Are You the Next Dance Champion

Week 5 of Dancing With The Stars, Season 6
April 14, 2008

Dancing With The Stars

I've been impressed with Edyta's dresses two weeks in a row! She has looked quite nice in outfits that cover more of her than is customary, so I hope this trend continues. Most of the guys were nicely turned out in the April 14th show, too. And I must say that Mario seems a bit more humble now than when the season began, which is a nice turn of events.

In conversation with Jason K this week, we decided that it's time for the producers to start using half marks so that contestants could get 8.5, 9.5, etc. Sometimes, I think the judges want to award more than 7 points, but can't quite go 8 points. As it stands now, they simply go with the lower score when I know they wish they could give half a point more now and then. Something for the producers to think about, ya know? What are your views on this? Send them to phillip@theplace2dance.com and I'll tally them up to see who all favors what.

Mario & Karina - Samba
     No bounce - stiff legs and weak arm lines coupled with poor footwork. On the plus side, he was less wild than in previous performances and produced some good body actions and his timing was fairly sound. The choreography was not quite as challenging as in the past, but that was for the good as Mario was able to handle it a bit better and did not seem as frenetic as he usually does. I'd have given this a 24 and was totally unprepared for the judges awarding it 27 points! The judges were far too effusive in praising Mario and his performance of this routine. They made no mention of his bad footwork and lack of bounce and, in fact, seemed to turn a blind eye to all of his technical faults. Michael Schedler and I cannot help but wonder if this is some sort of racism because Mario is a young black male. After all, look how they tore into Marlee, Marissa, Shannon and Priscilla for technical faults - shouldn't that standard be applied equally to all?

Priscilla & Louis - Rumba
     Her makeup was much more flattering in this show, so she should keep whoever did it on the payroll. Basically, Pricilla's performance of this routine was just bad. Her feet were frequently off the floor, she used heel leads, her legs were not very well posed or toned, she had no rhythmical body action to speak of and they did too little dancing and too many poses. Cari Ann must have lost her train of thought when she said she felt Priscilla and Louis were going for technique. If so, they certainly never found it! I agree with Michael Schedler on this one: It deserved no more than sixes and a score of 21 was at least 3 points too high.

Marissa & Tony - Samba
     This was surprisingly good! Marissa put in a good pulse that we call Samba Bounce and her dancing was quite musical overall and she did a great job with rather tough choreography. I think Tony chose some bad tricks for Marissa and that some of them were definitely not flattering to her body type, but she did them pretty well. She did get off time now and then, but still danced a much better Samba than did Mario. I'd have given this a 25 or 26 and was disappointed that she only got 24 points from these judges.

Christian & Cheryl - Rumba
     Cheryl seems bent on winning through her own dancing and doesn't seem to be concentrating on teaching Christian how to dance nearly enough. By now, I would expect him to have improved far more than this routine displayed. In fact, this number seemed to highlight his bad shoulders, poor head position and weak arm lines. His feet were awkward looking and his legs seemed rather stiff and ... well ... I thought there was supposed to be some hip action in this dance! There was nothing remarkable in this performance and some of the actions were danced as if they were remembered late. 23 points was too high for this and was, in my opinion, a slap in the face for Marissa who did a far superior job with her Samba.

Marlee & Fabian - Samba
     I'm not sure what anyone in the film crew or the production staff thought the display of stress between the star and the pro added to the show. Maybe it was to remind us that this is a version of a reality show? At any rate, I could have done without it. This was a tough routine, and Marlee struggled with the timing all the way through it. She did a good job of continuing and a fair job of performing even when she realized she was off, but this just wasn't a showstopper for her. I'd have given this a 21 and was OK with the 22 points she got. Hopefully, she will rally next week.

Kristi & Mark - Rumba
     Both had on nice costumes! This was a beautiful and lyrical presentation with nice lines. It was not over danced and it was full of emotional content. I have to agree with both Michael Schedler and Jason K that this routine needed far more basic Rumba content, but would also have to say that it was not as full of wild gimmicks and tricks as most routines that Mark choreographs. I am not sure I agree with 29 points for this one, which is where Jason and I felt half-marks could have come in handy.

Shannon & Derek - Samba
     Poor fella! He's had a tough 2 weeks, so I hope he's done with neck injuries, food poisoning or whatever else might show up. I thought Shannon did a great job for not being able to practice full out with Derek on the day of the show. She presented good arms and reasonably neat feet. Her bounce - totally downgraded by the judges - was moderately good and she played the routine well to the audience. This was some really tough choreography, and I don't think she was rewarded adequately for the job she did with it and - in my opinion - Shannon's Samba was unquestionably better than Mario's. Giving her just 23 points was just like that slap in the face to Marissa!

Jason & Edyta - Rumba
     This was not his best dance, but he did a rather good job with it. Rumba is slow, and it requires solid balance, Latin hip motion, ball-flat footwork, fast spins after which one is expected to stop on a dime, and a lot of sensual emotional content. So, while Jason did not do as well as Kristi in some aspects of this dance - and I must admit his hip action was a bit jerky - his overall performance was very sound. He puts a tremendous amount of power into his moves, is very quick in changing from high lines to floor lines, and creates terrific arm, neck and shoulder lines. I would rate this routine as being danced far better than Mario's which had more faults in it but which were covered up by the speed of Samba. I would have given this a 28 or 29 so was glad that it didn't score LOWER than Mario's inflated score.

Do you get the feeling that I am unhappy about how the judges so unfairly gave Mario high scores and were far too harsh with most of the other dancers? Bingo!

OK, I'm done with this sermon!

Happy Dancing
and remember

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