Dancing With The Stars – Season 9,Episode 1 – Week 1, Male Stars Perform
YAY for the new season beginning!! I started my viewing tonight most interested to see Louie Vito perform because Melissa Joan Hart and Kelly Osbourne both commented on Twitter that his performance is amazing.
AWESOME opening number by the male pros! Great choreography by Louis Van Amstel!!
Almost everyone looked fabulous. I especially loved Kelly Osbourne’s outfit. The one bad standout was Tom Delay who looked a bit like a lower level 70s pimp. I was also not fond of Karina’s outfit, looked like she had chickens roosting on her chest.
Samantha’s dress was pretty, but the awkwardness of her after dance interviews has not lessened, in fact at times it was worse.
Aaron & Karina – Cha Cha Cha – Cheers to him for being fully committed to the performance on the first show, which I think men struggle with. Not bad. He needs to learn to control his movement a bit more. Especially his arms that tend to flail a little. And he almost dropped her in their closing move, but they managed to save it. Not 10s, but definitely not 5s by far. He definitely has some rhythm. All 3 of the judges said there was a lot of potential. Bruno also mentioned control.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 7, Len - 8, Bruno - 7. TOTAL: 22
Chuck & Anna – Fox Trot – Okay, first, I swear he had chewing tobacco between is bottom lip and teeth in the front by how he was holding his mouth. I hope it was just nervous tension. It was pretty painful. He reminds me a bit of Billy Ray Cyrus. Kinda stiff and gawky. I give him huge credit for looking like he was trying really hard. Bruno said it was very, very rough – poor footwork, terrible timing and bad lines. Carrie Ann played the nice card and said he was smooth and charming. Len said it was much better than he thought it was going to be and told him to get in touch with his feminine side more.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 6, Len - 5, Bruno - 5. TOTAL: 16
Mark & Lacey – Cha Cha Cha – Awesome outfits!! I love Lacey for adding the Kung Fu flair to incorporate his Martial Arts background. I was really surprised by his hip movement, he was pretty good. He needs to relax a little bit, he looked like he was concentrating too hard. Carrie Ann said he has the agility, flexibility and potential but to watch his arms (I agree). Len got bothered by the gimmickiness of it, per usual, but otherwise thought he did well. Bruno told him to watch his timing and footwork, particularly leading with heel or toes.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 7, Len - 7, Bruno - 7. TOTAL: 21
Ashley & Edyta – Fox Trot – A little awkward. He is slightly pigeon-toed and needs to work on that. He looked a bit scared and calming down a bit might serve him well. Overall though, better than I thought it would be. Len said the basic work was correct, but that it had a roughness and needs finesse. Bruno said he lacked showmanship, and I kind of agree. Carrie Ann said he needs to define himself and make himself stand out.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 5, Len - 6, Bruno - 4. TOTAL: 15 (Note, I think the judges were a bit too hard, I was expecting sixes.)
Donny & Kym – Fox Trot – I had a HUGE crush on him when I was younger!! He definitely has the requisite showmanship. He needs to not pull his face as much. He was a little loose while in hold, but overall I thought he did really well. Bruno said he knows how to play an audience, but commented on his posture in hold (I see the ballroom training bar coming out for their next ballroom routine). Carrie Ann said he needed to work on his hold position as well. Len complained about the “raz-a-ma-taz” level.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 7, Len - 6, Bruno - 7. TOTAL: 20
Louie & Chelsie – Fox Trot – His hair bothers me! I also wonder how he will train for the 2010 Olympics once the snow starts to fly if he is training for the show still. He is pretty stiff, and looked SO nervous!! He livened up a bit as the routine progressed, but then he tripped and I think that threw him off. He kept up a smile the whole time though, and I think he was trying super hard to get it right. Not as bad as I thought it would be, but not as good as it could have been. Carrie Ann thought it wasn’t bad, and told him to get used to the heels. Len complained about his hair but thought that other than the stumble he did well. Bruno said he looked like a little dancing Hobbit, poor kid!! But went on to say if he carries on he will be really good.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 6, Len - 7, Bruno - 6. TOTAL: 19
Michael & Anna – Cha Cha – Love that his inspiration is an image that he taped to the wall of Jerry Rice sporting the afro wig. He needs to loosen up his hips a little bit. He was into it though, really seemed like he was having fun. Overall, it was not too bad, but the dance was very low on difficulty and content and that needs to be stepped up. He has the showmanship and energy big time though. Len said it wasn’t a great first dance and needs more content. Bruno complained about the content too, as did Carrie Ann.
Votes: Carrie Ann - 5, Len - 4, Bruno - 4. TOTAL: 13 (Note: I thought those votes were lower than they should have been, I was expecting sixes with maybe a seven thrown in.)
Tom & Cheryl – Cha Cha – Not as bad as I expected, I was expecting him to be worse than Tucker Carlson. It was definitely a relatively low difficulty routine, not sure if he could have handled more than the basics. I was surprised at how much he let loose. Bruno called him crazier than Sarah Palin, and said that the little Cha Cha Cha he did wasn’t too bad but the rest was, well ? Carrie Ann said he is very light on his feet and that it was a surreal experience. Len said the Cha Cha Cha part was good but that the rest needed to go basically (I agree, too much fluff!).
Votes: Carrie Ann - 6, Len - 5, Bruno - 5. TOTAL: 16
Relay Dances – The couples also participated in relay dances. The couples that had Cha Cha Cha as their main dance competed in a Viennese Waltz relay and the couples that did a Fox Trot as their main dance competed in a Salsa relay. The judges ranked the couples in each relay from 1 to 4 and then distributed points accordingly—1st place, 10 points; 2nd place, 8 points; 3rd place, 6 points; 4th place, 4 points.
Salsa
Ashley – Too stiff, he REALLY needs to learn to move those hips!!
Chuck – It was mostly Anna twirling and him being her frame, the dancing he did do was bad.
Donny – He was very into it and was pretty good. Great rhythm and energy. He could loosen up the hips a bit.
Louie – He did better than I thought he would by far, but needs to loosen it up a bit.
I would have ranked them – Donny, Louie, Ashley, Chuck.
They got ranked – Donny, Louie, Chuck, Ashley.
Viennese Waltz
Aaron – He seemed rushed, and needs to stop tilting his head up too much. But not bad.
Mark – A little stiff, and he needs to smile!
Tom – She gave him some seriously basic stuff, which he did an okay job with.
Michael – I think he forgot what he was supposed to do with his arms, and his footwork was pretty rough.
I would have ranked them – Aaron, Mark, Tom, Michael.
They got ranked – Aaron, Mark, Michael, Tom.
Final Rankings:
1. Aaron
2. Donny
3. Mark
4. Louie
5. Chuck
6. Tom
7. (TIED) Ashley
7. (TIED) Michael
Wednesday’s results show has a Stars of Dance performance by the cast of the Lion King. YAY! That should be awesome!
