Dancing With The Stars, Season 12

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 1 - Dance Night, March 21, 2011

SIO's Early Favourite: Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff - Even though Ralph has no dance experience, he looks like he hasn't aged since The Karate Kid movie made some 28 years ago. He looks to be a very fit and graceful 49 years old.

Second Favourite: Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas. Never underestimate stars that have come from Disney TV and/or movies because they have been selected for their looks, winning personalities, talent with music and/or dance. Chelsea has tons of personality, lots of energy, eager to learn, and willing to work. She teamed with a great partner in Mark. They looked good together on the dance floor. Great chemistry.

Third Favourite: Hines Ward and Kym Johnson. Never underestimate a Football Receiver as DWTS contestant. Great conditioning & stamina, agility and body positioning that translates into good dance moves.

Lambs to the Slaughter:
Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer. The radio personality is out-of-his league.
Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani. The talkshow hostess is out of her league. Sluggish on the dance floor.


http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...ason-39740.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Season 12 Premieres Tonight!
Monday, March 21, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

It's been a long, dark winter. No stars! No sequins! No samba! But all that ends tonight with the premiere of the 12th season of Dancing with the Stars. And BuddyTV will be bringing the show to you via our live recap.


Starting at 8 PM EDT/5 PM PDT, check back here at BuddyTV for constantly updated news, reviews and scores as the season 12 celebrities begin their quest for Mirror Ball glory!

What sparkly excitement can we hope for tonight? For one thing, there will be no eliminations in this first week of competition. The 11 DWTS stars will get a free pass this week, hopefully enabling everyone to get into their dancing groove before the slaughter begins. As a result, there will be no Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show until next week (premiering March 29).

Even without the imminent threat of elimination, the stars will have to put their best feet forward in one of two styles of dancing: the foxtrot or the cha-cha-cha. The accumulated hints from rehearsal videos and Twitter updates indicate the following break-down of dances.

Foxtrot:

•Chelsea and Mark
•Mike and Lacey
•Ralph and Karina
•Petra and Dmitry
•Sugar Ray and Anna


Cha-Cha-Cha:

•Chris and Cheryl
•Hines and Kym
•Kendra and Louis
•Kirstie and Maks
•Romeo and Chelsie
•Wendy and Tony


Will any of the celebrities take an early front-runner position? Unlike in previous seasons, there's definitely no pre-season favorite. None of the celebrity contestants have much of a dancing background (Chelsea Kane was in some musicals as a child and Romeo has done a little dancing with his music, but that's it). Nobody is so incredibly famous or popular that he or she can coast to the finals, regardless of skill. And there's not even a hint of a political agenda to entice or put off DWTS voters.

So who's it going to be? I made some predictions right after the casting announcement, but it might be time for an update. Having watched the rehearsal videos and listened/read/watched an interview or ten, here are my updated views on the season 12 contestants:

11 - Kendra Wilkinson: I know she's a favorite for a lot of people, but I don't see it. Her dance moves didn't look too great, and she's much less famous than much of the competition. Plus, I don't see a lot of middle-America fans connecting with Hugh Hefner's ex-girlfriend.

10 - Kirstie Alley: Can she dance? I have no idea. Her rehearsal video emphasized more rolling on the floor than dancing. Personality and recognition will help Kirstie, but how much?

9 - Ralph Macchio: Much as I desperately want Ralph to do well, none of his rehearsal footage makes me think the guy can dance. I hope I'm wrong!

8 - Wendy Williams: There might be some moves there. But Wendy has to contend with the "funny celebrity" issues as well as the dancing.

7 - Sugar Ray Leonard: If we've got a superstar in the bunch, it's Sugar Ray. If he can avoid stiff movements or looking like he's going to punch Anna, Sugar Ray may have a shot.

6 - Mike Catherwood: We don't know him, but he's obviously likable. And athletic. He just needs a few moves to win over lots and lots of hearts.

5 - Hines Ward: He's charming, he plays football (athletes often do well) and he looks to have some moves during rehearsals.

4 - Chelsea Kane: No one knows her, but ... You can see the dance ability in the rehearsals. While the others struggle, Chelsea looks ready for her costume.

3 - Romeo: Based on rehearsal footage, this is a young man comfortable with movement. The looks don't hurt either.

2 - Petra Nemcova: She's beautiful, graceful and seems totally sweet. Her rehearsal dancing looks promising, and she wins hands-down for the best tragic-past of the season.

1 - Chris Jericho: The guy has more charisma than 20 normal people and a familiarity with choreography. And he might actually be able to dance.

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Who are you looking forward to seeing tonight? Who has the best shot of winning? Do you expect any horrible dancing, or just success? Let us know in the comments section!

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'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 1 Dances
Monday, March 21, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Greetings to the sequin-deprived viewers of Dancing with the Stars! We've finally reached the premiere of season 12, and it's time for the dancing to begin. Who will wow us? Which stars will swiftly fall? Just how crazy can the costumes get? It's time to watch and see!


If you're looking for up-to-the-minute DWTS information, BuddyTV is your place! I'll be recapping live throughout the show. That's right -- every step, every flash of glitter and every crazy Bruno comment as they happen!

Who are the stars this season? They're a varied bunch. We've got:


•The Karate Kid (Not the one named Smith. The other one.)
•A boxer famous enough for me to know his name
•A wrestler famous enough for me to know his name
•Rebecca from Cheers
•A Disney kid
•A "Psycho" radio guy
•A talk show host regularly mocked on The Soup
•Hugh Hefner's ex
•The obligatory football player
•The obligatory slightly-faded music star
•And a really pretty model!


Sound good? I certainly hope so, because these are the stars we get for the next many weeks. At least this season we can go in with absolutely no idea of which star will have a shot at Mirror Ball glory. It seriously could be anyone.

Keep in mind as you're watching tonight, that there's no Results Show tomorrow. With only 11 contestants this season, the celebrities get a week of breathing room before one of them goes home. But you can still vote! DWTS will then use those votes in some complicated manner that I don't pretend to understand.

With that in mind, let's begin!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

OK, Tom Bergeron. Thank you for letting me start the season laughing. We do deserve dancing after this winter! We do! So let's boogie.

It's the band! And the Stairs O' Doom! Is anyone going to fall on the first night? And that would be... a no. Oh well. This does look like a party bunch though.

Enough of that chatter, time for the first dance with Chelsea and Mark!

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "I thought that routine had a young, fresh routine to it." "It went a bit clanky for me." "You're the first out and well done!"
Bruno: "You started on your back, you ended on your back..." "
Carrie Ann: "You have a lot of potential." "Just connect it all a little more."

My Opinion: They are cute. Like super cute. Ooh! Flowers! Wait, now they're elegant? So Chelsea's good. Like super good. This would be a decent performance midway through the season, and she's starting out that way? Cool on her. Maybe a bit of a fall, but otherwise pretty darned impressive!

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21


Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You've got your dumplings boiling over." "You have to bring your personality out on this floor, and you didn't."
Bruno: "Wendy! Listen to me! You are a sumptuous, luscious, gorgeous woman!" "Technique can improve, but you have to deliver the performance value!"
Carrie Ann: "I saw real fear in your eyes before you started this, and that's what's so great about this show." "You need to unleash the beast next time."

My Opinion: Can I just say right now that I like Wendy? Because I do. It would be awesome if she were good. She definitely looks a bit tentative at the beginning there. Her steps and moves look good enough, but it's too tentative, especially with Wendy's personality. Tony looks like he's still teaching her on the dance floor. Decent, but not exciting overall. OK, can Wendy stay all season just so we can hear more of those comments from the judges? Please?

Scores: 5+4+5 = 14

Ouch. I guess they wanted more dumplings.


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You continue the tradition of footballers being able to dance." "I was looking at your bum! Your bottom's the tops, I'll tell you that!"
Bruno: "So nimble! So light-footed! The timing was excellent!" "You really have to, as Len says, work on the posture."
Carrie Ann: "Who knew under that helmet and all that football gear was all that?" "Your smile lights up the whole stage!" "You were in control out there!"

My Opinion: Cool, Kym didn't know anymore about Hines than me! He's cute. Like little-boy cute. Awww... He looks like he's having fun too! Not bad footwork there. Kind of hard to see Hines through Kym's crazy fringe, but what I can see looks good. Why does this guy waste so much charisma on football? He definitely knows how to perform. Definitely not a perfect performance, but I really, really enjoyed that!

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21

21 seems to be the "we liked it" score of the evening.


Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "I thought the whole routine had a charm about it." "Well, done. It was a charming dance."
Bruno: "There was some moments of extreme beauty and sophistication." "It's not just enough doing one pretty thing, then another pretty thing... link everything better."
Carrie Ann: "There is something about the way you dance... It's truly breathtaking. But... there was a long drag there that sort of turned into a littlelittle lift."

My Opinion: We can't not love Petra, can we? Sweet, pretty, enthusiastic and with that story? If she can dance, that's it. Stop. Making. Me. Cry. Petra! Dance instead! Petra may be a little stiff, but that dress covers it up well. She definitely looks lovely in the pauses. Can we just stare at Petra and Dmitry without judging? Sigh... Honestly, I'm not sure about the dance, but I kind of loved that anyway.

Scores: 6+6+6 = 18

The judges are feeling very agreeable tonight, aren't they?


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "One thing for sure, Romeo, you've got plenty of energy." "It was all a bit casual and carefree." "The performance side, you've nailed. Now just work on technique."
Bruno: "Ah, Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou Romeo! So vibrant! So energetic! So playful! Still messy though."
Carrie Ann: "You have sex appeal for days! There was so much testosterone on the floor!" "What you didn't nail was your posture."

My Opinion: Hey! More cute! They're even cute arguing. He's got the smooth attitude down cold, that's for sure. Maybe a little tentative in his moves, but this is definitely not bad. Weirdly, all that cute rehearsal chemistry seems missing on the actual dance floor. Romeo would look almost the same dancing alone. It was a good dance but missing something...

Scores: 7+6+6 = 19

Hey, it's Jennifer Grey! She looks happy to not be competing.


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "Foxtrot is fine wine and caviar. This was beer and a pizza."
Bruno: "Can I call you Sugar? Thank you! I love that, it's like Some Like It Hot! Call me Daphne!" "You turn into a Ninja Turtle!"
Carrie Ann: "You're incredible, the way you light up the dance floor." "Posture, posture, posture. Please."

My Opinion: I'm guessing that Sugar Ray isn't the most humble of men. For his sake, I hope he doesn't have to learn humility dancing. Starting from a seat? Interesting choice. Slow start for the dancing, but at least he looks comfortable out there. That said, I'm not sure Sugar Ray is doing all that much. He looks like he can dance when he wants to but just isn't for most of the song. Not bad overall...

Scores: 6+5+6 = 17


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You held my interest from start to finish, not always for the right reasons, but you did." "Very entertaining."
Bruno: "You can definitely strut your stuff, my darling. Full frontal attack!"
Carrie Ann: "I don't think you missed a step, which I give you credit for."

My Opinion: She does seem to be enjoying herself. Always a nice thing. Ah, Louis took the bunny ears off. Boo. It's quick this time and certainly has its energy. Kendra is good, but still a bit stiff, I think. Except when she's shaking. She really does do that well. Kendra may be lacking the flair that some others have, but she can definitely move. And she can do the splits! OK, there's my respect earned.

Scores: 6+6+6 = 18


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You've got great potential, a bit rough around the edges." "It's the best foxtrot tonight. Well done!"
Bruno: "I've got the feeling that you're a great stalking(?) hit!" "Watch your hand though, because sometimes it's very, very weird."
Carrie Ann: "That was just an amazing surprise!" "That was truly gorgeous."

My Opinion: Ralph Macchio really is a nice-seeming guy. But can he dance? The rehearsal isn't terribly promising. Although the actual dance isn't too bad. He is maybe a little cheesy-looking, but the dance moves are still there. I guess he turns on the charm for the performance? I bet they're going to call him on being sloppy, but you definitely want to watch the guy. Or not.

Scores: 8+8+8 = 24

Wow. Highest scores so far! This is definitely a surprise -- way to hide talent in the rehearsals, producers!


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "I think your hips are allergic to music." "You're a great big boy and you came out... What's wrong with that?"
Bruno: "The dancing beast! I haven't had so much fun with leather and PVC since the Village People." "Sometimes messy but always entertaining."
Carrie Ann: "It was kind of like a Chippendale's cha-cha!" "You didn't miss anything." "I think you need to put a little more content in your dances."

My Opinion: Chris is a fun guy. And he jumps awfully well. He's maybe a little too stiff to start, but losing the jacket sure helps. Is it a problem that I can't stop picturing Chris picking up Cheryl in a wrestling hold? Probably. Overall, that was pretty good, but not amazing.

Scores: 7+6+6 = 19


Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You did move, and there was music. But there was very little dance quality about it."
Bruno: "It was slightly ungainly." "You look like you're constipated. What's that all about?"
Carrie Ann: "Obviously you don't have a lot of dance experience." "You kept up. You're a little jerky." "Good effort."

My Opinion: At least he embraces the fact that we have no idea of who he is. Ooh! Crazy lights! Was he off right near the beginning? Hard to tell with the lights. He definitely seems stiff, but there's still a lot of charm going on. Mike kind of looks like that frat boy whose girlfriend conned him into a ballroom dancing class -- having fun but totally out of place. Still, I liked him.

Scores: 5+4+4 = 13


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "It was fun, it was cheeky, it was entertaining."
Bruno: "I like what I see..." "I think we are just scratching at the surface of what you can do." "Your foot placement in the cha-cha-cha was the best of the night."
Carrie Ann: "Honey, you are working it!" "Thank you!"

My Opinion: OK, they're going to be fun together. Can she dance? Maybe not. But Kirstie will be entertaining no matter what. She may not be quite keeping up, but that's awfully close. This is why it's good to be a performer on a show like Dancing with the Stars. Of course, her steps don't look half-bad either. I'm very much liking this performance. Bit of a surprise, but Kirstie was good! And last season goes wild!

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23


Great ending for the first show! Of course, Kirstie might pass out in about two seconds. That would certainly hurt her chances in the long run. But a great first performance!

What do you think about the first week of performances? Was anyone a standout? Did anyone surprise you? Which celebrity do you expect to go first next week? Leave us a comment!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 2 - Dance Night, March 28, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-39811.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 2 Dances
Monday, March 28, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

We're back (and so are all of the dancers) for another week of Dancing with the Stars! After debuting their dancing skills in week 1 of the 12th season, each of the celebrities gets another chance tonight to strut their stuff. But someone will be eliminated after this round of dancing...

Who will it be? It's hard to say.

Mike and Lacey and Wendy and Tony found themselves at the bottom of the pack last week, but this week's jive and quickstep routines may change things significantly. The same goes for Ralph and Karina, and Kirstie and Maks at the top. Will they be able to keep up the momentum?

Let's find out... To the dancing!

As soon as it starts anyway. Until then, have you forgotten about last week's performances? Click here to read the week 1 recap.

All caught up? Then here we go!

The President is done talking now, so we can move from world affairs to ballroom dancing. Isn't that always the way it goes? Or is that just me?

They're walking in now, which indicates to me that the fashion slideshow is going to be very, very entertaining this week. I'm pretty sure Mark is going to lose that particular competition. What was that?


Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "On that performance, I think you're in jeopardy. Talk to the hand." "It lacked refinement and any true dance quality."
Bruno: "It was definitely sweet and it was definitely pleasant to watch." "It has to be compact, tight and strong in the feet."
Carrie Ann: "You're so entertaining, you're so engaged in what you're doing..." "The lower half just was a little bit spastic."

My Comments: And the boxing analogies are flying! I should be counting those or making them into a drinking game or something. Umm ... is it supposed to be in black-and-white? Sugar Ray looks to be having fun. His moves look a lot smoother and like he's doing something this week. It's almost like he's danced like this before. Oh, and there's the requisite punch-move from Anna. Overall, I liked that dance.

