Dancing Shocker

I don't even know what to say about the results on Dancing With the Stars. I'm flabbergasted. It should have been Mark or Wayne going home. But somehow, Mark escaped the bottom two, and Wayne moved on. And we had to say goodbye to Albert (a hottie and a good dancer). What an absolute bummer.

Second Week of Dancing

The second week of dancing on Dancing With the Stars was last night, and it was a good week again.

Sabrina was amazing again this week. She is pouring so much of herself into her dancing - she has to be considered a favorite to win. Also amazing was Helio - he looks like he's having so much fun when he dances, and it translated into his score. I also really liked Mel - her score should have been higher, especially after seeing some of the other dancers.

The middle of the pack all danced well. I like Albert, and even though he wasn't as good as last week, dedicating his performance to his grandfather was really touching. Jennie was good too, even with the fall at the end (and why didn't anyone run out there with an ice pack for her?). Cameron and Jane were also pretty good.

Then there's Marie. She was ok, but not nearly as good as her scores show. I don't know why everyone is so enamored with her. Floyd was also ok - better than last week, but still not great.

And then there's the bottom two. Wayne and Mark were just awful. At least Wayne has age as an excuse. His quick step was painful to watch - really more of a slow step. And Mark? I am such a Mark Cuban fan, but the man has no sense of rhythm whatsoever. Did you see him trying to clap along with the music in the opening introductions? Not good. His dance was another one that was painful to watch. The worst part was that even though it was horrible, he thought he was amazing. Got to love a healthy ego.

I'm fairly confident that Mark & Wayne will be the bottom two tonight, with Mark going home. I think that Wayne just has more fans than Mark. But they should both go home after that!

First Dancer Goes Home

First, let me apologize for the delay in posts. It's time for post-season baseball, and with the run-up to the playoffs (and the playoffs starting Wednesday), I'm watching nearly everything on tivo a few days late. But really, the best reality tv out there is watching the Red Sox. Really.

So on to Dancing With the Stars. I loved the results show. Not because of Dolly Parton; It's hard for me to say anything bad about her after I learned about the amazing foundation she set up to bring books to kids. But I loved Savion Glover's performance, and am excited that they seem to be setting us up to bring in a new professional dancer each week. So exciting. And while I was bummed that Mark Cuban was in the bottom two (vote for him people!!), no big surprise that Josie was the first to go. She wasn't very good, though I think that with some more time she could have gotten better. But who knows.

Dancing With the Stars

It took two nights, but the premiere of Dancing With the Stars was well worth it. It's a good group this season - I'm even more excited now than I was while I was waiting for the show to start. And how fun is it that Drew is filling in for Samantha...every time Tom looks over at him, you definitely get the idea that he's wondering just how long he will be stuck without her.

The girls danced the first night, and, for the most part, the level of dancing was much better than in previous seasons. My early favorites are Sabrina (the Cheetah girl, whatever that is), Mel B (Scary Spice) and Jennie. All three delivered solid dances (I think that Jennie's scores were lower because she went first), and I think they'll be around for awhile. The middle of the pack for the girls were Marie and Jane. They were good, but I think they are getting a bit of a handicap because of their ages (I just didn't think they were nearly as good as their scores reflected). And, sadly, at the bottom was Josie. I loved how her partner said she was "deceptively unfit." How do you think the models are so thin? They don't eat and have no muscles! Dancing takes a lot of physical strength, and I like that people are starting to realize that. She's definitely at danger to go home this week.

The men had a big act to follow, and they were equally entertaining. I think that it's harder to separate the men, since so many of them were really fun to watch, even if they didn't have the best technique. I think that the top men would be Helio, Albert, and Cameron. I also love Mark, but that has a lot more to do with the fact that I'm a big fan of Mark Cuban than anything else (he runs the Mavs the way I would if I owned a sports team). He wasn't bad, and I think the longer he's in the competition, the better he will get. Floyd was also a mid-range dancer - very entertaining, but not so great with the dancing (he really needed to stand up straight!). And even though Wayne is a great entertainer, he's definitely not a great dancer. He has a legion of fans, so he might be sticking around just based on viewers votes.

Should be an interesting results show...

Winners All Around

So the last of the big shows wrapped up this week in a flurry of excitement. No big surprises, but a few good shows to end the season.

