous Anna is??? YOWZA!!), but the tempo of the song was killing me. If it were performed at its normal speed it would be undanceable, so I know why they slowed it down, but it just felt like when a cassette tape is dragging (remember those?). Unfortunately for Drew, Anna's total hotness was not hot enough to disguise his horrid footwork. His feet did not point, his flicks were not sharp. He had energy, but he needs to step it up in the technique department.
MY SCORE: 7 JUDGES SCORE: 7.5, 7.5, 7.5 = 22.5 Joey and Kym (QUICKSTEP) – OMG I LOVE THE SONG!!!!!! It's so perfect for Joey! The dance was good, not spectacular, but very good. He had a nice frame, the footwork got a bit sloppy in places, but overall, it was really good.
MY SCORE: 7.5 JUDGES SCORE: 7.5, 7.5, 7.5 = 22.5 Shawn and Derek (JIVE) – Derek did a great job with the choreography this week. I will definitely give him credit for that. BUT (and you knew one was coming), there was a lightness missing from Shawn's performance. Her flicks were sharp and her feet were pointed, but she just seemed heavy to me. When you dance Jive, your center of gravity is way up in your chest, in the boob area, and it should seem like you're full of helium. Her center was way down in her feet and she seemed full of lead. On the surface, it looked really good, but to me it was a bit heavy.
MY SCORE: 8 JUDGES SCORE: 8.5, 8, 8.5 = 25 Kelly and Val (QUICKSTEP) – Good heavens, I'd already forgotten she was on the show. Oops. The routine was very nice and it's clear that Val is teaching her WAY more than her first teacher ever did – and it looks like she's rehearsing a lot more too. As for her technique, I think the skirt of her dress was juuuuuust long enough that you couldn't really see her feet (smart move) so it hid a LOT. Her frame was nice and it was a lovely effort. Btw, if you can see their rehearsal package, it's totally worth a look. I nearly wet myself laughing so hard.
MY SCORE: 7.5 JUDGES SCORE: 7.5, 7, 7.5 = 22 Found the rehearsal footage – enjoy!!!
Gilles and Peta (JIVE) – Aaaaaand we have our first trip to the doctor. That didn't take long. Thankfully it's only a pulled hamstring (something that hurts, but won't take him out of contention) so onward we dance. WOW!!!
I don't think he has any idea just how good he really is. I mean, that was incredible. He looked like a pro out there. The only mistake I saw was in the wardrobe choice – clearly that jacket was unnecessary and he should have danced without it. Other than that? I can't see anything wrong. SIGH.
MY SCORE: 9.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8.5, 8.5, 8.5 = 25.5 <--- I suspect that if we didn't have those half points, those would've been all 9s.
Leader BoardGilles......9.5........25.5
Sabrina...8.5........26
Apollo......8.5.......24.5
Shawn......8...........25
Melissa....7.5.......23.5
Joey..........7.5.......22.5
Kelly..........7.5.......22
Emmitt......7..........22.5
Drew..........7...........22.5
Kirstie.......6.5........21
Helio...........6............23
Bristol........3............18
My bottom 3: Kirstie, Helio, Bristol
Judges bottom 3: Kelly, Kirstie, Bristol
Who's going home? My guess would be either Bristol or Kirstie, but I'm realllllllllllllllyyyyyyyy hoping it's Bristol.
As for the dancing, it was pretty good. If it were really just week two of any old season, I'd say it was near perfection, but it's not. Her flicks (those are the little kicks) were rather hesitant and, with this level of competition, they should be MUCH sharper. Still, it was pretty good and I have few complaints. MY SCORE: 7.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8, 8, 7.5 = 23.5
I'm keeping my fingers crossed. Now the dance – YAY, it's an actual Quickstep song. And it's adorable. He stayed well in frame the whole dance and his footwork was really pretty good. He looked like a real dancer. Good for him (and hopefully a great big Thank You to Karina – MAKE HIM LEAD YOU). MY SCORE: 8.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8.5, 8, 8 = 24.5
I don't think he has any idea just how good he really is. I mean, that was incredible. He looked like a pro out there. The only mistake I saw was in the wardrobe choice – clearly that jacket was unnecessary and he should have danced without it. Other than that? I can't see anything wrong. SIGH. MY SCORE: 9.5 JUDGES SCORE: 8.5, 8.5, 8.5 = 25.5 <--- I suspect that if we didn't have those half points, those would've been all 9s.