Score: 6+5+6 = 17

Combined Scores: 34


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Your posture was a bit hit-and-miss." "Occasionally, your 'chesticles' were pushing into poor little Louis." "I thought you did an excellent job."
Bruno: "Kendra, it's very tough being a lady, isn't it?" "You tried your best, but you were very, very tight. You messed up your footwork many times."
Carrie Ann: "You're really good at learning choreography, but at week 2 I want to see more than choreography. I saw more than choreography this week!"

My Comments: Ah, so Kendra is the crier this week. Or maybe that will be a common occurrence... I like the dress this week -- very pretty! This seems a little slow for the quickstep at the beginning. Kendra looks very nice, and she seems to be getting the steps, but her facial expression is definitely not right. She looks confused and frozen. The music is helping nothing -- not a good choice. She seemed OK overall.

Score: 7+6+6 = 19

Cumulative Scores: 37


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Once I see doors and things, you're on a sticky wicket." "This girl has got fantastic potential, but not with dances like that."
Bruno: "I actually liked the weird and wonderful side of it." "Obviously, as jive goes, it could have been sharper."
Carrie Ann: "I love choreography like that, but there's a time and a place for that, and I don't think it's now." "In that choreography, it was hard to see your jive."

My Comments: I'm a little scared by what Mark is wearing. Ah, the flirting! They're way too cute. Doors! Hey, I like props. This is ... interesting? It certainly is different. I could see Len getting irritated by this, since it's weird. But it definitely looks pretty great. Maybe a few flubs here and there, but the overall performance was pretty spectacular. Almost enough to get me over my fear. Almost.

Score: 6+5+7 = 18

Cumulative Scores: 39


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Don't take this personal, I don't want to get in a headlock or something..." "It was bright, breezy, light of foot!"
Bruno: "I like a man that responds well to strict discipline." "We even got that bum under control!" "You were sensational!"
Carrie Ann: "All I can say is, I'm loving me some Chris Jericho right now."

My Comments: Chris has put too much thought into his frame analogies. I like the hat. And it's gone. Oh well. This is actually looking good, especially for a quickstep (which I often don't like much). The stiffness from before seems to work better here. And Chris can definitely look like he's having fun. Very cute.

Score: 8+7+8 = 23

Cumulative Scores: 42


Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It's a fatal combination: short skirt, long legs, bad technique. But I must say, she did it beautifully."
Bruno: "This girl can go from uptown girl to floozy at the drop of a hat." "Your performance was great tonight."
Carrie Ann: "Your legs look great!" "I think your core, you really need to work on." "We don't want your shapes to get funky."

My Comments: Oh stop being so adorable, Petra. Probably not possible. And it's another cool hat! Granted, we can't see her face. Oh, there it goes. Along with half the costume. Petra seems a little not-into-it here. Kind of the opposite of Sugar Ray, who looked like he had been jiving for years. Petra doesn't seem familiar with even the basic look of the jive. Cute, but not excellent.

Score: 6+6+6 = 18

Cumulative Scores: 36


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:

Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Most was light and fluffy, you lost energy near the end." "It was good, but it wasn't great."
Bruno: "Don't worry about the weight. You don't need to worry about that if you've got talent." "You didn't kind of regain that energy that you had."
Carrie Ann: "Kirstie, you are so in your element! I love watching you dance!" "The connection between you and Maks is going to be unstoppable!"

My Comments: I like the dress, but it kind of makes it hard to see Kirstie's feet. So I honestly have no clue of how well she's doing. It does look fairly good though. Not quite as exuberant as the cha-cha, but I doubt you can expect that. She is definitely a pretty good dancer. And entertaining. Nice kiss!

Score: 7+6+7 = 20

Cumulative Scores: 43


Mike Catherwood and Lacey Schwimmer
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It's better than last week, but don't get excited."
Bruno: "Some moments, your kicks and flicks, especially on the sides, were very good." "You looked like a fly stuck on fly paper!"
Carrie Ann: "When you were side by side, I was very impressed." "You have to make it consistent all the way through."

My Comments: I hope Mike does better this week, if only so I can enjoy looking at him for a few more weeks. If Mike can't dance this, I bet he can't dance anything. Still looking stiff there. Less so than last week, but the guy is so not a dancer. Cute and athletic, but not a dancer. He looked a little better while dancing alone. Overall, improved but still not that great. Mike is just too stiff.

Score: 6+5+6 = 17

Cumulative Scores: 30


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "No wonder we've got global warming with you two, all the hot air coming out." "That was the best dance of the night!"
Bruno: "I tell you Romeo, you are the one to watch!" "Great musicality, yes you can improve on the posture a bit."
Carrie Ann: "You definitely have a certain style while you dance."

My Comments: Nice jump to begin. Romeo seems to be dancing very well, despite what I would have expected from the rehearsal videos. This is one of the more energetic quicksteps, which makes sense from one of the more athletic stars. Overall, they looked good. Not quite as charming as some of the others, but technically excellent.

Score: 7+8+8 = 23

Cumulative Scores: 42


Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It was a little bit economical with the movement through the dance, but it was an improvement."
Bruno: "You can handle my laundry any time." "It's a step in the right direction."
Carrie Ann: "That's what we wanted to see!" "You lost a little steam in the middle but then you caught it back at the end."

My Comments: At least they gave Wendy a better costume this week. That was a cute intro, although the dancing might not be as good. Wendy seems to be a little behind Tony in some of the steps. She does, however, look pretty good while she does them. Weirdly, restrained goes well for Wendy. Maybe because she is such a big personality. Either way, this definitely seemed improved but not as good as some of the others.

Score: 6+5+6 = 17

Cumulative Scores: 31


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the jive

Score: 7+7+7 = 21

Cumulative Scores: 45


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the quickstep

Score: 8+7+8 = 23

Cumulative Scores: 44

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 2 - Elimination Night, March 29, 2011

http://www.buddytv.c...e-re-39819.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: First Eliminations Tonight!
Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

When is it time to let someone go?

The time, alas, is now. Tonight, we will have the first elimination for season 12 of Dancing with the Stars. The stars have all gotten a good chance to show their stuff with two weeks of performances already complete but one of them must go. Who will it be? We'll know before the hour is up!


Who did you pick for elimination?
While we have to wait to find out who the judges and the entirety of the TV audience picked, the BuddyTV readers have already spoken. Who did you expect to leave?

According to our readers' poll, Mike Catherwood is the overwhelming choice for elimination, having received 62 percent of the BuddyTV vote. Wendy Williams is trailing behind a little, only receiving 29 percent of the elimination picks. Sugar Ray Leonard, Romeo and Ralph Macchio each had 3 percent of the voters picking them for elimination.

Will we be right?

Did you miss anything?
It's OK if you did, because we have our live recaps of Week 1 and Week 2! All of the scores, commentary and judges' remarks you could want are right there.

While Ralph and Karina got a win in the first week with their foxtrot, the leading position was taken by Chris, Romeo and Hines in week 2. Still, Ralph remains at the top of the leader board, only one point ahead of Hines. Down at the bottom of the pack, Mike and Lacey had the unfortunate distinction of remaining at the bottom over the two weeks of dancing. Wendy and Tony fared only a little better.

But what will this mean when we get to Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show? That will all depend on how the audience.

So let's get to...

The live Results Show!

Which seems to be starting with sexy dancing from some of the professional dancers. Hey I recognize Cheryl's costume from last season!

But enough of that, it's time for RESULTS!!!

It's the athletes (Hines, Chris and Sugar Ray) up first and...

Hines and Kym are SAFE!!!


Chris and Cheryl are also SAFE!!!

Meanwhile, Sugar Ray and Anna remain in jeopardy.

"You weren't that surprised, were you?" - Tom

Enough with the results though, since it's time for the filler-musical act of the night. This would be Chris Brown and a whole pile of dancers. It's all very colorful. Granted, I'd care more if he started smashing stuff. Don't think it's going to happen though. Unless Tom Bergeron really does grill the singer about that whole Good Morning America thing.

Now we're back to the RESULTS!!!

It's the actors (Kirstie, Ralph and Chelsea) this time. And...


Ralph and Karina are SAFE!!!


Kirstie and Maks are SAFE!!!

Chelsea and Mark are SAFE!!!

That's a lot of safety.


Back from the commercials, we get to meet the new Dancing with the Stars Dance Troupe. Are they going to get celebrity partners in later seasons? Or is this just a way to give the pro dancers a rest on Results night? No clue, but they seem like nice people. Also, good dancers, which isn't much of a surprise.

But now it's time for even more RESULTS!!!

This time it's Romeo and Mike in the hot seat. Or is that hot spotlight? Whatever. They're getting results.


Romeo and Chelsie are SAFE!!!

Leaving Mike and Lacey in jeopardy. That's no shocker.

Chris Brown is singing again. And there's actually some pretty cool Tron-like costuming going on with the dancers in this one. Still I think I like the wedding-video version of this song the best.


But it's not about Chris Brown songs, is it? It's about results. Which we won't get until after some more commercials. Typical.

Now it's time for the final three women to get some RESULTS!!!



Kendra and Louis are SAFE!!!

Petra and Dmitry are also SAFE!!!

Which leaves Wendy and Tony left in jeopardy. Again, not much of a shock.

Final RESULTS now!

And...



Wendy and Tony are SAFE!!!


Sugar Ray and Anna are SAFE!!!

Which means that Mike and Lacey have been eliminated!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 3 - Dance Night, April 4, 2011

Wendy Williams is going to leave.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-39872.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 3 Dances
Monday, April 04, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

It's week 3! One pair has left the dance floor for good. Ten pairs remain to vie for that oft-elusive Mirror Ball trophy. With cumulative scores varying by only a point or two, there is no clear front-runner, and the next elimination is far from determined. What will happy next?

I guess we'll just have to watch and see.


Last week saw both improvement and consistency from the dancers. Despite strong performances by Romeo, Chris Jericho and Hines Ward, Ralph Macchio managed to hold onto his position at the front of the pack. Similarly, Wendy Williams trailed the other performers, even as her scores inched upwards. Is all of that going to change?

It depends on the stories they have to tell.

That's because it's Storytelling Week at Dancing with the Stars. Each of the pairs has to come up with some sort of story to tell using music, dance, props (sorry, Len) and costumes. Especially costumes. Yay costumes!

But before we get to all that storytelling goodness, you may need to refresh your memory of last week's dances. Click here to read the week 2 recap.

Enough of that. The past is done, and it's on to the future!

Thus, with the lighting of the stairs, it begins again. Things are looking sparkly and sparse this week. If a costume falls off this week, let me state here and now that I will not be shocked. Tom promises emotions tonight. Fair enough.

But before we can have emotion, we must have the Dancing with the Stars troupe. Isn't it kind of mean to start the show with professionals before the celebrities get their chance? I'd be feeling awfully intimidated right about now.

Who gets to be the most intimidated?

Wendy Williams and Tony Dovolani
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You must have worked extremely hard, but, to be honest, it was a struggle." "It was a dance more suited to the radio."
Bruno: "Almost monumental. It was like watching the Statue of Liberty at the beginning." "At times it looked like you put down roots."
Carrie Ann: "I do feel that this week we took a little step backwards and I don't know why." "There is more inside you, Wendy Williams, and I want to see it come out."

My Comments: So Wendy is dancing about sleeping in her car? That should be an interesting dance. I'm not getting "car" so far, but the dance doesn't have a bad start. Wendy still looks stiff, although not as stiff as she did in earlier weeks. It's pretty enough. But slow. And I'm seriously not getting any story out of this, other than maybe "Radio is cool."

Scores: 5+5+5 = 15

Ouch. Regression is never a good sign.


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the cha-cha-cha

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I can remember my first love, and it didn't look anything like you." "That's your best dance!"
Bruno: "Chelsea, Chelsea, sexy, sexy!" "I could really feel that excitement running through you!" "Tasty, tasty, Chelsea! And a great cha-cha."
Carrie Ann: "I'm a big fan of that cha-cha!" "You are so adorable!" "If you could work a little bit more on your hip action..."

My Comments: Chelsea has a song written for her? Wow, some people live lives that are not like mine. You know, I bet Chelsea wasn't wearing a bikini like that when she got the song written for her. Chelsea's movements might be a little too harsh for the dance, but what do I know? She's definitely dancing well, although I'm not sure I'd notice this as a cha-cha if I didn't already know that. And, um, distracting bikini there...

Scores: 7+8+8 = 23


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It lost fluidity throughout your upper arms." "The lines or poses that you did were excellent."
Bruno: "An almost naked vulnerability, which is very hard with a rumba." "The rumba has to flow continuously, but overall it was a good job."
Carrie Ann: "That was a beautiful tribute to your mom. This is what I love so much about dancing." "Your hip action, a little strange."

My Comments: Ah, "Let It Be..." That's all emotional and stuff. And a sad mother story. Sigh. Wow, they even announced it with his real name. OK, this is pretty. Like really pretty. They didn't even need the totally legitimately heartbreaking story to set it off. Just some Beatles and a really pretty dance. Very awesome, Chris Irving.

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I wasn't that keen on the unnecessary gyrating that went on." "You've come out with beautiful feet, gorgeous leg action. It is an improvement."
Bruno: "There is nothing wrong with a good stripper. I'm into it myself." "It was hot and arousing, darling." "They're turning purple out there!"
Carrie Ann: "It was not only the men who got a little excited, that was hot, hot, hot!" "Every movement was grounded."

My Comments: OK, doesn't Kendra have an entire TV show devoted to this story? Shouldn't she maybe pick a new story... Or at least a crazier story like, say, that whole Playboy Mansion thing. Oh well. Ooohh... Red smoke! Where's Kendra? Oh, there she is! And was that a little wobble on the stairs? How do any of them avoid that in the crazy heels? This definitely works as a sexy dance, and Kendra is doing it well (the rehearsal giggles are all gone). I still don't think her expressions work, but otherwise that was an excellent dance.

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "This week, there's a huge step back." "Don't keep looking at me with those big googly eyes" (to Tom)
Bruno: "You really put your heart and soul into it, and it showed." "The leg placement wasn't quite right."
Carrie Ann: "There was something really nice about the way you emotionally committed to that piece."

My Comments: Yikes, Romeo lost two cousins? That is so very not good. I'm guessing this is going to be a sad dance. OK, that opening pose is impressive in itself. Much like Chelsea, Romeo just looks pretty good on the dance floor. He may not be doing too much in this dance. But at least he looks good while not doing it.

Scores: 7+6+7 = 20


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Your mother's proud of you, and I'll tell you what, I'm proud of you."
Bruno: "Two for the price of one -- happy hour!" (No, I don't know what it means either.)
Carrie Ann: "Booyah! Baby's got bounce! Bounce-bounce-bounce..." "You're dancing the samba, like you've been dancing your whole life"

My Comments: Yay! Happy emotions! We need that at this point. They're pretty together. Hey, it's like a disco out there! I have no idea of how Hines is doing at the samba, but this is refreshingly happy, so who cares? He does seem to be keeping up on the steps, so that's a plus. Don't know how it was, but I enjoyed it.

Scores: 9+8+8 = 25

Ladies and gentlemen, we have a 9. Wow. I guess the judges liked it.


Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Dancing the waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It had grace, it had elegance, it had fluid movement. This is my favorite season!" "For me, at this moment, you're the one. That was brilliant!"
Bruno: "You are like a vision from heaven, and you danced like an angel."
Carrie Ann: "Your heart was all over the movement."

My Comments: Tsunami story. Rough. At least they're tackling it at a positive, uplifting angle. That always helps. Uh oh, more smoke. That stuff is dangerous. This is pretty. Very pretty. Also, very serious, which makes the feeling-of-hope message somewhat harder to feel. And I can never figure out what the judges look for in waltzes. But it definitely was a beautiful dance from this vantage point.

Scores: 8+9+8 = 25

And another 9! The judges are feeling good right about now.


Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You've come out tonight stronger, and you've fought back. You dominated that dance."
Bruno: "The fighting spirit got you back in business, I think." "You still need to refine your Spanish lines."
Carrie Ann: "I think I saw a lot of improvement." "You took control of the space."

