Dancing With The Stars – week 5, season 9 by Phillip Stephens

Commentary by  Phillip Stephens | 713-248-2299

Louie Vito had nice-looking hair for the 3rd week running.

Natalie Coughlin looked a bit silly in the red-white-blue look, even if it was tied into her “American Woman” routine.

Ana Demidova with dark hair??? Not sure it looks good on her.

Maks with a beard? Looked a bit like the werewolf. Perhaps he’s preparing for Halloween?

Overall, the costuming was much nicer in the 10/19/2009 episode than it has been during the first 4 episodes of season 9. Perhaps they’ve finally realized that most people watch because of the dancing? (Probably not)

Natalie Coughlin & Alec Mazo – Paso Doble
American Woman as a Paso Doble? I see why they chose the dress for her, but his outfit didn’t match and the music was so “discoy” that it pained me to watch the dance. A lot of the moves looked balletic or just regular “Latin”, so I couldn’t think of this as a Paso Doble. A good performance – 18 points?
The judges criticized her for not putting the passion of the bullfight into the dance? Did they not hear that non-Paso music? You could not dance Paso-passion to that song! 7+8+7 = 22. A bit high

Aaron Carter & Karina Smirnoff – Argentine Tango
Nice outfits that matched. A good serious look that worked well fro him, and he looked more at ease with some of the actions than he has in other dances. Still, it was more posing than dancing on his part. A good performance with some – but not enough – passion. 21 points?
Judges went “ga-ga” over this one, which WAS all right, just not as spectacular as they made it sound. 8+8+8 = 24

Michael Irvin & Ana Demidova – Paso Doble
Nice “trick” with the nickel. Rather odd-looking outfits for them, but it was also rather odd sounding music. He certainly did more dancing in this one than in some of the other routines he’s done. Sadly, the quality of the dancing was not all that good. The choreography was not so great, either. I’d not give this more than 18 points, but the judges seem to be generous tonight. 7+7+7 = 21. Just a bit higher than I think it deserved.

Mya & Dmitry – Argentine Tango
Great music for this dance. Some really fine moves and Mya created some lovely lines which Dmitry complimented quite well. Very musical, very well synchronized – should get 28 or 29 points.
Judges gave very “on-the-mark” comments about this one. 9+9+9 = 27, which is just 1 point lower than the minimum I expected.

Mark Ducoscos & Lacey Schwimmer – Paso Doble
Nice opening pose. Lacey looked superb. Mark still looks a bit stiff in many movements. He did look nice and strong in this dance, but not polished enough. 24 points?
Judges made a bit much out of what he actually provided because his martial arts training should enable him to provide 3 or 4 times the refinement 9+9+8 = 26

Donny Osmond & Kym Johnson – Argentine Tango
He looks so elegant t in a suit. He made the lifts look easy; he had nice shoulders, sort of “care free” hands, and a great seriously passionate look. Good flicks and kicks and looked very much in command of the dancing, the music and the floor. 27 or 28
Judges again made remarks that suited the quality of the performance. 10+9+10 = 29, and I can live with that.

Louie Vito & Chelsie Hightower – Argentine Tango
Does he just prefer that “tousled Hobbit” look? He just looks odd during the practice clips. He has a charming smile and looks rather nice when he smoothes back the hair, but, wow! – He’s just a mess the rest of the time. Too much walking and posing in the beginning, but he certainly did a better job than in the Two-step. He has a nice intense look and produced some nice lifts. Good timing, good choreography, and nice lines, but it lacked some finesse in the small amount of actual dance movement he provided. 21?
Judges liked it, so it will probably get reasonably good marks. 7+8+7 22
 

Kelly Osbourne & Louis Van Amstell – Charleston
Liza Minnelli / Joel Grey take-off – Cabaret.
Fabulous! She let herself go with abandon, really put energy into that performance. A few bobbles, but not too noticeable. Her expressions and body language were “spot on”! I’d give this 27, easy
Carrie Ann – Like watching a little birdie learn to fly
Len – very well done
Bruno – Loved the Bob Fossie touches
8+7+8 = 23 – she got cheated!

 

Melissa Joan Hart & Mark Ballas – Argentine Tango
A really nice look for Melissa. Mark’s footwear was not so swift looking. This seemed all about “how fast can we get the feet going. It looked very “steppy” to me, and I didn’t like the hold with Mark’s left & Melissa’s R hands and arms. 22-23 points is the maximum I’d give this one
Judges did recognize the difficulty of the choreography VS the music, which was fast on both counts. 8+8+7 = 23, which is pretty spot on for that one.

Kelly Osbourne & Louis van Amstell – Paso Doble
Kelly looks somewhat silly in practice outfits, but I guess no worse than Louie Vito. I absolutely loved their hair and makeup for the show, which went so well with the music. She looked a bit off balance at times, and had rather untidy-looking feet. It was a good routine, but looked a bit more macabre than Paso Doble-esque. A good job overall. 24 points?
Judges were sort of “iffy” with their comments. 8+8+8 = 24

Joanna Krupa & Maksim Chmerkovsky filling in for Derek – Argentine Tango
Maks fully dressed looked quite elegantly distinguished. Joanna looked very nice with him. They did a very sassy entrance on the stage and then went to the floor proper where it looked like there was quite a stumble. Did Maks trip over her foot? 23?
Bruno made too much of the stumble, but judges were complimentary. As Michael Schedler noted, she recovered beautifully. 8+8+8 = 24. Better than I expected from Bruno.

Group Hustle: Louie Vito was priceless with comments about “How does everybody know this already” and “I don’t want to be in the front row”.

What fun outfits. Though the routine was good, and the choreography was nice, the dancers like Louie couldn’t really pull it off all that well. Alec looked like one of the cavemen from a Geico commercial. . Michael Irvin danced better in this than in any of his other routines. Overall, a really great number.

Results show

Encore – Donny & Kym’s Argentine Tango. A very fitting choice, and they again danced with precision, musicality and passion.

Didn’t care for the black & white clad dancers who performed in accompaniment with Nora Jones. And didn’t they do a rather chauvinistic, male-dominance number?

Jonathan & Ana performed while Nora Jones sang. A well-danced Waltz with moves that fit the music and were so expressively performed.

The oral tributes to Michael Jackson were touching. He has had a remarkable influence on “modern” dancing, and it is rewarding to see how music and dance can blend together so well over time, incorporating the sounds and movements of “now” into the staid and traditional actions from “then”.

A fabulous dance tribute to Michael Jackson - one that was obviously performed from the heart by every dancer who had a part in it.

Natalie Coughlin got voted off the show despite being a better dancer than some who will torment us for another week or two.

Happy Dancing
and remember

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