TV Dance Shows & Competitions

[Dave Cullen]

ok, you guys asked for it, you got it.

[doodler]

Goody! I get to be first!

Thanks Dave.

And now down to business. Since I'm tired of being shown up by people who know what they're talking about on Runway and Top Chef, I spent the hiatus studying ballroom dancing (thanks PBS!) and I'm READY.

Here is how I placed the men tonight...
Mario (with an 8, definitely the guy to beat)
Jason (also an 8 but not a tie... I saw a small lift which the judges did not comment on, perhaps because it was opening night,)
Cristian (with a 7,)
Adam (with a 5,)
Penn (another 5, just slightly lower than Adam... feet more than anything) and
Steve (with my third 5 but I almost gave him a 4... he just did NOTHING for me and I don't care that I was in the minority.)

Let me say my top 3 were also the judges' top3 which means they and I had the same bottom 3... but our order of placement was a little different.

And finally, Monica Selas looked like she had swallowed the sour pill just before they went on air. I hope she relaxes and starts having fun before tomorrow... although were I in her position, I'd be headed out of town on the first available transportation, even if it was shank's mare. And REALLY finally, I think Marissa is going to be the one ... well, the WOMAN... I root for. She is, after all, dancing for ME.

[jack]

somehow i KNEW you'd get here first!  of course this might prove to be a two pony race.

i won't give any of this week's performances grades, but mario was clearly the leader, and in fact will be tha man to beat, as he has talent AND a rabid fan base.  jason taylor's size will probably work against him in the long run, but his journey is going to be interesting to watch, as he has a real natural grace, and overcoming his veneer of MANLINESS will be a measurable marker of his progress.

if steve guttenberg calms down, he might actually become good, as he is in fair shape, and has the body type for a ballroom dancer.

as i sad elsewhere, i found the chilean to be surprisingly unsexy for a handsome man.

penn 


there is a MUCH bigger talent pool among the women.  plenty of competitive spirit, and years of performance.  watch kristi yamaguchi.  she has had years of ballet and dance, is fit, and knows how to sell a program.  she OUGHT to be unstoppable. seles has always been a temperament on the court, so she might prove so on the floor.  all the other women have positives and might prove to be teachable, making them dark horses.

[doodler]

Passion and I talk about DWTS all the time so I'll push her a little to chat here as well. Most of the Dancing fans I know are not on this forum which is too bad because it would be nice to have a mob! (But the Lost thread is just a couple folks and they seem to do okay!)

[jack]

what we may lack in numbers we may make up for in enthusiasm 

[doodler]

I have it on good authority that Passion will be here next week once she gets her life back under control after her trip to Prague and having the kids home from school for Easter. In the meantime...

the judges and I really differ tonight! About the only one we were close on is Kristi and we both placed her first... the judges with way more enthusiasm than me. Here's my take:

Kristi (a firm 7 but I want to see her latin moves)
Marissa (another 7... I LOVED her performance even though I admit it wasn't as "correct" as it could have been)
Shannon (a 6)
Marlee (a high 5, debated between that and a 6)
Monica (a solid 5, don't care for the way she held her head, but this was my second "most entertaining PERFORMANCE" of the night)
Priscilla (5, I found her stiff and unentertaining and I don't care that she is barely 2 years younger than I am)

I think the judges went a little overboard with scoring tonight... funny, I cut the guys more slack, they the women. Guess we all know who's coming from where!

[jack]

one thing to keep in mind, there has not yet been a woman winner, much as they would like to even that out, hence the more talented, i think, distaff field.

i was pretty much in line with the judges.  priscilla is a little hard to take with her control top support hose and BOTOXED to a fare thee well face, but she did indeed dance circles around most of the ladies.  monica did far better than she or i expected, but she did have her neck cocked quite uncomfortably, it appeared.  she has NO natural grace.  if she does improve it will be by dint of her competitive spirit and damn good coaching.

marissa's obvious enthusiasm notwithstanding, her dancing was a hot mess.  she definitely has the POTENTIAL to excell, but dancing at this level requires maturity and discipline.  it is NOT a free for all.  marlee may be a champ at overcoming the odds, but in this case she is out of her league.  as she said, she is PROFOUNDLY deaf, and there is only so much counting and partner cuing one can do.  i had hoped she might feel the vibrations as many deaf dancers do, but that seems not to be the case.

shannon has a fierce body for dancing, but she is a mighty butch dancer, way more butch than derek.  she might get good yet, and if so there are many interesting possibilities in using her fit strength,  she could no doubt match derek in strength moves, providing a base for him to hot some pretty interesting leaps.

and then there was kristi...

i remember her as a skater.  she hadn't the sheer talent of michelle kwan, but she was a ruthless competitor, and as i expected, once the training bug bit, the old habits kicked right in.  while skating might not be a direct segue, she did know how t use her upper bod quite effectively, especially her arms and hands.  it doesn't hurt that she has mark ballas as a partner.  he has proved to be a brilliant choreographer and instructor.  he worked miracles on sabrina bryan.  in fact, i still cringe to see him dancing with someone else.  the odd thing about THAT pairing is that she actually improved his presentation by softening his professional dancer's glazed smile expression.  i admire his work tremendously, but i have a mad urge to smack that glib, bland, cheesy smile off his face.  :-[   

after last season's sabrina shocker it is obvious these things are hard to gauge, but i would say mario and karina, and mark and kristi will be the last two standing.

[doodler]

Oh, not true! Kelly won the very first season... with my support... and I've agreed with all the winners since except for Drew Lawhatever.

[jack]

whoops, too right.  kelly monaco.  that could have been easily checked, but i got lazy.  it HAS however, been a while.  i HAVE most often agreed with the judges, but certainly not always in who leaves when.  case in point, last year.  mark and sabrina very much deserved to be in the finals.  i also think that mario lopez ought to have won his year.  he "banged" as bruno puts it.

[doodler]

I disagree... I couldn't STAND Sabrina and never noticed Mark... but I was surprised to see her go when she did because I figured she had a big teen fan base. (Cheetah Girls are a teen thing, right?) And I THOUGHT I would have been just as happy, going into the announcement, if Mario won BUT judging by my reaction when Helio won... well... and just seeing H again on Monday reminded me how delicious I find him.

[doodler]

New dance program starting April 3rd (I think) on Bravo...11 PM EDT.

[jack]

i actually find your antipathy to mark and sabrina pretty incomprehensible... if the quality of the dancing is your leading criterion.  the trouble with teen fan bases is, apparently, that they don't watch dwts, hence the voting doesn't translate.  this week 4 paso is an example.  brilliant choreography, brilliantly executed.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8tlOqo0BQVQ

[doodler]

My appreciate of dancing prowess is often colored by my personal feelings! I just plain didn't like Sabrina from the first time I saw her. The same with that radio personality (Corolla?) that's on this season. I probably knew both of them in a previous life and had a bad experience....

[jack]

HEY !! WE NETTED A DTWS BANNER AD... our presence is felt on the interweb 


i do know what you mean about personality, but i can be won over by a real work ethic.  drew lachey was one such.

sabrina might have been inclined to teen giggles, but i forgave her because she was so obviously smitten, and she actually, in my eyes, humanized a dancing robot.

[doodler]

I tend to not pay a lot of attention to the professional dancers. THEY are supposed to know what the steps are and how to move.