By Lyall Bradshaw, Fred Astaire National Dance Board MemberLast week we saw the departure of Leeza Gibbons & Tony Dovolani from the line-up of Dancing With The Stars, leaving two ladies and six gentlemen to fight it out. So far, the elimination list on Dancing With The Stars has included former supermodel Paulina Porizkova, former Miss USA Shandi Finnessey, and former Entertainment Tonight fixture Leeza Gibbons. And there's still plenty of opportunity for a couple of others who deserve to dance their way out of the competition this week.
The first performance of the evening was a Samba by Ian & Cheryl. First of all, the music was a little too fast at 56 bars per minute. Sambas nowadays are usually played no faster than 52 bars a minute. But even so, I think that this was a good performance even though Len Goodman said that it was merely competent. Ian seems to be relaxing more and more and loosening up his body each week. But he seems to have a little trouble getting into the character of each dance and he must overcome that if he plans to make it to the finals.
Their scores - Carrie 8; Len 8; Bruno 8 for a total of 24.
Clyde & Elena were next with a Rumba. Unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest routine with lots of heel leads and no attempt at Hip action. It was mentioned that he had a trip to China for a previously scheduled commitment, which certainly has taken time away from his practice sessions. I do think that he is doing his best but that will not be enough to keep him in this competition. He still needs to take the advice of the judges to take advantage of his long legs and open up on the dance floor. Clyde alternated between walking and standing still while Elena danced around him.
I mentioned last week about Constructive Criticism instead of Destruction Criticism and I felt that Carrie Anne’s statement that Clyde “was the worst dancer in the show” was totally destructive and unnecessary. That kind of criticism may work in “American Idol” but never in a dance competition. Their scores – Bruno 4; Carrie Anne 4; Len 5 for a total of 13 points.
Heather and Jonathan were next with a Samba preceded by Jonathan’s removal of his chest hair. I am not sure why we were privileged with that procedure but I suppose it is all Show Biz. Heather captured the fun carnival spirit of the Samba although she looked totally off balance while dancing some Reverse Rolls, but after that I thought that she danced well even though she was not at her technical best. The upbeat, lively dances are proving to be her strong point. Unfortunately, she did fall at the end of her performance but she got right back up. Heather scored a total of 21 points – a 7 from each judge.
Joey & Kym were next with a Rumba. Not a bad routine but for most of the performance I couldn’t read the timing at all. The judges commented that his arm movements were a little bit feminine. Joey wanted to shed his goofy style and get into the sexy character of the dance and I thought that he did that. The Rumba seems to be a difficult dance for the Male contestants.
I felt that Kym was smiling a little too much throughout the routine and did not follow the theme of the words of the song. It is more of a love song and not a happy smiley theme. They scored 25 points, 8s from Carrie Anne & Len and a 9 from Bruno.
John Ratzenberger and Edyta followed with a Samba. John was having a lot of fun with his Samba and it was energetic and enjoyable to watch. John is obviously not the best dancer in the group but he has a great attitude and his constant smile was great. He may end up in the bottom two this week but I think that his personality might save him. I think that Bruno described it best: “One of the best worst sambas I’ve ever seen.” A 6 from each of the judges for a total of 18 points.
Up next were Laila & Maksim with the Rumba. It was a good basic routine and - even though they were a little careful last week - they brought their sexiness back into the performance. Laila’s fiancée made an appearance during their practice sessions and kept a close eye on the “sexiness” and re-adjusted Maksim’s hands at times. Their Rumba was hot and flirtatious and Len thought that it was their best performance while Bruno called it “smoldering”. They scored 28 points (9 – 10 – 9)
Apolo & Julianne were next with an exciting Samba. This number looked like a professional routine, complex, well choreographed and well performed. They really attacked the Samba with a Tiger-like ferocity. Apolo and Julianne really get into the spirit of every dance that they perform and no doubt they will be asked to dance the encore performance at Tuesday’s results show. It is very likely that this couple could go all the way and take the grand prize. They received a perfect score of 30 points.
Billy Ray and Karina were last with the Rumba. Even though his Rumba was slightly more appealing than Clyde’s, as the Judges pointed out, it lacked romance. He did try to connect a little more with the dance than Clyde did but for the most part he was standing still while Karina danced around him. Carrie Anne praised his technical skills that again spotlighted her lack of ballroom knowledge. I think that both Elena with Clyde & Karina with Billy give up on their partners thinking that they don’t have the ability for more choreography and while that may be true they should have more confidence in these guys and at least give them the opportunity to do more. I also feel that Karina tries to showcase herself more than her partner. The Pros need to teach their partners to be good. They scored 17 points (6, 6, 5)
I would say that the bottom two this week could be John & Clyde. Billy Ray’s scores put him in the statistical bottom two, but his country fans should probably save him for another week. The elimination pattern has been clear, whoever is in the bottom two the previous week gets eliminated the next week but who knows how the voting will go.
Tuesday’s Results Show: The contestants in the bottom two Tuesday were Clyde & Heather and at the end of the night it was Clyde Drexler who was voted off. He was known as “Clyde the Glide” on the basketball court, but Clyde just didn’t have it on the dance floor. He kept a smile on his face and graciously thanked the judges and the fans that kept him in the competition.
