Season 5, Week 3 Performances

Sabrina Bryan did a fairly nice Jive, though, as Michael Schedler remarked, her feet didn't seem to be on a "first name" basis in that they seldom got close to one another (and I don't recall that they actually closed at all). And those shoes! Could an uglier, clunkier-looking pair of shoes be found to put on the feet of someone who is going to be scrutinized from head to toe by cameras? She displayed some good lines, a lot of energy, good Jive "bounce" and was "in sync" with Mark Ballas's moves most of the time. I did not care for that "fish-out-of-water-flopping-on-the-floor" business at all. Their entrance? Mark's dad, Corky, borrowed that move from an episode of the Lucille Ball show a LOOONG time ago during his own competition days - mid-to-late 1980s - and is still putting it into choreography for his son? Can't we come up with something just a BIT more original???? I felt that this routine was danced well, but don't know that I'd have given it 27 points.

Cameron Mathison and Edyta Slawinska were handicapped by having to dance a Tango to that not very Tango-like song by Sonny and Cher. But they did rise to the occasion, so I'll give them an E for Effort. Cameron was jerky and presented bad frame and bad footwork. He does stand up fairly well, but his dance posture needs work. As do his feet, legs, arms and, well, the rest of him! He's not very good, though he did present a few nice lines. And, for all that he has a marvelous physique, he sure gets out of breath easily for a man his age. I gave this one 23 points and was pleased that the judges didn't go higher.

If Mark Cuban doesn't want people to feel sorry for him, why does he keep bringing up that hip surgery???? Kym Johnson is doing a good job with him, but she couldn't get him to "lighten up" for Jive. He was off time, heavy-looking and had pretty bad feet except in some of the "slow" spots. I felt this Jive was lacking in "Jive substance" - such as bounce, speed and energy - and that it was far too basic in nature for this arena. While I'd have given a score of 21, I was quite satisfied with the judges' marks of 20 points for this one. Mr. Cuban needs to shape up or ship out.

Jennie Garth would impress me a lot more if she'd stop all that whining. (Don't they have medicine for that?) All that carrying on about how she "messed up the whole dance last week". Thankfully, she gets over that when performing and she danced her Tango quite strongly. Her lines were good and she moved nicely, kept her legs reasonably well controlled and I think she has a good sense of rhythm. You could see in Derek a very Latin "Paso-Doble" look. His bowed-back posture was not appealing, his Left arm was never in Tango position and what we call the dancer's "base" was quite wide for Tango. I can't see this couple lasting much longer and feel that the score of 26 was a bit too high.

Mel B and Maks C did the best Jive of the night and, except for Jane Seymour's emotion-filled Tango, may have done the best performance of the evening. I was very impressed by this overall high-energy routine with good bounce, good footwork, good leg actions, good body lines and great use of arms, hands, heads and facial expressions. I felt that this was very much danced to the music with abandon and would have given this one a 28 (even though I didn't care for Maks' shirtless outfit). As Michael remarked, this was certainly better than Sabrina Bryan's Jive.

Wayne Newton and Cheryl Burke appeared in costume and paraded around the floor. I can't say much more than that. For this arena, that was one very poor performance. Even the judges had to really work to find anything good to say and what they did find had to do with Wayne getting into the "character" of the dance. (Personally, I think that had more to do with the wardrobe folk than anything else) I nearly choked when Cheryl said that Wayne is a great dancer! A score of 18 was about 6 points too high for this clunky and extremely basic presentation.

Floyd Mayweather and Karina Smirnoff need to pay close attention to what the judges said: Develop some of the potential. I was glad to hear Len "scold" Floyd about wearing tennis shoes when practicing. After watching Floyd jump, hop, skip, twirl and gyrate in the practice room, I was surprised - and disappointed - to see that all of this energetic activity was lacking in the actual Jive performance. His posture is still bad, his leg actions are awful, his feet are "chunky" looking, his arm lines are never finished, and so on. For me, there is little hope that he will actually get with the program and improve enough to stay in this game. His score of 21 was fair enough from these sometimes generous judges.

Jane Seymour and Tony Dovolani danced a beautiful Tango. I was highly impressed with this routine - not so much for its content or technical difficulty, but for the passion that was so evident in every move Jane made. The routine itself was - understandably due to circumstances - fairly simple in construction. Jane presented nice form, nice lines, good posture, quite nice leg actions and good footwork. If this routine had lacked the emotional content she put into it, I probably would not have been impressed with it very much. Considering the strain she was under while learning it, I'd have given her bonus points if she'd only been "adequate"; since she had such a short time to learn the dance, had so much to deal with for her mother's funeral and knowing what an emotional turmoil she must have been going through, I think she danced beautifully and deserved all 27 points received.

Helio Castroneves and Julianne Hough presented a very disappointing Jive.  Helio has good timing and good control of body movements, but his feet and legs were very weak-looking in this Jive.  The bounce was missing in lots of places, making him look a bit heavy after that light and lively Mambo from week 2.  The judges are correct in chastising him for attempting to rely on his personality; each dance has a specific character and underlying technique, and both must be displayed properly to carry the day.  While I'd like to see Helio win this event, he better get a quick tune-up from the dance mechanics if he hopes to do better than a score of 24 in the future.

Marie Osmond was another disappointment; Jonathan Roberts usually gets his celeb to display far better frame, hold, arms and head position than was evident in that Tango.  (I must say that I truly appreciate how tastefully Jonathan dresses for all occasions when he's on public display.)  Marie did present good character to go with the music.  her legs and feet were not very good from a "Tango" aspect, though she did create a few good lines and displayed some good footwork.  For me, the standard of this routine was far below her Mambo from week two.  I would only have given it a 24 and think the judges were out of line giving her a 26 as this was nowhere near on par with Jane Seymour's emotion-wrought Tango.

That's a wrap for this week's commentary.  Fortunately, we found out Tuesday night that the populace did come to its senses enough to boot Wayne Newton off the show.

On a final note:  Some folk have asked if I know who chooses the sometimes horrendous music used on these shows.  Well, I don't.  There are so many great songs available for this type of dance that it amazes me how this show seems to chose a majority of bad songs that do not suit the dances being performed to them.  All I can think of is that perhaps some of the music may be chosen by sponsors or underwriters of the show because the professionals must surely be complaining about the music choices as much as the rest of us.

Well ... one more final note: We hope you enjoyed the fabulous Viennese Waltz presented on Tuesday night's Results Show by Eddie Stutts and Valentina Kostneko, who hand their hat at The Dance Place.

 

Happy Dancing

and remember

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