First was the final rose on The Bachelor: Officer and a Gentleman. Andy took both girls home to meet his parents in Pennsylvania. You just knew that Tessa would get the final rose after Bevin told his grandparents that she does research on the sexual dysfunction of menopausal women. She also let his conservative family that she was raised in the Bahai faith. At this point she was toast. And after Andy told both girls that he loved them (can you imagine how he explained this to Tessa Tuesday?) he dumped Bevin and proposed to Tessa. It might be the first time that the girl I wanted to get the final rose actually got it. Supposedly she's moving out to Hawaii to be with him; I give it six months.

Next was the finale of Dancing With the Stars. It was actually higher rated than Idol, which is pretty crazy, except for the fact that the finale was good. (more on why Idol's wasn't later) I'm pretty bummed that it's over, but ecstatic that Apolo won. He's such a good dancer, and completely deserved it.

Finally, there was the two hour love-fest that was the Idol finale. So much of it was actually un-watchable. If they want to be more relevant, having Bette Midler and Tony Bennett perform does little to achieve that goal. And while I enjoyed the Beatles medleys, I wonder how many of the teenagers watching actually recognized the songs. They dragged it out for two hours before they even started to get to the results. And this was where anyone who was watching on tivo (insert your name here) got screwed. The result was read exactly 2 hours and 4 minutes in to the show. The show was supposed to be two hours long. That's right - they kissed their own behinds for so long that they nearly didn't get to the actual point of the show, leaving many to not hear the anti-climatic finish where Jordin was crowned the winner. (and we saw Blake look rather relieved)

This is one of the many reasons the ratings were down this season. This, and the fact that compared to last year, the talent wasn't nearly as good. For this, I have to blame the judges. There were such talented performers that we saw in the early rounds who seemingly disappeared during the Hollywood round. I also think they need to look at the voting process, especially in the first round of voting. They went to the guys and girls format a few years ago, and I don't think it produces the best possible top 12. I think they would be better served by going back to how they did it the first few seasons, where the top 24 were divided into three groups. Each group sang once, and two or three were voted through to the next round. Then there was a final week where the judges brought a few back to sing again (including some who had been originally cut in Hollywood), and each judge put a singer through (plus a singer or two voted on by the fans). And I understand that they will never go to a voting system like So You Think You Can Dance? or Dancing With the Stars where the judges votes get combined with the viewers, but they need to do something (maybe limit how many votes each phone line gets?).

With that, I'm off for a few weeks. I'll be back once the summer replacement shows get going (or earlier if I have a lot to say!)...enjoy your Memorial Day weekend and GO RED SOX!

Last Dances of the Season

Not too much to say about last night's final dances on Dancing With the Stars. They were good. REALLY good. I disagreed with the judges quite a bit...the scores should have been much higher all around. I don't see why we saw perfect 60s in earlier rounds, but not last night. Still, it was a great show. I know so much has to do with how the voting goes, but I think it's going to go to Apollo. He was brilliant last night in both dances. He's been consistent throughout the competition - he's my pick to win.

I think I'm addicted to ballroom...

That's right. I've said it. I'm pretty sure of this, seeing as how I watched this week's episode of Dancing With the Stars twice. Really. It's just that it's gotten really good. All four couples danced remarkably well, and the show was good enough that I wanted to see it again.

I'm not surprised that Ian was the last dancer to not make the final. He wasn't as consistent as the other three, and certainly didn't connect as well with the audience. I've loved Apollo all along, so I'm really rooting for him in the finale. Of course, I'll be happy with any of them - they each derserve it.

Dancing With the Stars...

Still watching, loved the group number, and thinking that Billy Ray and John will be the bottom two.

Dancing with the Stars...

The good news is that I'm still into this season. Much to my husband's chagrin, I think I'm in for good.

There's such a division between the contestants. Joey, Apollo, & Ian are so good; Clyde, John, & Billy Ray are so bad. Heather & Laila have been pretty good as well (though I hated Heather's dress this week - what happened to dressing her so that we didn't focus on her fake leg? That's all I could look at the entire time...).

Not a lot else to say...I think that this is the end of the road for Clyde this week - I just don't see how he can recover from getting a 13 from the judges.

back from break with a few things on my mind

So, I'm back from Spring Break, and I really hadn't planned on blogging about the episodes I missed (I know, you're all crushed). I really just watched lots and lots of baseball (go Red Sox!), and caught most of my reality shows on tivo the next day. But I have a few things that I just have to get out of my brain and on to the internet.

