Friday, May 21, 2010

Dancing With The Stars - SemiFinal

By Natasha Oreshkina, co-owner of the Fred Astaire Dance Studios in Syracuse, New York

Four couples performed both a Ballroom and a Latin dance this week. Nicole and Evan are currently tied for first place, with Erin next and Chad coming in last.


Nicole Scherzinger & Derek Hough (total score: 59/60)
For me, this is the best couple. Their Argentine Tango was dynamic and their Cha-Cha looked natural.

Evan Lysacek & Anna Trebunskaya (total score: 59/60)
Their Foxtrot and Paso Doble was artistic and strong.

Erin Andrews & Maksim Chmerkovskiy (total score: 56/60)
Erin is a strong competitor! Her Viennese Waltz was continuous, fluid, and well done. Her Paso was powerful and showed the character of the dance.

Chad Ochocinco & Cheryl Burke (total score: 52/60)
Chad and Cheryl were eliminated this week. I saw improvement in Chad's dancing since he started this competition but he wasn't on the same level as the rest of the contestants.

Next week: The finals, including the fun freestyle competition!

My Prediction: Nicole! She is the contestant that looks the most stable. She is stylish and dynamic in all her dances.

2 comments:

JJ said...

I'm curious... in your professional opinion, how do you think Nicole Scherzinger ranks among professional ballroom dancers? I.E. if she went out in the professional circuit today, how do you think she'd perform?

Fred Astaire Dance Studios, Inc. said...

Good question! Remember that, in judging these celebrities on Dancing With The Stars, the same criteria that is used to judge pro dancers is not used. Although Nicole is a nice dancer, she would need much more technique to be on the same level as a professional dancer. For example, professional dancers have to learn correct footwork, hip movement, correct rotations, and partnership connection. This takes time and structure to learn. Nicole would need to work hard on this kind of technique to ever compete with professional dancers.