My Comments: Eek, this is always a tough dance. At least Sugar Ray is going for a "beating the odds" theme. He might need that this week. Hey, who is that guy? Is he a boxing person? Is Sugar Ray going to dance with boxing gloves? That seems unnecessarily hard. Oh, they're gone. Even with the gloves off, I have a feeling that Sugar Ray is still lacking some of the punch they wanted. It's a pretty good dance, and he looks good, as usual. But it looks just a little disjointed or something. And there's a punching bag!

Scores: 7+6+7 = 20


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It's about overcoming adversities. You overcame it."
Bruno: "You can't keep good talent down." "Once you got up, it was better than ever!"
Carrie Ann: "Sometimes tragedy leads to amazingly beautiful moments." "You were just so connected to the music." (Shows what I know, huh?)

My Comments: Wow. Happy and sad all at once. Eek... Can't. Take. The. Emotions. Was that fall real? That didn't look good. The dance is pretty, but it feels unconnected in some way. It may be that this song doesn't fit the choreography. Or maybe it was the fall at the beginning.

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "The whole routine I though was crisp and it was clear, but it needs a bit of refinement." "The overall look was very appealing."
Bruno: "You still do this spatula thing."
Carrie Ann: "I thought it was a very sweet rumba." (somehow this almost started a judges' table rumble...) "You do need to work a little bit on your core strength."

My Comments: Awwww... Ralph is really painfully cute and lovable. No wonder the guy's been married since he was an infant or something. It's also nice to see a rumba that's actually a love dance (only Kendra did straight romance otherwise). Karina should probably hang on to Ralph's hands as much as she can, because those arms are indeed a bit awkward. Otherwise, though, it looks lovely. He is dancing exactly the way you would expect for a man who is happily and contentedly in love. Very cute.

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21


We may just have a new leader... Impressive night altogether!

Who was your favorite dancer of the night? Did any of the stories move you? Who do you think will be going home tomorrow? Leave us a comment!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 3 - Results Night, April 5, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-39886.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: An Emotional Farewell Story
Tuesday, April 05, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

So many emotions... And you know that they're only going to be heightened by tonight's Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show. It seems almost tragic that the dancers had to share such personal stories, only to have one pair ruthlessly cut by the cruelty and fickleness of judges and the voting public.

But what can you do? Someone's got to go.


Who did you pick for elimination?
Sentimental as the BuddyTV readers may be, they're not shy about picking someone to lose.
The results of our readers' poll, the most likely to be eliminated in week 3 is Wendy Williams, who received 80 percent of the vote.

Although a very small minority, 13 percent of BuddyTV's readers picked Sugar Ray Leonard as the doomed celebrity, with 4 and 3 percent voting to send home Kirstie Alley and Kendra Wilkinson, respectively.

Are our callous predictions correct, or will we be in for a shock?

Did you miss anything?
That won't do. There was too much emotion for any of it to be missed. Fortunately, you don't have to: check out our Week 3 Recap and Performance Rankings for everything you need! Except the tears, of course. We don't have those here.

If you're wanting a quick summary instead... Hines and Kym and Petra and Dmitry had the highest showings of the week, each earning 25 points for their performances. Kendra and Louis and Chelsea and Mark weren't too far behind with 23 points apiece. Ralph and Karina, Chris and Cheryl, and Kirstie and Maks (despite a tumble) followed with 21 points for each of their performances. Down at the bottom of the pack, Romeo and Chelsie and Sugar Ray and Anna all got 20 points, while Wendy and Tony fell behind with only 15 points.

The overall leader board has changed slightly, but this is still a very close race to the Mirror Ball. Which stars will be around to try for it? It's time to find out with the Results Show!

The live Results Show!

There's a bunch of music and stuff this week. Selena Gomez, One Republic and that dance troupe will all be performing. Before those performances, however, we get a repeat of Hines and Kym doing their samba.

Oh, and also... Hines and Kym are SAFE!!!

Way to slip that in there, Tom.

That samba is still fun. But enough of that dancing stuff. We're all about RESULTS here, and it looks like we're getting them for Sugar Ray Leonard and Romeo. And...

Sugar Ray and Anna are SAFE!!!

Romeo and Chelsie are also SAFE!!!


Wow, they're really knocking out the safety results tonight aren't they? I imagine that means we won't have any major results for quite awhile now.

One Republic is now on hand to kick off the performance-y bits of the show, this time with Lacey and Dmitry providing dance embellishment. It's kind of nice to see a real band instead of a pop act on DWTS.

More RESULTS?!? So soon? Cool.

While they're not going to let us know anything about Kirstie and Maks (other than he says he'll be fine), we do get some closer on Petra and Dmitry and Wendy and Tony.

And...

Petra and Dmitry are SAFE!!!

While Wendy and Tony remain in jeopardy. Not much shock there.

Time for the home video footage of the stars. Turns out that they're freaks. You know, like the rest of us, only in nicer houses.

Enough of the silliness though. It's time for Selena Gomez to sing. Pleasant. Nice. About what I would expect from her. There's also some dancing from Mark Ballas and one of the blondes. She's moving too fast to figure out which one though. (It was Chelsie)

And now it's time for more RESULTS!

Chelsea and Mark are SAFE!!!

Kendra and Louis, however, remain in jeopardy.

That leaves three couples to hear some sort of results. But we're not going to get to that now. Instead, it's another song from One Republic. But they can't procrastinate much longer, so that should be it for the performances tonight! Yay? Should I be happy at the end of Results Show performing? Oh well.

OK, time for the last three to get resulted. And the RESULTS are:



Ralph and Karina are SAFE!!!


Kirstie and Maks are also SAFE!!! (I guess they decided not to go the sadistic route)

This leaves Chris and Cheryl remaining in jeopardy until the final RESULTS.


Kendra and Louis are SAFE!!!


Chris and Cheryl are SAFE!!!

Which means that Wendy Williams has been eliminated!



What do you think about the results? Did Wendy deserve to be eliminated? Did you expect it, or was it a shock? Let us know your opinions and thoughts below!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 4 - Dance Night, April 11, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-live-re-39943.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 4 Dances
Monday, April 11, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Let us now begin the fourth week of our dear Dancing with the Stars. It is to be a civilized week, and a week of proper etiquette and goodness. This is because we now enter Classical Week on DWTS. And, with Classical themes, there must be proper behavior.

Or something like that.


Either way, it's week 4, and the nine remaining dancers are ready to dance their classical hearts out. Whatever the music choices, it should be a pretty exciting week -- despite several performances, there is still no front-runner in this season's competition!

Hines and Kym did manage to pull into the lead with their celebratory samba, but they remain only a few points ahead of their competitors. Only 15 points separate the leaders from last place (Sugar Ray and Anna) in cumulative scores, with the others even closer to the lead.
Basically, everybody has a shot at the Mirror Ball.

I'm honestly not entirely sure of what to expect from Classical Week. Probably, the band will trade in the bongos and pop singers for violins, and the dances will definitely have more of an old-fashioned edge to them. And there are no jives this week. Instead, we will be treated to waltzes, Viennese waltzes and paso dobles. These are vastly different styles of dance for many of the competitors, so it should be interesting.

Before we look to the future, however, it might be wise to remember the past. You can do so easily with BuddyTV's week 3 recap.

So let's get onto this classical craziness!

Timpanis! Violins! Cellos! It doesn't get any classier than this. Hey, they managed to get some pop into the mix with famous classical types. I have no idea of who they are, of course, because I am an uncultured boor. But I'm sure they're really cool.

Before we get to see any competitors, the Dancing with the Stars troupe is going to show us how the paso doble is supposed to be done. I assume this is so we can mock the feeble efforts that follow. Unless they're really good, of course. Then we can be impressed.

First up is...

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "Romeo, have a bit of decorum, dear boy." "It was full of passion. It was full of attack and intensity." "You've got to work now on getting a little more precision."
Bruno: "Focused! Powerful! Action-packed! And six-packs as well." "You managed to get [the musical phrasing] right."
Carrie Ann: "There was a little bit of lift, so I had to deduct for that." "That was the first time I'd seen a paso with swagger."

My Opinion: Hey, Romeo likes classical music. That's kind of cool. OK, are we going to get a big orchestral intro before everyone? I think Romeo and Chelsie look pretty good, but it's kind of hard to tell, since the screen is really, really dark. The lighting people didn't do so well here. He's maybe not being as aggressive as he should be, but they're going fast and look good. But I really can't see too much! The black costumes aren't helping much either. Cool ending. And not just because of the gratuitous shirtlessness.

Scores: 7+8+8 = 23


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "Bruno sometimes forgets, you guys are beginners." "I'm not saying it was fantastic..."
Bruno: "Kendra, you messed it up and you know it." "Become the character! Become the Black Swan! Natalie Portman!" "It's just so beautiful, I can't bear to see it kill."
Carrie Ann: "Elegance is not so different from sexy. It's like you're afraid of elegance." "You looked like you were holding back."

My Opinion: Please, better lighting this time... Please? Hey, the opera lady is singing! Kendra looks like she is walking a little too much at the beginning. She looks lovely in the spins though. It seems like Kendra doesn't have the daintiness needed to make the waltz look right. There are tiny moments of hesitation that break up the flow, but it's overall pretty good. Great tricks too!

Scores: 6+6+6 = 18


Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "Sugar Ray Leonard turns into the Sugar Plum Fairy." "The more I got into it, the more I smiled." "I was thoroughly entertained."
Bruno: "It had a wonderful, cartoonish charm." "Technically it wasn't perfect, but as entertainment, it was excellent."
Carrie Ann: "You have this sparkle that is unbeatable." "There is something so entertaining and so charming..."

My Opinion: Ooh! I love "The Nutcracker!" Yay! Slow, very ballet-style start. Hopefully, they'll get to the waltzing soon. There they go. It's pretty, but I'm not sure that Sugar Ray is doing much dancing. What he's doing looks pretty good (although he's obviously not too comfortable with the ballet look), but there's just not much of it. The dance was all about Anna.

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21


Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "I would have liked a little more authority through your feet and your legs." "You really came out, tried to show the emotions of the dance."
Bruno: "It is not Petra. It is Carmen!" "By the look of it, you're going to get plenty, Petra!"
Carrie Ann: "Petra, you are on a roll." "It was absolutely gorgeous..."

My Opinion: I'm not entirely sure Petra can look angry or mean. She's way too cheerful. And the music isn't helping. Granted, she does look a bit angry now that she's in costume and make-up. There is maybe too much swagger going on or something, but Petra looks a little odd. Or perhaps it's the effort from holding that angry face. Oh my. There go her clothes. This is obviously stripper night at Dancing with the Stars.

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23


Did Tom just say "Low blood sugar" when announcing Ralph and Karina?


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the waltz

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You've been in the wilderness for two weeks. You're back!"
Bruno: "Totally heartfelt! Brilliant storytelling through dancing! And thank you very much for continuing the lines."
Carrie Ann: "When you dance, you're so honest." "I was swept in, I was carried through the story."

My Opinion: Will there be more undressing in this dance? Seems to be the theme of the night, and they did say they were going super-sexy... Awww... Juliet's dead. Or not. This is definitely a very pretty dance. They actually seem to be working with the music, which has seemed difficult for people tonight. Even Ralph's hands do seem better. I actually really liked that. And yes, Karina did keep her clothes on. The dance was a very chaste kind of sexy.

Scores: 8+8+9 = 25


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You are the most determined of all of our celebrities, you come out every week at 100 percent."
Bruno: "Oh yes you do have the killer instinct!" "Truly explosive!"
Carrie Ann: "You were in the zone, my friend!" "You nailed it, you were in control!"

My Opinion: Fire! And I don't just mean the flames, because the beginning of the dance is pretty impressive. It's another quick dance, this time with the advantage of me being able to see it. Hines looks a bit worried about the dance, but his actual movements look good. Very angry. Well, until he turned to grin when the music stopped anyway.

Scores: 9+8+8 = 25

And the crowd does not like that. Not at all. Booing all around.


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "You are a fantastic dancer, so why is it that every time I see you, there's something I don't like?" "Her job at 22 is to interpret a dance that is 300 years old." "Overall, I liked it, because this girl is a really good dancer."
Bruno: "It was magical, fabulous, musical and bewitching." "Technically speaking, it was the best dance of the night!"
Carrie Ann: "Tonight, I agree with Bruno!" "Chelsea, you're in your stride."

My Opinion: The spotlight guy may have an issue with Len there... So much for any idea that Mark would allow for things to be normal in his choreography. Still, they don't seem to be taking too many weird liberties with things. That should make Len happy, despite Mark's acrobatics and hat. Chelsea seems to be hitting her steps, and she looks like she is dancing well.

Scores: 9+8+9 = 26

Best score of the night, even if Len is a curmudgeon.


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "The dance wasn't bad, OK, but it starts off quiet... You had that menacing look... The music conquered you, you didn't conquer the music."
Bruno: "Magestic! Thor! The god of thunder!" "You got the accents so well!"
Carrie Ann: "You were so connected to the music." "Your technique was really good."

My Opinion: Bassoon time! Is that a pencil-thin mustache I see on Chris? Cool. They're very shiny tonight. This is a slower paso doble to begin with, but if I remember this music correctly, it will speed up. I'm not sure Chris is doing as much as some of the other dancers, but he definitely looks the part of a mean matador. And yes, he killed Cheryl at the end there. That was almost scary.

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the waltz

Judges' Opinions:
Len: "Everything needs to improve."
Bruno: "I thought you did amazingly well." "You're light on your feet and you've got great musicality."
Carrie Ann: "Whose shoe comes off in the middle?" "You didn't miss a beat." ("She did miss a beat!" - Len)

My Opinion: And now we get the song from The Shawshank Redemption! Yes, I know it's from classical stuff too. But that's my association. Um, did Kirstie's shoe come off? Wow, if so, they have the worst luck. The dance still looks very good though. It's pretty and slow, even if the interactions and expressions are a little off at times.

Scores: 7+7+8 = 22


Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Who was the best dancer tonight? Who do you expect to go home? And how do bad things keep happening to Kirstie? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 4 - Results Night, April 12, 2011

http://www.buddytv.c...e-re-39961.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: The Sad Violins of Elimination
Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

The music swells. The tympanis beat out an ominous sound. A lone bassoon plays an eerie tune. The sounds of elimination fill the air!

They are all but harbingers of the necessity that is the week 4 eliminations on Dancing with the Stars. No matter how much work went into understanding that complicated "classical" music (no lyrics?!?), one of the celebrities will be making a final exit from DWTS tonight.


Who will it be? Let's find out...

Who did you pick for elimination?
As has so often been the case amongst the readers of BuddyTV, there was great consensus on the most likely loser this week. A whopping 70 percent of those who voted in our readers' poll chose Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel as the pair to go.

A sizable minority also had it in for Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya, who were the elimination pick for 24 percent of voters. Meanwhile, Romeo and Chelsie Hightower and Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin received 3 percent apiece of the elimination votes.

Are we correct? Is Kendra doomed?

Did you miss anything?
While I can't recreate the melodious sounds of the orchestra with words (I try, but I am doubtful of much success), I can remind you of what has gone past. Check out the Week 4 Recap and Performance Rankings to get the basic, non-musical gist of it all.

Quickly though, Chelsea and Mark waltzed their way to the highest score of the night (26 points), despite the expected criticism from Len. They were closely followed by Hines and Kym and Ralph and Karina -- both teams scored 25 points. Despite a shoe malfunction from Kirstie, Kendra and Tony ended up at the bottom, with only 18 points for their dance.

It's still close. Anyone could take it all. So let's find out who it could be during...


The live Results Show!

A classical version of "Walk This Way" to begin? Is that what that was? Wasn't expecting anything like that. Way to surprise me, DWTS!

Well that was weird.

Moving on to the slightly-less-weird RESULTS! portion of the show. The leaders get to hear their results first, which I suppose is fair and a good method for getting the obvious ones out of the way. So...

Ralph and Karina are SAFE!


Hines and Kym are SAFE!

This leaves Chelsea and Mark still in jeopardy, despite that whole highest-points thing. I'm guessing it's a ploy to increase the tension. Or something like that. Meanwhile, they get to repeat their dance. I suppose that's a consolation prize, somehow.