The first performance of the evening was a Samba by Ian & Cheryl. First of all, the music was a little too fast at 56 bars per minute. Sambas nowadays are usually played no faster than 52 bars a minute. But even so, I think that this was a good performance even though Len Goodman said that it was merely competent. Ian seems to be relaxing more and more and loosening up his body each week. But he seems to have a little trouble getting into the character of each dance and he must overcome that if he plans to make it to the finals.
Their scores - Carrie 8; Len 8; Bruno 8 for a total of 24.
Clyde & Elena were next with a Rumba. Unfortunately it wasn’t the greatest routine with lots of heel leads and no attempt at Hip action. It was mentioned that he had a trip to China for a previously scheduled commitment, which certainly has taken time away from his practice sessions. I do think that he is doing his best but that will not be enough to keep him in this competition. He still needs to take the advice of the judges to take advantage of his long legs and open up on the dance floor. Clyde alternated between walking and standing still while Elena danced around him.
I mentioned last week about Constructive Criticism instead of Destruction Criticism and I felt that Carrie Anne’s statement that Clyde “was the worst dancer in the show” was totally destructive and unnecessary. That kind of criticism may work in “American Idol” but never in a dance competition. Their scores – Bruno 4; Carrie Anne 4; Len 5 for a total of 13 points.
Heather and Jonathan were next with a Samba preceded by Jonathan’s removal of his chest hair. I am not sure why we were privileged with that procedure but I suppose it is all Show Biz. Heather captured the fun carnival spirit of the Samba although she looked totally off balance while dancing some Reverse Rolls, but after that I thought that she danced well even though she was not at her technical best. The upbeat, lively dances are proving to be her strong point. Unfortunately, she did fall at the end of her performance but she got right back up. Heather scored a total of 21 points – a 7 from each judge.
Joey & Kym were next with a Rumba. Not a bad routine but for most of the performance I couldn’t read the timing at all. The judges commented that his arm movements were a little bit feminine. Joey wanted to shed his goofy style and get into the sexy character of the dance and I thought that he did that. The Rumba seems to be a difficult dance for the Male contestants.
I felt that Kym was smiling a little too much throughout the routine and did not follow the theme of the words of the song. It is more of a love song and not a happy smiley theme. They scored 25 points, 8s from Carrie Anne & Len and a 9 from Bruno.
John Ratzenberger and Edyta followed with a Samba. John was having a lot of fun with his Samba and it was energetic and enjoyable to watch. John is obviously not the best dancer in the group but he has a great attitude and his constant smile was great. He may end up in the bottom two this week but I think that his personality might save him. I think that Bruno described it best: “One of the best worst sambas I’ve ever seen.” A 6 from each of the judges for a total of 18 points.
Up next were Laila & Maksim with the Rumba. It was a good basic routine and - even though they were a little careful last week - they brought their sexiness back into the performance. Laila’s fiancée made an appearance during their practice sessions and kept a close eye on the “sexiness” and re-adjusted Maksim’s hands at times. Their Rumba was hot and flirtatious and Len thought that it was their best performance while Bruno called it “smoldering”. They scored 28 points (9 – 10 – 9)
Apolo & Julianne were next with an exciting Samba. This number looked like a professional routine, complex, well choreographed and well performed. They really attacked the Samba with a Tiger-like ferocity. Apolo and Julianne really get into the spirit of every dance that they perform and no doubt they will be asked to dance the encore performance at Tuesday’s results show. It is very likely that this couple could go all the way and take the grand prize. They received a perfect score of 30 points.
Billy Ray and Karina were last with the Rumba. Even though his Rumba was slightly more appealing than Clyde’s, as the Judges pointed out, it lacked romance. He did try to connect a little more with the dance than Clyde did but for the most part he was standing still while Karina danced around him. Carrie Anne praised his technical skills that again spotlighted her lack of ballroom knowledge. I think that both Elena with Clyde & Karina with Billy give up on their partners thinking that they don’t have the ability for more choreography and while that may be true they should have more confidence in these guys and at least give them the opportunity to do more. I also feel that Karina tries to showcase herself more than her partner. The Pros need to teach their partners to be good. They scored 17 points (6, 6, 5)
I would say that the bottom two this week could be John & Clyde. Billy Ray’s scores put him in the statistical bottom two, but his country fans should probably save him for another week. The elimination pattern has been clear, whoever is in the bottom two the previous week gets eliminated the next week but who knows how the voting will go.
Tuesday’s Results Show: The contestants in the bottom two Tuesday were Clyde & Heather and at the end of the night it was Clyde Drexler who was voted off. He was known as “Clyde the Glide” on the basketball court, but Clyde just didn’t have it on the dance floor. He kept a smile on his face and graciously thanked the judges and the fans that kept him in the competition.
1 comment:
As always, a great commentary on the dances from someone who knows what he's talking about! I completely agree with you on Apolo and Julianne. They may just make ballroom dancing cool for the iPod generation!
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