Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Tuesday, March 25, 2014 - ,,,, No comments

Dancing with the Stars - Week 2

Tonight all of the celebrities will be performing dances that they chose before they even met their partners .

Surprise! There will be a double elimination this week based entirely on last week's scores and vote, and the elimination can happen anytime during the show. Seems like unnecessary drama to me.

Drew and Cheryl are safe. Their reward is that they get to dance first. Drew picked the jive, which is not an easy task to do especially this early on. But it looks pretty cute. Decent for week two. Judges comments were encouraging but not  raising false expectations. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, Bruno 7, so a total of 21.

More results Billy Dee & Emma are safe as well as Marilyn & Maks,  and Danica & Val with Danica and Val dancing next.

Danica and Val danced samba. Val said that he put together a routine worthy of a pro couple. She's good,  but when not ready to be confused with a pro yet. The judges comments were encouraging, but like with Drew not over the moon. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8, for a total of 24. And happy birthday Val! (Tom Bergeron mentioned it. No I'm not a stalker. lol)

Next, we have Billy Dee and Emma dancing the tango. This could be a good dance for him. Dancing to the Peter Gunn theme we have backup dancers as well. And in his shades and suit he does look like a cool dude. During the rehearsal footage Billy Dee shared concerns about his age. He is older but the routine looked good all things considered. Judges seem to have issues about lack of content. Scores: Carrie Ann 5, Len 5, and Bruno 5, total of 15.

Meryl and Maks will be dancing the swing. They're starting off in the skybox. During the rehearsal footage Maks talked about lots of lifts. I certainly hope that he doesn't throw her off the skybox. lol Really good swing routine, very fun. I like it. If they don't get really great scores from this, it will be a true test of whether they are grading on a curve or not for ice dancing champions. Judges comments overall pretty positive but warning that the score would be reduced for minor issues. (Maks is back, and so is the weekly Tom Bergeron butt squeeze. lol) Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 9, and Bruno 8, total 25.

More results: Amy & Derek are safe. Candace & Mark are safe. Diana & Henry are eliminated. In a surprise move, Tom Bergeron says that they should get to do their routine anyway, and off we go. They are doing the cha cha. Not technically the best, but she had so much fun with it. The good news is that they don't have to worry about judges comments or scores. Maybe it's the best of both worlds.

Candace and Mark do the rumba. They're playing up that she's a Christian, so it can't be "too sexy." However, its not supposed to be raunchy sexy. It's supposed to be flirty and sensuous. The dance is lovely. My only concern is that there's not enough rumba content to satisfy the judges, especially Len. Carrie Ann called her out right away about content.  Len and Bruno basically agreed. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, then 7, and Bruno 7, grand total 21.

Amy and Derek dance the swing next. Amy is the young lady with two prosthetic legs, and last week she had the highest score for her cha cha. The swing is a spot dance, and for this one they took it to the extreme. This was a very smart move for them. The dance itself was impressive and plenty of content. The judges agree. Scores: Carrie Ann 8, Len 8, and Bruno 8 for a total of 24.

More results: Charlie & Sharna and James & Peta are safe with James & Peta dancing salsa next. Salsa has more of a freestyle element to it, and James took full advantage of it. Not sure how the judges will feel about that, but there were some certainly some club moves included, and I thought it was very hot. Bruno and Carrie Ann liked it, but Len had some constructive criticism. Still overall positive. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 8, and Bruno 8, total of 25.

Charlie and Sharna dance tango next. The lines are beautiful. And from his ice dancing background frame and lead are fantastic. The only thing I can really criticize about it would be too much rise and fall. In the tango there should be none . Again we will see about scoring on a curve. The judges were a mix of gushing and explaining why they weren't going to give him a perfect score. Scores: Carrie Ann 9, Len 7, and Bruno 9, for a total of 25.

The next group up for elimination will dance before they get their results. NeNe & Tony will dance the jive. NeNe certainly has the attitude for. It was really cute and bouncy with lots of attitude and pizzazz. Probably not technically perfect, but it was great fun to watch. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7 totaling 21.

Sean and Karina dance the salsa next. This is our hockey player, and I I'm concerned about him not having enough of the dance watching the fan base. I thought the dance is pretty good especially for week two. Impressive  lifts. The footwork was very complicated. The only concern that I have is that the judges kept saying "if you're here next week." Now, maybe they can be forgiven because there aren't that many contestants left to dance, and there's still one more couple to be eliminated, but that didn't sound very encouraging. Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 7 for a total of 21.

Our last couple is Cody & Whitney dancing the tango. He comes from the world of pop music, and he's having trouble with this very traditional classic dance and making it on his own. He has some frame and posture problems, but he is certainly giving it his all. He threw in a little moonwalk as well as some electric embellishments on the costumes. I give Cody an A for effort. We'll see what the scores are like. Shocker, Len liked the moonwalk! Scores: Carrie Ann 7, Len 7, and Bruno 8 for a total of 22.

Final results: NeNe & Tony are safe.  Cody & Whitney are safe, so Sean & Karina are eliminated this week. *Boo-Hiss*

The past couple of seasons it seems like they did not eliminate anybody for the first two weeks. I liked that. It gave the stars a chance to get their bearings and show us what they really have. So, I am not a fan of a double elimination after the very first week. Its doesn't seem sporting or fair in any way.

In the last week, a couple of different TV shows they have tried to increase the drama dramatic tension by killing off major characters.  It's starting to smell like desperation in the television industry. What I saw from the producers tonight seems a lot like that to me.

People may like that kind of drama, but I'm tuning in to watch beautiful dancing. Part of the ballroom dance world is treating people with civility, and with the way they're jerking people around I see no evidence of that here.

Is Dancing with the Stars in the process of "jumping the shark?"  If they keep doing idiotic things, in order to artificially manufacturer drama, I may not be around to see it.

Here are our standings based on judges scores. Tonight goes to show how important viewer votes are.

Meryl & Maks - 25
Charlie & Sharna - 25
James & Peta - 25
Danica & Val - 24
Amy & Derek - 24
Cody & Whitney - 22
Drew & Cheryl - 21
NeNe & Tony - 21
Candace & Mark - 21
Billy Dee & Emma - 15

The scores are very tight with a 3-way tie for 1st place. Fan base will make all the difference. I wonder whether Meryl & Charlie will split the ice dancing vote, and if that will hurt them down the line. In any case, vote for your favorites, or you have no right to complain. Now, that Sean is gone, I'll have to think about who I'm supporting next. ;)

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