Ummm... What is Patriot's Day? Is that a thing? Or just an excuse for another theme week. Either way, they're doing dances to patriotic songs next week. Do they all have to be American patriotic songs? Because there are an awful lot of foreigners heading out to dance...

Anyway, it's time for Jennifer Hudson to sing. And it's time for Karina and Louis to dance to Jennifer Hudson's singing. Her dress is... interesting? Also, purple.

Oh Brooke... According to Wikipedia, the quickstep is English, not American. Just saying.

It's almost time for more RESULTS! It's the middle-three this time.



Chris and Cheryl are SAFE!

Romeo and Chelsie are SAFE!


Petra and Dmitry, however, remain in jeopardy...

The final three couples (the ones in the bottom) are hanging out backstage with Brooke. Where Kendra has the grace to tell us why she thinks last night wasn't so great. I guess dancing is hard at that time of the month.

Ballerinas dancing now. They're really embracing this whole "classical" thing, aren't they? Ah, the Dancing with the Stars salute to Black Swan...

And more Jennifer Hudson. I'm sure we'll get to results again. Eventually. Maybe.


OMG! RESULTS! Finally!

Kirstie and Maks are SAFE!

Kendra and Louis are SAFE!

Wait, what? What??? Oh my. This just got interesting.

With Kendra and Louis safe, I have no idea who's getting eliminated. Sugar Ray? Petra? Top-of-the-heap Chelsea? I have no clue at this point.

Ummm... Only a couple of minutes left in the hour. They're really drawing this out tonight. I guess it's a good way to milk us for all the ratings they can get.



Anyway, it's time for the final RESULTS of the night!

Petra and Dmitry are SAFE!


Chelsea and Mark are SAFE! (No crazy upset tonight.)

Sugar Ray Leonard and Anna Trebunskaya have been ELIMINATED!!!

I blame Anna's crazy princess dress. Also, I suppose I blame the lackluster dancing. Oh well. Bye Sugar Ray!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Did the right couple go home? Were you surprised that it was Sugar Ray? Who do you think is voting for Kendra? Let us know your thoughts and opinions below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 5 - Dance Night, April 18, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40017.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 5 Dances
Monday, April 18, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

It's your patriotic duty to watch Dancing with the Stars.

At least, I think that's the message that the DWTS producers want to get across in this Patriot's Day-themed week. Or maybe not. Maybe it's just a good gimmick to get people to watch more dancing. Either way, there are eight dancers left to fight for that ultimate in patriotic prizes, the Mirror Ball Trophy. Whose dances will win the hearts of America tonight? Let's find out.


It's still close, despite four weeks of dancing and eliminations behind us. Hines and Kym (94 points total) have the overall lead, but Ralph and Karina are not too far behind (at 91 points). Even the trailing couple, Kendra and Louis, aren't so far back (with 78 points) that they don't have a shot. It really could be anyone's competition.

Want to relive some of the past Dancing with the Stars excitement? It's easy with the BuddyTV week 4 recap.


Will the patriotic themes of this week's performances turn out to be a positive or a negative for the couples? Will it give a boost to the more American of the teams (half of the dancers still competing have now or in the past held foreign citizenship)?

Here we go!

Let me just apologize now for any eye-rolling-in-the-form-of-sarcastic-comments I may exhibit tonight. Overly earnest and bizarre theme nights do that to me. Please don't let it affect your enjoyment of this random expression of dancing patriotism.

Anyway, fireworks! Corny stars-and-stripes jokes! A shiny American flag! Ridiculous costumes!

Oh, and apparently the 1000th dance is at some point tonight. But first we get to see Ralph and Karina dance in cowboy costumes. Oh boy...

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I'm not saying this was terrible... but you're not consistent." "You've got to get hips, you've got to get rhythm."
Bruno: "The line dance and two-step was very, very good, but we're looking for a samba." "You do a character very, very well." "Give me sex, man!"
Carrie Ann: "Excuse me, you two, it's Americana week!" "I think that was a great, entertaining performance!"

My Comments: Well that started off a little like a line dance. But the samba is actually working in a weird way to this cowboy/"Sweet Home Alabama" theme. It seems to be danced pretty well too, which is impressive, since I was prepared to laugh hysterically at this one. Ralph Macchio is weirdly a convincing cowboy. I'm not entirely sure how many of these moves are traditional samba, but that was a lot of fun.

Scores: 8+7+7 = 22

Based on the judges' comments so far, the scores are going to be interesting tonight...


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It's so nice to see Cheryl showing off the Rocky Mountains there." "When you deserve an 8, I'll give you one. It was a little bit flat-footed."
Bruno: "Big, yet graceful. Strong, yet delicate of touch. Elegant, with a sweeping sense of romance. It was absolutely wonderful!"
Carrie Ann: "In some weird way, I feel like we've underestimated you."

My Comments: Can we just have Chris talk about dancing endlessly for the rest of the season? This commentary is extremely entertaining. And it's all military and stuff. Granted, you don't usually associate the military with a spinny dance. Chris' small steps kind of look odd, but he looks excellent when spinning around the dance floor. This isn't the most exciting dance. It's pretty though.

Scores: 9+8+9 = 26

I guess Len thought Chris deserved an 8.


Petra Nemcova and Dmitry Chaplin
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I think you coped very well with the speed of the music." "You've just got to work on little things."
Bruno: "You were like the golden goddess of speed! You have lines that would rival Ferrari, Mazeratti, Lambourghini -- put together!" (If those are spelled wrong, sorry. I do TV, not cars.)
Carrie Ann: "Tonight, I feel like you took a bit of a step back." "You guys got a little out of sync and it's noticeable in the quickstep."

My Comments: Ah, Elvis. There are some very entertaining interpretations of "American" in the dances this week. If Petra weren't so sweet, her earnestness would be annoying. As it is, awwww... OK, the dance. I'm not sure what to say about this dance. The dress is gorgeous, and they seem to be hitting their steps well. The dance does seem a little boxy and wooden for some reason. Maybe that's good for the quickstep? Or possibly I'm just reacting to the music choice. It was a pretty good dance, although not my favorite.

Scores: 7+7+8 = 22


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Comments:
Len: "There's still bits and pieces that I'm not 100 percent happy with, but you're on the right road."
Bruno: "I've never seen a foxtrot so cheeky and so well-danced!"
Carrie Ann: "That was so cool and so sophisticated! You have your own unique style."

My Comments: Romeo's putting swagger into a foxtrot? Why am I not terribly surprised? Not that he can't pull off something like that when he tries. He does have the music going for him. Love this song. Of course, the costumes don't look very '60s at all. More like 30s/40s musical. I think this might be good, but I'm not getting into it. Maybe it's the contrast between Romeo in rehearsals and talking (arrogant, non-emotive) and dancing (cool and fun) that gets me.

Scores: 9+8+9 = 26

Wow. These scores seem familiar somehow...


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It has a naturalness about it. It's got an ease and an elegance that is charming. And I think maybe for me, that was your best dance so far."
Bruno: "Ease of move, musicality, and just the right amount of sensuality to make the ladies swoon!"
Carrie Ann: "Hines, you make it look so easy." "You have the best hip action I have seen in a long time."

My Comments: Hines can work the Karate Kid headband. The rehearsal footage looks awfully violent, especially for the rumba. The music is a little jarring (so doesn't fit a romantic rumba). But the dance is still somehow sexy. Hines is having the problem of not looking like he does a lot while Kym spins all over the place, but they look great doing it.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27

Great scores tonight! Pretty darned impressive.


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It had attitude, there was lots of basic steps... It wasn't my cup of tea."
Bruno: "The American woman and the Russian gigolo!"
Carrie Ann: "It was bold, it was ambitious, it was a little borderline crazy." "I think it was your best dance ever!"

My Comments: Seriously, "American Woman?" The patriotism of the night is vaguely confusing. And now John Travolta is on my screen. Yes, it's ridiculous. But I'm laughing. That may sum up how I feel about Kirstie Alley too. And Maks has stripped! Yay! I love this dance! It's awesome! The best! Woo!!! Seriously, though, the dance. Kirstie looks a bit apprehensive, but they seem to be hitting their steps without too much trouble. I'm not entirely sure that that was all foxtrot, but it was still an entertaining dance. Plus, semi-naked Maks!!!

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Good news, it's much better than last week!"
Bruno: "Cute, sweet as apple pie, and much more in character." "I can see you thinking it."
Carrie Ann: "This is the most confident I've ever seen you."

My Comments: Um, Kendra, get over it. And don't drop your "g"s when protesting feeling like trash. That doesn't help your cause. "Yankee Doodle" is about being proud? It's not a parody in response to a failed British offensive? Oh, hey, this is the 1000th dance! Streamers galore! Oh lord, Louis has a beard. With the costumes and the music, this kind of looks like something out of a musical. Actually, the dance looks pretty good (once you get past the waving flags). No clue if it's a foxtrot but it's cute.

Scores: 8+7+7 = 22


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Yum, yum, what a bum!" "This was real good fun!"
Bruno: "The best of both worlds! And you're so clean!"
Carrie Ann: "You guys dance so well together, you match your moves together perfectly."

My Comments: "Party in the USA" as a patriotic dance? Please excuse me while I go beat my head against something hard. Just because the word appears somewhere in the title, doesn't make it patriotic. Anyway... As always, Chelsea comes out looking like more of a dancer than anyone else. It's kind of a funky samba, but it looks like a lot of fun -- definitely getting the party theme. Chelsea is dancing way faster than most of the others. Another excellent dance, and I'm not just saying that because of the brain damage incurred when I heard the song choice.

Scores: 9+8+9 = 26

Seriously? That score again? I guess it's a good sign though!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Who was the best dancer tonight? Did you find the music patriotic? Is Hines the frontrunner now, or are we still without one? Let us know your comments and opinions below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 5 - Results Night, April 19, 2011

I'm disappointed that Petra got eliminated before weaker dancers such as Kristie Alley, Chris Jerico, and Kendra Wilkinson.

Dancing With the Stars home voters have a record of eliminating supermodels early. It was mentioned somewhere that Petra has lasted longer than any previous fashion model.

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40032.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: Sometimes Patriotism Isn't Enough
Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

With so much earnest pride and jubilation during last night's performances, it seems almost wrong that someone will have to leave Dancing with the Stars tonight. Alas, it must be so. Even the most heartfelt of DWTS shows must end in elimination. But which star has been rejected by America?

This week, Dancing with the Stars will emulate democracy itself by choosing the eliminated pair via voting. The public vote matters even more than usual too -- three celebrities (Kendra, Petra and Ralph) tied for last place during the fifth week of competition. Without much in the way of judging discrepancies, it will all come down to the vote.

Who did you pick for elimination?
We were wrong last week about Kendra. What about this week?

As before, Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel topped the BuddyTV readers' poll for elimination. 75% of those voting chose the pair as the most likely to go home this week. A sizeable minority (19%) went with Petra and Dmitry -- a fair guess, since that pair tied with Kendra and Louis for the bottom spot.

Although Romeo and Chelsie (4%) and Kirstie and Maks (2%) got elimination votes, Ralph and Karina, the final pair at the bottom in week 5, managed to avoid the dire predictions of any BuddyTV voters.

But will America agree with BuddyTV?

Did you miss anything?
That would be sad. The dances were awfully entertaining this week. Still, if you did miss anything, you can get up to speed with our Week 5 Recap and Performance Rankings. I can't promise that they'll be as entertaining as Ralph's line-dance/samba, but it's better than nothing.

If you're not the type to bother reading what's past, here are the standings for the week 5 performances:


•Hines and Kym: 27 points
•Chris and Cheryl: 26 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 26 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 26 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 23 points
•Ralph and Karina: 22 points
•Kendra and Louis: 22 points
•Petra and Dmitry: 22 points


The race for the Mirror Ball is close. And it's time to find out with dancers are one step closer to it with...

The live Results Show!

Oh hey, it's Toby Keith tonight. Probably a lot of Toby Keith, considering that we only have eight couples facing elimination this week.

And they're being efficient: RESULTS already!!!

We'll begin, randomly, with Hines and Kym, Kirstie and Maks. And...

Hines and Kym are SAFE!!!

Shocking. Kirstie and Maks remain in jeopardy. Also shocking. Or not.

Meanwhile, Romeo and Chelsie get the repeat dance of the night. That's fair -- it was an impressive dance to an awesome song.

Time for some Toby Keith, singing "Should'a Been a Cowboy" (or whatever folksy way that's spelled), while Maks and Lacey dance. Will it be another country samba? I probably shouldn't like the concept of country samba so much. But I'll survive my shame somehow. Oh, and there are a bunch of other dancers out there now. I'm guessing it's the Troupe, even though Tom didn't bother to introduce them.

It looks like it'll be the three 26-pointers up for RESULTS!!! next. Oh, and we just received word from Chelsea that next week will be GUILTY PLEASURES WEEK!!! Yes! Best news of the night! The cheesiness will be off the charts! Yay!

Hey, I love my guilty pleasures, OK?

Anyway, RESULTS!!!

Chelsea and Mark are SAFE!!!

Romeo and Chelsie are SAFE!!!

Chris and Cheryl remain in jeopardy. Again? Seriously? The producers don't like Chris so much.

And now Mike Catherwood is back. For a video piece about the conspiracy underlying Dancing with the Stars. Hey, something he can do on the show!

Basically, it's a bunch of rehearsal outtakes.

Which bring us the best Maks quote in the history of the universe: "I'm a stick that's been dipped in a boiling pot of sex."

Yes you are, Maks. Yes you are.

Now for some more of the Macy's Stars of Dance thing. It's all stereotypically New York-y. Cabs, diners and stuff.

Now it's time for the final group to get their RESULTS!!!

Ralph and Karina are SAFE!!!

Kendra and Louis are SAFE!!!

Which leaves Petra and Dmitry in jeopardy.

OK, who exactly is voting for Kendra? It's obviously a lot of people.

Down to final elimination time now... Or, more correctly, Toby Keith singing again time. There's way too much time left in the hour for any more eliminations at the moment.

Now, RESULTS!!! (After a few words from our sponsors, of course.)

Kirstie and Maks are SAFE!!!

Chris and Cheryl are SAFE!!!

Which means that Petra and Dmitry have been ELIMINATED!!!

And Petra, of course, goes out with class. Seriously angelic, this lady. Oh well.

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Was Petra the right choice to go home this week? Should someone else have gone home? Who do you think is voting for Kendra? Leave your comments and opinions below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 6 - Dance Night, April 25, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40095.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 6 Dances
Monday, April 25, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

It's Guilty Pleasures Week!

Has there ever been a more appropriate theme for Dancing with the Stars, a show which is, for many, the guiltiest of pleasures? I'm going to go with no. But however you feel about DWTS, this week's theme means we're in for some awfully fun performances.

The dancers who interpret and feed off of guilty pleasures the best have a real chance of taking the lead. Although Hines and Kym have pulled ahead somewhat (with a total of 121 points), the others aren't too far behind. The rankings are as follows going into week 6:

•Hines and Kym: 121 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 114 points
•Ralph and Karina: 113 points
•Chris and Cheryl: 112 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 111 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 109 points
•Kendra and Louis: 100 points


It wouldn't take much more than a little pop-culture nostalgia to change the rankings significantly.

Do you want to know where those scores came from? Click here to check out BuddyTV's week 5 recap.

But enough of this talking and analyzing. Such things won't get us anywhere this week. Guilty Pleasures Week is all about sitting back, forgetting shame and enjoying the ride.

So let's get to it!

Someone gave the judges sugar or something. Why are they so excited. Oh... It's Hanson! Yay! Hanson is a totally valid reason to be excited. Especially when Tony Dovolani and Lacey Schwimmer start dancing to "MMMBop."

I love this song. I know I shouldn't. Don't care.

Enough Hanson. Dancing now!

Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the samba to "Hit Me Baby One More Time"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You've never fulfilled the potential that I saw in week 1 ... until today." "Great job! Right up my alley!"
Bruno: "Oh yes! Hit me, Kirstie, one more time!" "It's very hard to make this dance look easy." "Your wiggly bum sent shock waves through the airwaves!"
Carrie Ann: "Just like Britney, really, you're back." "This is the way I want to see you dance every week!"