First, there's Survivor. I have never hated a contestant before. I've hated how some play the game, or the character they choose to be on the show. But they all seem like nice enough, decent people in real life (see Jerri Manthey...hated her on the show, seems nice enough in the real world). But I think I actually hate Lisi. Did she not understand that the things she was saying in her confessionals would be aired on national television? I have a real problem with how mean she was. And I think I could have even forgiven her as it being in the "heat of the moment" if i hadn't seen her on "Survivor Live" the day after she was eliminated. The hosts asked a few times about things she said in the confessionals, clearly giving her the opportunity to use the "I hadn't eaten and I really didn't mean it" line. And each time, Lisi affirmed what she had said on the island. She affirmed that she was on a team of losers (hello! You SUCKED at challenges!), and that she didn't like Dreamz. She also still doesn't understand that Ed's name is Edgardo, NOT Eduardo, and said that Boo is the reason that Moto keeps winning. I can't stand her.

Speaking of people I can't stand, there's Sanjaya. Sure, it was funny at first. But now it seems like he's decided he's going to win, and it's just not so funny. I understand that the judges have realized that by slamming him they're only giving him more votes (hence the "I'll take a different approach" approach last week), but they need to accept that Sanjaya's in it for the long haul, and go back to being honest. Either that, or come up with some sort of reason that he needs to drop out. Whatever works.

Still watching Dancing With the Stars, and excited that The Bachelor is back. And last night's episodes of Apprentice and Amazing Race deserve their own blogs. More to come later tonight.

Another Night of Dancing

It was a good second night of dancing last night on Dancing With the Stars. That’s right, we’re on week #2, and I still haven’t lost interest. A quick rundown of the “stars”…

Apolo started the show off strong. He’s a good dancer, and awfully cute to look at. Shandi was up next, clearly trying to get votes with her outfit instead of her dancing (seriously, could she wear any less?). Her dancing was really awkward…she better hope that there are straight guys out there who care enough to vote. Clyde was awkward as well – you can tell he’s trying, but dancing just isn’t his thing.

Leeza was better than last week, but still not at all good – it almost seemed like she was doing the mambo in slow motion. And I wasn’t a fan of her playing the “my mom has Alzheimer’s and it’s my birthday” card. Of course, Ian countered with the “my mom is dead” card. He was really good again this week – one of the top pairs. On an unrelated note…I’m not a fan of the facial hair!

Paulina was better than last week – not great, but ok. Same with Billy Ray - not nearly as bad as last week. I think that he will be helped by having his kids on the show.; Hannah Montana (played by his daughter) is way popular! Heather actually was really good, regardless of leg issue…better than a lot of the other girls. I think that she will be safe this week, even without the US fan base that others have. John really stepped it up. I think he will be around another week – he’s settled into the role of the old guy everyone loves.

Laila was really good again this week. She is easily the top girl in the competition (and was at the top of the leaderboard at the end of the night). Joey was really good too – his dance showed lots of personality.

So after two weeks of dancing, there are some clear leaders – Heather & Laila for the women, Ian, Apolo, & Joey for the men. And going home tonight? Probably Paulina or Clyde.

Dancing With the Stars

Last night's premiere of Dancing With the Stars was actually a lot better than I thought it would be. Sure, probably about half of the people watching tuned in just to see if Heather Mills's leg would fly off (why do you think the producers had her dance toward the end?). And sure, I've started watching every season of the show, then lost interest after a few episodes. But for now, I'm definitely interested.

Some of the "stars" were actually pretty good. The guys, mostly. Ian started the show off strong. And Joey drew upon all those years dancing with N'Sync to do a really good job as well. It was refreshing to see both of them actually dance - a lot of times the guy "stars" do a lot of walking around while the girls dance around them. I also loved that Joey's partner has taken to calling him "Joey Fat One" as well (come on, his last name is FATONE; isn't everyone making that joke?). I also really liked Apollo, and not just because he's one of my favorite winter athletes (don't make fun of me for following winter sports...). He showed why athletes usually do really well on the show - I think he's the dancer to beat.

Then there were the "stars" (and yes, I think the word star really does need to be in quotes) who did pretty good, especially considering the fact that they're not dancers. Paulina, Laila, and Heather fall into this group. Heather was actually one of the best girls to dance, and considering the fact that she has a lot more work to do, it's pretty impressive. The camera work, though, as she danced was really choppy. You could tell that they didn't know where to focus - do you just show her artificial leg, or show her body as well? (and they had to make sure they had at least one of the cameras on her leg...you know...just in case...)

And then there was the bottom group. No surprise about some of them - no one really should have expected Billy Ray or John to be very good. Leeza was pretty miserable as well. And I think you have to put Shandi and Clyde in the bottom group as well. I also really wonder just how much botox Leeza has had for her face to look like that. And that's just on regular old tv - I fear for the people who watched her in HD.

So next week they'll dance again before an actual results show. And I think I'll stick around for that.