Dancing With The Stars, Week Three

By Lyall Bradshaw, Fred Astaire National Dance Board member

Monday night saw lots of good dancing from our celebrities and ended with a four-way tie for the top score between Joey Fatone, Ian Ziering, Leeza Gibbons and Heather Mills. John Ratzenberger and Clyde Drexler were tied for the bottom. But on Tuesday’s results show it was Shandi Finnessey and Brian Fortuna who were voted off.


Shandi and Brian were first up on Monday night with a Jive danced to “Crocodile Rock”. Their performance was fun and spirited with Shandi showing lots of skin. Not as technically skillful as some of the other contestant but making good progress even though her timing at times was a little behind compared to her partner. They scored three 7’s across the board for a total of 21 points.

Next up were John Ratzenberger and Edyta Sliwinska with the Tango and even though I don’t feel they are likely to win, they did a good job. John was really into the character of the dance with his intense stare and dramatic attitude. I thought that they did a good job of portraying the intense persona of the Tango. Bruno dubbed the dance the “Mafioso Tango”. Their scores were 7, 6 and 7 for a total of 20 points.

Clyde Drexler and Elena Grinenko were third, dancing the Jive. He seemed to be enjoying the dance as he was smiling the whole way through even after receiving the lowest score of the night. Clyde doesn't seem to have quite the charm or pep that his sports counterparts, Emmett Smith or Jerry Rice, had. Still, he seems to be intent on remaining a competitor, despite the problems his height presents. Their Jive to “Bad Moon Rising” wasn’t necessarily bad, but it never seemed to take off. Carrie Ann wanted to see more from Clyde and Bruno backed that up by telling Clyde he wanted to “see the beef”. Clyde, however, disagreed with the judges and said he thought they performed a seamless procedure. They didn’t do so hot on the scores though, only receiving a total of 16 out of 30.

Laila and Maxim were up next with a Bond-inspired tango to "Goldfinger". As usual, the couple commanded the floor with their confidence and sharp presentation and I thought that it was a strong Tango. All three judges had a major problem with the contact being broken in the middle of the dance, which cost Laila and Maxim some points. It irritates me to no end that the Judges still do not understand American style dancing. Certainly we can break the hold in Tango and we can dance apart. Another irritation was on Tuesday’s result show when Laila apologized for breaking the rules. Here was the best opportunity for Maksim to speak up and set the judges straight but instead he kept silent. I think that the judges need to be given a thirty minute lesson on what American Style Dancing is all about. They received all 7s and ended up with 21 out of 30.

Apolo Anton Ohno and Julianne Hough were next dancing the Jive and started with the reenactment of the famous John Travolta dance scene from the movie Pulp Fiction. Their Pulp Fiction homage was an absolute show-stopper, and their performance featured some challenging moves, and plenty of fast footwork and was spontaneously exciting. The judges placed the pair in the middle of the pack with a 23 (7, 8, 8).

Joey Fatone and Kym Johnson followed with the Tango. They did a Star Wars-inspired Tango, complete with Princess Leia slave girl costume lightsabers, and sound effects. The dance seemed more about showmanship than technical difficulty, but no matter. These two are consistently excellent, and are tons of fun to watch. His main problem as the judges pointed out was that his derriere stuck out a little too much. Her costume was more suited to Latin than the Tango and in a legitimate ballroom dance competition would have received a penalty but the judges made no comment on that. Score: 24 (8, 8, 8),

Ian Ziering and Cheryl Burke were next with the Jive. They did a very energetic and fun Jive to “Hard Hearted Woman”. These two took a lot of criticism for a misstep that I barely noticed near the end and should not have warranted a reduction in points. It was one of my favorite performances of the night. What really seemed to improve were his feet, as he executed the sort of high-speed, quick-footed dance that tends to rev up the crowd. I missed the finale due to some mess-up with the camera. Seemed like the Camera man slipped and the camera went up to the ceiling and then down again. Their score was 24 (8, 8, 8).

Leeza Gibbons and Tony Dovolani came out with a more classic Tango. Their Tango was basic but good. I think that Leeza was feeling a lot more confident about her dancing this week although I felt that she is always concentrating too hard on the steps and I thought her dress and hat aged her a bit too much. The good thing about Tony is that he dances to his students' abilities and not above them. I mentioned last week that I didn’t feel that Leeza was a really good dancer and I feel that she would have had a problem with more advanced choreography. I think that Tony was feeling the pressure a little in the practice sessions and it was probably my imagination but I had the feeling that he was being a little mean to Leeza. Just my imagination I am sure. But remember, professionals: Constructive Criticism, not Destructive Criticism. Anyway, dancers know that it is not quantity that counts but quality. Len felt it was their best dance so far and Carrie Ann gave us the jackpot quote of the night with "Leeza Gibbons just showed me her booby." after Leeza revealed a temporary tattoo that read "Tramp". Leeza and Tony also earned all 8s for another 24 for the evening. They were the second lowest score on Tuesday’s results show but survived for another week.

Heather Mills and Jonathan Roberts came out second to last dancing the Jive. There was the concern that Mills' prosthetic limb couldn't handle the quick steps and bouncing motion of the Jive. A quick trip to the prosthetist offered up a new leg that seemed to respond better to the task. Their Jive had a great sock hop feel to it and I felt that she did a good job including Heather's difficult front walkover. Again the sneakers were out of costume but I believe that her new leg required a flat shoe to get the necessary bounce. Another case of broken rules but this time possibly a necessary one. Their scores 8,8 and 8 for a total of 24.

Billy Ray Cyrus and Karina Smirnoff came out last with a Tango. I felt it a little strange that they had to go horseback riding to get into character for their Tango especially when they would be dancing to “Rock the Casbah”. I thought that he had improved from last week although he does seem to have to mouth the timing of the steps to himself. Also he took someone's advice and pulled his hair back into a sleek ponytail, a look that suited his Tango. His posture and his attitude were better. The couple's performance did feature a few difficult moves, including a finale that had Billy Ray sliding under Karina's legs. Karina’s body was, in some places, more Latin with a little too much isolation. Those hard-voting country fans might keep Billy Ray around a while. Score: 21 (7, 7, 7).

The stars have only six days to learn each choreographed dance routine and, as the competition intensifies, this workload will be doubled. Five hours practice a day is the secret behind turning two left feet into sweet feet, though the learning process is not without pitfalls.

With the vote split 50-50 between the panel of three judges and the viewing public, the question of whether it's more important to be a good dancer or a big personality comes to mind.