My Comments: Ah, "Hit Me Baby One More Time..." Talk about a guilty pleasure. Wait, why is Hanson singing Lionel Ritchie? Oh, it was the commercial entertainment. That's nice of them. Now for Kirstie and Maks! Kirstie's upper half doesn't look quite right here for some reason. Her steps look pretty good, but there's a hesitancy. Possibly a couple of weeks of falls and broken shoes have killed her confidence. When she gets to just perform, Kirstie looks good, but the formal dancing is sort of off.

Scores: 8+9+9 = 26


Chris Jericho and Cheryl Burke
Dancing the tango to "Don't Stop Believing"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You had good posture. You had good hold." "It did lack a bit of intensity." "Overall, I thought you did an excellent job."
Bruno: "I know you went for a rock theme, but you turned into a lump of granite after that." "Tonight, it really didn't happen for you."
Carrie Ann: "I feel like the pressure got to you this week." "It wasn't exciting, passionate."

My Comments: We're supposed to feel guilty about liking Journey? Seriously? That's just wrong. Although I'm seriously concerned about a tango to "Don't Stop Believing." Weird. Nice bench work. Sexy and stuff. The beginning of the faster dancing looked a little weird, but the spin fixed that. This seems like it should be faster maybe, but it does look nice. Just like there should be more, especially with the awesome music choice.

Scores: 7+8+7 = 22

Hey, Hanson's playing again. Dancing with the Stars is certainly getting their money's worth out of that band tonight.

Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the waltz to "My Heart Will Go On"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I think you danced with great maturity and it's absolutely unexpected." "It was a very, very touching performance."
Bruno: "I say, Romeo DiCaprio. Your ship will sail on and on!" "I could see the love story unfolding in front of my eyes."
Carrie Ann: "Every once in awhile in a season, magic happens. That was magical." "You're developing your own unique style..."

My Comments: OK, there are guilty pleasures and there is just plain guilty. Ugh. Hate this song. Hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate, hate this song. A lot. Too much fog, but the dance is fairly pretty through the haze. Romeo actually is giving a full performance here -- he looks just aloof enough to sell the dance. And then he mixes it with romance. Wow. Very nice. It doesn't even look cheesy. Which is impressive, considering the music.

Scores: 10+9+9 = 28

First 10 of the season! Definitely impressive.

Oh, apparently Mark was injured during the dress rehearsal. If he's OK enough, he and Chelsea will be dancing next. If not ... umm ... not sure how that works.

I officially want to be in the audience for the commercial breaks -- Hanson just played "Ice, Ice Baby." And Mark's dancing!

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the quickstep to "Walking on Sunshine"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You managed to fuse high energy with control." "Full on and great fun, well done."
Bruno: "That was so bright and luminous, I'm getting a suntan."
Carrie Ann: "Sometimes, magic happens twice!" "That was a difficult routine, I didn't see no wobble-wobble."

My Comments: So it's a museum setup? You can tell by the glasses. Unlike a couple of the songs, this one actually seems to match the dancing that's happening on the stage. As is so often the case, Chelsea looks good and both seem to be having fun out there. Even if the nerd glasses are distracting.

Scores: 10+9+9 = 28

And we've got a 10 again! Same scores as before, actually. Impressive.

Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the samba to "Livin' la Vida Loca"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "The more you gyrated, the more my heart palpitated." "Last week, we had a spark. Tonight we have a fire."
Bruno: "Dancing with the Stars presents Attack of the Stripper! Part 1, Attack of the Killer Boobs!" "Let's do it now, Kendra, let's get over with!"
Carrie Ann: "I have to recover!" "That was a guilty pleasure, my dear. You can shimmy like no other."

My Comments: Kind of freaky hair this week. Kind of freaky information about Kendra's body parts. Got to give Kendra credit, she can twist and shake like a pro. Her expressions still make you think like she's not comfortable, but this is a significantly better dance for Kendra. Plus, you know, all that shaking. Very good shaking. Not surprising that Bruno was shaking money at her at the end...

Scores: 8+8+9 = 25

I didn't need to see '80s-era Bruno in an Elton John video. Nor more than I needed many of those comments... Men. Sigh...

Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the Viennese waltz to "End of the Road"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You're becoming the MVP, the Most Valued Partner." "You're flat-footed unfortunately..." "As a performance and a dance, you're second to none."
Bruno: "The performance is pure pleasure from start to finish." "Like two birds in love, chasing each other in the spring sky..."
Carrie Ann: "Once again, an excellent performance but... something strange was happening in the beginning... it looked like you were thinking about the dance."

My Comments: Those are some seriously pink outfits. Hines has the strong/romantic look going full blast here. He doesn't quite have the presence to pull off the waltz's cheesier moves without looking a little off, but he does come close. The spinning is nice and pretty though. Not his best dance ever, but very good. And I like the porch swing at the end.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27

How awesome is Hanson? Way too awesome for a musical act on Dancing with the Stars, methinks. Mostly they're kind of meh.

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the paso doble to "Everybody Dance Now"

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I'm not going to castigate you, I'm going to congratulate you." "You got back into the dance, you had fire and passion. I'm proud of you."
Bruno: "I started to feel the fire... Furious with throbbing, virile intensity! Once you got back on it, there's no stopping you!"
Carrie Ann: "Mr. Miyagi would be proud of you." "The way you got back up put the rest of the dance to shame."

My Comments: Is it a guilty pleasure to thoroughly enjoy Ralph doing Karate Kid moves? Probably. Don't care. OK. Not the song I was expecting right now. Ralph's hands don't work with this, but the other parts do work. Except was that a total wipe out there? Kind of threw them anyway. Too bad, because I'm otherwise thoroughly enjoying this dance.

Scores: 8+8+8 = 24

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Who was your favorite tonight? Did you feel guilt or pleasure at the dances? And be honest, how many of the songs did you secretly love? Let us know by leaving a comment below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 6 - Results Night, April 26, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...ek-6-40111.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Week 6 Results: No Pleasure in Elimination
Tuesday, April 26, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

All good things must come to an end. This holds true for Guilty Pleasures Week, possibly the greatest theme week in the history of Dancing with the Stars. Not only must we bid adieu to the cheesy pop songs we all secretly love, but one pair must leave the dance floor for good.

Oh well.

Who did you pick for elimination?
If we all pick Kendra often enough, will it happen? Eventually? Probably. This week? Well ... maybe? But I'm not going to count on it.

According to the uber-scientific (but not really) BuddyTV Readers' Poll, Kendra and Louis are the most likely to be eliminated, with 42% of the votes. Chris and Cheryl aren't too far behind though, having received 35% of the elimination votes. A sizable group also picked the fallen Ralph and Karina (20%), while a very small minority picked Hines and Kym for some reason.

Will we be right? Not if history repeats itself...

Did you miss anything?
This week, missing anything at all is honestly tragic. From Hanson rocking the commercial breaks to Kendra stripper-dancing up a storm to Karina's tumble, you really should not have missed this week's performances.

If you did, however, we can help. No, BuddyTV cannot bring Hanson into your home, but we do have the Week 6 Recap and Performance Rankings. Neither the guilt nor the pleasure matches the original, but we try.

Is your guilty pleasure laziness? That's fair. And that's why we'll just give you the rankings right now. Nice, huh?


•Romeo and Chelsie: 28 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 28 points
•Hines and Kym: 27 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 26 points
•Kendra and Louis: 25 points
•Ralph and Karina: 24 points
•Chris and Cheryl: 22 points

The overall race remains close, with Hines and Kym holding onto the overall lead. Kendra and Louis have moved up a little with this week's samba, but they're still at the back of the overall pack.

What will all this mean for the Results Show? No clue. So let's just find out with...

The live Results Show!
Sort of, anyway. We've actually got a full hour of "The Road to the Finals" first. Probably there won't be too much to recap, other than some enjoyment of Hanson performances and random star sightings.

That's OK though.

My video feed was interrupted by tornado reports, but now I'm watching ... detailed commentary on the dance technique? That's what they gave us an extra hour for? There had just better be a lot of Hanson coming.

Chris Jericho does a good Len impression.

Ooh! Music! The cast of "Rock of Ages" is performing.

Sorry there hasn't been more recap yet. That's because there hasn't been more show. Dance critiques, Chris' Len impression, "Rock of Ages." That's it. But we're only a few minutes away from results! Yay!

Tom is very excited about the boy bands. Apparently, Tom was a screaming tween girl back in the day. Not that we're going to see the bands perform any time soon. That has to wait for the second hour. And we're not quite there yet.

NKOTB/BSB (or is it BSB/NKOTB?) performing! Oh, I was right. Nine singers seems like a lot for one song. But who am I to argue with the aging-boy-band hit machine? Catchy though.

OMG! Time for RESULTS!

It's the top two couples right at the beginning: Chelsea and Mark, Romeo and Chelsie. So...

Chelsie had to pee right before her dance. I am aware that this isn't a result. But I couldn't let that pass. And then Romeo started stripping during his post-scores interview.

OK, results now!

Romeo and Chelsie are SAFE!

Chelsea and Mark are also SAFE!

No full-on upsets tonight!

And we're getting the Kendra-Louis samba as a repeat-dance tonight. Len is certainly not doing much to hide any dirty-old-man tendencies this season...

More results already? Cool! But I bet it won't be until after another commercial. Anyway, whenever the RESULTS actually happen, it'll be for Hines and Kym, Kirstie and Maks.

Hines and Kym are SAFE!

Kirstie and Maks are also SAFE!

Which pretty much takes away any need for another results session before the end of the show. Time for the never-ending musical acts!

Meanwhile, the Dancing with the Stars Troupe babbles a bit about the joys of being on the show. I love that they have their own Snooki.

Time for a Macy's Stars of Dance thing too. Somehow, this is a Royal Wedding-inspired thing. Since it involves '50s-era costumes and little kids in a fake park, I don't really get the connection. Oh, we've moved to a wedding now. This one involves adults and crazy acrobatics. I doubt such things will be at the Royal Wedding (The acrobatics I mean. There should be adults in London.). Hey, it's old people dancing now! This was supposed to be a life story? OK. I just hope that the dancers don't die at the end.

And the guy dancer may have died. Can we say depressing?

Continuing in the "depressing" theme, we get to hear about how depressed the stars will be if they're eliminated. Yay?

Now they're getting violent. I'm getting a little bit concerned that whoever gets eliminated will take out the rest.

Time for the NKOTB/BSB insanity! This time, they're doing songs we actually know: "I Want It That Way" and "Step by Step." I will now confine my tween shrieks to vocalizations and will not translate them onto the screen. No one needs to read that.

Time now for the most tabloid-friendly of DWTS performances. Ever. In the history of the universe. Pia Toscano is singing! And Mark Ballas is dancing (with poor, neglected Karina)! At least Pia is a legitimately good singer and not some girl that they let on the show because she's dating Mark.

Good song too.

Time to pretend that it's time for RESULTS!

Of course, we are at the final results period, so nothing is going to happen until the last possible second.

Awwww... Ralph is the sweetest guy ever, isn't he. I hope he and Karina don't get eliminated, if for no other reason than Karina will never, ever forgive herself.

And... Kendra and Louis are SAFE!

I suppose I should be shocked. But I'm not anymore. It seems there really are that many viewers out there who like the well-endowed ladies.

Ralph and Karina are SAFE!

Which means Chris and Cheryl have been eliminated!

Way to be super-gracious and smiling, Chris. You don't expect wrestlers to be gentlemen, but he's totally pulling it off. Although he needs to stop making me love him more right before he disappears from the stage. Stupid results...

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Were the results what you expected? Should Chris have been the celebrity to go home? Did you want someone else to go? Share your theories and opinions in the comments section!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 7 - Dance Night, May 2, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40161.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 7 Dances
Monday, May 02, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

What exactly is a "Ballroom GreatGreat?" I have no idea. Thank goodness we get to find out during Ballroom Greats Week on Dancing with the Stars!

DWTS is down to only six couples this week. With the depleted stock of stars, it's high time for the double-dancing: this week, each of the couples will participate in a group dance in addition to their own performances. The group scores will combine with the individual scores to determine this week's rankings.

So it should get interesting, to say the least.

While some of the stars have definitely outshone the others in recent weeks, we're still looking at a very tight race to the Mirror Ball. The overall scores, going into Week 7, are:


•Hines and Kym: 148 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 142 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 139 points
•Ralph and Karina: 137 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 135 points
•Kendra and Louis: 125 points

How did they get these stars? Remind yourself with BuddyTV's Week 6 Recap (chock-full of guilty pleasure)!

Will the group cha-chas make a difference? Can anyone catch up to Hines and Kym at this point? What is a ballroom great?

Let's find out!

OK, from the walk-in alone, I'm going to go with the Hines-Kirstie-Kendra team for costumes. I like pink.

Apparently, the whole "Ballroom Greats" thing means that famous dance teachers will coach the group dances. Also, there's a Latin champion named Donnie Burns (they didn't give me a spelling). He seems to be judging tonight.

First dance! The black team (Chelsea, Ralph, Romeo) is up first. Seriously, Hines picked Kendra over Romeo? Weird choice.


The Black Team (aka Team Chelsea)
Dancing the cha-cha

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I thought you did a terrific job and well done to you all."
Bruno: "I do love that ga-ga-cha-cha-cha!" "You lost sync so many times."
Carrie Ann: "I thought they were very much in sync." "Ralph, I'm really impressed. Because this is obviously the young, edgy group and you held your own."
Donnie: "I think they did a great job." "You fluffed a few of the footworks there."

My Comments: Stress! Tension! Fighting! And stuff like that... Interesting poses to begin. They aren't perfectly in sync, but it isn't bad. Very fast and cool looking though. This is also super-modern, so it could be a problem for Len. Romeo kept his cool thing going throughout. Ralph isn't as cool, of course, but he does look like he's having a great time. Chelsea, of course, kind of looks like one of the pro dancers. Her dance might be a wee bit jerky, but otherwise very good. I'm honestly love the choreography here. They all look pretty awesome.

Scores: 8+8+7+7 = 30

The crowd boos. The dancers all talk at the same time and say something-or-other.


The Pink Team (aka Team Hines)
Dancing the cha-cha

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I know which team of girls won the boobie prize." "Kendra, you were like a James Bond martini -- you were shaken, I was stirred."
Bruno: "A little bit of extra butt doesn't hurt, especially when you do it that well."
Carrie Ann: "This is the fun bunch, obviously." "Hines, you had a little boo-boo."
Donnie: "I know I'm going to be like Osama's-been-dancing..." "Some of the spacing between couples wasn't just right."

My Comments: This gets to be the happy group this time? Probably because of the colors. Pink is happier than black. Uh-oh, Kirstie and Maks are bad. And Kendra farts. Is Maks in the same costume as last week? This dance seems a little slower than the other, but still good. Kendra has the first solo. They're going with a lot of shaking, naturally. Kendra has her scared-face on. Kirstie doesn't seem to be having as much fun as in that first cha-cha, but it does look pretty technically competent. They wisely choose to end with Hines. He looks like he's having as much fun as ever. Maybe a little too prancy in the steps, but only maybe. It's still cool. Overall, I like this choreography less, but it has more of a classic-ballroom feel that might appeal to the judges.

Scores: 7+7+8+8 = 30

And the judges reverse themselves. So much for the group dances having any meaning whatsoever this week!


Now, before we get to those individual dances, we get to see some real dancers put everyone on this show to shame. Yeah, they're kind of good.

OK? Enough news now? Back to the dancing and stuff.

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I get confused, which at my age is understandable. I watching and I'm thinking, 'I like that,' and then 'What's that?'"
Bruno: "Chelsea, lady lace, mean, the ball-breaker!" "It was like a Quentin Tarantino paso doble."
Carrie Ann: "Out with the old, in with the new!" "Pushing the boundaries, pushing them wide open!"
Donnie: "You definitely have what I think ballroom dancing is about, that is one plus one equals one."

