DD's Dancing with the Stars (week 9) (Read 653 times)

[DancingDays]

Here we go! It’s Dancing with the injured Stars (and some injured pros).

Ralph and Karina (Argentine Tango) – Apparently his knee is feeling better. And apparently this is dancing with street lamps. Ha ha! Poor Ralph. Try as he might there just is no sex in that man. I mean, I’m sure there is, he does have two kids after all, but it just doesn’t come out in his dancing. He seemed angry (or actually in pain) but he definitely wasn’t thinking sexy. Nice footwork, and he didn’t screw up, but lack of emotion keeps it from being perfect. My Score: 9 Judges Score: 25 (8, 9, 8)


Skip to 2:09 for the dance.


(Salsa) – He’s really trying hard for a sexy dance, but I have to laugh a little. Of course Karina dressed like a lion doesn’t really help. Oh dear. Bless his heart. Dancing-wise it was pretty good, not spectacular, but pretty good. Bruno had a bleeped line about him being too rough with his Pussy cat (meaning Karina) because he didn’t say the cat part at first. Too far, Bruno. Too far. My Score: 8 Judges Score: 23 (8, 7, 8) *sad face for Ralph*


Skip to 3:12 for the dance.


Kirstie and Maks (Viennese Waltz) – Uh oh. The pressure is starting to get to them. The funny thing is they both tweet during the week about how crazy their rehearsals are, but how much they love each other. And that love seemed to show in their Viennese Waltz. For the first time she seemed really relaxed while they were dancing. I wouldn’t exactly call it “magical” but I did think it was very well done and I’m pleased for her. My Score: 9 Judges Score: 27(9, 9, 9)


Skip to 2:17 for dance.


(Paso Doble) – It was really good. I’m so proud of her. She left it all on the floor and did just a fantastic job. That thing in her hair was unnecessary, but I’m so happy for her. My Score: 10 Judges Score: 27 (9, 9, 9)


Skip to 3:11 for dance.


Chelsea and Mark (Argentine Tango) – Oooh. We get to see Angry Mark this week. For some reason, Angry Mark comes off as….well, shall we say “douche” (and a little bit like a whiny baby)…where Angry Maks is kinda funny (and of course, super sexy). I don’t mind so much when Maks gets angry. Guess Mark just isn’t hot enough to pull it off. Sorry Mark. Speaking of not pulling something off, Chelsea’s dress and white shoes were atrocious!!! White lace dress plus white shoes equal old lady. She looked like she was 80 years old. Also, I thought it was quite a risk to so blatantly rip off Giles’s Argentine Tango. The music was identical and even some of the moves were the same. And she did NOT dance it even half as good as Giles. I’m very disappointed for her. It should have been MUCH better. My Score: 8 Judges Score 28 (9, 9, 10) Not sure which dance Bruno was watching…..


Skip to 1:54 for dance.


(Rumba) – Clearly Mark is going for the patented “Maks” look. But it’s just not working for me. Neither is this routine. It was sexy-ish in parts, but her lines were kind of weird and she didn’t complete any of her movements. I don’t know what the judges were looking at (except maybe Mark’s chest) because she did NOT dance well. It was just ok. They obviously spent very little time on technique and it really exposed her shortcomings. She looked really pretty though. My Score: 8 Judges Score: 30 (10, 10, 10)


Skip to 2:15 for dance.

Hines and Kym (Argentine Tango) – We finally get to see what sent Kym to the hospital this week and we are forewarned that it’s hard to watch. It’s hard to describe what happened (watch the rehearsal footage to see it), but it was heartbreaking to see how broken up Hines was. He is such a gem. I want to give him a huge hug. As for the dancing, this man oozes sex appeal. Every step was awesome. It was simply beautiful. And then he starts crying when it’s done. And Kym’s crying. And now I’m crying too. And now everyone’s crying. I love this guy. My Score: 10 Judges Score: 30 (10, 10, 10)


Skip to 2:33 for the dance, but the rehearsal footage is worth a look. The drop is around 1:30.


(Salsa) – Adorable. Awesome. A+++ Sexy. I loved it. And I hate salsa routines!!! My Score: 10 Judges Score: 30 (10, 10, 10)


Skip to 3:54 for dance.


Winner Takes All (Cha Cha) – Everyone is out there dancing their best Cha Cha. The winner gets 15 extra points. Basically, it’s like extra credit. It’s set up in brackets. First up is Hines vs. Ralph. Both of them brought it and I think they were actually pretty evenly matched. Winner of 1st round: Hines (I agree)



In the second round, it’s Chelsea vs. Kirstie. I think Kirstie did a much better job than Chelsea. Kirstie was DANCING; Chelsea was too sharp and I didn’t care for it. Winner of 2nd round: Chelsea (Boo!! I disagree completely with this. Boo!!)



So it’s down to Chelsea and Hines. I thought Hines killed it. Chelsea was still too tight for me. There was no fluidity. Winner Takes All: Chelsea Boo. Again.



