DWTS Really is Better than Monday Night Football!

     Monday, March 24th, was a jam-packed night of routines performed by our 12 "stars" on our favorite series, Dancing With The Stars.  Two really tough dances were performed - Quickstep and Mambo.  Both of those dances require agility and fast, precise moves; my guess is that they were chosen to try to eliminate the weaker dancers as quickly as possible. 

I was again surprised by several things:
     Anna Trebunskaya, Christian de la Fuente and Penn Jillette were all a bit disrespectful to the judges.  I feel that was very unprofessional of Anna T.  I also feel that her disrespect sets a bad example that the stars - evidently - are all too willing to follow.  The judges of ANY dance contest have a tough time; this lack of respect on TV will undoubtedly have repercussions at dance competitions everywhere, and that's a shame.

     It seemed to me that the judges didn't reward improvements equally.  Some of the competitors had improved a great deal over last week but were not told that by the judges.  Instead, some of those much-improved people - in my opinion - were criticized overmuch.  Other competitors were praised effusively for their efforts and improvement, with hardly a word about their technical deficits. 

     I could go on and on about the wardrobe people.  They did a better job with Merissa and Tony, but what was with that shirtless and sleeveless tux that Mario wore???  And why is it that Mark Ballas went from such a clean look in tails to that flippy-flappy vest showing hairless pits and chest?  I want dancing to be a class act on TV, not to look like it's something taking place in a locale that can't be within 500 feet of a church or school, if ya know what I mean.  OK, OK! - I know you want the observations instead of this drivel, so here goes....

Steve G & Anna T - Mambo
     Steve seemed to have no sense of timing for this dance and struggled all the way through it while hardly showing any rhythmic connection with partner, dance or music.  He looked "heavy" while she did all the dancing and the choreography he did do was mostly "Flash & Trash" instead of a real attempt at doing the dance.  As he has little or no control over the routine's content, that is really the teacher's fault.  She didn't teach him how to do the dance, and was then unhappy about the judges remarks to the point of being disrespectful to them, which - in my opinion - was very unprofessional.  I thought Steve might get an 18 out of this one, but wonder if the 16 points awarded might have been influenced by his teacher's remarks?

Christian d & Cheryl B - Quickstep
     I'd give Christian an "A" for overall look in this one - well groomed and well turned out in a very suave and sophisticated sort of way.  His dancing started out weak in the timing department, but got better.  Although I feel this was presented well and he did a good job of selling the routine, there were far too many gimmicks in it for my taste.  Cheryl over-danced Christian by a wide margin, something I hate to see in these contests which, in my view, should be about a partnership, not about the pro.  There wasn't much REAL Quickstep in this routine, and it got the 20 points I felt it deserved.

Monica S & Jonathan R - Mambo
     Monica has a great attitude about her dancing and why she is in this program.  I feel she was the most improved dancer from week 1.  I think that she gave it her all; she looked pretty and was MUCH more relaxed this week.  Monica was even a  bit "playful" at times, which is not easy for a non-dancer who is concentrating on timing, steps, partner, music, footwork, arm & leg lines, etc., while dancing to a live band in front of a live audience under lights that are constantly changing.  I felt the judges were far too critical of Monica's performance, and failed to acknowledge her strong improvement.  Her score of 15 was a bit low; I feel she was on par with both Adam Corolla and Penn Jillette.

Penn J & Kym J - Quickstep
     As Michael Schedler remarked: Penn took comments about his footWORK as if they were comments about his foot SIZE.  He spends far too much time defending his foot size and blathering about unrelated things and being a bit disrespectful to the judges for my taste.  He kept his timing fairly well in this very basic quickstep, though he made lots of footwork faults and looked heavy at times.  His posture was reasonably good and he put a lot of energy into the performance, which was a bit too gimmicky for my taste - if Penn wants to do a magic show, he should do it elsewhere and not in this contest.  I admire Kym for always incorporating her students' strong points in the routines she creates for them; she is very creative and ingenious in this area and has had some pretty tough candidates to work with!  This routine was awarded 1 point less than I'd have given it, but that was OK.