My Comments: So Mark's legend is his mommy? No pressure there. Well, they got angry from the opening. It's maybe a little too techno for the paso doble. But what do I know. The combination of the weird techno and weirder costumes is making this seriously not pretty. I honestly have no idea of how I feel about this dance. I think it was good, but I just don't know.

Scores: 8+9+8+9 = 34


Kendra Wilkinson and Louis Van Amstel
Dancing the tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I thought the steps were clean and clear." "As much as I hate to say it, Bruno's correct... You've got to get more tension."
Bruno: "You've never looked more elegant and ladylike, and still sexy." "You don't want to smell his armpits."
Carrie Ann: "Kendra, I am so proud of you. Nothing but sophistication, elegance, confidence."
Donnie: "The content of the choreography that you tried was difficult... and I thought you did a bloody-good job."

My Comments: They get the Luca guy. He's pretty. Kendra is surprisingly good at the expressions here. I'm not sure she's quite keeping up with Louis, but he's so good, that might be why. This is a weird tango song -- kind of upbeat and bubbly in sound. I don't think it added much to the performance. Still, that was one of the better dances I've seen from Kendra.

Scores: 8+8+7+8 = 31


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You're an actress, so you come out and you act every dance beautifully." "I could find very little to commend it."
Bruno: "I don't put out on the first date... Unless you really, really want it." "Your musicality and your instinct is absolutely on the money."
Carrie Ann: "It wasn't quite enough of the jive. When you guys were side-by-side, you went out of sync."
Donnie: "Kirstie, I really like it. I'd buy it." "In dancing, the talent is in between the steps."

My Comments: Ah, fighting Maks rears his ugly head! He had to show up at some point, right? Ooh! "La Bamba!" Fun song. OK, this is funny. I have no idea how this dance is going, since I can never keep up with the jive, but this is the most fun Kirstie has appeared to have since the first week. Honestly, the dance may not be the greatest, but at least it's a lot of fun.

Scores: 9+7+6+8 = 30

That's a little variation in scoring...

The professionals are back now. They're tangoing. I like pretty tangos like this.


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I like the energy... Your footwork was very, very good... Your upper body was a little bit loose."
Bruno: "It was more the quickstep, it was how to grab a quick one at the speakeasy." "Once you are in the zone, you sell it like nobody else can."
Carrie Ann: "Booyah! You're back!" "This is the way I want to see you attack this competition."
Donnie: "You started off vertical and ended up horizontal, so it had to be good." "Your footwork ... was fabulous this week."

My Comments: Are they going to get drunk during the dance? That would be different. Ralph always fits into his character so well. I figured that the quickstep would be an excellent dance for Ralph and Karina, and I don't think I was wrong. Ralph appears to be keeping up and looks like he's having fun. I don't think this dance can be good if you don't look like you're enjoying it. Plus, any trip to the audience and flips over the bar are a plus.

Scores: 10+9+8+9 = 36

I thought Len liked the dance. Oh well!


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It was a mixture for me. Some of it was full of drama -- you were a tiger stalking his prey... Then it all goes into like a fairy mode, and it was all too dainty for me." "Overall, I liked it very much."
Bruno: "I like light and shade, and I like the way you play it!" "You managed to retain this slinky, smooth ... action of a panther going for the kill."
Carrie Ann: "You take command of every dance." "There was a few, I felt like you were just a little off-balance at moments."
Donnie: "Dance from your heart but use your head. And I think you do that."

My Comments: Hines gets even cuter around big football players. Awwww... I'm not sure Hines looks angry, but he sure does look good. I don't think he's quite as emotionally-connected to this dance as he has been to some of the others. Technically, it seems good, and I'm enjoying it, but the emotions seem a tiny bit off. Only the smallest bit though, since otherwise it's a great dance.

Scores: 9+9+8+10 = 36

Bruno really did like it.


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "The hottest thing about that dance was the fire." "You've gotta up your game."
Bruno: "There's plenty of fire there." "You've got to get this bounce in the leg correctly."
Carrie Ann: "There was a lot of bounce going on, but I don't know if it was sending the samba message. I think it was sending another kind of message, if you know what I mean."
Donnie: "You might have a party in your pants, but you have an earthquake in your shoes."

My Comments: I don't know what Romeo is talking about. Does that make me old? Or just nerdy? Possibly both. Um, is she referring to what I think she's referring to? Oh my. Can we all fit into Romeo's pants? What's with the tiki totem pole? The dance looks awesome, but Romeo needs to do more -- Chelsie is dominating, especially at the beginning. For a guy who was terrified to look silly at the beginning of the season, Romeo is definitely rocking the shimmy at this point. He looks really, really good.

Scores: 7+8+7+8 = 30

The judges can change their scores? That doesn't seem right. Silly guest judge.

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Who was your favorite dancer tonight? Did you agree with the judges? Which stars might be in danger tomorrow night? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 7 - Results Night, May 3, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-live-re-40177.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: Ballroom Legends of the Fall
Tuesday, May 03, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

We've reached that point in the competition when it seems like none of the stars are truly deserving of elimination. A certain level of dance ability is necessary to get this far, so we can't happily say goodbye to those without the talent. Because they're all pretty darn good.

But someone's got to go. Who will it be?


Who did you pick for elimination?
Tough call this week, isn't it? With a handful of pairs receiving scores at the bottom of the standings, there's no obvious choice to go home this week.

Not that that has ever stopped us from trying to predict the eliminated pair. According to the ever-reliable (except for when it's not) BuddyTV Readers' Poll, a full 58% of readers think that Kendra and Louis are doomed to elimination this week. A sizable group (22%) has picked Kirstie and Maks for the elimination, while 14% think it will be Romeo and Chelsie. Chelsea and Mark even managed to pick up 6% of the elimination votes.

But really, who knows what's going to happen?


Did you miss anything?
That would be sad. You shouldn't miss Dancing with the Stars stuff, not if you're enough of a fan to be reading a recap like this. But tragedy oftentimes strikes in this life, so maybe you did miss a bit.

If so, then BuddyTV can help, if only a little. We have a Week 7 Recap and some Performance Rankings to make your life just a little better. OK, maybe not better. But there will be more Dancing with the Stars anyway. That's got to count for something.

Maybe, however, you are a lazy and dancing-deprived fan. That's OK. We accept you. How much? Well, we accept you enough to give you the standings right away, no clicking required:


•Hines and Kym: 36 points
•Ralph and Karina: 36 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 34 points
•Kendra and Louis: 31 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 30 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 30 points

Overall, of course Hines stays in the lead. That's pretty much a given for now. Not too far back, however, we can find Chelsea, Ralph and Romeo. Kirstie and then Kendra follow along.

But none of this means anything if the results say otherwise. So, without further ado, it's...

The live Results Show!
Not that there will be results (or much of anything to note) for the first hour. That's what happens when ABC decides that it's Tuesday-at-8PM programming isn't worth it. We get an extra hour of Dancing with the Stars. Probably there isn't much to write about, but it'll all be here. Probably.

And they're showing the dances from last night. Oh well.

One hour later... Woo! The actual results are starting! Starting! Yay! Finally!

I don't think I deal well with enforced hours of no recapping.

Ooh! We get to see the Black Team cha-cha again. Yay! I really liked that dance. Granted, I just saw it about 45 minutes ago when they replayed it.

And we get RESULTS! right away. Thank goodness. Hines and Kym, along with Kirstie and Maks get to face the elimination craziness at the beginning. Wouldn't it be an upset if Hines got voted off? Seems unlikely though.

Hines and Kym are SAFE!

While Kirstie and Maks remain in jeopardy.

Shocking!

That's enough of the results now though. It's time for the first of the musical acts, Nicki Minaj. Her hair is green. Or maybe yellow. Also, she's got some music going.

It's now time for an inspirational story about a ballet dancer, Patricia Jo. She must be awfully good, since she managed to join the Royal Ballet after only four years of dancing. Hey, she's going to be the "Michael Jordan of Ballet." Do you think I can someday hope to be the Michael Jordan of DWTS Recaps? 'Cause that would be pathetic cool.

And now the ballerina is dancing. Pretty. Jordanesque. And scary-flexible.

We shall now forget about that dancing lady and move on to the important matter of RESULTS! Ralph and Karina and Chelsea and Mark are now in the elimination hot-seat. So...

Ralph and Karina are SAFE!

Chelsea and Mark, meanwhile, remain in jeopardy, much to the ire of the crowd.

Wayne Brady is singing now. It's a tribute to James Brown. He's singing that "Man's World" that's being used in the Keira Knightly commercials right now. And then some other James Brown songs. It's all very soulful.

Ummmm... The stars and professionals are sitting at tables in dark rooms. It's like they're doing some sort of back-room mob deal. Why??? How can Dancing with the Stars not have enough to fill one hour?

James Blunt is singing a song now. Because we couldn't possibly get anymore results or anything.

OK... FINALLY it's time for a few more RESULTS!

Romeo and Chelsie are SAFE!

Kendra and Louis are still in jeopardy.

Just a few more minutes until the final results now...

No more time for commercials, so that means we get to have our final RESULTS right now! Woo!

And...

Babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, babble, etc.

I'm sure we'll get to it soon.

Kirstie and Maks are SAFE!

And Chelsea and Mark are SAFE!

Which means that Kendra and Louis have been eliminated!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Did the right dancer get eliminated? Did you think it would be someone else? Were you shocked, or was this expected? Leave a comment below to share your opinion!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 8 - Dance Night, May 9, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-live-re-40236.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Week 8 Dances
Monday, May 09, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Are you ready for things to get a little bit crazy on the dance floor?

I certainly hope you are, because we've finally arrived at Instant Choreography Week! No matter how they've performed in the past, each of the remaining five couples will have a tough time this week. They will have to perform two dances, one in the normal fashion and one choreographed "instantly" to music they learn during the broadcast.

Hard work for the dancers, loads of entertainment for us lazy Dancing with the Stars viewers! What could be better?

The Instant Dances could mean some changes to the overall rankings of the performers. Not that Hines will lose his first-place position or anything. I'm pretty convinced that, at this point, the ballroom floor would need to split open, swallowing Hines and Kym whole, for someone else to take the lead.

But we'll see.

The overall points, going into week 8 are:


•Hines and Kym: 198 points

•Chelsea and Mark: 190 points
•Ralph and Karina: 185 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 184 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 179 points

What led to these standings? Check out the Week 7 BuddyTV Recap!

But back to this week... What will the Instant Dances bring to Dancing with the Stars? Will Ralph's knee hold up? Can Kirstie (or anybody else, for that matter) handle two dances in one night?

Time to find out!

It looks like we may be seeing an awful lot of tumbling in the rehearsal packages tonight. Falling is good. For us anyway. It's probably not so great for the dancers.

So much to do, they're actually going to let us see dances right away. Yay!


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I think occasionally you put too much emphasis on the story, not on the dance." "It was very musical, it had a lovely lyrical feel to it... Overall I liked it."
Bruno: "Finally, you found the perfect setting for Chelsea to shine like a precious jewel. That was dancing of the highest quality!" "Fab-u-lous!"
Carrie Ann: "I think tonight, something very different happened... You earned perfection tonight."

My Comments: Ooooohhh ... Chelsea is telling off Mark. With dramatic piano music. And then there's hugging. Drama! And they're dead! Oh wait, that's just more drama and a dance intro. The beginning looks kind of ballet-like. It's pretty, although Chelsea looks like she should be barefoot or something. This is actually incredibly pretty. The spins and all look very smooth and precise. Granted, I always miss the mistakes, but I'm totally missing them tonight.

Scores: 10+9+10 = 29

Best scores of the season so far! And for the Instant Dance, Chelsea and Mark will be dancing the salsa to "Get Busy" by Sean Paul.


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the foxtrot

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Your personality just radiates throughout the ballroom, to the judges..." "You just sit back and watch the dance unravel before your eyes." "If that's cheese, I love it."
Bruno: "Hines! Yes! Yes! Yes! I'll have it!" "That was beaming with a blissful look of happiness!" "You've got me so bad! You've got me!"
Carrie Ann: "You're such a guy's guy, Hines." "A little bit of cheesy Hines... I loved it!"

My Comments: And they're cute. What a shocker there. Hines definitely has no trouble jumping into a pleasant, fun dance like this. He's managing to look manly while hopping around in a pink-tinged outfit, which is impressive in itself. The dance is pretty quick too. Hines does look like he's forcing a move or two, but mostly this is just a happy day in a sunny park.

Scores: 9+9+10 = 28

More nice scores... For their Instant Dance, Hines and Kym will be dancing to "Chantilly Lace" by Jerry Lee Lewis (But isn't it the Big Bopper?).


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "So far, the three that have come out, fantastic. And you're right there with them!"
Bruno: "You danced like a real man out there!"
Carrie Ann: "Boy, that was amazing! You're dancing like you really meant it." "When you're in it, I cannot take my eyes off of you." "One of your best routines ever."

My Comments: Chelsie's dress is ... interesting. It works for the whole "severe" aspect of the dance. Despite the dark lighting of the dance, it is looking good. I'm not sure how much Romeo is actually dancing. He doesn't quite have the mean, commanding look that I think he's supposed to have in a tango. Actually, Chelsie looks to be in charge. Still, the dance is enjoyable and seems to go well for the pair.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27

They will be dancing to "Tequila" by whoever's version the band likes best.


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "For someone who's had limited time to practice, you did a great job." "It lacked polish, and you only get polish with time."
Bruno: "Vampire lovers! Dancing from dusk to dawn! Am I going to kill you or love you? It doesn't matter!"
Carrie Ann: "Tonight, once again, that spirit of Daniel Larusso lives again."

My Comments: Too bad about Ralph's knee... Ouch. Ralph's hair looks great though. Ralph maybe looks a little stiff, but he's moving awfully well for someone who was on the ground before. Ralph is definitely a bit off, and I wouldn't be surprised if they tailored a bunch of moves to be easier on the knee. He's definitely giving it his all in the performance area though, which makes the dance still enjoyable, despite less emphasis on fancy steps.

Scores: 8+8+9 = 25

Wow. They were seriously impressed by the effort, weren't they? And for the Instant Dance, Ralph and Karina will hobble through "Stuck in the Middle" by Stealer's Wheel.


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the Argentine tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It was hot. I'm surprised Maks only took his hat off."
Bruno: "A hint of aggression! Just the right amount of passion!" "Plus, your footwork was brilliant!" "You're body's shrinking, your talent is huge!"
Carrie Ann: "I actually felt like I was watching real life acted out in front of me." "I think you just topped your cha-cha."

My Comments: That was an impressive leg on Maks to begin. Kirstie has definitely focused on having the precise steps this time. It's much, much better than last week. Her posture seems a bit off at times, but then it comes back. Kirstie needs to look up more as well. And seriously, this music is doing nothing for the dance. Yuck. The dance, though, is pretty good. I'd say it's one of her better ones.

Scores: 9+9+10 = 28

Bruno's giving out those 10s like candy at Halloween, isn't he? Kirstie and Maks will be Instant Dancing to "Cobrastyle," whatever that is.


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the salsa

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You've done two dances tonight. I thought the waltz was cool, the salsa was hot."
Bruno: "You're setting the bar very, very, very high." "Fully driven, full-on, all the way through, right on the money!"
Carrie Ann: "I did not feel a connection to the music." "Great performance, but just not connected to the music all that well."

My Comments: Someone forgot to cue the announcer to the beginning of the dance. Chelsea and Mark definitely went for the fast route. The choreography isn't exactly perfect, but it seems to be going well. Especially when you consider how weird and particular this song is. They did a really good job with that. Not as good as a fully choreographed dance, but still impressive.

Scores: 8+9+9 = 26


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the jive

Judges' Comments:
Len: "All work and no play makes a good dancer, and I can tell you worked hard this week." "This is a real tough dance and you've done a fantastic job."
Bruno: "It was like watching Mr. Happy Feet." "It was a bit like a penguin." "You've done an incredible job in 20 minutes."
Carrie Ann: "You were on every beat!" "You totally relaxed into the moment."

My Comments: Oh Hines... It's not like you're not going to be great. Don't worry about your Instant Dance! And Hines is instantly charming. This is going well -- the dance actually seems to fit the music perfectly, which is cool. It doesn't hurt that Hines is just plain grinning throughout this dance. Has anybody ever had so much fun in this competition? A little off at the end there, but the whole dance was so good, I doubt it'll matter much.