Overall thoughts: If the “Winner Takes All” round had even ONE surprise in it (like Ralph or Kirstie moving on) I would have enjoyed it more. But it just ended up as another way to give the favorites some more points (as if they needed it). Boring and very anti-climactic. They even set it up talking about how certain favorites had gone home early because of lack of votes (Sabrina, Brandy). So this was a way to give Chelsea some extra points to cover the lack of votes. Umm, if we don’t vote for her it because we want don’t want her to win. Ok. Rant over.

Judges Leaderboard…………………………………………..My Leaderboard
Chelsea (73 includes bonus 15)…………………………….Hines (20)
Hines (60)……………………………………………………………..Kirstie (19)
Kirstie (54)…………………………………………………………….Ralph (17)
Ralph (48)……………………………………………………………..Chelsea (16)

Wow. I really did not agree with the judges tonight, except for Hines. It’s worth noting that without the bonus 15 points, Chelsea would have been in 2nd place on the judges leaderboard. In any case, as much as I love the Karate Kid, I’m afraid Ralph is at the end of his journey. The judges were really (unnecessarily) harsh, in my opinion, but they obviously have their favorites and Ralph is not one of them. Therefore……

Who’s going home: Ralph

[MrsM]

I agree. The cha-cha winner take all was just a set up to give Chelsea more points. I thought Hines killed the cha-cha and Chelsea was so so. Grrr... Chelsea's rumba seemed more like a lyrical dance than a ballroom dance to me. It was a little too fluid. They want her on because she is a Disney kid.

I loved Hines soooo much!! He did an amazing job! I can't believe how well Kym danced after that injury. That was amazing!

Poor Ralph. He really got the shaft this week and Karina did not help him at all.

Kirstie was great this week. And Maks of course!!

[rockfordfosgate]

First Hines/Kym....that man CAN dance! I loved both routines wholeheartedly. And that drop was scary.

Ralph/Karina. For me it felt like they were just trying to hard. Ralph was too aloof in the Argentine Tango and the salsa was alright for an audience pleaser, but it was a bit wild. A dance with the pro crawling across the floor at the start is just not right. And Bruno, I expect a bit of crassness from at times, but wow.

Kirstie/Maks....Just looking at Maks makes me want to vote for them, but Kirstie did very well. The first dance had a very floating rhythm in it and it was pretty. The second one was pretty good as well.

Chelsea/Mark...DD, I am so glad I wasn't imagining things with that Argentine Tango. I was in a different room and heard that music and had to come running because I thought Gilles was on! LOL! But yeah, I thought they used some of the same moves and I have to say....Mark is no Gilles...and neither is Chelsea. Overall, it was a good routine and I liked it, but it wasn't a wow, probably mostly because I was comparing it to Gilles/Cheryl's dance. Their rumba was pretty and had good emotion.

[DancingDays]

To be fair, that piece of music is VERY popular for Arg, Tango. However, if you're going to take your inspiration from a VERY memerable routine, you'd better dance to a different part of the music and make it look completely different. Mark failed at that. I'm shocked the judges didn't comment that it at least reminded them of Giles. But you can't talk smack about the Disney kids.

[ghoulgirl]

Thanks for the recap DD!
I didn't get a chance to watch but I did watch the video you posted of Hines and Kim where it detailed her fall. OUCH! is all I can say! Like seriously holy cow. That had to hurt so bad. I was crying too. LOL Thanks for posting it.

[MrsM]

Yeah Mark is definitely no Gilles. Mark is a boy. Gilles is a man!!

[DancingDays]

UPDATE: Ralph was eliminated.

Finals next week with Hines, Chelsea, and Kirstie. Tune in next Monday!

[MrsM]

Booo

[ghoulgirl]

I'm hoping Hines takes it! Chelsea is pretty darn good too, but I just like Hines so much! He is wonderful!

[DancingDays]

Seeing how concerned he was for Kym, and how emotional he got about her injury, I'm a total Hines fan. I really want him to win. I can't stand Mark, and I mainly don't want him to win, so I really was hoping Chelsea was going to be eliminated last night but the judges (read: producers) love her, so they rigged it so she would stay. I doubt anyone thinks Hines WON'T win. But we thought the same thing about Gilles and he came in 2nd.

[MrsM]

Agreed. I am a cynic and I think it is rigged. They manipulate the results to get who they want in the finals. Look at Bristol last year. Who the heck voted for her???

[DancingDays]

I actually met (and had dinner) with Dominic and Hok from SYTYCD. When I asked him about the show and voting he told me, and I quote, "Don't forget. Above all else, its a TV SHOW." I have not voted once on any show since hearing that, because he's right. The show is almost as scripted as Days is. Nothing "real" about it.

[MrsM]

Yeah. They do whatever they have to to ensure the best ratings and the most drama.

[DancingDays]

Best examples: Bristol Palin, Kate Gosslin, Master P (remember him???). They were all TERRIBLE dancers, but folks tuned in to see just how bad they actually were. Ratings = money.

[MrsM]

Yeah I still have NO idea how Gilles didn't win. I can't even remember who beat him, just that he lost.