Priscilla P and Louis V - Mambo
     She danced on the 2 beat!  I was quite pleased to see that and was glad that the judges acknowledged it.  The routine was very nice, and I was happy to see that Louis kept the choreography well within Priscilla's skill and proficiency level.  She did very good footwork accompanied with nice leg actions and at least a modicum of good hip movement.  She was a bit cautious, but I could not fault her precision in the manner that the judges did - it is just a bit too early for total abandon by someone who has been a relatively quiet and private person for so many years.  I would have awarded this routine at least 24 points and was sorry to see the judges only give it 21 points.

Shannon E and Derek H - Quickstep
     Wow!  She was a totally different person this week, looking much more relaxed and in control of her body.  Her dancing was much improved and she did some pretty tough moves that were executed rather well.  Her posture in closed position was weak, but that's a very tough item to get under control.  I rather enjoyed their "play" to the judges and "cutsie" ending.  As Michael remarked, Shannon let go this week and used her body.  I did not agree with a score of 24 and would only have given 21 points to this routine based on all the other performances and their respective scores.

Jason T and Edyta S - Mambo
     This guy is impressive!  A good solid performance containing good foot actions, very nice timing and a sense of playfulness.  For a big guy, he is extremely agile and in tune with his body, over which he seems to have excellent control.  He did some great moves that were all rather clean and well executed and I feel he deserved the 27 points awarded.  This guy could easily be the winner, especially if he keeps improving at the same rate each week.

Merissa W and Tony D - Quickstep
     After the self-recrimination - which surprised me from someone with such outward exuberance - Merissa got down to business and did a great job with this routine.  Though she looked at Tony a bit too much, she used her feet and legs nicely and displayed very good timing this week.  The choreography was nicely suited to her ability. She performed very energetically, but kept better control than during last week's Cha-Cha.  The outfits were better for both this week.  I agreed with the judges score of 21 points and feel that Merissa has a chance of making it at least CLOSE to the finals.

Adam C & Jullianne H - Mambo
     This was a better dance for him than last week's Foxtrot.  He showed pretty good timing and was "into" the performance in a manner that sold it well.  Jullianne overdanced him just a bit, but the choreography was good and, as Michael noted, she played to Adam's strong points.  I don't think he's a strong contender, but he did improve a lot - far more than I saw in Penn, at any rate.  I was ready to give this routine 18 points and was a bit surprised at the 19 points awarded by the judges.

Marlee M & Fabian - Quickstep
     First: I felt the judges remarks about the hold were out of line as this is how she gets timing and other information from her partner.  I would like to see any one of them try to lead or follow any dance while their ears were plugged up with wax and they couldn't hear!  The talk about the routine being a bit "Mambo-ish" was totally ridiculous as they had no control over the musical selection and the piece sounded like a Mambo and you must dance to the music, so there you go!
     Marlee looked very pretty and was impressive on many levels.  I thought her performance was brilliant and I was very touched by it.  She and Fabian have learned to communicate with each other in 5 weeks in a way that some dancers work toward for a lifetime without achieving 50% of what Marlee has managed.  She did some great moves and had extremely good control over their timing and the precision with which they were performed.  Some of the moves in that routine would challenge folk who could hear the music and who already knew the Quickstep!  I feel that Marlee deserved at least 2 or even 3 points more than the 24 awarded. 

Kristi A & Mark B - Mambo
     As mentioned earlier: I did not like his outfit.  They did not dance on 2, which was disappointing to me since Kristi has performed to music all her life and should be able to count the music and stay on that beat.  She had good body movements, but I was a bit under whelmed with her legs and feet.  She was fast in turns - and should be! - but managed to look a bit heavy in feet and legs.  Beautiful posture, lovely animation and great arms and hands, but not - in my opinion - a performance deserving of all the effusive praise heaped on her by the judges.  I'd have given this a 26.

Mario & Karina - Quickstep
     I guess that "reality show" crap has to pop up SOMEwhere, but I certainly could have gotten along without having to watch these two chasse up and down the beach with him only partially clothed!  And that tux with no sleeves???? It totally took the class out of their performance and replaced it with: nothing!  OK, he had reasonably good timing and was exuberant and he remembered his routine and he performed it fairly well.  But he had bad arms and bad posture all carted around on legs that were not enhanced by his bad footwork.  Yet the judges thought he was "charming" and they awarded him 26 points which put him up there very near Jason, which was not deserved at all.  (Jason is much more charming, personable and talented, in my books!) 

Well, tonight we will find out who gets the boot.  My guess is that we've seen the last of Penn and Monica, but Adam is another who might be told to hit the trail.

Happy Dancing
and remember

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