Scores: 9+9+8 = 26

Is Bruno out of 10s? I guess he has to drop to 8 now.


Romeo and Chelsie Hightower
Dancing the salsa

Judges' Comments:
Len: "What's the matter with these two, so nasty to everyone." "There were some nuances in the music... OK there was a tiny incident ... as big as a gnat's cuticle."
Bruno: "Am I losing my mind, or has he changed his medications?" "You're both gorgeous and sexy, but the salsa is about fluidity of movement."
Carrie Ann: "Definitely felt like we were at a club, it was very casual." "It needed to be just a little tighter and a little more in sync."

My Comments: They're not in time with the music at the beginning (not a surprise with a crazy song like "Tequila"). Romeo is looking a wee bit stiff again. He's obviously having fun with it, which helps, but this isn't his best performance. They get a little more into the music and the dancing at the end, but it's still not exactly on.

Scores: 8+9+8 = 25


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the cha-cha

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Something has to give, and unfortunately it was this cha-cha-cha."
Bruno: "You lost it a little bit at the end as well."
Carrie Ann: "It's amazing that you were able to pull that off without any rehearsal."

My Comments: OK, was that a real refusal to dance or part of the act? Since he's dancing now, I'm going to go with an act. Ralph Macchio is an excellent dancer, ladies and gentlemen. I totally thought he wasn't going to get up. And when he did, it's a pretty good dance, all smiles. We're not talking about the best dance ever, but at least he gave it a try. Enough to stay on for another week? No clue.

Scores: 7+7+7 = 21

Not great scores, but considering the injury, that's pretty darn impressive.


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the salsa

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You showed rhythm. OK, I know what they're thinking, it lacked a bit of impact... And I thought it was fabulous."
Bruno: "Oh, you smooth, flirtatious vixen!" "You lost sync three times..."
Carrie Ann: "I really enjoyed it, I though you were totally in sync." "Your energy is so nicely matched."

My Comments: Hey, I like this song! Apparently I just didn't know the title. Kirstie is a bit slow on a step or two, but the dance fits with the music perfectly. They've definitely got the performance down cold. Impressive for 40 minutes or whatever they get to practice this. That ending took way too long and some of the dance was awkward, but I liked it overall.

Scores: 8+9+8 = 25

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Which dance was your favorite? Who did the best with the Instant Dances? Can Ralph pull through, despite the knee injury and low scores? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 8 - Results Night, May 10, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-live-re-40255.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: Instant Success or Failure
Tuesday, May 10, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

This season's Instant Dances have come and gone. And, alas, one of the season 12 stars will have to follow suit tonight. Which Dancing with the Stars celebrity will it be? Unfortunately, the results don't arrive quite as quickly as that choreography did.

But the results will come, and we'll be here to get them all. So let's get to it!


Who did you pick for elimination?
With only five pairs remaining in this season's Dancing with the Stars competition, it's getting harder and harder to choose who to eliminate. Should we bow under the pressure? Are we incapable of predictions once it gets difficult? Do we have no clue?

The answer is no to the first two questions anyway. We'll see about the third.

In the meantime, let's check out what you, the BuddyTV readers, thought. According to our super-scientific BuddyTV Readers' Poll, 39 percent of you think that Ralph and his injured knee are going home. Not much of a "lead" there, is it?

Following closely behind in our elimination race are Romeo (23 percent) and Kirstie (22 percent). Basically, this means that just about anyone could go home.


Did you miss anything?
We can't have that!

And that's why Internet content doesn't disappear after 12 hours. Instead, it remains to bring you the Week 8 Recap and Performance Rankings. Isn't it great?

But maybe you aren't industrious enough to click on our links. That's OK. We'll accept you anyway. You get less detail though in our brief list of scores from last night's dances:


•Chelsea and Mark: 55 points
•Hines and Kym: 54 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 53 points
•Romeo and Chelsie: 52 points
•Ralph and Karina: 46 points


Those scores are awfully close. Which means that absolutely everyone is in danger tonight. How much danger? We get to find out in...

The live Results Show!
I skipped the rehash of past musical guests tonight. I hope that's OK. There wasn't anything new anyway. But now it's time for results! Also, new musical guests and DanceCenter!

Now that it's time to start the new stuff, of course we'll begin with the repeat-dance from last night: Kirstie and Maks' tango. Nice dance, but I still hate that music.

Hey, we get RESULTS right away!

Hines and Kym and Kirstie and Maks are up first. Before last night's Instant Dances, Hines apparently wore a wig, and Kirstie got kicked onto the ground while breathing heavily.


Hines and Kym are SAFE!
(Really, was there any question?)

Kirstie and Maks are also SAFE!


Wait, that means no more results for the next 45 minutes, doesn't it? Sigh. Oh well, at least we have DanceCenter to entertain us in the meantime.

Ooh! We get to see footage from Maks on the Ukrainian Bachelor! Also, a sex pot and stick.

Michael Bolton and Delta Gudrun are singing. It's all very easy-listening at Dancing with the Stars right now.

Since we can't actually have any results for at least 20 minutes, it's time for inspirational dance stories now. This week, we have three brothers whose father died, and now they all dance together. They're pretty good.

Delta Gudrun is singing again. Should I know who she is? Oh who cares, more DanceCenter!

Adele is singing now. This is her new single. Also dancing.

OK. It's almost time for more RESULTS! Finally.

Ralph and Karina are still in jeopardy. (Because they're being mean and doing it that way.)


Romeo and Chelsie are also in jeopardy.

Chelsea and Mark, however, are SAFE!


Ralph and Karina are SAFE!


Which means that Romeo and Chelsie have been eliminated!


As we learned back with The Karate Kid, it takes more than a hurt leg to keep Ralph Macchio down. At least Romeo had time for one last movie plug.

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Was Romeo the right choice for elimination? Did you expect it would be Romeo or Ralph? Let us know what you think by leaving a comment below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 9 - Dance Night, May 16, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40325.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Semi-Final Dances
Monday, May 16, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

Have we really made it to the semi-finals already?

The once wide-open field of season 12 Dancing with the Stars contestants has narrowed down to four pairs, each of which has a legitimate shot at Mirror Ball glory. Will Hines and Kym maintain their weekly dominance now that we've come down to the wire? Will Ralph rally after last week's knee injury? Do Kirstie and Maks share enough charisma to take down the competition? Or is Chelsea the gifted dark horse in all of this?
The dances during the season 12 semi-finals may give us a bit of a hint.

Tonight, each dancer will be responsible for three separate dances: two fully-choreographed performances and a cha-cha presented with the group. And the results from these dances will send one celebrity home, so close to the trophy.

As we go into the semi-finals, the standings are as follows:

•Hines and Kym: 252 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 245 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 232 points
•Ralph and Karina: 231 points


It's awfully close. And the semi-final scores, combined with voting, are likely to stay just as close. But how did we get to these scores? Check out last week's dances in our Week 8 Recap.


Will the past make any difference as we head into the final future? Let's find out!

I'm not entirely sure what a Winner-Takes-All Cha-Cha might be, but it sounds interesting. Does the winner get immunity or something? Ah, probably just some points. Oh, thanks Karina! The winner gets 15 extra points. That's nice.

Anyway, first up...


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the Argentine tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It lacked a bit of emotion..."

Thanks to a faulty Internet connection, we missed the rest of the comments. Sorry!

My Comments: So is Ralph better now? Hope so! Is it called pole dancing when they dance with a lamppost instead of each other? Ralph looks better, twisting his legs all over the place. He's definitely fully back in character, in any case. Possibly, he's not standing up straight enough... I actually wouldn't believe you if you said this pissed-off guy was Ralph Macchio. Overall, I really liked the dance.

Scores: 8+9+8 = 25


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I honestly thought you'd be a klingon, hanging on to Maks for dear life." "That was a beautiful dance, well done."
Bruno: "Kirstie set sail majestically!" "Well done, my darling."
Carrie Ann: "The hold was amazing, you guys were tight the whole way through." "You bring us in to the whole performance."

My Comments: That was very lovely and spinny. Unfortunately, thanks to a faulty Internet connection, I missed most of that dance too. The part I saw was lovely though.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the Argentine tango

Judges' Comments:
Lost to Internet error, again...

My Comments: Chelsea looks super tall tonight. As always, this is the quickest-dancing pair on the floor. The tango looks good, and the dancing seems to be great. I'm never sure about what emotion the judges actually want to see, but this might be a little wooden. And my Internet is gone again. Did the dance end well?

Scores: 9+9+10 = 28


Sorry about the glitches. The Internet is not a dancing fan tonight.

And wow... I don't know if I needed to see Kym's injury (twice... once in slow motion). At least she seems to be better!


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the Argentine tango

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It was like something from the kama sutra! It was all going on!" "Do you understand, that was a tango!"
Bruno: "Every emotion was out there for the taking. The battle of will between the man and the woman. Who's going to be the dominant partner!" "Ah, it was like group sex -- you never want it to end!"
Carrie Ann: "I'm so impressed with the routine and the way you performed the routine." "The connection was just beyond what we ask for in a dance routine."

My Comments: Love this song. No lack of emotions here. Hines is definitely looking strong here. The dance seems to have fewer of the fancy moves we saw from the others, but it's a solid performance of what's happening. I don't think Hines did enough, but what he did looked good.

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30

And we have our first perfect score of the season!


Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff
Dancing the salsa

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You are committed, but for me, all too wild, there was no real rhythm." "It was too wild!"
Bruno: "Are you wearing extra-wide diapers?" "A pussycat? What is she?" (Any more was bleeped out...)
Carrie Ann: "Oddly, I liked it. There was something bizarre and uncharacteristic for you..."

My Comments: Wow. Now those are costumes! It's like The Situation came back. I'm not entirely sure I can buy Ralph as the crazy party guy. But I'm enjoying the attempt. Those are definitely groovy party moves if nothing else. Ralph just isn't pulling off the bad boy well enough. You can't say it isn't fast though.

Scores: 8+7+8 = 23

Wonder what Bruno was saying there...


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the paso doble

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You've had probably the two toughest [dances]... and you've come out and danced fabulous!"
Bruno: "That wasn't a paso doble, that was Dance Trek 12, the Wrath of Kirstie!" "You were really going like a force of nature!"
Carrie Ann: "You're the Queen of the Paso Doble!"

My Comments: I'm not sure that dance was a good choice. Removing it seemed to throw Kirstie a bit. Kirstie looks maybe a little more tentative with her steps in this dance, but it's not so bad. Mostly, she looks really, really good. The personality of the dance doesn't match her too well, but she's pulling it off.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27


Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the rumba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It had mood, it was very expressive..." "Tonight, you have fulfilled your potential. You're there!"
Bruno: "It was romantic and erotic, but perfectly pitched. It was stunning."
Carrie Ann: "Now that's what I'm talking about!" "That was a nice rumba!"

My Comments: Unfortunately missed the dance, due to the server wanting to destroy me again. I'll have to catch it later. But I hear it was good!

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30

And another perfect score!


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You were steaming, and I was beaming. I loved it!" "It was just a joyful experience."
Bruno: "Just one sentence can describe you: You're just beautiful man."
Carrie Ann: "I can't even explain how much joy I get when you dance."

My Comments: Oh my, tutu! And Hines is definitely having fun with this one. So many leaps and grins and finger-points. Honestly, I'm only barely watching the dancing with all the fun going on out on this dance floor. Assuming it's a good dance, however, Hines may have just won the competition. That was awesome.

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30

And it's a perfect night for Hines and Kym! Fully earned and very impressive.

OK, I'm not entirely sure what's going to happen next, but it's time for the...

Winner Takes All Cha-Cha

They're competing against each other, based on where they placed during the earlier dances. Then they'll learn a cha-cha (or something) in just a few minutes. The winner of the whole thing gets 15 extra points.

I'd be willing to bet that, if either Ralph or Chelsea win, then the other is going home.

First up, Hines Ward and Kym Johnson, squaring off against Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff.

Hines first.. and he's looking as relaxed and ready-to-go as ever. That was a good dance.

Ralph now... The charm is definitely back on. Ralph may be a little more awkward than Hines, but this is a stiff challenge, especially since Ralph's dance looks a little more intricate.

And the winner is... (unanimously) Hines and Kym!

Next up, Chelsea and Mark vie for a cha-cha finals spot with Kirstie and Maks.

Chelsea and Mark are first and give a surprisingly restrained cha-cha. Good, but not with their usual gung-ho attitude.

Kirstie and Maks are possibly a little quicker. This dance almost looks proper, kind of an odd look for Kirstie.

This one is going to be tough to call. But the winners are... Chelsea and Mark (again, unanimously)

While those who need to dance again hang out backstage for the most confusing coin-toss ever, Kirstie and Maks do unspeakable things to Tom.

OK, final cha-chas of the night now.

Hines and Kym are going first. I'm not sure this dance is so different from the first, but what can you expect in a couple of minutes? Still, it's got the fun and ease of Hines' earlier performance.

Chelsea and Mark up next. They're definitely not taking a conservative route here. It looks very, very good actually. I liked that one better.

And the winners of the cha-cha challenge, 15 points and essentially safe passage into the finals are... Chelsea and Mark!

Wow. This is going to be an interesting trip into the finals.

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Did you have a favorite dance of the night? Who do you think will be in the finals, and who is going home? Leave a comment below with your opinions!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 9 - Results Night, May 17, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-with-the-stars/dancing-with-the-stars-live-re-40344.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Results: Who Will Make It to the Finals?
Tuesday, May 17, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

We've made it to the penultimate Dancing with the Stars: The Results Show, and it's anybody's guess as to who will be dancing in next week's finals. The last four couples standing all have had consistent performances throughout the season, and all stand a good chance of making it to the end.

So who will it be?

Who did you pick for elimination?
In such a close season, we haven't always been right about the eliminated contestant. But that's OK. It happens. It could very well happen again tonight. Maybe.

What are the predictions? According to our Readers' Poll at BuddyTV, a whopping 74% picked Ralph Macchio as the most likely to be eliminated. A sizeable minority (31%) went with Kirstie Alley as the doomed dancer, while only 7% picked Chelsea. Hines, of course, got no votes.

The numbers could be right. They could be wrong. Only the Results Show knows...

Did you miss anything?
Well, thanks to an intermittent Internet connection last night, I did too. It happens. But if it did, at least we have the Semi-Finals Recap and Performance Rankings to help out. They at least give a hint as to what went on in the ninth week of Dancing with the Stars competition.

In brief, the semi-finals standings are as follows:


•Chelsea and Mark: 73 points (thanks to the cha-cha win)
•Hines and Kym: 60 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 54 points
•Ralph and Karina: 48 points

It's pretty close. Will it be close enough for an upset though?

The live Results Show!
More or less, anyway. They're filling the first hour with some retro nonsense and then getting on to the important business of giving us results. I'll let you know if there's anything of note before 9pm (EDT).

It sounds like this first hour will have a lot about freestyles, past and future. The first returning star to wax poetic on the freestyle is Warren Sapp.

Followed by Donny Osmond. Greatest show on television? Seriously, Donny? Seriously?

And Apolo Anton Ohno...

And of course Brooke Burke... (I always forget that she competed on this show.)

And all this is leading up to Drew Lachey and Cheryl Burke re-performing their freestyle from season 2. Apparently, this is the best one ever.

I guess that's it. Results soon!

Now it's time for a preview of the freestyle dances. Kind of sucks for the person who doesn't make it.

Hines and Kym are going to do something about being a band at a half-time show. "I am going to be the half-time show" (Hines) to some sort of Jackson 5 song.

Kirstie and Maks are going to do a lot of aerials (or not) and something about being perfect however they are.

Ralph and Karina are planning an old-school dance, some sort of movie-musical theme using music from Bandwagon.

Chelsea and Mark are going to "have fun" and probably be crazy.

That really wasn't a lot of details.

The final repeat dance before the finals will be... Chelsea and Mark, dancing their rumba. Which is excellent for me, since the evil Internet forbade such viewing last night.

The first RESULTS of the night are for Hines and Kym. And...

Hines and Kym are SAFE to go to the finals!

Not much of a shocker to begin, I guess.


Off to the performances now, with Stevie Nicks performing some new single that I'd probably know if I listened to the correct radio stations on a regular basis. But I don't.

I have never heard a song called "Planet Pitt" by Pittbull. Even featuring Ne-Yo and ... ummm ... Someone else who's name I didn't catch. Apparently I need to go to clubs more often.

It's time for some more RESULTS, this time for Chelsea and Mark...

The confirmed finalists get to talk about next week's dances. Hines will be doing the quickstep, and Chelsea will be doing the samba. Also, Hines is terrible at being mean.

And Chelsea and Mark are SAFE for the finals!


It's time for an inspirational-story interlude, this time it's a young dancer with a horrifying immunodeficiency disease. That's kind of really depressing. At least dancing makes her happy.

Also, she's pretty good.

More Stevie Nicks now. At least I know "Landslide." I was feeling awfully musically-deficient this evening.


It's finally time for the final RESULTS of the night. Will it be Kirstie or Ralph who goes home?

Kirstie and Maks are SAFE!

Which means Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff have been eliminated!

He still seems happy and nice. Not a shocker there. I think he's managed to thank the entire population of the nation in that final speech. Awww... Bye Ralph!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Did the right couple get eliminated? Are you excited about the stars making it into the finals? Let us know what you think in the comments section below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 10 - Dance Night, May 23, 2011

http://www.buddytv.c...e-re-40441.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Season 12 Finale, Part 1
Monday, May 23, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

It's the final week of competition on Dancing with the Stars! Will it be Hines? Will Kirstie rally her followers to a win? Will Chelsea pull off a surprise victory? The finale dances tonight will help to give us and answer.

The remaining three dancers will take on each other and the dreaded/anticipated freestyle dance at this moment when the Dancing with the Stars Mirror Ball is only a few steps away. And yet, it will remain infinitely far for all but one dancing couple.

In order to take hold of that Mirror Ball, each pair must perform a freestyle dance in addition to one of the set ballroom dances.

If the past makes any difference (it doesn't really), here are the standings before tonight's festivities begin:

•Hines and Kym: 328 points overall
•Chelsea and Mark: 319 points overall
•Kirstie and Maks: 302 points overall

The past got them this far, but the future depends on tonight. So let's get to it!

With that long an introduction, they're never going to be able to fit all of this into a single hour. Ooh, Hines has a top hat on! (Yes, I'm easily distracted.)


So it's the Judges' Choice first of all. This could get interesting. Of course, none of these finalists had any particularly horrible dances. Except for maybe Kirstie's jive. And that was just because she forgot to dance.

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Every rule you break, I'll be watching you. And I'll tell you, I liked what I was watching." "I wasn't over-keen on the flailing arms section..."
Bruno: "And the rhythm, it was flowing through your body like I've never seen before."
Carrie Ann: "Hot! Hot! Hot!"

My Comments: This is an odd song for a samba. At the beginning anyway. It's sort of getting into it now. They're moving as well as usual, but I'm not exactly getting "sultry" out of this. The choreography seems a little too modern-dance and jerky to manage any of the moves that it sounded like they should have. Good dance though, once you get past the music and choreography.

Scores: 10+9+10 = 29


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "It was less-aggressive, less full-on, but it had a lovely naturalness about it, which I loved." "Lovely job and deserving of being in this final."
Bruno: "At time you were still looking at the floor!"
Carrie Ann: "I love what you did, I love your movement quality." "That was a really great samba."

My Comments: Heehee... Orange costumes... Anyway. This looks more like a samba than the last one, although it's nowhere near as fast. Kirstie maybe has a little bit of a tentative look about her while she dances, but she's certainly keeping up and looks good. The further Kirstie gets into the dance, the more comfortable she looks. They may have finished a wee bit ahead of the music.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the quickstep

Judges' Comments:
Len: "The best dancer is going to win a Mirror Ball." "As good as that was, for me it's not quite there yet. This competition is still anyone's to win or lose."
Bruno: "You got it for me. Because it was like watching a mega-production on Broadway -- full of excitement!" "You connect with the audience like anyone!"
Carrie Ann: "That was so much fun!" "It was like, pzaddle-doodle-pzaddle-addle-dee..." (or something like that)

My Comments: I have to say that I loved Hines' first quickstep. It probably helps that I can't even see his feet on the TV screen. And the dance was just so fun, even way back at the beginning of the season. And this time he's in a top hat!!! Cute start. And they're having ridiculous amounts of fun again. I can't tell if the footwork is perfect or not. But I'm loving the dance anyway. Very old-fashioned and classic. Did the singer just get off the beat there? Because the dancing seemed to match the music, but not the words. That was kind of awesome.

Scores: 10+9+10 = 29


Here come the freestyles... Woo!

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the freestyle

Judges' Comments:
Len: "I know people think I'm a fuddy-duddy old guy, but this was so full-on, it was so much attack, I loved it."
Bruno: "Look, you were plugged into the national grid." "The way you interpreted all these Latin rhythms... that's what it's all about."
Carrie Ann: "I can't find the words for what I'm thinking, but it's kind of like, ahh-ahh-ahhh-ahhh!" (What's with the made-up words, Carrie Ann?)

My Comments: You've got to love a dance that starts on a bicycle. And then just goes kind of crazy. They're definitely going the athletic route here, which is probably a good choice. And now they're dancing in the dark with shiny things. Honestly, this is fun, but I'm wondering how on Chelsea is able to be. Also, I hate that the dance spent about half of its time in the dark. How am I supposed to know what's going on if I can't see it? Overall, it was an enjoyable dance.

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30

I guess what we couldn't see was pretty good.


Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the freestyle

Judges' Comments:
Len: "You took risks. And you've got to risk it if you want the biscuit." "I commend you, well done."
Bruno: "10 weeks ago, I would never have thought of you even attempting to do lifts... You have to really appreciate what you've achieved." "Some of the lifts could have been smoother, but I'm telling you, respect girl, respect!"
Carrie Ann: "That dance sort of embodies what you've become, which is the poster child of how life should be lived at 60 years old."

My Comments: I can't do cartwheels either. Never could. Except that one time when I was 7. Otherwise, nope. Oh, right. Dancing. Oh please say she's talking that monk's robe off soon! Yay! There it goes! Kirstie looked pretty awesome in the slow part. Now that it's faster, some of her tentative moves are back. Pretty good cartwheel there. I'm jealous. They're certainly pushing the envelope on moves there. Overall, I liked it, although it didn't quite have the passionate whatever of the last dance.

Scores: 9+9+9 = 27


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the freestyle

Judges' Comments:
Len: "The more you give, the more points you take. You've just given your all!"
Bruno: "You've pulled all the stops and created a crowd-pleasing event!"
Carrie Ann: "That wasn't really half-time show. That was the whole damn SuperBowl!" "Those lifts were insane. Kym, I love you for still going for it."

My Comments: What are they wearing. Seriously. What are they wearing?! I vaguely remember a passing comment about half-time shows, but I didn't think they'd take it so literally. But, as an ex-marching-band member, awesome. Although I seriously can't stop giggling at the costumes. Hey, there are more people in the band! Hines definitely hasn't seen a half-time show. Not any of the shows I've seen anyway. For one thing, this is way better than any of those. Also, it's obvious that they're having fun. We were rarely having that much fun. Very cool interpretation of freestyle!

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30


And that's it for the show. Wow, one hour goes quickly. And we finish up this finals night with two pairs (Hines and Kym, Chelsea and Mark) tied. Kirstie is only a few points behind...

Who will win it all? We'll find out tomorrow!

Want more Dancing with the Stars info? Check out our DWTS Insider page on Facebook.

Which dance was your favorite? Who's your pick to win? Did you agree or disagree with the judges? Leave your comments and opinions below!

 

[superintelligentone]

Dancing With The Stars, Season 12, Week 10 - Final Results Night, May 24, 2011

http://www.buddytv.com/articles/dancing-wi...e-re-40441.aspx

'Dancing with the Stars' Live Recap: Season 12 Finale, Part 2
Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Laurel Brown
Staff Writer, BuddyTV

This is it, Dancing with the Stars fans!

Tonight, we find out who will be going home with the DWTS Mirror Ball Trophy and who will just be going home. Of the 11 celebrities who began season 12, only three remain: Kirstie Alley, Chelsea Kane and Hines Ward. Each of the stars has a chance at ballroom-dancing glory, but which will it be?


At some point in the next couple of hours, we'll have the answer to that question.

Who did you pick as the season 12 winner?
Do the BuddyTV readers think that Hines is a lock for victory? Do you hope for Chelsea to dance away with the prize? Will you defy the judges and select Kirstie?

Will our predictions be right for once?

According to the last BuddyTV Readers' Poll of the Dancing with the Stars season, the audience is divided when it comes to a victor. Hines Ward has a slight lead, garnering 46% of the vote for a winner. Chelsea Kane, however, is not too far behind with 44%. Kirstie Alley trails the leaders with only 10% of the votes cast.

As it has been for so much of the season, it's going to be close.

Did you miss anything?
This is the second half of the finals. It just wouldn't do to miss the first half, would it?

Of course not. But if you did, check out our Finale, Part 1 Recap and Performance Rankings.
If clicking on links and adding up scores is too hard (we understand), here are the scores:


•Hines and Kym: 59 points
•Chelsea and Mark: 59 points
•Kirstie and Maks: 54 points

So we have a tie for first place, with Kirstie and Maks only a few points behind.

I guess it's time to find out how it will all go in...

The Finale!

Guess what? Technical difficulties again! Hope nothing exciting happened in the first few minutes...

Anyway, the Black-Eyed Peas are performing their new single now. Seems to be a lot of the dark lighting and disco feel that we saw in yesterday's freestyle.

Now the judges are trying to convince us that each of the finalists deserves to win. I wonder which one they actually want. You know they have opinions. Lots and lots of opinions.

And here come the stars in a very, very dramatic introduction. Ooh! They're all standing on glowing, smoking light boxes!

Mike Catherwood is back! With pink leg warmers! Um, Mike, no one did the Macarena between '84 and '86.

Although I have to ask, was this all they found for the Dancing with the Stars troupe to do all season? Look disgusted at Mike?

But oh, he cannot dance even a little.

Time to look back now. Ah, memories...

Petra and Dmitry are dancing their story waltz again. Unless this is just the footage from Week 3 again. I honestly can't remember it well enough to tell. I'm guessing it's a new version since there's a Mirror Ball trophy.

And hey! Josh Groban! Obviously this is a new version, since Petra and Dmitry both stopped mid-dance to gawk.

It took me a minute to stop giggling enough to type that last sentence. Maybe if you want the dance to go smoothly, you should tell the dancers who will be singing. Or not.

Tom is funny.

Kendra is back for that stripper dance again. This time she's dancing with three men instead of one. But will she end up on the judges' table again? Oh my. It's five men now. You have to give the lady credit -- this is one entertaining dance. And there she goes on the table, this time with two guys.

OMG! Kendra just almost died! Seriously. Header off the judges' table.

Louis caught her though.

Time for the fighter-types to go head-to-head now. Chris vs. Sugar Ray. Lots of anticipation from the announcer-guy (he's probably famous, but I watch neither wrestling nor boxing and wouldn't know).

I miss these guys. They were fun.

Oh, it's on now! Except it's not. It's over. I wonder who would win in hand-to-hand combat, a wrestler or a boxer? Discuss.

Chris Jericho has a scary-good Bruno impression. At least he hasn't been lazy these past few weeks.

Wendy is interviewing herself now. Also Tony. This amuses Tony.

It's time for the Macy's Stars of Dance performance, with music from the Go-Gos. They're kind of older now.

Romeo's turn to be back now. Hey, he's dancing to that song that everybody in the entire universe sang at every gathering the whole time I was in middle school!

It's "The Greatest Love of All" in case you want to date me.

This dance has new choreography. Impressive. Also, there's a children's choir in white robes accompanying the singer. Seriously.

The cheesiness factor of this particular episode may have reached new heights. Romeo loves everybody, individually.

Wow, they can't even show the Kym getting smushed image without blurring it now. Can't say I'm upset about this.

Ralph Macchio and Karina Smirnoff are doing that speakeasy dance again. That was a cool dance.

Lord, this show is going on forever, isn't it?

Um, what's happening now? There's some mash-up of every judge comment happening to a beat. It's a little terrifying.


It's time for the finalists! Finally! Yay! Maybe something will happen soon. Like... Dancing? Dancing! Woo-hoo! Dancing!!!

Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas
Dancing the Viennese waltz

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Sometimes I know my comments have disappointed you." "You are a fantastic dancer."
Bruno: "Bellissima! Bravissima!" "You never, ever have put a foot wrong in this competition."
Carrie Ann: "Because of performances like this, everybody knows who you are."

My Comments: Still don't know why this is classical music, but whatever, it was interesting before, and it continues to be so. They said they're sticking closer to the official waltz form for Len, but I can't particularly tell. Hey, do you think they brought the full orchestra back for just this performance? That was nice. Familiar but nice.

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30


OK, so the scoring works like this: half from the judges' three finale scores, half from votes. Is that different or the same? I can't remember.

Kirstie Alley and Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Dancing the cha-cha

Judges' Comments:
Len: "Tonight, you have produced your best dance. Well done."
Bruno: "Kirstie, you cheeky girl! You saved the best for last!" "You've never danced better! Brilliant!"
Carrie Ann: "I love you so much, and I know I'm not alone when I say I love you for being you."

My Comments: "Forget You" was their song in week 1? I've heard that song so many times since then that I forgot. Also, wow, Kirstie has really lost an insane amount of weight. Good for her. This dance is looking more polished than many that Kirstie has performed in the past couple of shows. It probably helps that she did this before and therefore had a little more practice time. Nice.

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30

If everyone gets perfect scores, did tonight's dancing even matter? That would be a wee bit anticlimactic. Oh well.


Hines Ward and Kym Johnson
Dancing the samba

Judges' Comments:
Len: "What is so appealing about you is the packaging. You bring every dance to life."
Bruno: "A killer when you play sport, a charming dazzler when you're out her, I'll tell you, we all fall in love."
Carrie Ann: "Hines, in all honestly, you are the MVP of season 12." "I am so impressed with you. You danced with heart and it shows."

My Comments: Hines is showing off his legs. Oh, stop being so charming Hines! I remember loving this samba back in week 3. And it's still kind of awesome. How can it not be when Hines gets to grin the entire time. It probably doesn't hurt that his actual dancing looks pretty nearly perfect. Good choice for the last dance of the season. And of course he kisses his mother at the end...

Scores: 10+10+10 = 30


Three perfect scores! You know, of course, that this means the entirety of this episode (all 1 hour and 45 minutes of it) doesn't actually make any difference. Ah, filler! Where would the competition shows be without it?

Wait, someone's singing. How can someone be singing right now? We only have 13 minutes left in the episode! Why would we want someone to be singing? And how was the 75 minutes of filler not enough to contain this???

By the way, it's Sarah Evans.


I almost missed that we're about to get results. Way to downplay it hosts. RESULTS!

The third place couple, out of contention for the Mirror Ball is... Chelsea and Mark!!!

More RESULTS now! And the second place couple is: Kirstie and Maks!!!

Which means that...

Hines Ward and Kym Johnson have won season 12 of Dancing with the Stars!

So that's that. Hines won. And it took only two hours to tell us that!

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Did the right dancer win? Did you want someone else to take the Mirror Ball? Was this expected or not? Share your opinions and comments below!

Congratulations to Hines Ward and Kym Johnson.

However, I thiink that Chelsea Kane and Mark Ballas were more worthy. It shouldn't matter that Chelsea is unknown to most people prior to her appearance in DWTS. It's supposed to be a TALENT contest.

Kirstie Alley having a large fanbase, losing weight on the show, and being a youthful 60 years of age can't disguise that she wasn't worthy being a finalist. Ralp and Romeo were better than her.

Oh well, popularity outweighs talent in viewer votes shows.